The annual ImportExpo show marked the end of car-show season. There’s still a parking lot meet every Friday at the Tim Horton’s in Mississauga, but for the most part, all the summer cars have been put away. But as true Canadians, this is the moment to attach LED lights to the body of the winter-beater and transform it into a Christmas Cruiser.
Since there’s only six-weeks left before NYE, organizers are planning out multiple events. Over the weekend, the Demaras Racing family brought out the lights, wreath, bows and sleigh bells and started the process of transforming a daily-driver, monster truck into a beacon of Christmas spirit, glowing on the highway ahead.
Blue painter’s tape is the ideal solution to sticking LEDs on a car. It’s weak enough to be removed with zero impact on the painted surface, but waterproof to withstand rain and snow. Keeping the LEDs still, not rubbing against the body in the wind, also protects the paint. The heavy Christmas wreath was attached to the front bash-bar with industrial strength zip ties.
It took only a couple hours on a cold November afternoon for the team, plus our new mascot Nico the cat, to complete the project.
The white LEDs reflect against the blue painter’s tape to create a cool tint. Flip the switch on the WiredRidez installed system to turn on the rock-lights plus underglow, and soddenly the vehicle takes on a whole other dimension. Blue isn’t a very seasonal colour (but it does look cool). It does make the green wreath and red bows stand out all the more.
The most fun thing about the underglow is the cell-phone app that allows colours to be changed on the fly, even while driving. There’s several pre-set colours, and also combinations that fade from one hue to another. There’s also a strobing red-to-blue preset that mimics police lights, but that’s just asking to get pulled over.
Th Highway Traffic Act has clear rules about not using blue or red lights on any private vehicles in the province of Ontario. Those colours are exclusively for use by emergency services, and using them on a Christmas truck will bet you pulled over… quickly. Strobe lights are clearly a distraction to other drivers, and will also get you slapped with a ticket.
Twinkling multi-coloured lights are more seasonal, so that will probably be the choice for the Christmas parade next weekend. But baby blue just matches the rest of the Christmas lights so well, it’s become our ‘default’ setting. Many fully-legal choices.
And for the record, Demaras Racing’s prized Christmas Cruiser has never been pulled over by the police. If we get caught in traffic next to the boys in blue, they just give a thumbs up. And that’s what’s so fun about these light displays.
It just helps to spread Christmas cheer to all the little boys and girls in the neighbourhood…. even the older ones!
Nice!
Thanks! Lotsa work.
For sure!
Very cool! My jaw dropped when you said 6 wks til NYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent work. I like you new mascot.
I just KNEW that you would.
Someone commented that the picture looks like a 90’s rap album cover. DJ Scratches would be his name.