Alrighty – Driven 2022. Let’s get started on the main coverage shall we?

I’ll admit, each year when it comes to Driven I’m always slightly apprehensive about shooting an event again as it’ll be the first time in about 6 months that I have, and usually the first outing of the year with my full camera kit as well. Add to that the Oval’s lighting and general crowdedness and it’s probably not the best combination of factors. That said, I’ve been quite pleased with this year’s set thus far and am excited to have this first part ready to share with you all now.

If there’s one benefit to our winters, it’s that many people have plenty of time with which to upgrade their cars and take things further than before – and many did. With the hibernation/build season now behind us and show season definitely underway I can’t wait to get out with the camera regularly to capture more for the site and show off more of what Calgary’s community has to offer in 2022, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

Today I have the first of two parts of Driven 2022 coverage, and I might as well preface it with the disclaimer that I didn’t capture every single car at the event so I’m sorry if you’re looking for yours and you don’t see it here or in the following Part 2. Sometimes it was due to crowds, sometimes poor placement or lighting, or in the case of a few cars I legitimately never even had a chance to see them, despite obviously being there the whole day (Frank’s FD is one such example, sorry!). So much time was spent (quite happily) visiting with friends and catching up that even after 9 or 10 hours I hadn’t covered every inch of the venue. That said, there are many more shows to come this season, with my next scheduled event already just a week away. But anyway, on to the photos from last weekend and the first Driven to take place at the Oval since 2019. Let’s go!

Kicking things off with one of the most recognizable builds around, Chain Smoker the ’47 Fargo. The workmanship on display with this is nothing short of amazing, with hundreds and hundreds of feet of chain all meticulously welded to drape around the truck. Incidentally you’ll also find a 5.9L diesel with huge compound turbos, if you ever manage to look past the crazy body.

Beautiful classic Impala on some wire wheels, which would surely pass a BI.

Noel’s S14 looking good as always, even with a little battle scar – this isn’t a show car, though it could double as one.

With no flashy colours or graphics to draw you in this STI could easily be overlooked but my word did it feature a lot of impressive work, rewarding those who took a closer look. The dash and other panels inside had all been Alcantara wrapped, it wore Zero Sports aero, and the underside had received a full refresh with everything Whiteline makes on top of much more. The side skirts were even molded for a cleaner look – when was the last time you saw that?

If there was an award for Most Burnt Titanium…ARC air box is just a bonus too.

Pandem MX-5 sporting a full Advan livery, as part of Infamous’ lineup.

Gabriel’s Integra and Jay’s Jetta, representing Still Plays With Cars.

I appreciated the less-is-more approach to this Supra’s exterior, contrasting the big single underhood. The clear cam cover was a nice touch.

The Camaro beside it was perhaps a bit less secretive about any underhood work – there was far more custom work throughout but I was continually drawn to the front “grille”, which was just a bit of mesh in front of a pair of a headlights and an enormous intercooler taking up nearly all of the space between them.

Proof that you can go wild while still keeping it clean: the Rocket Bunny flares and perfect fitment took center stage, with some underglow as a final detail; nothing else was fighting for your attention. Incidentally it was sitting on Work L1s, one of my favourite wheels presently.

I made sure to get an angle of Zak’s Vigor that showed off the full range of colours in his wrap.

Being dumped on the ground only served to make this Caddy look even longer than it would normally.

Joshy and Alexa’s Chaser, doing its best to house those 10” wide wheels.

In case you missed the memo, underglow is definitely back in! The lighting behind the bumper to show off the intercooler on the R was a nice touch.

Mani’s WRX went through a slight changeup this winter, which you might notice if you look close enough (It was in fact a full widebody, new wrap, and Infamous aero).

I’m sure everyone’s aware but I’ll say it anyway: Z33s seem to be the new S13s as it seems like they’re all getting smashed up drifting or abused in other ways these days. Clean ones are really starting to stand out and this one – looking rather functional on some staggered CEs and wearing the signature orange paint – was a favourite of the day for me.

A rather vibrant trio of Hondas from the new FK8 back to the classic (literally, ugh) DC2.

This could possibly be the last photo I’ll have taken of Liam’s FK7 while it’s still his? Following Driven he revealed his new project (one which you’ll recognize) and that the Civic was for sale. That mental carbon weave still impresses me every time.

I haven’t watched the market too closely, but I always wonder if the values of F3x/F8x cars have risen with the introduction of the new generation. Sorry, had to. Haha

The new pale blue wrap did work quite well with the red accents and carbon fiber.

I had a great visit with Calvin of Funky Garage at the show, and he was quite keen to show off the freshly-finished Itasha NA1 he worked on for Fake Hero. They went from pitching the idea to having a finished product overnight, after starting at 1am or something stupid. This kind of insanity I can get behind.

Jumping back to that DC2 seen a handful of photos prior; Midori Green has always been one of my favourite OEM colours and DC2/4s seem to be severely under-represented here these days, so this was a double win for me. Seeing an original four-eyed front end was also a bit unusual since JDM conversions have been so common for these.

I will admit I didn’t realize at all until I was editing the photos, but I had shot this S14 at last year’s Driven and not realized it was the same car! Granted, last year it was black with a red bay and sat on TEs. This new green scheme though really made it pop.

The bay was still the most impressive part for me though, with that insane amount of shaving and tidying. Note that even the firewall had undergone extensive smoothing.

The faux Police car had its lights going once again to really complete the look. I’ve seen it on the road a few times here and there and I guess the livery must not cause any trouble since it’s not imitating one of our police cars.

The coupe still stands as my favourite S13 body style, sorry Mom. Haha. There was almost an Underground 2 vibe to this with the colour and livery.

The always-beautiful E28, representing Sheni’s. Look at that tuck in the rear!

Calgary’s second RWB (coming in a few years ago), Fujigokoro. I can’t believe our first taste of RWB was over 6 years ago now!

A healthy amount of carbon on this Mk5. The TEs were sized beautifully as well.

Representing the other end of the spectrum as compared to my own S15. It almost has the feel of being an alternate-universe version of David’s old Rocket Bunny, 2JZ S15.

The photo’s not the greatest but I’ve always appreciated the cleanliness (and colour) of this G.

It’s hard to go wrong with Spoon parts on a Type R, and the FK8 is no different. I’m still not sure how I feel about GT wings on this chassis though. Haha

littlebluecivic’s EBP coupe all cleaned up. Another chassis we don’t see enough of these days.

We’re starting to see a few Broncos sporting some parts up here, as they make their way to customers and the wrenches start getting turned. The Jurassic Park livery on this one was an awesome touch.

Gian’s 7 series certainly made itself known last year with numerous awards (even taking the 5th spot on our Top Five Builds list) and was back this time around with an even better interior display, but the real showpiece was the new trunk setup. The installation in the trunk itself would have been great on its own but the molded enclosure on the trunk lid was icing on the cake (and that holding the TV below the third brake light); a slight callback to the days of crazy ICE in cars with elaborate, molded housings.

The fully colour-matched Varis bumper on this STI changed things up a bit, and kept the aero change a bit more discreet. I have to point out though that it had the registration number (320) I would have preferred. Haha

I’ve seen many Jetta/Golf face swaps over the years, but I don’t know if I’d come across an R32 nose on a Jetta before.

Oh yes, underglow is definitely back! I can’t recall if it was a full rainbow setup here but the blue/red as captured nicely matches with the red accents and titanium widebody hardware.

And with that, it’s probably as good a time as any to wrap up this post today. Check back soon for Part 2, and as always thank you for reading!

-Bill