The wheels on the car go ‘round and ‘round… - My CR-X EF8 at V8less Sport Compact Challenge show and Mugen MR5 rims

If you look really hard, you can spot my CR-X. Yay for ugly white wheels!

Fast forward to August, 2005.

Our  very first car show. V8less and Sport Compact Challenge; held at the Race City racetrack in southeast Calgary. I made sure I detailed the hell out of my CR-X. I couldn’t afford to paint the front bumper in time for the show so I did a lot of little things I thought would help with the judges. I put Japanese coins in the coin tray, laid out brochures on the trunk tray, I put a mint copy of the JDM owner’s manual in the glove box, and I even had the correct series of JDM license plate for the size of engine.

A lot of people stopped to look the CR-X and most seemed quite impressed with her. I was beaming like a proud Papa. One passerby stopped and looked at the CR-X, then began to check her out more closely: "I think I tried to sell you this car... Is your name Andy?" he asked.

Turns out it was Allan, the friend-of-a-friend who was going to sell me my CR-X before it was promised to Dieter. He recognized the SSRs, but wasn't sure it was the same one until he looked at the VIN. He was a really nice guy, and although he lost a sale, he said he was happy I'd ended up getting the car I wanted. We talked for quite a while, and I even ended up meeting his contact from Japan, named Lon - another great guy, who sold the CR-X to Dieter.

And we all had a good chuckle over that whole situation and my initial panic over two people trying to sell me the same car!  

Note: The guy in the green shirt in the top left photo is Allan.

A few hours later while wandering through the staging area for the drag races I pointed out to my fiance a set of MR5s that were mounted on (strangely enough) a Toyota. She'd never seen a set of MR5s in real life before.“Those are what my wheels are going to look like”, I told her.

MR5s on a Toyota (background, right)

I had been in touch with Dieter several times throughout the summer regarding my wheels and when they would be shipped. I even inquired about the wheels again when I met Lon and he assured me that they were safe and sound back home in Japan, and he'd try to get them out just as soon as he could. I wasn't worried about them... A little anxious for them to arrive, maybe, but not worried. Winter was fast approaching and you could feel a chill in the air at night. I wanted to put them on before I had to hang up the keys for the season.

I didn't win any trophies at the car show but we had a lot of fun checking out all the sweet rides, seeing some old friends and meeting some new ones. Watching the drift competition and the drag races were also some of the highlights of the day. In hindsight, it's a shame that I never ended up going to another car show with my CR-X that year - or in the years that followed... Maybe in 2012 I will try and get her out to an event or two...

Winner, Best JDM: Nissan Skyline

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.