I believe this is the first time I’ve shared photos from World of Wheels here on the site. I actually can’t remember when I last attended the show, but considering that this is now the 4th season of running the blog it has apparently been a while.

This year I really wanted to make my way over because I felt a visit was overdue, but it also happened to be the 50th anniversary so I didn’t want to miss that. I coordinated with Alex and on Sunday we met at the grounds and spent around two hours covering the event. We both expected it to be bigger than it was, because two hours was less than we had planned on – regardless, it was a great time and we saw some truly amazing machinery on display. Naturally we checked out the vendors too and I grabbed a couple of Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts as souvenirs. I managed to exercise some restraint with my shopping, as you’ll note I said “a couple” and not “a couple dozen”. Haha

I’m happy to have some photos from a proper show to share with you all, and the set is a decent size too. My coverage will be split into three parts so be sure to check back for the follow-ups over the coming days. As a final note, the photos are more or less being displayed in chronological order as opposed to being sorted by genre/era/class/etc. Let’s get to it!

Why not kick things off with this gorgeous split-window Corvette? I have always liked that iconic design feature.

The last two vehicles were also using mirrors to show off their undersides, but not this many! Seeing an undercarriage that rivals the rest of the car for its cleanliness and finish is truly jaw-dropping.

I can’t even imagine how many hours’ worth of work we’re looking at here. I spent more time looking at this than the rest of the car.

Alex and I both really liked the colour on this Camaro. In case you can’t read it – the trophy laying on the ground in front of it is for First Place!

Across from the Camaro was Vex’s booth, with Jimmy’s M3 out front.

Note the horsepower figure of the M3…750 with Water/Meth. Yikes.

This is the ’09 STi that the other info board was for. It may look relatively standard at first glance but a closer look at its info reveals an output of 600HP!

The big power figures continued with their Supra.

You’ll have to forgive me as I can’t give an exact figure for this FD, but looking closely at the graph, I believe it’s around 350HP. Definitely lower than the last three but at the same time, no small amount.

Along with the clean exterior there was also a rather tidy audio install in the hatch – and this took first in its class.

This was without a doubt one of my favourites from the show but that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has followed for more than a little while. A white S15 is exactly what I want. Yes, I am saving for one.

BIGNJPN’s R32. It’s not a GT-R but that couldn’t matter less; there’s a ton of time and plenty of quality parts in this one.

It was nice to see a few of the local Thunderbirds at the show, such as Jules’ always-impressive ‘Baby Bird’ here. T-Bird fact; Baby Bird is the nickname for the first-gens.

Turning back to the VEX booth, I couldn’t resist getting this shot of the Silvias and R32. One of my favourite photos of the day for sure.

Curtis’ wrapped, widebody S15 provided a bit of contrast to the stock-bodied white example already seen.

This was a surprise for me – a Rocket Bunny S13! Full Rocket Bunny kits are somewhat rare around here already but this was the first time I’d seen an S13 with one in person.

Awesome plate is awesome. It would also be appropriate for a few of our cars…

While it was definitely less modified than the other vehicles, this RC-F drew quite a lot of attention because, well, because RC-F. The drop and wheels were a simple but successful recipe anyway.

Along with the Rocket Bunny S13, another big surprise was coming across this Escort Cosworth. I was quite happy to get to see this and grab a few photos.

As I came to type the caption for this photo I realized that I probably could have named this post  “World of Wheels 2016 – VEX’s Booth” because it’s almost completely made up of photos of it. Just now, we move on. In the display for Highwood Rod & Custom was this 1927 Model T, in a few pieces. I wouldn’t even want to put a body on this chassis and cover it up!

Part 1 will wrap up with this ’72 Pontiac LeMans, which I made a point to track down upon my arrival to the show. It belongs to a friend of one of my co-workers and I had been tasked with polishing the entire thing in preparation for World of Wheels.

I was happy to see it looking pretty good under the lights and got to say I had a (very small) part in getting it ready for the event which was cool.

Next up is Part 2, probably this weekend? Have a good one!

-Bill