This was the second time I had attended Show Your Ride, but I never shared any photos from 2016’s event so it will be something new for the site this year.

Show Your Ride is an event that continues to grow and gain an enormous amount of support – and so it should – but one that only came to be through tragedy. Brandon Thomas was killed at just 17 years of age when his car was struck by a drunk driver. As a memorial to him, and as a way to spread the message to never drink and drive, Show Your Ride was started as an annual event with 2017’s being the fourth edition.

Held at the University of Calgary, a reported 720 (yes, that’s right) vehicles took part making it a truly massive show. It would be impossible to show every last one here so instead this could be considered more of a ‘sample’ of what was there, but as the photos will hopefully illustrate there was anything but a consistent theme to the vehicles present. Anything and everything came out, with the common bond being the love of cars, and wanting to support such a worthwhile event. New or old, restored or modified or untouched, domestic or imported, immaculate or still a work in progress; this brought together vehicles and enthusiasts from all areas of the automotive world and illustrated just how diverse it is.

There are many sets of photos as well as videos from the event online already, and to add to those here is my little selection from the day. I hope you enjoy.

We’ll kick it off with Yolanda’s FoST, which was parked down the aisle from us.

Naturally her hood was popped to show off the engine bay as it has been an area of focus for her this year with new red accents (I see you still have to install the Boomba hood release Yolanda! Haha) and hydrodipping.

Cars continued to roll in for a while, all stopping for a photo in front of the big display wall prior to parking.

This was nuts; a widebody, single turbo, bagged MkIV Supra – and a left-hand drive model too! That last part may sound odd to readers outside of Canada but it’s actually rarer to see a LHD MkIV here than a RHD.

Wandering around I found Kasem’s Amuse S2K further back in the lot; this is definitely the more extreme of the two Amuse-kitted cars in town. It’s a complete package with tons of quality parts.

Hehe. I considered this sign but then where would I park the Grand Prix?

Carbon – once you start you can’t stop.

Once again a mobile dyno was on hand for anyone who wished to get their car’s power measured. When the Supra went up a massive crowd formed, naturally, with many phones and cameras out to record the run. The result? 555 whp.

Run over, back to its spot it went.

I had seen this thing roll through an A&W meet not too long ago but as it never parked I missed the chance to get a proper look at it, so I was happy to see it out at Show Your Ride. I know Mario is a bit bummed that the entirety of his big turbo kit is hidden out of sight in Sriracha’s bay so I suggested this as a fix for that. He didn’t seem too sold on the idea.

Of course I had the ST4 out and my mother decided to bring the 240 out. It continues to get a ton of attention and it’s always fun to hear people’s reactions to it. “That must be the last stock 240 in the world!” one person joked.

As part of the packs that all participants got were commemorative decals, so many could be seen applied to cars with some even still sporting decals from a prior year.

This super clean S14 was parked near the back. Great stance, a moderately aggressive exterior yet still somewhat subtle overall; it looked like a great street toy. White wheels on a black car though – keeping it clean must be a nightmare!

We had seen this MkIV Supra (RHD this time) out and about at a few meets this year; under the hood was a turbocharged V8, an LS if I’m not mistaken. It’s definitely an interesting car!

Look past the overspray here – this was a pretty nutty build. It’s a bit hard to see from this angle but the rear flares flowed into the rear doors and had custom cut lines to allow said doors to still open. The panel lines were tight and even too – someone knew what they were doing when they built this widebody.

There were plenty of MkIII Supras about which was nice to see. I feel these have been one of ‘the’ cars of 2017 in regards to how many I seem to have run in to.

This 1951 Studebaker was definitely among the most unique-looking cars at the show; such insane styling and awesome, quirky little features. According to the info sheet on display, the driver’s side lug nuts were all threaded the opposite way – from factory!

Last but not least will be this pretty clean EVO X which had some nice titanium accents under the hood. Bride, Voltex, Work, AMS; all good stuff here!

At the end of the event, names were called for prizes and awards were handed out, but the most significant event was the releasing of hundreds of balloons in memory of Brandon. They were handed out and then on cue, all released at once into the sky…

…though one bunch managed to quickly get caught around a light standard and so didn’t make it very far. At least it made for a neat photo and a few laughs!

So there it is – my small sample of photos from Show Your Ride 2017. This is an event that definitely brings the community together and is a great legacy for Brandon. I look forward to returning for 2018’s edition and seeing the continued support for an event with so much meaning and importance behind it.

-Bill