Being the end of the month once again – already (seriously 2018, slow down!) – it’s time for another set of meet photos! For today I have some from Menace to look at, but also to come are some shots from Cars and Coffee. As for Beyond however, I don’t believe I attended a single one in July! Be it due to weather, or work, or Menace now being earlier (more on that in a second), it has been over a month since I was last at Chinook; I’m definitely going to have to be sure to stop by in August…

Anyway, yes; it’s important to note that the Menace meets do actually start earlier now. They used to officially kick off at 8PM but the start time has since been moved up to 7 (the Events page of the site has been updated to reflect that). What this means is that if you arrive at 8 – or even 7:30 for that matter – you may very well be playing Musical Parking Spots with others, or you’ll be looking for any car-sized opening on the pavement even if it’s not a stall. It can get crowded, but it beats the alternative!

As a final quick note before getting to the photos today, I’ve also submitted a quick article on the Menace Meets to Alberta Rides Magazine, so assuming it makes the cut for the coming issue (it’s all being put together now) it shouldn’t be long before some of these photos – and others possibly, it’s up the layout artist – are in print as well! I will be sure to share more on the next issue once it has been finished! Now though, on to the full set of shots from the past few weeks:

I know Brian likes to roll his eyes at how many local cars are on TEs – well, now Jimmy’s 328 wagon is on the list too! Why TE37s? Because Calgary. Haha

Brandon has been popping by on occasion, bringing Le Yeti out for a spin most of the time too. Unless I’m mistaken (it is late right now…actually, early. Technically.) it hasn’t been seen on the site following the removal of the True Blood wrap on the roof and mirror caps earlier this year. For 2018 Brandon is moving back to a mainly black and white scheme with the car, save for a few remaining True Blood accents on his emblems and sub box.

Rob, being all stancey. This shot was mainly down to luck; I had a split second to get the camera pointed at him from across the lot before he rounded the corner. Thankfully it came out decently well!

I’m sure some reading this won’t know but the old Wild Wednesday meets had an attempted revival – again – which ultimately had its plug pulled this month. With the Friday A&W meets effectively being the new Grey Eagle gatherings there won’t be an actual Wednesday night replacement for them, but that does mean that more and more classics are showing up to Menace to mingle with the newer stuff.

It’s easy to criticize the new CTRs for their insane looks, but also easy to forget that even the standard models aren’t exactly subtle.

Also, it wouldn’t be a meet post these days without at least one CTR in it, right?

Parked way over in the far corner? Doesn’t matter; we’ll still spot an ST in a crowd. I don’t know who owns this one but I spy an aftermarket intercooler peeking out, along with a few other additions here and there.

Yolanda and I joked that I should go back through my files one of these days, find all of the photos I’ve taken of dogs at meets and shows over the years, and publish a single post with all of them. I may just need to do that.

Happily, one week we had another chance to look over the blue Evo that showed near us at Driven (check Part 2 of that series for a full exterior photo). Forward-facing turbos look so aggressive; lots of us wish that the Focus’ engines were situated with the exhaust manifolds at the front to allow for setups like this – or at least so that the turbo would actually be visible! Fiestas too, while we’re at it; Mario, for instance, rarely has his hood popped at events because nearly everything we’ve swapped out is hidden from sight.

Yolanda’s shift knob, through her rally vent. Hilariously, it’s apparently difficult to put these in place on STs due to the built-in safety feature of the windows (come to think of it, I can’t say I’ve ever had a reason or opportunity to see if non one-touch windows do this as well on Mk3s. But back to the story…). When she rolls the windows up to hold these in place, if they are rolled up just that little bit too far they’ll detect the rally vents and realizing something is in the way, automatically roll back down. Modern car problems…

Overused angle maybe, but hey. It works.

The biggest change of late in terms of vehicles would be this; Keith recently made the jump from the Mazda camp to Ford proper (no longer a cousin but now a brother, as we joke) by swapping his Mazda 3 hatch for this Taurus SEL. Yes, many suggestions are coming his way to go with a faux-police car look.

There must’ve been a record number of Foci at the meet on the 25th; adding to the group was even Robin, with his ’17! I had shown this car on the site when he first picked it up early last year but I don’t think it has been seen since? Regardless, it was good to see him out and to have a chance to catch up.

Ironically though, this was the meet that Brandon didn’t bring his ST to. A few weeks ago he picked up a bike (amusingly also with white wheels – #whitewheelcrew) and brought it out instead. It’s a ’98 Suzuki GSXR 600; apparently he used to have a ’97 model back in the late ’90s so this is definitely bringing back memories for him! It has 13,000 kilometers and is in great shape (it has a few signs of being 20 years old but not many), and will surely be a lot of fun.

I always wonder – what do people with absolutely no familiarity or understanding of this think when they spot Rob rolling down the road?

And finally for today, is…well…this. I was just about to leave but then heard laughter from behind me, and turned around to this sight. I didn’t even know they made a mini version of the costume – none of us did – but we’re glad that they do! Seeing these two running around the lot was the funniest part of the evening and a great way to wrap up the day. Whomever it is that owns these – please bring them out again to more meets and shows!

And so that’s that for the Menace meets of July. Looking ahead there are the Cars and Coffee photos to come as mentioned, and as for that whole diffuser issue with Sriracha, a solution has since been found! We had the chance to grab lunch with Mario yesterday and the “finished” (more like 95% finished, admittedly) product looks amazing. With that sorted, there’s just one major item left on the to-do list for Sriracha’s Sunday School prep, and it should be arriving later today…unless I jinxed it of course, by saying that.

Sorry if I did, Mario.

-Bill