The Driven Car Show is coming back to Calgary for 2012 on June 9, 2012 at the Olympic Oval. Due to roof renovations at the venue last year there was no show, but that is all complete and the show will be making a return and bring more cars and more entertainment than ever before. [...]
Love it, or hate it it is finally open. The Peace Bridge was officially opened today with a celebration put on by the City. Thousands of Calgarians made it down to check out the bridge by walking and cycling across the span. Many people were there with cameras in hand snapping pictures of the unique [...]
The place is turning unrecognizable. The front straight where I used to shoot people coming out of the carousel is a stretch of dirt. Empty, broken and not the same. The tower beside the burnout box is littered with graffiti tags and cordoned off to keep people out of it. Going to the top of the tower to see down the 1/4 struck the biggest feeling of emptiness over me.
10 short years ago, a small website was launched for a small group of friends to talk about cars, share car maintenance tips and arrange get togethers and car cruises. It was in the late hours of May 13th that the site was originally up and running on a spare PC that was sitting around collecting dust. Hours of configuration and tweaking later, the forum was officially open to the public–the time was 1:23am on May 14th.
It did not take long for our forum membership to grow but as it grew, the community was tighter than ever. Over all these years our members have built some great relationships, met tons of auto enthusiasts, started new businesses and careers and made some great memories. I just want to say thank you for all the awesome friendships and wonderful memories that the Beyond community has helped build. A huge thank you goes out each and every one of our members who have helped build and shape beyond into what it is today. An equally big thank you to all of our moderators, sponsors and media partners because without your help and support we would not have made it to 10 years.
Shelton (aka rage2) has thrown together a video that highlights some of the big moments of the past 10 years.
There is no arguing that there are a lot of bad drivers in Calgary. However, I think this is the first time that I have ever seen a bad driver explain their erratic driving behavior. I suppose its more accurate to say that one of their passengers is doing the explainin’ ;)
Not very often you spot one of these in town. The BTTF.com Delorean made it’s way into Calgary this week for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. Over on our forums, there has been numerous spottings, and I was able to track it down this afternoon for a close up look at this famous recreation of the ultimate movie car.
This car is very well done, all the way down to the flux capacitor between the drivers and passenger seats. Even Mr Fusion was perfect, with the exception of the sticker (it read Mr. Compassion, and converted into a donation box for Parkinson’s Disease). It’s turning heads wherever it goes, the car was surrounded by about 20 iPhones where I spotted it, so it wasn’t easy taking photos of the car by itself.
The first “mod” of any of our project cars is a full wrap to protect the brand new paint. We’ve had quite a bit of success with the XPEL Stealth product in our CLK Black Series that we decided to do it all over again for the CBS. Our car was optioned with Obsidian Black metallic paint, and with the matte clear paint protection film, it creates a Satin finish due to the metallic flakes reflecting back from under the film.
Thanks to the team over at Shadow Tinting, they meticulously wrapped the entire car, 3M’d all carbon fibre pieces, and added window protection film to the huge glass roof. They allowed us to setup our cameras to capture everything, so we ended up with a timelapse video showing off the entire process. 30 hours of work, compressed down to 3 mins.
The color is not exactly easy to capture on camera, but we were able to get pretty close with our impromptu photoshoot inside the Shadow Tinting bay. Take a close look at the tail lights, our car was fitted with an experimental matte tint from Shadow Tinting, which creates a diffused glow when the brakes are applied, without affecting brightness at all.
The first of the new C63 AMG Coupe Black Series (we’ll just call it the CBS for short) has arrived in Canada! With 3 out of 30 CBS’s in Canada going to Beyonders, I’m lucky enough to take this beast home. I’ve had my order in for this car since 2010, well before any official announcements, and finally, she’s in my hands!
First impressions of the car… awesome. I owned the predecessor to the CBS, the CLK63 Black Series, which was nearly the perfect car for me. The CBS fixes every complaint I had with the CLK63 BS. The Nav and iPod infotainment system is top notch, there’s even an AMG Performance Media screen that shows me my cornering forces, much like the GT-R’s GT5 inspired display. The gearbox is much faster, and the rev matched downshifts are seamless. The new Speedshift MCT has ditched the torque converter, replacing it with a computer controlled clutch, resulting in improved efficiency, meaning more power to the road.
The first of the Beyond C63 Black Series have finally made it to the dealer. Here’s a short gallery of the car right off the train, heading to the dealer for delivery prep. Check back soon on a full review of this awesome machine!
The Driven Car Show is coming back to Calgary for 2012 on June 9, 2012 at the Olympic Oval. Due to roof renovations at the venue last year there was no show, but that is all complete and the show will be making a return and bring more cars and more entertainment than ever before.
We are proud to be the show sponsor again as we feel its important to have a venue for everyone that puts countless hours modifying their vehicles. Whether you build your ride for show, go or both, be sure to register to show off your ride. We are also looking for models that want to work at the show, if you are interested please see the link below.
It’s been nearly 14 years since McLaren produced a road car completely in house for the public. The first time ever a car made not only for Europe, but also for North America. There were projects that had some McLaren Automotive DNA, most recently the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. The first Ford Mustang SVO was created in conjunction with McLaren. The last of the Buick GNX’s were modified by McLaren (the US company founded by Bruce McLaren to support his Can-Am racers). None of these cars were 100% McLaren, which is what makes the MP4-12C so special. And we got to drive it.
If you’ve followed my writing over the years, you would know that I’m the biggest McLaren fan on the continent. I follow every F1 race live before sunrise, cheer on Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, wear McLaren watches and shoes, dress in McLaren gear like a typical douchebag to the point where it’s borderline embarrassing. So the chance to drive the new McLaren… let’s just say it’s a notch on the bucket list. With that being said, my job is to be as unbiased as possible in this writeup. Good luck with that.
Calgarians cross the Peace Bridge during Grand Opening Festivities
Love it, or hate it it is finally open. The Peace Bridge was officially opened today with a celebration put on by the City. Thousands of Calgarians made it down to check out the bridge by walking and cycling across the span. Many people were there with cameras in hand snapping pictures of the unique looking bridge which does not have any supports in the river. It is unarguably an iconic structure that we will no doubt see pop up in images of Calgary around the world.
A few food trucks were parked on the south side of the bridge including the mini donuts trailer which had a huge lineup for most of the day. There was even a vendor selling lattes for the elite users of the bridge that live in Sunnyside (hah!). Despite the gloomy weather, and the lack of landscaping work it seemed as though everyone had a good time.
Ald. Druh Farrell wipes away tears
For Ald. Druh Farrell, it was obvious the opening was an emotional moment. She was seen on numerous occasions wiping away tears as people came up to her. Time will tell if Calgarians that are opposed to the bridge will get over it and move on. It is a shame that the bridge is over-shadowed by such controversy as it really does look great. It will only look better once the landscaping is complete–it was nixed to keep the project on budget. Right now it is a giant mud pit around the paved paths leading up to the bridge.
Rick Bell from the Calgary Sun who doesn’t hide the fact that he absolutely hates the bridge was on hand. You can tell he didn’t really care for what Ald. Druh Farrell had to say though ;) He probably would have told her how he felt about the bridge in person but maybe Farrell’s security detail provided enough intimidation to scare him away. I wonder if she was expecting throngs of protestors at the opening celebrations or if she normally travels with them in tow.
If you didn’t go down to check it out, be sure to go down and walk or cycle over the bridge. Is is nearly two vehicle lanes wide with separate cycling and walking paths. In fact, it can accomodate so many people that I hope all future Bow River flow events are held on the bridge so we don’t have to close off vehicle infrastruture (Memorial Drive) when we have this beautiful pedestrian infrastructure in place.
I started my dream with my hands gripped on a Canon 20D. Being a diehard fan of motorsports, cars, tuning and the entire scene it created it was only natural that in 2006 I stumbled into the gates of Race City with a shiny new Canon DSLR.
What I found was a plethora of activities in front of me. A magical mist of petrol, melted rubber, and air purified by the smell of race gas and burning tires lingered over the entire facility. Straight ahead of me was pro-stock racers powering their machines down the lustrous 1/4 mile, to my right was a group of cas cars roaring in the oval and the stands full of spectators taking in the days events. If you’re a car guy like me, then you’ll know the feeling you get the second you come through the front gates. Your trek through Calgary’s large urban sprawl was rewarded with the grace of love, power, scent and freedom.
I spent the next 4 years honing my skills as a motorsport and automotive photographer. I experienced every type of event possible at this race track and documented it with this Canon 20D to share with friends and family once it was over. Everything from drag racing, lapping track days, CMRA, CCRA, Spec-D, DMCC, Chump Car Racing I was in and around it like a kid on a cupcake. A true motorsport enthusiast does not judge, does not pick and choose which events to watch and participate in. A true enthusiast enjoys them all, and will do everything in their power to see it all. This was me, it did not matter what engine, how big or small the wheels nor how many wheels there was I loved it. I was at home. You can ask anybody who has ever come to Race City with me how big my smile was when I arrived to the track, ask them how bright I became and how happy I was.
