Yes, that’s correct. 2012.
Last month Brian and I were chatting and something in that conversation sent me looking through some of my old photos. I can’t remember what specifically pointed the conversation towards it – not that it matters anyway – but there was a Mk3 Focus that I wanted to show Brian some photos of, and so I went back into my 2012 folders to find them. Specifically, I opened up my photos from Driven 2012 as the car was part of Lithium’s display that year. Long story short, seeing all of the old photos for the first time in quite a while got me looking through more and more old folders, and I realized that there were a lot of good memories in them that were worth sharing.
Coincidentally, officialTHREETWENTY’s 5-year anniversary was coming up (it’s next week!) and I figured that it would be as good a time as any to throw up some of those old pictures. Not only would it be an appropriate time to look back on the last five years of course, but why not further? For those doing the math – or were here at the start and remember – this site officially launched in February of 2013, so these folders that I was going through were filled with pictures from before officialTHREETWENTY formally launched. They hadn’t been shared here before and offer a look at our community from a time that equally seems so recent, and so long ago.
As you already know, today’s photo set is from Driven Calgary 2012 and as we are counting down to the start of 2018’s tour, these will hopefully illustrate just how much growth has been seen by both the show and our community since. I’ve had a lot of fun going through all of these old photos and hopefully the chance to see these today is interesting for all of you, whether you were there and remember it, or weren’t and have never seen these before.
One thing that you won’t see here is a recognizable group of our cars. Driven 2012 was the final year before I started entering with the Focus; my Grand Prix was never intended to be a show car and the Focus was still only very lightly modified (to the extent of wheels, OEM Ti fog light bezels, and a shift knob, give or take) so it sat out. It was at this show that I vowed to get the Focus to a worthy state and enter in 2013, which is exactly what I did. Meanwhile, STs weren’t even out yet so while Mario was entered it was with another car, and we didn’t even know Brandon, Brian, or many of the others at this time. It’s things like that which make this show seem like a lifetime ago, even though it was only a little over five-and-a-half years ago (Driven 2012 took place in June).
I will throw in as a final note before we begin though, that I never claim to be anywhere near a professional with a camera but equally I have noticed a lot of progression in my own photography over the years; this is to say that a lot of my decision-making as to which photos would be shared here had to do with if they were even semi-decent in the first place. There were a number which I had to skip over entirely for being poor angles, poorly lit, or just not clearly showing the car in question. In any case, I hope that you enjoy today’s set, as well as the Throwback posts that are to follow!
We’re kicking things off with Terence’s old C-Class. This was a build that I really looked up to at the time because it had everything; a full repaint, Volks, a big brake kit, Recaros, and on and on and on. When I met Terence (in ’09) this was the first really modified example I’d ever seen and so to this day I still immediately think of it whenever I see one of these on the road.
Next up is Punit’s Integra, in what was probably my favourite-ever phase for it. His previously unpainted carbon fiber hood and hatch were colour-matched (on the outside) and he stuffed some seriously aggressive, custom-widened Regamasters under the arches. Add in a Mugen Gen 1 and you have a really nice setup.
Incidentally, this was the car that got this ball rolling – it was this Mk3 I was wanting to show Brian. At the time the Mk3 generation was just over a year old in North America so this was a real stand-out with its wrap, lip kit, wheels, and so forth. The wrap, in case you were wondering, was a nod to some of Ford’s own liveries. Also, the base car was an SEL as denoted by the combination of the all-chrome headlights and chrome beltline trim. The SEL trim was then dropped for the ’13 model year but has now been reintroduced.
A couple more for you fellow Mk3 owners and fans. This was the 3D Carbon lip kit.
Of course there were cars from Edmonton on display, including this rather nice K20-swapped EG. Tucked and shaved bays are still not hugely popular up here so this one really stood out, and frankly still does today – it certainly jumped out at me as I was going through the photos.
Making its presence known was ill.motion’s group, with Prashant’s old wrapped C63 front and center. Some of these cars will be recognizable from more recent events but that red NSX may not be – it’s actually Jackie’s! He still has it today though it hasn’t been out in a little while; perhaps one day we’ll see it on the road again. Regardless, I’m sure he’s glad he bought it when he did because of how their values are going now.
This isn’t the greatest photo in the world but it was the only one I had showing both this 1M and MR2 together – important because they were both Ryan’s! The MR2 he still has of course but this 1M has since left his collection.
If this Corolla’s colour scheme and wheels remind you of a certain CT, it would be because they were built by the same person! This was JC’s project before he moved on to the Lexus.
I believe Jason took home an award at this event for his STi? I could be mistaken but either way it was already a crazy car, following his style; GT wing, TE37s, and quality aero – in this case Varis. The white on white combo was a big bonus in my books too. Haha
I have no idea what has happened to this S2000 since but as I recall it was quite a well-known car then; even being in Modified magazine unless I’m mistaken?
Driven 2017, or Driven 2012? Alex’s GS-R has been around FOREVER and has always been setting the bar.
Rick’s MkV GTI, dumped on Spectrum Silver SSRs; such a crazy wheel colour against an otherwise muted car.
I’m unsure of who owned this Supra but it was recorded a number of times on my memory card so I was clearly a fan! Naturally it was a RHD import (it’s rarer to see LHD MkIVs here) and sitting in the stripped-out interior was a fifth white TE37 as a spare; a nice touch.
Teal was a hugely popular colour and so we saw it applied to everything, with owners sometimes even using the iconic Tiffany & Co teal specifically. And no, the irony of this photo is not lost on me. Haha
Mike had quite a booth with some crazy vehicles, and tons of gorgeous prints up for sale. I bought a print of the white DC2 (top of the display board) and it still hangs on a wall in my house today. Side note; I believe that’s the same ITR which Reggie had purchased and rebuilt by this point in time – Kid Icarus.
Mike’s work was seen at the Beyond booth as well…
Speaking of the Beyond booth, parked there was Rhys’ old 911. One thing that hasn’t really changed over the years I suppose is that Calgary is still very much TE37 central.
A very nice Evo X bay – ARC induction boxes always get my attention.
Remember I had said at the beginning that Mario had a car entered in this show? This was it – his old Fit! He owned this for a few years and I even considered buying it from him when I was shopping for a Fit (as this was the exact spec I wanted) but I bought Mustard instead, and he ultimately traded this in on Ketchup. The next time he entered Driven in fact (and the only time since 2012) was with Ketchup in 2015, and he took home Best in Show for it.
And last but not least, is whatever this is. I have no clue what we were doing here but after looking at this and some of the other photos in the folder – oh boy did we all look young. Haha. That’s a wrap for today!
Over the next few weeks I’ll have a few more Throwback posts for you all – mixed in with more current content – and there will also be a few small updates made throughout the site, the first of which you would have seen today if you were paying attention – a new photo signature! Next week is the actual anniversary of the site, so also watch for a special announcement of something we’ve been working on behind the scenes for a little bit. It’s nothing enormous or revolutionary mind you, but another addition to officialTHREETWENTY and one that we perhaps should have made a while ago.
And finally I’d like to thank you all once again for your continued support, as without it I wouldn’t be writing about a fifth anniversary today. Here’s to the next five!
-Bill