(And some S13s for good measure.)

This was something we’d been discussing for a little while, and finally we were able to make it happen. Dustin created a Facebook group chat (“S15 Losers”, as he called it) and if we fast-forward through all of the planning we wind up on the night shown here, in which a small group of us were able to get all of our cars together for some photos while we hung out and caught up.

With suitable evenings quickly becoming an endangered species we knew we wouldn’t have many other chances, but happily we were able to do this on what was a rather nice Friday evening. At the time of writing this many cars are already in winter mode or even storage, so we made it just in time!

The original plan called for attending A&W, and that was all. As for why we ended up going to two meets in one night – one would surely be enough given how early the sun is setting now – it’s because there happened to be another, very special gathering that was quickly put together and fell on the same night. We’ll get to that after the initial photos however.

So, as part of that original plan we’d start off at Dustin’s house since it was en route to the A&W and we could relax there while waiting for all of the cars to show up. While naturally more classic-oriented the A&W gatherings (“Cruisin’ The Dub”) are never limited to just that, and on the various evenings I’ve had my own Silvia out it has received a fair bit of attention as others have come over to check out what us youngins are up to with our backwards cars. The idea of having a handful of them there together, then, was too tempting to pass up.

With the plan in place and a few of us over at Dustin’s already, all that was left to do was wait for the rest to arrive before heading over. You’ll surely note the odd one out in this photo – hilariously, Dustin recently sold the Taco and picked up a new daily driver which happened to be a Focus ST! After looking at a few candidates he finally secured this rare Ingot Silver example and while it came with a few parts already on it, I suspect it’s soon going to get more…

Also, note that Dustin tops my SE and Spec S with an ST and Spec R.

Speaking of Dustin’s Spec R, with it finally out of hiding these were some of the first photos I’d taken with it included, in a few years. Behind it here was Mike’s 180SX, then my Spec S, and finally Vincent’s Spec R.

I’m really pleased that the leaves were still on the trees at this point; the yellow and green hues were nice contrasts against the largely silver/grey-based cars.

Mike’s S13 – like Vincent’s Spec R – was hiding a little secret under its hood which you’ll see a bit later on in the post. Hint: not all of the cars here had 4 cylinders. Wink.

Dustin’s Spec R will always be special to me because it was actually the first S15 I ever rode in, and was even the first I ever saw up close in person. It was a super-early build and so could come over early as well; I think it was one of the first examples to land back when these just started becoming legal to import.

Anyway, after I’d gotten in that first round of photos Calvin pulled up in his own S15 so we all hopped in and headed down the road to Donny’s A&W. Luckily we found some space in one of the aisles to have all of the cars together and so we lined them up. Those of us with turbos (…) popped our hoods as well.

Like with Dustin’s, it had also been a while since I’d seen Calvin’s S15 up close. I enjoyed seeing such a variety of S15s together too; while there were shared parts between them each had its own unique character with Calvin’s definitely being much further toward the aggressive/in-your-face side of things. Check out the engine bay’s paint too!

Dustin’s has had a few slightly different looks over the years, but here it was sporting its Meisters and largely-OEM aero setup…splitter and canards aside.

Quick interruption to bring you Danny and his Lupo since he then rolled in. “Look, it’s cute!” said one fellow, pointing to the plate. Haha. Back to the Nissans…

Vincent definitely won for the best engine/bay setup of the bunch with his super clean RB swap.

But as mentioned, Mike too was also hiding a 6-cylinder surprise although from a different camp! JZ and RB swaps both have their pros and cons but either way you’ll end up with a rowdy car.

Further mixing things up at A&W, Mike’s 180 was joined by a 240 relative, rear-mount radiator included. Imagine trying to drive in something like this over in Vancouver…if VPD could pull you over any faster your trip would be measured in negative amounts of time.

With all of the cars together at last and all of us at A&W you’d think we’d quite happily spend the entire evening there before cruising back home afterwards, but as mentioned we decided to fit in one more meet. Well, maybe “decided” isn’t the correct word, since there really wasn’t a choice given why the second was being held. In any case once we’d looked around for a little while and Dustin had finished his dinner, we climbed back in the cars to head a few minutes further down the road.

Also, yes. This guy. We go to A&W and while we’re walking through the lot Dustin – all of 30 feet from the restaurant – gets on his phone and orders Noodlebox instead. I’m sure the delivery driver must’ve been confused when he saw the address. Haha

So what was that second meet you ask? And why, given it was super short notice, on the same night as A&W, and scheduled to start just as the sun would basically be down, did I say that there was no way we couldn’t go?

To make the story short, a local 11-year old had been going though an extremely tough time with some severe bullying. A big fan of cars, a simple little request was put out to hopefully gather a few cars together for a meet so that he could have a night away from the troubles and have his spirits lifted a bit. The result was pretty good to say the least! What you see in the photo above was maybe one third of the gathering!

Owners of tuners, classics, exotics and more all came out for him and hopefully the massive turnout did what it was supposed to do. I didn’t get the chance to say hi myself but he got to sit in my mother’s S13 (she and Geoff joined us here after A&W) as well as other cars, go for rides, and overall just be surrounded by support.

Considering how dark it was at this point I didn’t really take many photos, but that was okay. We met up with some of the Redline girls and many other familiar faces, sharing some laughs while we all took in the amazing selection of cars that had shown up, witnessing the support for a little boy that until this night basically no one in the lot had met.

With all of the drama and BS we’d witnessed this season (how many meets had to be supervised by CPS?) this was also a welcome change of attitude and a reminder that despite the idiots out there, there’s still no shortage of enthusiasts doing all of this for the right reasons.

I realize that this post itself features two distinct tones but the night did as well. It all started off as a simple enough idea – get a few of our cars together for some photos before they went away for winter – but ended off with what I think (can it really be argued?) was the most important and special meet of the year. It may have taken us a while to finally get the S15s together – especially Dustin’s R and my S – but I’m glad that when it finally came together, it was on this night.

-Bill