This past Sunday I got to do two things I have never done before. Check out local custom car shop Droptec, and cover/attend a car show while it was snowing.
While I don’t really want to cover show another again while it’s snowing I wouldn’t mind attending another Droptec shindig.
The vibe at the event was incredibly positive (even with the -3 weather) and you could really tell the entire operation is a family, and close friend operated affair.
The weather meant a few people and cars came and went, but for the most part the show consisted of a very dedicated group of Droptec supporters who toughed it out for the entirety of the event.
Many, like myself stayed inside and shot the breeze in the shop near the awesome home cooked food which made the atmosphere really reminiscent of a family cook out, and makes me look forward to more BBQ based events in the summer.
Random Stuff
Overview of some of the fieldAnd another shot from the rearThis chicken was seriously deliciousSome of the awards up for grabs that dayIf you are having trouble making that out it says 'Real men drive lowered Hondas'
Domestics
Last time I saw this stang it was silver and pink, this car and the one behind it are show regulars.This guy has had his summers on for at least a month now, brave!This super charged Mustang sounded fantasticDidn't expect to see a Mavrick at this show at allDrum brakes in the front, that is OGMakes me want to see more classics this summer though
Toyota
Hmmm.... not sure if finished...Matt's MatrixClean RHD Supra
Mazda
Steven's car is on Droptec modified suspension and seriously dumpedVery few other 3s, if any, tuck RX-8s this hardQuick comparisonThis car surprised me, can not recall ever seeing it beforeI don't know the specs on these XXRs but someone mentioned 0 offset and I would guess 8 widthJDM front bumper is a unique touchLooks like the fenders got a fair deal of massaging
BMW
The owner of this BMW was a female and she took home some hardwareShe is part of the Lick Your Lips teamFlush teammatesGo wideI'll throw the link to this cars build in the comments, worth checking out
Lexus
A new addition to the Toronto VIP family?Got to talk to the owner of the IS300 in the foreground for awhile, nice guyA lot of body pieces recently came out of the shop for this projectAll came together very wellAnother nice IS300 rocking the Nextmod bannerSic had a Mighty Dwarf speaker on him at the show, look it up they are crazy. Of course this has nothing to do with his car.He got his tire situation sorted out and it's now all good, bead no longer pops off
Honda
Sportmaxxed hatchIf I remember right this car is on air, or at least some sort of dynamic suspensionThis boosted EL gets around too
Nissan/Infiniti
If this is who I think it is his last car had purple and wood grain as well...R35 bumper on a G35This car has changed a lot since I last saw it drifting at CSCSMost people don't paint their Brembros to match their wheels but this guy isn't most peopleSam's new setup is already picking him up awardsLater in the day he had giant puddles in the lips of his wheels, worth it though picked up best stance
Big thanks to Neal, his wife, and the entire staff for inviting me out to the show and showing me some of that Trini hospitality.
Two BMW Theme Tuesdays in a row might be a little redundant for the non BMW fans but this is the post I was going to run last week before Rusty (sadly) died in a fire so I didn’t really want to shelve it any longer and I forget all about it.
The first time I opened a thread with a 2002 in it I was shocked because I was expecting a 2002 (year) BMW but what I found inside was much, much cooler.
I like to think of these cars as the euro Datsun 510 and ff nothing else they both share similar rust problems. It’s crazy how much of a headache chemical reactions can be to preserving awesome cars…
2002 from Performance WorldSimple and clean, killer color tooA little rough around the edges but off to an amazing start...and I don't even really like Yellow carsTo quote Don Cherry 'It's a Beauty!'If you don't like this... I dunno.Probably more fg panels than original at this pointSet up to partyPicture perfectAgain if you don't like this...Some say 17s are too big for the 2002. I disagreeAnother ttVintage BMWs sideways never fail to draw my attentionI think this one is factory correctOn pointOh so greatNow I want a slot car track, bad.I've seen a couple 2002 drag cars now that I think about itLittle bit of liftThe most viewed 2002 image on the internet?
Oh and for good measure some moving pictures of a pretty sick one that was on fat lace
Looks like silver Evos are rolling out pretty serious onto the streets of the GTA as this is the second one local one I’ve seen that packs heat on the inside and looks great on the outside. This particular one is putting down 431whp and 369 foot pounds of torque to the wheels.
In these photos those wheels happen to be 18×10 Works wrapped in 225/40 tires however with that type of power it stands to reason that the owner has another set of wheels that could probably put this car into the fat and flush category.
Gosh darn license plates killin our front ends one at a timeThis is the only end of this Evo I would seeSorry I don't have any tech specs for you guysSome of you probably already know what's going on under here though so feel free to shareI've been watching Spyder 01 get better at taking photos for the past year or so, very talted guyLast week our weather was like this. Now? Snow.The wheel/tire choice cause quite a stir on the forums I found these shots, different strokes...
When I met with Mat from Seche Media last weekend to pick up the new product for the store he surprised me with a couple test prints of a design based on one of the most creative uses of the I Like Em’ Dropped sticker I have ever seen.
While I plan to do a somewhat limited run of these in the future giving away the first print along with some of the stickers from the Seche Media catalog seems like a good idea.
So if you want to win some stickers before they hit the store comment on this post with a sticker idea you would like to see made for either the Stance Is Everything store or the SecheMedia store.
Keeping the whole kit car thing going I’ve got another local kit car build that’s sure to raise a few eyebrows and turn a few heads.
Local Subaru nut, Batman fanatic, and all around nice guy Tim Neil is seeing through a life long dream of his and building a Bat Mobile.
Not the Barris one most people think of either, he is building the one from the very dark (and very good) original Tim Burton Batman flick.
Chicks dig the car.
While I am sure some of you would rather see the campy Batmobile (and none of you would want to see the Batman and Robin Batmobile) there is no denying that the Burton Mobile is pretty damn slick.
The gear selector for the project is actually vintage airplane controls he found new...
Tim acquired the replica body over the winter and plans to mount it to an extended Chevy Caprice chassis as soon as he finds a suitable donor car. Unfortunately the first one was pretty rotten and when you are building a car that is going to be 22ft long you kind of need rigidity.
If you happen to have a solid Caprice frame you have for sale he is the man to contact.
The original donor from which the motor was acquired
The goal is that this this bagged, 305 powered, Black Berry controlled, Batmobile will be at the premiere of the next Batman film and have heads exploding due to it’s authenticity and attention to detail.
Personally I think Tim’s crazy (in a good way) and I can’t WAIT to see this build in person, I mean come on its a (Goddamn) Batmobile!
I’ll be at the 2nd Annual Droptec show and shine this Sunday helping out with the ‘Best Stance’ class. I haven’t checked out a Droptec event yet but I have heard good things so come out and bribe me. I will be sure to bring lots of stickers also.
Speaking of stickers the store is now 95% restocked and yesterday was one of the best days I’ve had since the store opened, I suppose I should have got the white and pink stickers back in stock sooner.
Finally my cars off winters and on stock wheels, I guess that’s the new spring mode.
Flashback Friday
Since we are talking about Batmobile’s anyway might as well take a look at Tim’s competition in the replica Batmobile field.
I think Centerlines are the wheels of choice for Batmobiles
I know this one was for sale but I’m not sure if it ever sold….
Why are there so many red e30s? I mean this in two ways, first here in Toronto a few years ago red e30s vastly outnumbered e30s of any other color at meets and events, and second not only are there a lot of them number wise but they also come in several different shades of red just to make things a little more confusing.
Zinnoberrot, Karminrot, and Briliantrot are a few and I am sure I probably missed seven or so.
The good thing about so many red ones being in existence is that it allows for a lot of very nice looking ones to get built like this one I found on the Wrong Fitment Crew Blog
Canadian to boot.
Do I need to say it?Reminds me of a certain red e30 that is in hiding here in the GTA...e30s were made for forward rakeParfait
Anyone that’s grown up riding (or skating) was probably told at some point prior to getting their license that as soon as they got the keys to their first car they would no longer be interested in spending hours on end at their favorite street spot, skate park, or set of trails and would instead be interested solely in automobiles.
While that is true for some, those of us who love bikes and boards as much as we love cars always knew that both would have a significant presence in our lives.
Dominic is a perfect example of this, he’s a monster on a bike, one heck of a fabricator, and up until a few weeks ago (when he sold it) the owner of this very proper looking US spec Ford Focus SVT.
Not knowing a lot about the ins and outs of these Ford hatchbacks the first thing I noticed about this car were the Work Ryver wheels.
At 17×9 and 17×9.5 and finished in all black (with gold accenting on the bolts and center caps) these wheels suit Dom’s SVT much better than one might have thought looking at all of the specs on paper.
With the car being as low as it is, thanks to the KW V3 coilover setup, these wheels had to be wrapped in 205/40/17 rubber in order to clear the rolled fenders, and even still the sidewalls have been shaved clean in some spots from the more than occasional rub.
Because the suspension and tire setup on this car is so dialed it looks like these wheels where made for the car but initially they didn’t fit at all. In fact In order to get them to fit a 4×114.3 hub conversion was required.
While in some cases this can lead to another set of wheels being purchased as the driving force behind Dominant Engineering, a company that provides a wide range of custom parts for the Ford Focus and Mazda 3, Dominic had no problem quickly fabricating a set if hub adapters to get these wheels to bolt up.
Since the tools were already out Dominic also fabricated a very nice 304 stainless steel exhaust setup for his car.
Once he was done under the car Dom turned to the outside where he got rid of the US bumpers and side skirts and replaced them with Euro models. The front bumper and grill are ST170 units (a matching badge is on the hatch), and the rear bumper and side skirts are from the European RS collection.
At this point you have probably already noticed the roof rack on the top of the car which isn’t just for show, or a place to mount more stickers. Dom’s super talented on a bike and there is proof below with a video of the FU Lets Ride 2 rail jam where he finished second.
Having the chance to feature another riders car is basically the perfect match for me so I want to thank Dom for letting me do it and I have to give him a second shout out for making my Dominant Engineering camber arms which will be a big help in my fitment goals this year.
This is wild, just last week I was talking to my friends Jay and Mike at Stance Factory, who had seen Rusty and Mike in person last year, about the ‘presence’ this car had and now it’s all over.
As a a regular BMW forum reader when Mike first started with this car I remember a lot of the earlier phases of this car quite well, so while I was going to do a BMW 2002 Theme Tuesday today I figured a Rusty one would be more appropriate.
I can’t think of too many other cars that have gone through so many changes and amassed such a following that were not from a movie, owned by a celebrity, or built by a high dollar shop.
This photo takes me back to the whatever forum was before r3vlimited days (e30sport?)For some of you this might be the highest you have ever seen this carThese type A's are just one of many awesome wheels that have been on this carRusty panels start to make their appearance, this stirred up the purists pretty goodHRE's, rusty hood, boom box, this photos awesomeThese rims were short lived, I actually forgot about themPersonally I wasn't quite to sure about this comboTo me the car was as close to traditional perfect as it gets hereThen Rusty got killed for the first time and came back, well, rustyThis was perhaps when rusty gained the most followers and my least favorite stage personallyHowever this is also the stage where I found Rusty on basically every forumAfter dieing for a second time Rusty was rebuilt like this, which brought me back aroundThe air ride and Supra motor were big ways of getting my interestUntil last night I had no idea these are actually BBS prototypes of Work EquipsThis phase had a lot of people talking, both good and badThere was no denying that this picture was cool though regardless of what you thought of the roofAshes to ashes
Obviously the most important thing is that no one got hurt in the blaze, and everyone can move on.
Great job on the build Mike and all the best brushing of the ashes, can’t wait to see what’s next.
Stance Is Everything’s own intentional correspondent Oliver Pickard recently too his Misses (or she took him) to the Malaga Automotive Museum in Spain, while he was there he took a bunch of photos and emailed them over to me.
While most of these cars are one hundred percent stock and none of them anywhere near slammed there is absolutely no way I couldn’t share these photos with the class.
I mean really how could I not share photos of a Jaguar XK 140 and Aston Martin DB4 with you guys?
This car was a little, well a lot, out of place compared to the ones belowBMW went from this... all the way to what they have now..Vintage BugattiCars looked cooler when they were built without hitting pedestrians in mind1936 Lancia Astura... I know nothing about this car but looks like a fine machineSupercharged Cord, another car I know little aboutJaguar XK 140And now a little American IronModel A motor covered in crystals, why? Because.If any car deserves to be in a museum its a db4
Thanks for the photos Ollie, I’ve got some cars to Wiki now.
This car is a great example of what can be accomplished with a realistic budget, a healthy drop, and a little originality when choosing a paint color for your wheels.
Looks like a car you wouldn't want to meet in a back alleyThis Mazda 3 wears these Evo wheels better than the Mitsubishi ever didThe money shot, this really shows just how low this car really is
The car is on KW variant 1 coilovers and the wheels (if you don’t recognize them) are 18×8.5 Evo X Enkeis fit with 245/40/18 tires.
More info on this car can be found in his thread here on Mazda 3 forums and I was altered to the recent photos of this car via Mazda Fitment’s facebook page.
I’m still a little jealous of the speed 3 being able to tuck more aggressive wheels up front, just sayin’…
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