illmotion Sunday School Show and Shine IX – Part 6

As I end the Sunday School coverage for this year, I had mixed feelings about the turnout – nothing terrible – just that I usually have something to “talk” about but honestly, this year I don’t. In the past, I would often rant home about the plethora of replica parts and wheels – not that they didn’t exist at the show, but there was so few of them that it wasn’t worth writing about, and we’ll never be rid of them no matter how much we beg and plead. Other things that would make my eye twitch was poor paint condition (aside from ABG hunters paint – likely too busy trying to catch one than polish his car – so he gets a free pass). People actually care about the presentation of their car now – either it’s fully wrapped in Xpel/3M or it’s fully polished and topped with ceramic coating. My latest self-created award was the “dirty wheel” award that seemed to become a “meme” in our scene because of what happened at Driven 2 years ago. People are either cleaning the fuck out of their wheels or they’re asking if it’s a real award so they can keep them as dirty as possible LOL.

I’m being tagged in posts days before shows with captions like “who’s going to win @jayhoang’s dirty wheel award this year?” and that shit blows my mind! I’m not saying I’m the reason for change at all, I’m just saying that I’m happy that people are paying more attention to detail than they ever did in the past. It’s such a welcoming change because cars are so much more than putting on quality parts and showing up – it’s about how you present those parts and bring it all together. Your car could have $30k worth of mods on it but if your paint looks like shit or your $4k wheels look like they’re professional dirt collectors – your car will ultimately kind of look like shit too. Presentation is the cherry on top – not the wax or the ceramic coat you paid $1000 for – you need to make your bitch shine from the paint to the windows to the damn valve stems on the wheels. It needs to be fabulous.

So, my feelings about the show are not bad – it is a good thing and it’s refreshing.

With that said, we put illmotion Sunday School IX coverage to a rest with this last post. Thank you to the illmotion guys for putting together yet another stellar show that really means a lot more to the community than they might think. It’s kind of unfortunate because we’ve come so far and it’s taken us 9 years to get to this point of quality and recognition and on the 10th year, it’s done. 10 years is a long time to be doing this, no doubt, and people trip into new chapters of their lives. As much as we are still kids with cars at heart, good things have to come to an end. As I said in my first post – if there’s one thing to look forward to next year, it’s Sunday School X. I have no doubt in my mind it will be the biggest and best show that will come around for a long time… See you guys next year!

Starting off the line is Jimmy’s 3-series wagon on Volk TE37 Saga’s in the VEX booth

And right beside him, another 3-series wagon on BBS’s

Clean and boosted RX-7

Spoon-themed Type R on bronze Volk TE37’s.

Jayson Mac’s Toyota Levin with a 3SGE beams swap and ITB’s. The bronze TE37’s add to his build to really bring the iconic JDM car to life. I’ve seen this go through lots of stages through Instagram and at the VEX shop and it’s nice to see this come together. The red is also a nice change from the classic panda white/black you would typically see.

Giuseppe’s S15 Spec R on Gram Lights and a set of Endless BBK behind. Giuseppe has come a long way with the S15 in a very short amount of time. I’m not sure if this was intended, but it’s very reminiscent of his R32 with some of the aero he’s chosen and I love it.

Another shot of Binh’s Datsun 240. Tough to get photos of it that day since it seemed to be a crowd pleaser… Literally before and after this photo, it was packed with people.

Terence’s fresh K20 EK – it feels like he literally brings this car out to the illmotion show and then parks it again until the next show… LOL

Silvia on bronze TE37’s

A beautiful Porsche 993 RS 4.0 in red

Dallas’ RX7 on Volk TE37 Sagas. I believe a day or two before the show, he was rolling his fenders to get the wheels to fit nicely. Love the look. Over the last few months (maybe years now?) Dallas has been restoring the RX-7 to a more suitable and original state after the previous owner had some unwelcoming mods…

Boosted FRS slammed down on black/black Work VS-XX’s and a Rallybacker widebody. This was exceptionally clean with great bodywork.

Ryan Dandurand’s MR2 on matte black TE37’s. Ryan’s MR2 has been around for as long as I can remember. Considered to be one of the true OG cars that have stuck around and remained timeless. Ryan makes small modifications every year to keep it fresh but very little needs to be done to it for it to remain a timeless machine.

Alex Yoon’s IS-F on Volk ZE40’s. I haven’t seen Alex in years – we met way back when we were both driving Civics and being ricers. I recently reconnected with him and was stoked when I found out he ended up getting an IS-F. He had a lot of troubles earlier in the year with wheel fitments and had to basically take the hit on the first set of wheels he ordered since they were an aggressive set with basically no one around willing to take them on.

The ZE40’s were his second set and quite frankly, I think suit the car perfectly. ZE40’s are a great wheel but it’s not a wheel that looks good on every car like it’s older brother TE37 or something like the Advan GT. These sit right at home with the IS-F.

I believe this is the same GT-R that was sporting the “Top Secret” livery for a few years – and I think he’s decided to go without it now. Looks a lot cleaner this way.

Jake’s impeccably clean LS-swapped S14 on Advan GT’s. Jake’s car has been around for a while and not a lot has changed on it but not a lot needs to be changed either. His car has always been one of my favourites year after year – everything is just so nicely put together and the body is mint. The combination of JDM pieces like theAdvans and the Brides with the CTS-V brembos and LS-swap is just so good…

Ryan Dandurand’s Ferrari F355 slammed down on Work Meister S1R’s. The Italian twin to his MR2…

Zane’s full-out Varis Kamikaze GT-R on frozen carbon Advan GT’s by Bulletproof Automotive. Again, not much has changed but not much needs to change either… Always a stunner.

Another clean build in the Vex booth was this R32 on Wedsport SA-72R’s. Not a wheel you see much of, but looks great on this.

With all the new A90 Supra talk happening, I’ve yet to see one in person but the classic 90’s Supras don’t get old either. Still undecided on how much I like the new ones, but I do love me a clean A80…

Rhys’ Ferrari F430 also sitting low… I thought moving onto Porsches was the next step but maybe Ferrari’s are? I’ll never get there LOL

Another shot of Tommy’s R34 GTR Sedan…

Honestly – if there was one pic I wanted to take the most, it was of Nick Prah’s RX-7. Nick has been working on his RX-7 for a very long time and months ago when he helped me with restoring the FR-S back to stock, it was still in pieces at the shop. I know he said he was trying to get it ready but was unsure because of some of the extra side work that he took on…

For those of you that don’t know – Nick is a bodyshop guy and does all his own paint and modifications. He’s also probably one of the most detailed and biggest perfectionists I’ve ever met. I don’t know Nick much more personally than talking to him and having do work on my car but between the level of perfection he’s put into my car and the amount of time and work he’s put into his own – Nick is next level.

I spent a good amount of time walking around Nick’s car and there’s just so much that can be missed and appreciated if you didn’t really know much about him or the car. From the molded TCP Magic kit to the paint faded vents on the hood and on the Ganadors… There’s a level of complexity to things like this that you really need to just look at and take in slowly because it’s just that good…

Between the small details and the absolutely perfect paintjob he’s done – Nick also took home one of the honour roll awards which understandably is and was the most deserved award of the whole show. Not a single swirl on the paint, not a body gap too big or too narrow… This is what perfection looks like to me and is at a level that not even I can begin to imagine getting to simply because I don’t think I’m as patient as Nick is.

It’s builds like this that make you truly wonder if you’re building your own car right. Makes me proud to be able to say that Nick was the one that made the FR-S as good as it was simply because of how good a job he did on it. There are other examples in the city that display his work which were not in attendance at the show that I know of, but to have the “Nick Prah” touch is an honourable one for sure.

Garett’s dumped Miata on Work E-Wings. One of my favourite Miata’s to date – simple and clean…

Garett was one of the individuals that tagged me and asked who was going to win the dirty wheel award this year so I just double checked… Definitely not him. You could eat sushi off that lip – despicable. (LOL jk – glad you cleaned your wheels :D)

God damn I love a good Datsun… It’s really hard not to love this body style – it’s so classic and retro but just screams “JDM!!” to me

Another classic – Hakosuka GTR. What a lineup over at the entrance to the lot… great builds fellas…

Who loves dumped wagons? I do.

Derek Harvey’s super clean FRS on Gram Lights. I had to take a few minutes to check this thing out in person – lots of cool stuff going on here with Derek’s build and I only get to really see it on Instagram most of the time. I’m glad he decided to stick with the stock body – those hips are too nice to mess with.

In the engine, he’s got a V-mount – something you don’t see everyday on an FRS/BRZ and some titanium goodies as well. Super clean and well done.

Travis’ static VIP LS430 on Weds Kranze Cerberus sporting the Mode Parfume kit. I really really really love this look…

That IS from roll-in with the crazy kit and wheels…

A shot of the rear wheel – like an insane amount of lip – probably a good 7-8″ worth.

Another shot of the Spoon-themed Type R…

Silvia on VS-KF’s…

Another one of my favourites was this Mugen GE8 Fit with a K20 swap in the Legit Society line up. Like I mentioned in my earlier posts – the GE8 will always have a spot in my heart and this is a super clean example of a well done Fit. I wish there were more Fit builds around here – they have a lot of potential to look really good and go decently fast if you have the moola…

A very clean Varis Evo X on ZE40’s with the super concave face.

Another Varis Evo X but widebody this time wrapped in a sort of cream white wrap.

Eric’s VIP Sienna on Advan GT’s from Zokusha Tuning. Another one of my favourites just because it’s so niche and make some people go “what”. The VIP Van scene is just not big here and it’s likely because there isn’t a lot of choices to go with… Unlike Asia, we don’t have the choices of Vellfires or Alphards. If those ever came, I would cop one so fast…

Kriss Martin’s Varis widebody Evo X on bronze Volk TE37’s. This was black until a few months ago – I dig the new colour.

Another 3IS on Work Kiwami’s in a high polish. I love ultrasonic blue.

Another new one to me is this yellow Varis widebody STI Hatch on a set of Racing Green TE37’s. Two very extravagant colour choices but surpsingly combo well together.

I actually love the Racing Green on the TE37’s… Not sure it’d be easy to pull off on any other colour but this works great.

Carlos’ Varis widebody V2 WRX on bronze ZE40’s. Carlos’ car has been through several variations and this is by far my favourite. A mashup of tried and true JDM pieces with great execution. I get wet when I see super concave ZE40’s…

Marino’s ultra rareTRD widebody Supra…

Another STI sporting the Varis bumper on Gram Lights…

Kai’s 86 sporting the TRD lipkit and fender fins, Voltex swan neck, craftsquares and Volk ZE40’s. I really dig the final outcome that Kai came up with – it’s a mixture of OEM+ using the supremely underrated TRD kit for the 86’s with hints of GT using Voltex and Craftsquare. Another 86 that’s remained stock body and should be appreciated…

Iain’s Genesis coupeon Rotiforms…

I’ll be the first to say that I’ve been a longtime naysayer for the Golf R. Let me back that up by saying that it’s not because I hate VW or anything – it’s just that for a car that goes for the same price as the STI/Evo/CTR – it just looks generally underwhelming. Scratch that – it looks extremely underwhelming. Now I’ll also admit that I don’t know a shit ton about VW’s or euros so my opinion is likely unwelcome but if someone took the “R” badges off and showed me a Golf R – I wouldn’t know it’s a Golf R. LOL

On the other hand, take off the Type R batch or STI or Evolution badge off their respective cars and most would be able to probably guess it’s not a normal Civic, Impreza or Lancer. I know, I know – you are all saying “it has AWD and is superior to the CTR!” or “It has the same power and more potential!” – I get it. I understand it. I just can’t fork out that type of money for a car that looks like it’s base model brother (in my eyes).

HOWEVER, this Golf R – this one I can get behind. If the Golf R came with this lip kit and hood, then I’d be all for it. I saw this and said – “fuck, I love this Golf R”. All I’m saying is that VW kind of seemed a little lazy after they decided to make it AWD and have 300hp… They looked at the exterior and said “meh good enough”. lol

Mike Salek’s pride and joy Ducati – I’ve seen this thing go from frame to bike on Instagram and just like Trucks and Euros – I don’t know much about bikes – but I do know what is dope and what is not dope LOL.

The level of detail on Mike’s bike is amazing. From the Alcantara seat, to the custom paint… Truly a work of art down to the last bit.

Even pieces of dry carbon surround the bike…

At the end of the day, the tradition of giving out raffle prizes and honour roll awards begin… Lily – Prashants’ daughter chose the winning tickets. We seem to always get a comment that it’s rigged because the same people always win… It truly isn’t rigged and if you saw the amount of tickets that the same “winners” bought, you’d realize there was either no hope for anyone else or they just had a higher chance than everyone else.

Keep in mind that those individuals (who will not be named) put in literally hundreds of dollars in for raffle tickets where as a cheap ass like me would buy 1 or 2… The money goes to whatever foundation is chosen each year so it’s not like it gets recirculated or anything…