Author: jasonhoang

Nitro Rally RX x Yokohama Canada

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Been a minute, but this was a nice first post for the year. James at Yokohama Canada invited me out to the Rally Cross this weekend over at the Stampede Grounds. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend Saturday on the first day, but was able to show up on the Sunday to check out what it was all about.

Admittedly, I haven’t really kept up in the world of Nitro Rally but it was cool to see what it was all about. Yokohama Canada had a suite up in the Paddock Area with some really sweet views of the races. I was able to take some shots of what was happening – but unfortunately with my 35mm I couldn’t get close enough to the action like I wanted to. I was really hoping to get down to see the cars up close but it was pretty busy so I didn’t get any close ups.

I was able to get some shots on my phone as well with video – sorry about the poor quality upload through WordPress. No 4K 120FPS here 🙂

Just wanted to give a shout out to James and the Yokohama Canada team for the invite! It’s so sick to be able to be up close and personal with the events that take place locally and to see al the other segments of the business other than the motorsports line that I’m more used to. A great team to be a part of!

I knew where I had to be from a mile away lol.

Up from the other side of the paddock, the teams getting ready.

I wanted to steal one of these for the garage LOL

Another view of some of the cars. Most of them look like Ford Fiesta’s but unsure of a lot of the others. Many of the cars ranged from EV to combustion and to see them out on the track and the differences between them was unreal in person. You have the silent whines of the EV’s and the loud echoing booms of the combustion vehicles… Totally cool in person.

Here’s a view from the suite – we got a nice shot of the bend and a side view of the jump you can see on the right of the picture.

Something I was a little more interested in was this beauty. Check out the studs on this bad boy…

Hundreds of studs on a tire for the grip out on the icy track

Beauty.

Just on my way out, I tried to get some closer shots of the cars in the paddock but this was as close as I could get.

Some video shots – potato quality but still cool. 4 of the combustion vehicles out on the track

And a quick clip of the EV’s. That sound!

JTOONED is… Feeling Grateful

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Lately, I’ve been in a writing mood and I have so many thoughts in my head but no time to get them all down. A lot of my blog posts lately are culminations of days and/or weeks of entries that just get built up over time until I feel they’re complete. It’s rare when I get to sit down and write all in one sitting lately. I guess it allows for a few things – it lets me go back and re-read what I wrote and let’s me re-affirm that how I felt when I wrote it still applies and that it all makes sense.  I received a surprising amount of feedback on my last post – primarily because I wasn’t expecting it. I’m glad that it was able to resonate with so many of you and it makes me feel good when something that I’m feeling rings bells with so many others. It’s almost such a taboo thing to talk about because you feel guilty for feeling that way, but if you don’t talk about it, then how do you feel better about it? Anyway, if you care to read on about my life, then welcome. If not, then I wouldn’t know otherwise :).

Whenever it gets to the end of the year, I can’t help but start to reflect on it and think about what kind of change it brought my way, what hurdles did I have to jump over and how many positive things I’ve been lucky to come across. Notice my choice of words when I talk about the challenges – “what hurdles”, and when I talk about the good things “how many”. It’s important to reflect on all things but it’s more important to, as they say “count your blessings and not your problems”. I don’t count the challenges because they are nothing but a weight that you just can’t lift yet. I do count my achievements and victories because those are the things you build to lift the weight you couldn’t before. In other words, it’s kind of like adding to your squat or bench press – you’re never looking at the weight that’s not on the bar, you’re looking at the weight you’re pushing so that you can put more of it on, feel me?

It’s been 2.5 years since I started this thing called JTOONED. It was never meant to be what it was today… I guess what I mean is, I never imagined it to be what it is today. You know when people talk about how where they are today and how it’s because of the people that believed in them? That’s literally JTOONED. I didn’t think I could draw cars or create digital artwork but all it took was someone to see potential to try something new and convince me to jump for it. One thing led to another and here I am, knocking out all sorts of artwork because I began starving for challenge and new things. I’m a bit embarrassed at where I started because I look back and cringe a bit, but in that same breath, there were people that believed it to be amazing and that meant a lot to me. It still means a lot to me, because despite where I am now or what kind of art I’m creating, there really isn’t a day that goes by where my pencil hits the canvas and I don’t think about where I started and how grateful I am to all of you.

There have been many weeks where I have literally said aloud to Diana, “I think JTOONED is dead”. Maybe because some days I feel totally burned out and don’t feel like picking up the pencil, or maybe because I haven’t had a commission request in a few days. But I’ll admit to you right now that there also has not been a week that has gone by since May 2020 that I have not had at least one commission. Wild. I’m not trying to brag either. It’s just me validating the fact that I’m thankful for every single one of you that has reached out to me for a project. Some of you want the popular item on the menu, some of you want to try something new, some have new ideas and chose me to test it. Whatever the reason, I’m still here because of you and I’ve grown an exponential amount because of it.

I’ve logged a little over 1000 toons since I started. One, zero, zero, zero. Three zeros.  What the hell? Isn’t that insane? What’s more insane is that I’ve been able to connect with almost that many people around the world. Obviously not a 1:1 ratio since many have had more than one toon with me, but DUDE. Art is a crazy thing. Combine that with social media and you have something crazy powerful. I feel like I’ve tooned almost all the local cars here, I’ve tooned for someone in almost every State in the US (probably), I’ve tooned a literal dump truck and hauler for a guy in the East Coast, I’ve tooned a motorcycle for a guy down under (Australia – get your mind out of the gutter), I’ve tooned a guys’ guitar in Japan… I can go on, but you can see the reach that this all has and I’m absolutely grateful for every single person whose path I’ve crossed. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – for every toon I’ve done, it’s made the next toon – even if it was just a miniscule difference – better. A 0.1% improvement over 1000 toons is a 100% improvement. Refer to what I said above again – ” it’s kind of like adding to your squat or bench press – you’re never looking at the weight that’s not on the bar, you’re looking at the weight you’re pushing so that you can put more of it on”. Mind. Blown. 

You know what I never understood until now? When people say “without you guys, I wouldn’t be here” or “I’m able to do what I do because of you guys”. It never made sense to me because – what did I do? I just watch your videos, or I just like your posts, or I just follow you. And sure, there are people that just like to come along for the ride and there’s nothing wrong with that – I enjoy you enjoying being here – you don’t matter any less. But it’s mainly for the people that say “hey, I trust you to bring my vision to life” or “yo, I know you don’t toon X or Y, but I totally think you could if you tried” or “I’ve got an idea and I really wanted you to draw it because I dig your style”. That kind of belief, that kind of faith – that’s what people mean. That’s what I never understood until now. I didn’t believe in the trust that people could place in some random person like me to bring something really personal to them to life, so here I am telling you; without you guys, I wouldn’t be here and I’m only able to do what I do because of you guys. Truly. I wish there were some way that I could pay you all back for this amazing thing you’ve given me in some form other than my digital art.

Maybe it’s just that though, maybe this art is all that you’re here for and once again, I am eternally grateful. So much so that it almost brings tears to my eyes (hell, even if I were bawling right now, you wouldn’t know). I don’t know when the day I put my pencil down will be, but the day that I do, I’ll be thinking of the first toon, the last toon and every single one of them in between. JTOONED has been a big part of my life these last 2.5 years and it’s hard not to reflect on that the most. Here’s to more cool toons!

I said the word “grateful” 4 times in this post. Just shows you how grateful I am. (6 times now).

An Actual LifeWithJson Post

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Can we do a little lifewithjson blog real quick? Like not about cars, not about being sad about one of the best shows ending this year, not about anything that some of you might only come here for. Just literally life with me, positivity, relationships, achievements, progress, downfalls, and some self-reflection. Maybe this can be a feel-good post for some of you reading it, it may feel like nothing to you, it may feel like jibberish, or maybe you can relate to it depending on how you’re feeling right now. Maybe you’re reading it while you’re waiting somewhere trying to kill some time, or you accidentally clicked your way here and are caught in the middle of this paragraph and are too invested now to leave. I just want to use this space to reflect on things and get my thoughts out – afterall – this is what I started the blog for.

I used to write and take pictures about everything. There was a sense of joy when I got to share what I was up to in my life because there were people that were interested. That’s why people blog – because there’s a certain niche that is interested in knowing what’s going on with other people. It’s like a sort of free-ride voyeurism where I decide what to show you. It’s like an old-school Instagram/Tik-Tok where instead of watching, you’re reading. Kind of a lost art nowadays. I wish more people gave more capacity and time to write things rather than record things. When you read things, you decide how you feel as you’re doing it – you assume the tone and the emotion – and it’s all dependent on whether you are having a good day or a bad day. When you watch things, all of it is laid out for you already – there’s no brain power needed to watch a reel. The difference between the two is the level of emotion that is invoked during each activity. As you’re reading this, perhaps you’re relating or agreeing. Maybe you’re disagreeing and finding that you’re unsure what I’m rambling on about… The point is that there is some sort of thought.

I’m not in a mid-life crisis. I’m only 35. “Only?” you ask. Maybe I’m old depending on who’s reading this. I want to talk about how I feel – I feel complacent, happy and calm. I feel like I’ve reached the point in my life where some sort of Zen is all I want and feel because I’ve had so many hard years of learning how to get here. So many years of the devil on my shoulder telling me to feel jealous, angry, or upset about things that were outside of my control and then cooking myself over that same fire over and over again when really, all I needed to do was let go. Mind you, letting go is not easy when you’re young and you think everything is about you and everyone’s opinions and criticism chips away at you. Let me tell you – it isn’t and it shouldn’t. Letting go for me was realizing I could only control myself and how I felt towards people and circumstances. I can’t control what people think of me, of my things, my thoughts, my actions, or my life and so when you come to that hard realization, you’ll feel free.

As an example, there are times Diana would tell me a story about something that upset her or bothered her at work because someone did something and she was stewing over it. Many times, my answer would be like “but that’s not your problem?” or “but you can’t control that?”. And every time, she would say “I know” and my response would be “so then lets forget about it”. Instantly, the gas would shut off, the fire would dissipate and she would move on. It’s not about “not caring”, just to be clear. I care about a lot of things – my family, my self, my well-being, my family’s well-being. It’s more about not letting things that negatively impact the things I care about negatively impact me. Read that again. It can be things, people, attitudes… You name it. The way that I stay complacent, happy and calm is by focusing only on the closest things to me and ensuring they get 100% of my attention. I don’t mind other peoples’ business, I don’t compare myself to people. It might be brazen to say but the things I “don’t care” about are other peoples’ lives. That’s not to say I can’t be happy for you or share joy in your achievements, but at the end of the day, my happiness is what matters the most. In other words, your own happiness should be your number one priority and responsibility – however you get there is up to you.

I think social media has made it very difficult for people (myself, included) to find and marinate in their own happiness. Opening an app and seeing people make money, raise families, buy expensive things, eating at expensive restaurants, sharing their beauty and workouts, new cars, new parts… The amount of “good” things to take in within 5 minutes is underestimated and overwhelming. Imagine doing this hundreds of times a day – at one point, you’re bound to say “I need to workout”, “I need new clothes”, “I want to order takeout”, “I need to find new ways to make more money”, “I need to be a better parent”. All the needs and so little time. What happens when you have all these “needs” you think you need but can’t achieve them all right now? Feelings of conflict. Despair. Frustration. Cognitive dissonance. Maybe you didn’t think of that exact term, but that’s what it is. And if you don’t know how to disconnect or detach from what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling, you’ll never be 100% happy with yourself. It took me a long time to learn how to view it with a blank mind, so to speak. I relish in the truly happy moments for my close friends and I leave the rest behind with a swipe without a second thought.

The last thing for me was the realization that not everyone in your life is good for you; friends and family alike. I’ve always been the type to easily be able to disconnect from relationships if I felt that it wasn’t positive to me and it was good because it really helped me focus on good people and to seek positive relationships without much guilt. I think it’s important to be able to realize that and to let that go. The hard part for me is constantly trying to assess the relationships that we create and/or have and now not only figuring out how it impacts me, myself, and I but how does it impact Diana and the kids. These last few months, I’ve really had to do some soul searching, and a lot of the searching led me right back to these relationships on our front step all along. People don’t get a free pass because they’re blood or because they’ve known you for all their lives – they only got free entry. So many destructive relationships hide behind the mask of the loving, familiar face and I hate that because you have to lie to yourself that the mask is not really there. The hard part is not letting go; it’s telling yourself to stop giving excuses for someone else to be a part of your life when they really shouldn’t be. It’s a really hard thing to come to terms to because you say “but they’re family” or “but we’ve been friends for so long” and I often have to remind myself that people change just as I do and sometimes what was once good for your life can now be toxic.

Alas, let’s have some final thoughts together cause I’m feeling good about where we are. It’s taken me a long damn time to really feel comfortable in myself and my life and not having to worry about things like followers and likes and making everybody happy at the sake of my own happiness. Man, if you’re at that place now or you found this garden of Zen sooner – I’m happy for you – because it’s truly a good place to be. If you’re not there yet and are seeking the way, I hope you get there with good people along the way. Social media is just entertainment – it’s not a life guide or a place for competition on who is living the best life even though we only share the best aspects of our life. I just want to take cool pictures and post dope videos and create wicked things. Destructive relationships are not confined to people you just met – they can exist in all people and it’s important you filter them out somehow. They are an unnecessary burden that don’t deserve your shoulder. To all the people in our circle – I’m glad you’re here and thank you for inspiring W’s over L’s.

Thanks for reading. Maybe I’ll find some time to blog again in the next year LOL

illmotion Sunday School Show and Shine X – The Finale

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The finale. I honestly never thought I’d be sitting down and writing about the last Sunday School show.  Maybe a part of me thought something this good would last forever, but we all know that good things don’t last. Perhaps I was a little too starry-eyed to think that this wouldn’t end, but it feels like it’s ending too soon, doesn’t it? I feel like we’ve gone through so many phases and trends that maybe we’re at sweet spot of what we’ve been striving for all this time. People are building cars with tremendous attention to detail, they’re spending money on good parts, and all I see nowadays are TE37’s, GT’s, and BBS’s (not complaining). I never thought the day would come and now that it has, the biggest show in the West is leaving us. Kind of the perfect end though, no? The 10th iteration of a show that has gained so much traction and respect over this last decade and it went out with a mic drop.

I honestly couldn’t be more happy with the turnout of the event. Everyone brought their best and it showed. Some still don’t care for cleaning at all and to be honest, I’m not sure why at this point lol. Why enter a show if you’re not going to bother presenting it properly? BUT I’m not going to rant about that here, it’s not the time for such nonsense. So many cars and people I haven’t seen in years came out and it was so good to see. Like I said before, this is really the only show that you see all of these cars in one place. I was thinking at some point yesterday that the reason these guys bring their cars out is because of the connections we’ve all made with them over the last decade – through our photoshoots and write ups and just reaching out and wanting to connect to get to know them and their car better. Does that even happen anymore these days? It seems like it’s all about the followers and likes and less about the relationships and the people. This last show has been over 10 years in the making – can you imagine? Something that lasted 5 hours, but was possible because of all the efforts and collaboration between so so many people. Insane.

It was another perfect day – I thought I almost jinxed it in my last post by saying the weather has always been perfect. We had some mix of sun, shade and a little bit of overcast, so the pictures all differ in lighting depending on when I went out to go shoot. It was even a little perfect that it drizzled ever so slightly right after the awards – it’s like the city was a little sad with us…

I was lowkey hoping there would be a nice speech at the end but I think the energy was starting to run low at the end of the day and emotions were maybe a little too much for some, so maybe I’ll do it here – on behalf of everyone. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those of you that were around on day 1. Those of you that bought those 20 or so OG teal illmotion decals that were gone in minutes. That was the realization that maybe we had something to hang on to. Thank you to those of you that joined us along the way and even yesterday if it was your first time – you’re the reason the show was as great as it was. Thank you to all of the other groups that came and popped up along the way and rode those waves with us through the crazy trends and styles – some that we hope we never see again and some that hopefully remain. These guys have put in hundreds of hours to put on these shows and it’s finally time to hang the hat. Thank you to all of the friends that have willingly come and spent all day to help put this day together. Thank you to everyone.

This ultimately concludes the illmotion chapter as we know it today. The legacy of illmotion will remain frozen in time on the internet and in pieces across my blog – literally one of the only places still left standing after all these years. There are days where I think even this place needs to retire, but there are far too many memories on here for me to just up and leave. I’m at 97% of my capacity for media storage on here now and I can’t help but feel that as the illmotion book closes, somehow a part of lifewithjson does too. Thank you again to everyone that has supported what illmotion was about and what it was started for from the beginning. It’s a rare sight nowadays to see an illmotion decal anywhere, but at one point, it did its job of bringing a group of collective and like-minded individuals together. There were no clubs. No separation or distinction. Just one big family. And as it goes, this is not a goodbye, but a see you soon.

Anyway, I really did try to capture every single car and tried to patient with some when there were crowds, but I’m sure I still missed some. As per usual – if you don’t see it here, that’s all I got. Not going to put a bunch of dialogue because of the amount of pictures but I’ll try where I can 🙂

Met up with the Esoteric group at Deerfoot city at 730ish to roll-in together. I should’ve known better that rolling in with Filipino guys that we weren’t actually meeting at 730. We were meeting at 8. LOL

Nick’s Evo he just picked up not too long ago and slapped on a few parts pretty quick.

Gian’s 7-Series sitting low. Just figured out it was static when I spoke with him that morning. Pretty dope.

Armand’s Civic

A look at the awards for this year. Turned out so sick. When JC had the idea of wanting to use a Street Fighter theme and drawing this up for him, I was so stoked on the finished piece. Blackbox customs did a killer job on making it a reality too.

The shirts. Fiyah.

Great morning weather

Roll-in – some random shots when I was in and out of the area. Starting with Noel’s Silvia

Annual pic with Brandon AKA the former ABG Hunter.

Esoteric booth being set up…

JC guiding entrants to their spots… Paul in his EK rocking that OG speedtech decal.

K20 Fit. So crazy.

All smiles with Mike in his Corolla. So good.

Cool guy Isaac

This dude calls me out on Instagram the day before about having to clean his wheels because of me but didn’t clean his wheels.

Made him do it. Can’t be tarnishing our reputation like that LOL

That’s all I had for roll-in. Starting with the Esoteric booth, naturally because that’s where I was LOL. Paolo’s FK

Nick’s Evo

Elgene’s bagged STI on Volk 21C’s. So good.

The turd that now needs new sidemarkers. Thanks Errol.

Over at the booth, we had debuted the two new designs – one was the collab between JTOONED and Esoteric and the other was Esoteric’s “illmotion finale” shirt.

A closer shot of the Ramen hoodie. Thank you to everyone that came by and picked one up – you guys rock. We were 3/4 sold out before the show even started LOL. For those of you looking for them – they’re all currently sold out. If we have any flakers, I’ll be putting them up in the storefront or on my story. We may make another run in the future!

Gian’s 7-series

Angelo’s Evo X

Arman’s FK7

Daniel and his RX8 and his newly mounted wing. Thanks for cleaning the wheels for the show after your track day LOL.

RV’s Varis FK8 looking great on white Advan GT’s. Thank for fixing those lip bolts 🙂

Corey’s S2000 – nice to see he was able to make it even after having his baby 3 days ago. Congrats!

Arif made a surprise visit down from Kelowna. Been a while since I’ve seen this. Unfortunately he did not pass the BI check despite his plead to be exempt due to his long drive. Go to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Alvin’s Golf R

Rich’s IS – rocking the new center caps and red spoke decals. Now it’s all coming together!

Junsay and his bike came through. Amateur-hour for him at this show – at the start of it all he said it wasn’t that bad and near the end of it, he was dying LOL. Cherry popped.

He’s checking to see if you cleaned your barrels…

…Because Steve definitely did not.

I think this is Errol’s new doggo – being babysat by Kim LOL (Sorry if I’m wrong)

Barb’s S2000 with cleaner barrels than her man. You know what they say…

(I don’t actually, but let’s make it mean something dirty)

Terry’s Mugen ITR. Another Unicorn that you don’t see much. Congrats on the award!

Jeevs’ EK

and his EG

Brian’s IntEGra – if that confuses you – it’s an EG with a JDM Integra front end converstion. Actually pretty damn clean lol

Ed’s OG CRX

Tim’s EG looking cleannnnnnnnn.

Hoang’s Civic – I still love this to this day. That GT wing is probably older than most of the kids there.

Alex’s IS-F – freshly detailed by Duncan too.

Had to check. LOL

Tristan’s Varis WRX hatch on Advan GT’s and a new Voltex wing out back. This is a great look.

Eric’s S15 – freshly ceramic’d but bro forgot to clean his wheels. LOL

Eric’s Sienna sitting low on Works

Enzzo’s Evo Wagon

Daniel’s M3

Still love all these carbon aero accents

Jimmy’s M3. Good to see you again sir – he told me not to mind his barrels. They’re dirty cause his car is actually fast…

I mean… I don’t know if I can argue that or should he be cleaning them anyway? LOL

Sleeper Fit

Sickkkkk

Jon’s G37. Thanks for moving for the pic sir 🙂 The world needs more people like you LOL

Rob’s C-class. I saw he was doing a really meticulous detail job days before the show. I took a closer look and it was perfecto. Great job sir!

Cool colour combo

Jesse from Infamous Aero and his completed R32 with a bunch of custom aero pieces he hand made. It’s been a long time since this has been out.

Looked great!

Danny and his girlfriend were driving these little things around and as I heard it get close as I was taking a shot, I lowkey panicked LOL. Cool shot though hahaha

Harrison’s MX-6. Super clean

Bill told me to check the passenger side of his car but I must have misheard the location because I was looking everywhere but didn’t notice anything that I should’ve until later he tagged me… If you look at the below pic, you’ll actually see part of the decal peeking out in the pic above LOL

This was actually too sick LOL. Great idea Bill

Kelvin’s Varis FRS

Adrian’s S7

Clean Miata on TE37’s

Kevin’s Genesis

Gotta show some love to the Tuner Decals boys as always.

These guys are Jtooned’s day one boys. Thanks again for always bringing my stash along with you guys! Hopefully I can create new decals soon…

Funky Garage S15 with his cool livery. Saw you cleaned the wheels too LOL! Good job!

Mitch’s Mark II/GX81

Cholo’s now-Spoon FK8. He had a bunch of new stuff put on before the show and it’s pretty crazily outfitted now. Congrats on taking one of the awards home.

Brooke’s Q60. Caught her sitting cleaning the rims earlier. Love to see it. Congrats on the awards as well.

Calvin’s WRX on Kiwami’s

Alyssa’s RS5 looking great as usual

Justine’s FRS. Every time I go to edit a picture of her car, I know it’ll take me longer cause I need to make sure I need to get the hues and lighting right. It goes all bonkers LOL

New seat?! I don’t think I noticed this before.

Mel’s Fiesta ST

Maggie’s Golf-R on RE30’s

Yolanda’s Focus ST

Frank’s RB RX7. Rocking the gold decals again. He mentioned that the first time he debuted the decals was the first time he entered Sunday School so he thought it would be fitting to put them on again for the last one. Looked great

John’s FC RX7.

Cool little details

I’m not sure if John actually even cleaned his car. Though, he actually uses the car for what it was built for, I let it slide. But I wanted to take a MF cloth to it so badly.

David’s M6

Looked so good

This Mustang in the So Scare booth. Probably had the best black paint in the whole show. Love seeing the effort put into black paint.

Jacob’s new Kona N

Brandon’s RSX with J’s goodies

Derrick’s FD

Roel’s Varis FK8. See dude – told you pictures look better with the doors closed 🙂

Jackie’s finally-finished Spoon NSX. Thing was so crazy – Ricky and I legit waited probably 3 minutes (which is a long time to wait for a picture) because the crowds were boning so hard over it.

Punit unveiled his freshly-done Integra at the show as well.

This thing was actually kinda wild. That rear camber.

Sick.

Was this Crown always dumped like this?! So sick.

Talking about tilty wheels. Couldn’t get a better pic lol

Can’t say I didn’t try…

Errol apparently wasn’t supposed to be in the show but I guess he couldn’t read the sign and ended up in the show lot anyway.

Still needs to drag the wheel on the ground like he promised…

Alfred’s FK8 with a newly fitted Spoon bumper and J’s hood.

Stewie’s Spoon FK8 with Voltex and Mugen goodies.

Alex brought 3 of his German girls to the show. All looking crazy as usual.

Rhys’ M3 Coupe on RG-D’s

 

Mike’s FD – rare sight lately.

And Ryan’s Ferrari always a neck breaker at the shows

Sitting low on S1R’s

Daniel’s Ralli Evo X with so much titanium under the hood, it’s crazy. He’s actually started his own titanium fabrication business for Evo’s… Go hit him up @papa_piaa on Instagram

@BagitoTV made the trip from Edmonton with his Seeker FD.

The line-up of classic JDM cars – so good.

Kyle’s Celica. Haven’t seen this thing in a looooong time. Nice to see it’s still kicking around.

Justin’s S2000 on SSR’s with Spoon brakes behind

Andrew’s VIP IS-F. Legit probably the only really good VIP build all around. The thing with VIP builds is that most of the money is under the car where you can’t see it. T-Demand goodies all over – I love this thing. Well-deserved award!

Stephen’s GR86 – wheels looked good even with the race pads sir 🙂

Sam’s new BRZ that he’s been waiting a long time for. That blue is niceeee

Spencer’s Tacoma and his Treeline setup

Stingers look good when they’re slammed.

Rajneil’s FC RX7 low on TE37’s. I absolutely loved this thing and the colour combo and execution. Kind of gave me some oldschool C’s Garage vibes for some reason. Used to follow that blog for so long.

A pretty unique DelSol with what looked like a hydraulic/manual lift out back.

Actually unsure if this is stock or built in. Looked like a pretty clean install though!

Had to circle back around for the GT-R’s. Tommy’s GTR looking great as usual.

This midnight purple GTR was probably the one that took forever to get a good shot of without people standing in front the whole time lol.

Those brakes would be my nightmare to keep scratch-free lol

Back at the booth! Everyone working on wrapping up the afternoon. You can see Errol and Josh going through the rolls that were bought to try and get them into the raffle boxes before the draw.

Errol and Alex wound up buying a few full rolls – those of you that might have been confused at the show as to what was happening – typically every Sunday School, these money bags come through and buy a shit ton of raffle tickets. Yes, they could’ve just bought the vacuum, but all proceeds go to the charity chosen for that given year. This year was Wood’s Homes – an organization that helps provide children with mental health needs the care that they need.

The girls did a great job at handling the booth all day. It was a crazy one!

All of Errol’s tickets…

A shot of the illmotion X decal.

Eleana doing the picking for the raffle prizes.

Thanks Eleana!

Errol, of course, ended up winning the honour roll trophy and pretty much almost everything else he threw his ticket into. As much fun as it would be to take everything home, it was decided to start drawing blue tickets (which were the tickets from the general public) instead of the whole orange roll that he bought.

Errol doing the picking. I think he ended up picking orange anyway…

Jackie ended up taking home the Dyson

Group hugs from the Redline girls for Rich

Big group shot of the illmotion team, Redline girls, and me. LOL

The face of illmotion over the years. Thank you once again for putting this on year after year. The retirement from the show is well-deserved. See everyone when we see you!