Friday night felt like the un-official start to car show season. While many gearheads still have their summer cars in winter storage, the spring-like weather meant parking lots across the city were filled with the sounds of subwoofers and loud exhaust notes.
In the east end ‘Secret Meets‘ arranged a car meet at Kennedy Commons one of the original hangouts from back in the day. It’s possible the police had already swept through, but by 9:00 pm, there were only two dozen cars in the parking lot. No music, no revving, just crickets.
Back in the car to drive across town to the next meet-up.
Another OG car spot is Terry Tims which is basically a Tim Horton’s on Terry Fox Way in the west end. There’s a big outdoor plaza with a massive parking lot sharing that corner, and no condos or residential areas around it.
Police have prevented meets at this spot for the past couple years, due mostly to hooligan behaviour. But event organizers OCS and Terry_Tims2.0 promised to keep the peace, and report anti-social behavior.
The result was a massive crowd and an estimated 500 cars filling up the spot!
Local police were strategically posted at each entrance/exit, and had their red and blue lights flashing, serving as a little reminder that while the car meet is authorized if things get out of hand response time would be instantaneous.
The sound of two-step exhaust popping filled the night air. Japanese cars like Hondas and Nissans were grouped together, the owners proudly showing off their engines and suspension modifications. Top JDM car was a 1995 Mazda RX-7 FD in yellow and carbon fiber. The right-hand-drive car was sported a massive wing, front mounted intercooler and enough street cred to make its driver a superstar for the night.
The truck-bros were parked along the edge of the parking lot, some of them halfway climbing up massive snow banks to demonstrate the abilities of their vehicles. Quite impressive.
The Euro crowd was well represented by BMWs both old and new. A vintage Mercedes with a blue wrap prowled the parking lot. The guy in a parchment coloured Rolls-Royce Spectre thought he’d steal the show, but the crowd wasn’t wowed by the conservative styling of the $420,000 ride.
The Demaras Racing owned 1992 Subaru SVX was the only vehicle of its kind at the show. With only 50 of these Japanese beauties remaining in Canada, this is likely the only example on air-suspension, so it certainly drew a crowd.
Eventually, police started making ’rounds’ in the parking lot, encouraging people to head out. No arrests, no tickets; ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here‘ was the clear message. So, it was time to jump back on the highway for a high-speed midnight-run back to the east side… until next weekend.