Last weekend, one of the most unique car shows of the season took place at the Courtyard by Marriott out near the airport. Promoted as a ‘hotel takeover’ it sounded like one of those street takeovers like the hooligans in Chicago do every weekend.
Quite the opposite, the JDM Expo was one of the best car meets of the year, and certainly the most unique location. Most guests at the Marriott park in front, close to the entrance, but the hotel has a two-story parking garage out back for overflow. That’s where the cars were set up in the glorious October sunshine and 30°C weather.
The best of the best in JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) cars were on display including a right-hand drive Nissan Skyline R34 with a dedication to the late Paul Walker in its carbon-fiber trunk. A highly customized Toyota Celica and some slammed Subaru WRXs gleamed in the sunlight.
This meet really is a scene out of the Fast and the Furious come to life. The cool vibe, the bumping music, and the camaraderie between those gathered with a common love for custom cars from the land of the rising sun.
Oh yeah, and there was even a bikini contest; the Miss JDM Poolside Bikini Contest was one of many events held throughout the day including a Sound Competition and Rev Battle. Demaras Racing’s own Synthwave SVX competed in the Car Limbo competition… more about that in tomorrow’s article!
The best thing about JDM Expo is that the organizer thought of everything. All the spectators had access to the hotel facilities including the air conditioned lobby, bar and restaurant, and of course… washrooms! Nobody worried about police raiding the event because it was private property with permission from the hotel. In fact, many people who brought their show cars stayed in the hotel the night before.
Best in show went to ‘shady99gtr‘ and his Paul Walker tribute car, a Nissan Skyline GT-R which was actually parked next to the Synthwave SVX, getting a lot of attention and reflected glory.
For more pics and videos of the event, including the bikini contest, look up RaceWarz2025 on Instagram. And for the record, Race Warz was the name of the drag-racing event in California desert in the first F&F movie!
This looked like a great event!
Last year in Cleveland Ohio the “hooligans” had a few street takeovers in Cleveland Ohio. The law really cracked down and ended up arresting 20+ people that went to prison for 6-18 months, and about 10 cars were confiscated. This is a city with daily shootings, most of which go unsolved.
I believe the city of Cleveland went after low hanging fruit. It’s easy to catch these takeover guys. Half the time the promote what they’re going to do on Instagram beforehand. All the police have to do is show up. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
It’s interesting that even though Toronto has 7 mil people compared to Cleveland’s 2 mil, there really haven’t been takeovers here. The JDM-Expo event was billed as a Hotel Takeover kind of like a joke, I guess.
But it was such a lovely event. Being able to use the hotel, the pool, the lobby, the restaurant… it was quite luxurious,