There’s been car meets and shows nearly every weekend this summer. Some are big, impressive events like the annual Subie Showdown, while weekly parking lot pop-up meets are small events; just ‘park & chill‘ until the cops arrive. Social media posts about Alias Car Club’s meet-up under the Burlington bridge on the long weekend sounded promising.
A car club called Society.Takeover even organized a cruise to the spot. If the meet sucked, at least the drive there would be cool, in a tuner-car convoy.
The usual suspects in the Toronto car scene were there. Kyle and his baby blue CrossTrek, Tyler in his gunmetal grey WRX, and of course, Demaras Racing’s teal, pink and purple Synthwave SVX. Despite the organizer having the words ‘takeover‘ their name, the cruise was peaceful and followed the speed limit… helping keep the convoy together.
Upon arrival, it was clear that ‘Under Da Burli Bridge‘ was unlike any other event this year.
The spot was 1155 Beach Blvd, kind of a no-man’s land underneath the massive Burlington Skyway bridge. Nearby is the old green lift bridge that the boats pass under to go through the canal and into Hamilton Harbour. The structures are massive!
There aren’t many businesses located under the bridge, so the car club organized food vendors, ice-cream trucks, and even porta-potties. They got permits from the city, coordinated with the cops, set strict rules for participants (no revving / burnouts / hooliganism) and basically hosted the best event of the year.
The sheer scale of the structures was shocking. Driving on the Skyway doesn’t do it justice. But standing next to the 64 m tall (210 feet) 2.5 km long bridge just dwarfs everything around it. The lift bridge looks like a child’s toy by comparison.
Concrete pillars and steel lace in perfect geometric harmony are astounding. Everyone arriving at the meet commented that it reminded them of the legendary Daikoku PA (parking area) in Tokyo, where the rings of elevated highways make it look like a coliseum.
Throughout the evening, massive cargo ships passed through the canal to start their journey across Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence seaway. Daily city life doesn’t often put people next to such vessels. And it seems the crew of those big ships don’t often see car-meets in the harbour, so they sounded their bellowing horns to thrill the crowd. Or maybe it was to warn other ships. Who knows.
The meeting started at 7pm, and soon spectators were graced with an incredible, late-summer sunset casting warm tones on the glistening paint jobs. The sky did it’s best ‘Miami Vice‘ impression.
As is often the case at these meets, there as a wide variety of cars on display including some Corvettes, Mustangs and Mopar muscle to represent the domestic car scene. But the vast majority were Japanese tuner cars; the F&F generation. Subaru models of every kind, several Toyota Supra models, plus a pair of right-hand-drive Nissan Skylines (R32 and R33) imported from Japan.
The meet was scheduled to end at 11pm, but after 10pm the sun had set and the show was over. Burlington is about an hour outside of Toronto, so some car kids had to head back to the city for school the next morning. Others went out looking for street races, or somewhere to drift… because it certainly wasn’t here.
Police cruisers parked outside the event gave leaving drivers a glance and a nod; if you’re gong to cause trouble, don’t start it here.
The cruise home, with the sunroof open and the windows down, was a pleasure. Approaching downtown Toronto, the city skyline re-asserted itself as the best view in the province, with the CN Tower all lit up. But for a couple hours, under the Burlington bridge was the coolest car spot in the world.
Great turnout!
It was such a great show. I really hope they run it back again before the end of the car show season. Everyone that missed out last time will fill the parking lot.
Yes they will!