All the fun, none of the idiocy. That’s the best way I can sum up these initial Tuner Tailgate meets, co-hosted by Redline Sorority and Not Available. If this is the first time you’re hearing of these, the quick summary is as follows: both Redline and NA lost their meets last year to the stupidity so for the 2021 season they banded together to bring to the community Tuner Tailgate. Not only does the location change each week but the day on which it’s held does as well, and invites/meet details are all handled via DMs on Instagram with no public announcements or discussions.
And it works PERFECTLY.
I personally haven’t made it to every Tuner Tailgate this season but those I have been able to attend have proven that this system is the way to approach meets from now on. Redline and NA are able to bring together quite large groups of owners and cars with great diversity and we’re all able to enjoy nice, relaxing, and mature meets just as we used to in the OG Beyond days. One person may have received the banhammer following an unnecessary pull while leaving one week but that has been the worst of it, it seems. We can all finally have proper meets and hang out, care-free.
The changing locations and dates works rather nicely too, in that they offer a refreshing mix of backdrops for photos and help to avoid repeated lengthy trips if you happen to live far away from where it’s hosted; the following week, it could be considerably closer!
All together, the updated approach to organizing these combined with the always-changing dates and locations have resulted in some of the best meets in recent memory – and below are my sets of photos from those that I’ve attended this year. I hope you enjoy!
Erin, pulling in with her Mk7. Still one of my favourite local GTIs.
There’ll be many dog photos in this one, and many of Nood(le)s specifically too.
Jon making friends.
Mani’s WRX is a car that I see just about everywhere. Outside of the classic car gatherings at A&W, if there’s a meet it seems he’s there.
Quite a tasteful, functional-looking S2000.
This S2000-powered Levin really grabbed our attention; I like that I was able to get it and Jay’s Mk4 in the same shot, given their similar colour combos.
Naila’s Fiesta ST – I don’t believe it has been seen on the site yet with its new wheels?
I would write something about purists needing to look away here, but it had already been cut up for the widebody so maybe they’ve already scrolled past – the Thirty Three Ten FD ditched its rotary over the winter for an LS swap inside its fully redone bay. This was drawing a steady crowd and for good reason!
Hannah’s FoST.
Justine is going for that straight-out-of-NFS:U2 look and it’s working well. Yes, it has underglow!
Redline, all lined up.
Pepper, showing off that massive intercooler and intake snorkel in the evening light.
I felt like doing something a touch different here, so I converted the photo to black and white save for the tail lights and main license plate text. Also, Alberta no longer using expiration stickers sure does clean things up!
You would have seen it above while it was in its temporary no bumper/no fender setup but the new look of Ken’s G37 was recently unveiled with the new front end aero. The carbon fiber overlays on the fenders were a wicked idea and came out really well!
People continue to ask if I sold Mustard; apparently I’m still not doing a good enough job of alternating between it and the S15 for events. Haha. Here’s your proof that it’s still in the fleet! Sheesh.
Little boosted D-series EK; I’m sure this thing must move.
Joven’s Accord always breaks necks when airred down. The best part is that he even leaves it like this when it’s parked at work, and he makes the rest of us (Austin aside, with his own bagged RS) look bad.
Keely, Eric, and Cory representing Affiliated.
Melle’s S13, showing off its turbo KA heart.
Erin again, because I promised I’d get a shot of her new spoiler. Here you go!
And more proof. You should all know by now that this car will never be sold. Stop asking if it has been! Haha
It’s not just the meet posts that dog photos (and Noodles photos in particular) are taking over – our group chat is basically transitioning to the same thing.
I must say, I rather liked the white hood bra paired with the white wheels here. Remember when everyone was scooping these up for their Hondas in what, the late-00’s? Heck, I still have one for the Grand Prix somewhere, given it never had PPF.
Closing out today with a bored, tired Noods. Hilariously, when she stood back up we could see a dirt outline on the side of her face from the ground.
I’m not sure when a Volume 2 of Tuner Tailgate photos will come as I now need to wait for another series of them to take place so that I can shoot some more, but a lack of content certainly isn’t a concern right now. With the S15’s Driven prep going rather well (as seen on IG) and some more parts uncovered for Arabis – on top of many other events we’ve had now that we’re able to go more or less full speed ahead with car season – there’s a lot to share in the next while! Time to get back to editing I suppose – thanks for reading!
-Bill