I won’t lie; as the end of a car season approaches, I can feel pretty burnt-out and tired of the whole thing, ready for a hiatus as we work through the sno…not sunny months (I can’t bring myself to say that word). I think it’s safe to say that anyone looking in on this world from the “outside” can very easily underestimate just how many hours and how much energy we all spend between working on the cars, detailing the cars, preparing for events, traveling to and from events (not to mention the time at them as well), and so forth. It really does feel like a full-time job on its own at times, and after a number of months of (sometimes) multiple events each week, a recharge is welcome. However – as I’d mentioned a few entries ago – the end of the season brings with it a rush of sorts to fit in just one more event or install. And then just one more. And one more again. There’s a sense of urgency almost, to make the most of every last nice day before the weather turns and cars are converted to you-know-what mode, or put away entirely.
This year all of these final events and such have really worked to give me a second wind so to speak, erasing that fatigue and bringing back the excitement almost as if we were just coming out of hibernation. It all kicked off with the Steel Dreamz/Custom Decals Closer weekend, and is carrying through to now as Mario and I are throwing ideas around for his new build, High River is today, the fall colours are in full effect (photoshoot time!), and some new pieces are already being test-fit on the S15 for a future season (22? 23? Not sure yet). We’ll have more than enough time to relax soon enough. For now let’s keep going with the car activities, and for tonight let’s carry on with Steel Dreamz coverage, showing the rest of the photos from the event.
Part 2 tonight, you will notice, has considerably more photos than Part 1. In most cases I probably would have split this into three entries but with Mustard’s 10th “birthday” post going up in between I didn’t want to hold off on the rest of these any longer, especially as we still have the Closer photos to go through.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy Part 2 of 2 of the 2021 Steel Dreamz show!
Starting off today’s entry in a new tent, up first were a couple of Birdy’s cars: his FR-S and StreetHunter Supra. In the dark factory blue the kit really does fly under the radar, but the slight width increase really helps I feel.
Stock body for comparison.
It seems a few more MR2s are starting to appear, but even so they’re still uncommon enough that they really turn your head at an event and stand out.
I do not know the owner nor much else, but I do believe this boosted Corolla won Best Toyota at the end of the day! Since JC’s example some years back, I don’t think I’ve really seen one of this generation receive a lot of work around here.
During roll in this 240SX happened to pass by our lineup and was being driven by an older lady. My mother immediately took notice of course, and went over to find the owner once everything had been set up for the day. Not only was the car stock and in amazing condition, but the lady in question was the original owner of it. And yes, in case you were wondering, she knows what she has. Haha. It would be amazing to have this and the convertible side-by-side for photos some day!
Puppy photo for you, Kendra!
Stageas are always a welcome sight. Really random comment, but it’s quite odd to see window visors that are one piece for both front and rear windows. The things I notice…
Unexpected colour choice for a VIP platform, but not unprecedented. VIP seems to be gaining some steam here but we’ve yet to see anyone really go the completely bonkers route with a build in terms of colours and styling.
SCs in this colour will always immediately take me back to high school, when my friend Justin and I would bomb around town in my Grand Prix and/or his green SC400. Looking back, that 400 really was a lot of car for a couple of 16/17 year-olds because it was a fairly insane horsepower-to-money ratio. I saw this slammed SC again the next day and was telling Harrison about that old SC400, and then Justin unexpectedly appeared so we were able to catch up in person for the first time in quite a while. What are the odds?
Tiegan’s FK8, lit up.
*ahem* To everyone at the 69th street meet a few weeks back popping and banging through the parkade: no one cares that your car burbles. In fact, we’re only listening in the hopes that the next bang is something expensive doing something it shouldn’t.
Mel and Yolanda can never be accused of owning garage queens – the STs have been everywhere this year! Unfortunately though, after this weekend’s track time the mini ST may not be going anywhere for a little while now, but Mel has the perfect opportunity to make it even faster for next season. Every cloud has a silver lining, and all that…
The cherry blossom livery on the “toaster” was a perfect choice, to tie in with the pink of the STi decals.
The final of the four tents showed a sudden and drastic change from the other three, I’ll put it that way. Haha. From compacts and things with steering wheels on the wrong side, it was suddenly back 50 years or more in cases. I always enjoy seeing such insane diversity at events and even with the relatively smaller size of Steel Dreamz this year, the diversity was still strong.
One thing that classic/antique owners still do worlds better than our younger crowd is signage and information displayed with the cars. Sometimes they get in the way for photos, but it’s always welcome to have the opportunity to learn more about and therefore better appreciate what we’re looking at.
Fun fact: you can actually order a Bullitt Mustang in black instead of the signature Highland Green if you wish, something that literally none of us at my dealership knew until a black Bullitt came in one day. Of course, it’s completely wrong to do so but it is at least an option. Haha
Be it the Wild Wednesday meets, A&W, or elsewhere; I can usually find Perry’s PT Cruiser at anything I attend. He’s always on the go with this thing!
Beautiful black Prowler; there really were some outrageous (and awesome for it) cars from this time from numerous manufacturers.
I was quite pleased to see a Grand Prix in the lineup. I want to say, ’66?
Similarly I’m not sure on the exact year of the Fargo, but early-60s is the rough time I do believe.
Finally, there were a few vehicles that ended up forming a line by the food stand but with the rain having long since stopped the lack of shelter wasn’t a concern. Up first was an EcoBoost Mustang, something I’ve long been curious to try.
One of the local Herbies was also in attendance.
There’s something about the ’40’s/very very early ’50’s cars that draws me in. It’s pretty crazy to think that this car was on the road just over 70 years ago and had survived the passing of time to be at Steel Dreamz in 2021.
Back inside our tent now, we’re getting to the final photos from the day. Hilariously, as part of this Celica Supra’s mod list there was a small note highlighting what was still stock on the car. “Rear wheel bearings. Most of the body panels. E-brake.”
Quite a hefty build log was displayed with this little Suzuki. Before Instagram there were forums, and before forums there were 20-pound photo albums.
This tastefully-done Altezza provided a bit of contrast for the stock IS300 next to it, seen in Part 1. Perfect fitment, no need to destroy fenders or slam it to unusable levels.
A couple of cars that came in a little bit later were this R32 with a touch of carbon fiber (I rather like the yellow headlights against the dark red and gold), and a nicely-done LCI E92. With their rising values we’re of course seeing more and more care put into Skylines with each passing day, but it seems E92s are at that point currently where they’re just affordable enough that many wind up a bit…”tired” looking. It was nice to see one with some quality parts that looked purposeful and not overdone.
With Binh’s Z having not been out for a while I made sure to get a number of photos of it and the S15 side by side, so I might as well toss one more in here before we wrap up.
And finally, one of the Best in Show award for Speedy’s 4Runner, which really was one heck of a trophy.
I want to say thanks again to Steve and the rest of the Speedy team for inviting us down to take part and help represent the shop, and congratulations to all of the winners! I’m glad I could finally cross Steel Dreamz off from my list of shows-not-yet-attended, was happy to see Doug’s E30 finally get a chance to be displayed, and wasn’t too embarrassed that the Suburban’s photo display included some of me as a 1- and 2-year old standing next to the then-new truck. Haha
Anyway, check back soon for the photos of Mario’s new project (you all should know what it is by now) before we get into the Closer photos and more. Thanks for reading!
-Bill