The first entry of 2023! I would say something about “returning after a break for the holidays”, however the last few weeks have been anything but a break. The Top 5 Builds list is being compiled so that it may be published in the near future, other projects are underway for releases at various points in the coming season, and if you saw the Instagram updates from us or Infamous Aero on Friday you’ll know that the restoration of the S15’s Bomex kit has now begun! Jon is especially excited about that last point, naturally.

Before we get into any of these new 2023 projects and updates however, we have the promised post-High River photos to kick off this new year! As the perfect cherry-on-top for what was already an incredible day, a few of us hung around after the main event and soon found ourselves with a nearly-empty town for a few final photos of the cars together. The weather was still beautiful, none of us had anywhere to be for the rest of the day, and with the season soon to end at this point we didn’t know how many more chances we’d have to see the cars side by side.

Since all of our cars had been in George Lane Park specifically for the event – Yolanda, Harrison, Maggie, and myself were in the ball diamond while Ken was just outside – we first moved them all together (by where Ken had been parked) for a few photos and to give the rest of the park and town time to clear out. Fortunately in these photos you can’t see just how insanely dusty they all were after the day. This was just a quick line-up so I only grabbed a few shots:

The girls’ hatchbacks were positioned on either end, looking good as always. Watch for more carbon fiber to be added to Yolanda’s this season!

Harrison’s MX-6 on those always-ready-for-a-Jason-BI MS-01Ss.

And to the other side of my Silvia, Ken’s supercharged G with the infamous purple Kansais.

Anyway, it didn’t take too long for the place to empty out so we all decided to carry on as well. Yolanda and Maggie hit the road to head back to Calgary while Ken, Harrison, and myself found a local wash to get the inch of dust and dirt off of our cars before some more photos in the town. I need to say thanks again to Ken and Harrison for spotting me on the way out as the wash’s exit ramp was insanely steep and in a poor state of repair, and the S15 had the worst clearance of the trio. Once all three cars got out we then circled back to find a nice backdrop.

With a suitable street found, we parked all of the cars and set about properly drying them off so that they looked their best.

Just look at those barrels!

The trio for the rest of the day – Wish Silvia, Grand Am, Altima.

Immaculate and conversation-starting MS-01Ss, OEM+ big brake kit and other additions, subtle front lip, and perfect ride height. Job done.

I know Jon can’t contain his excitement for the early-2000’s aero to be fitted but this will more or less be the S15’s “default” exterior setup which it will run most of the time.

Ken’s G meanwhile would be the completely under-the-radar car of the trio if it weren’t for its inherited purple wheels, haha. It honestly works better than you’d think it would, but its real highlight is of course the supercharger.

After a few photos in town we then decided to circle back around again to the park as there were some specific shots Harrison wanted of the MX-6 which required greenery as a background as opposed to buildings. We set the cars off to the side so they were out of the way, and moved them down the road a touch one at a time to get the final individual photos of the day.

And yes, you’ve seen the one of the S15 before (in its seat delete update post from November) but it’s going here again since it’s part of the post-High River set! These three were probably my favourite shots from the day and the perfect way with which to end the outing. From here we hit up a local Tim Horton’s for coffee and snacks before hitting the highway together to finally cruise back into Calgary.

After the ~11 hour day it was nice to be home but at the same time there was a bit of sadness that the day had come to a close. This was a true highlight of the season and none of us can wait to return to High River to do it all over again; perhaps leaving cards at home and just bringing limited cash would be a wise move next time though, so we’re forced to be a bit more responsible with the diecasts for sale…

-Bill