Well, I’d call the first Midnight Rev Up in Calgary a success! Another great show put on by the MNRU team and they came in full blast. MNRU originated in Edmonton and as you may know, we’ve been making the trips down there for the last few years to help judge and promote the show and it’s always been such a high quality show over there that it would be a shame to keep it there. There’s talent all over Western Canada and it just takes a good show to bring them out.

The MNRU took to the Platform Parkade in downtown Calgary and it could not have been a better place to host the event. The day was probably one of the hottest days of the year – we were sitting at +30C during roll-in at around 4PM but it started to cool down and cloud over lightly as the evening went on. Good news for the guys parked up top as they would’ve baked real quick.

The good news is that we saw lots of tough talent and old faces come out to the show. The great news is that they’re planning on coming back next year. I had the discussion with a few others and I’d say that the MNRU show is a good successor to the illmotion Sunday School shows. Not to the same volume, but the quality is there and that’s really what matters. Sunday School took huge strides in putting on one of the biggest and well-controlled shows in Western Canada and that was exciting. MNRU is taking hints from all over and putting on some really Wekfest-inspired shows and that’s what I’ve been begging for ever since I attended my first one in Chicago several years ago. It’s definitely not easy, but they’re making big steps towards it and I’m all for it.

I always go on about it, but controlling a car show and the entrants that come with it is not easy. First, you have to make sure everyone that should know about it actually knows about it. They need to want to come to the show to even make it happen. Once you have that, then the rest kind of all lands in the hands of the organizers. I’m not going to go on about the layout and parking situation but let’s just say you don’t let them park in random circles or give a group of 10 cars the space of 3.

I digress… I won’t go into much blabbering for YYC. The show was great, the team had did a great job in a new space that was unfamiliar to them and the cars were awesome. I would say that judging the Calgary scene was about as difficult as the Edmonton group. Lots of really high quality contenders and as I always say – you can’t win them all. There are 10 total individual trophies and 2 team/display awards. If we could give more out, they’d just be participation trophies. There’s a lot of behind the scenes discussion after we’ve seen all the cars and while we always think we made the best choice, there are always people that think we were wrong – and that’s OK. If you’re reading this and you’re a little upset that maybe you or your buddies should’ve won an award, I’ll tell you that there’s a high chance we probably had them on our list but there was something someone else had that just tipped the scales in their favour a little bit more. Some OG’s that continue to put in the time, the work and the money and some newcomers that came out of the gates just right. Congratulations to all the winners that night – all well-deserved!

Onto the pics!

Guess I’ll start with my heap lol.

And of course, following mine is always JC’s lol.

Brooke’s Q

Alyssa’s RS5

Justine’s FRS

This was too cool. Never seen this before – Honda Orthia

Maggie’s Golf R. She just picked up an OG VW Beetle that I was looking forward to seeing but there are still some small issues that she needs to resolve before taking it out.

Yolanda’s Focus ST

Mel’s Fiesta ST

Cool pairing. The color match just hits right

The view was also too cool at Platform being able to see across, above and below from wherever you were standing.

S14 – I think this was on air. Pretty cool

Some wild fitment on this STI

A really clean Celsior. Loved the finish on the Bazreia’s

Money M3

Danny’s TT

Xavier’s S430 – one of the winners of the night. I’m glad he came in on the JP Scara’s – always a clean look.

Alyssa/Chris’s 240SX. I don’t see this one too often but it was certainly one of our top contenders.

Harry’s MKV GTI

Paul’s Accord Euro R

Sun was hittin’ right

This was a super clean STI Hatch build. Everything was so clean. Admittedly, it’s pretty rare to see an almost mint condition STI with some good quality parts.

Harrison’s MX6 looking glossy AF. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this guys car dirty. Always clean barrels too LOL

Cool Suzuki Carry

This was pretty cool. Molded flares – kind of gave it an OG Datsun look. Definitely cool to see this over the bolts and rivets.

Frank’s LS Rocket Bunny RX7

Bill’s S15 looking good on the Super Advans.

Finally had a chance to see the trunk set up that he built to include the Auto Glym detailing supplies inside. Handy.

This thing was so wild. It was nostalgic of the 90’s where the loudest and hardest hitting sound system was all the rage. TV set up in the trunk and just these massive like 20″ subs right in the back seat. The sound was pretty clean too. I didn’t get a shot of the inside but you can almost “hear” this picture lol.

An FK7 with a bunch of wild aero including the Voltex Swan neck out back. Haven’t seen one on this Chassis before but it looked decent.

Funky Garage. I know I rag on people that roll into car shows with dirty cars but I’m pretty sure every car show I’ve seen him in, he rolls in without cleaning it. I’m used to it but it also just happens to match the whole vibe he’s got going on so I dig it lol.

Aldrin’s RB FRS – looking clean as usual.

Khail’s SI Coupe

Gem’s WRX

Jeff’s S15 on TE37’s. Great fitment.

Gerald’s slammed widebody WRX. A few years ago, Gerald’s car almost took our pick but he had a few things that were lacking but upon visiting it again this year, it was still in the back of our minds and it came up to par. A pretty underrated build that’s easy to walk past  but the body work and the attention to detail on it was great.

Enzo’s FK8. This guy changes wheels like I change my underwear.

Angelo’s Evo X

MNRU x JTOONED collab shirts

One more of Gerald’s WRX without the crowd

VIP 7-series laid out on a red carpet – the heat coming from this thing was intense.

Roel’s Varis Widebody FK8. I think a few things were holding this back from winning in Edmonton and Roel was quick to fix it for this show. The biggest thing was the paint mismatch on the flares – but it’s nice to see it all matches now and that is the finishing piece! Congrats.

Romel’s Celica – haven’t seen this thing in a minute. I still love this thing.

Binh’s Datsun 240z looking unapologetically good. Hard to argue that it might have been one of the top builds of the night.

Daniel’s RX8

Jeff’s GTI with Porsche-inspired livery/decals.

…Must… Not… Say… Anythi…. Your wheels were dirty.

Kanji’s Aimgain BRZ. Been a minute since I’ve seen this.

Danisha/Alex’s GTR from Executive Wraps. Your go-to spot for wraps/PPF/detailing!

Alex’s freshly finished ITR. I saw Levi post a story with a caption that fit Alex’s build so well…

“Imagine being this allergic to money”.

Mugen bolts in every spot a Mugen bolt could fit in the engine bay. Imagine…

Adrian’s EJ1. So nostalgic of the 90’s builds and I’m here for it.

Derek’s Mugen OEM FD2 converted Civic/CSX. It’s come a long way since he first got it and now it’s looking proper.

Jackie’s Spoon NSX sans the GT wing. I’m not sure whether I like it more with or without the wing. I like both LOL.

Brandon’s RSX with my favourite bumper ever for this chassis.

And some new Retrofitted lights. PERFECT.

Levi’s R32. Unless you follow this guy and see what he has to go through with this thing, you wouldn’t know any better. But it’s sick.

Josh’s M3 – it’s for sale 🙂

Isaac’s RX7

Another one of Alex’s toys…

Big Dinan Daddy

Danny’s Porsche on TE37’s – haven’t seen him for a while! Love that he hauls the kids in the back of this.

Nick’s GT3 on BBS’s

Jackson’s Porsche on GT’s. Good choice. I’m not biased.

Andrew’s IS-F. I’m sure you’ve seen it around but you probably have no idea. I’ll continue to praise him as the T-Demand king. Congrats on the win. Another well-deserved one.

I wish I got the chance to see the puddle lights though 😦

Alex’s IS-F. I think he drives this only to get oil changes and then back home again. Why does he get oil changes if he doesn’t drive it, you ask? I don’t know either. LOL

Jeremy’s 2JZ IS300. So good!!

Ben’s Supra MK5. Really love how this is put together. Not over the top but aggressive enough. Really clean lines all around.

Another winner of the night was this RX7. Simple, clean, but lots of good work put into it and you could tell. Very well done.

Benny’s Trueno. If you were at the top at any point, there’s no chance you would’ve missed seeing this. Always a pleasure to see.

Jamie’s S2000

Jonathan’s S2000 on Regas

Barb’s full J’s Racing S2000

David’s Spoon ITR

Stephen’s EG Civic. Good job on the wheel cleaning bro! He took them off to clean them LOL. Love the dedication.

Always a pleasure to see Ed’s 89 CRX. There’s something about seeing a completely unmolested oldschool Honda in today’s tuner world. Like… This is what they looked like!? LOL

Rich’s IS300 with dirty tires. JK LOL

Cholo’s Spoon FK8. Now he’s full Spoon with the change of his Recaro RS-G’s to Spoon buckets.

Marks’ Spoon EG all completed. So good!

And the last shot I took of the night was the view from the stairwell before heading back down for judging.

I know the MNRU team is super grateful for the support of this event and on behalf of them, I wanted to thank everyone for coming as well. We were all kind of unsure what the reception would be but I think it’s safe to say that it was a hit and it’s all the more reason to come back next year. The dedication the team brings to these shows is unmatched and that’s one of the reasons I love to come out to them to help and support them. When the team puts in a tremendous amount of effort to put on the best show they can possibly put on, it’s worth coming out to.

Next stop – MNRU Vancouver! If you’re going there, we’ll see you there!