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Omg, civic wagon. Du want. Also like that WRX, that's a nice white.

I'm doing a couple posts here, the first will be the majority of the Auto Show, the second will be just my shots of a very special Evo, which will be detailed further in that post.

MSRA was there in force this year:

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A full Mazdaspeed Spec car:


Complete with limited run TE37s:

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Still looks better in yellow:

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Jeep had a fairly amusing ride along exhibit:

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VW is apparently externally labeling their body components

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Mercedes had a pretty good looking concept that will never turn into anything near as good looking:


Scion had a test drive set up outside the Convention Center, and I did that as well... And I'm glad I did. I have to say, I felt right at home behind the wheel of the FRS, I was needlessly impressed with the car. I kind of really want one for a daily now.

Get a FRS as a daily! Just do eet spaz! You know you want one in midnight blue or something. Anyhow I'm sure you have a lot more pictures to post up so I'll wait for those before calling on a favorite.

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(THIS POST WAS REMOVED BY REQUEST)

Okay, so about that Evo I mentioned. I'll start out by clarifying that if you don't understand it, it's not a big deal. Not everyone will. That's part of what makes it special. There's a reason there's a waiting list of over 200 people for 11 cars, because there will be an aggressive weed-out interview process. But some people just can't get over the fact that it's $49k for an Evo.

So, I'll start from the beginning. Ryan Gates is a name you may have heard before. You may not have. All the same, he single-handedly proved to the world that the Evo X was a very competent and competitive platform, that it could hang with (and run circles around) the proven pillars in the time attack world like its nine other siblings. He went undefeated in the Redline Time Attack series for a year and a half on street tires with a stock motor, until the motor failed catastrophically on-course, setting the car aflame and forcing a complete rebuild from the ground up. This is that car now:

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Mumphrey was there hanging out too, and he's seen better days, but you would too if you'd jumped out of a car window at over 120mph.

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So that's where it all started...

Ryan finished off what was left of his second season, winning and setting even more records, and after that decided that racing series were too constricting, that he wanted to race where he wanted, when he wanted, and without the chains of fair classification. So he retired and did just that. In his downtime, he managed to source and acquire an '09 Evo X... A model year that never existed. It was a Mitsubishi development car, and he had plans for it. He built a street car for the track, he made it his own, added little touches here and there, and then did a pre-reveal out in California; He called the car the 311RS, 311 for his life-long racing number, RS to symbolize the track-ready status of the car, as used by Mitsubishi on previous Evo generations. He will build 11 of them, installing the package himself, by hand, in a warehouse unit here in Minneapolis. Each will be ready to lap out of the box, but still capable of daily driving. The prototype car went 20,000 TRACK miles and god knows how many on the street, and after such a successful display, Mitsubishi agreed to provide a FULL FACTORY WARRANTY for all 11 cars.

Specs and stuff I don't want to be overly boring with here: http://www.311rs.com/

So on 3/11, Ryan officially unveiled and delivered the first 311RS to its owner at the Minneapolis Auto Show. I visited the show twice this year, and spent around 40 minutes chatting with Ryan both times. Knowing the man allows me a very unique window into what the car is, what it means, and a deep understanding of the small touches and their significance. The car is in effect a reflection of Ryan himself, his knowledge and experience, his passion, and his overall love for Evos. He built these cars to be driven, to be beaten on, to have rubber plastered on the skirts. That's the point of these cars, from stock to fully built, and he built the 311RS to channel and fuel that spirit.

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And I had a fairly unique experience as well...

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The trunk is actually Ryan's favorite part.

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The Mitsubishi display actually received a trophy as well for Ryan's lighting, further proof of his striving for perfection in what he does:


As I said, not everyone will understand. It's $49k for an Evo. Sure, it comes with an orientation day at the road course of your choice, but it's still $49k, for an Evo. But that's not the point, it's never been the point. And some people will never see past that. But for those of us that do, it's something incredibly special that the pioneer and champion of the Evo X is doing... Not for money, or recognition and fame, but from the bottom of his heart, to give back to a community and brand that has been such a huge part of his life. And I want one.

The one I drove was actually midnight blue. And it looked AWESOME.

Spazzy my dear friend, I have the power of telekinesis so I can read minds and see what you see. Bullshit aside. Midnight blue FRSesessseses look amazing, I can totally see you rolling around in one.

And I'm calling a favorite now! All those pictures of the 311RS are amazing. Don't tell me you're on the waiting list for one of these guys.

As many times on Sunday as I mentioned to Ryan needing to talk to my credit union, no, sadly, I am not.

Nice pictures of that legendary evo. I don't think you should get a FR-S/BR-Z, you'll start by using it as a DD, but hell will break loose and next thing you know it'll be a full on track car

I don't think I'd have issues. The idea, (and I know it's blasphemous) for a DD would be to get whatever I get in an automatic so I'm even less tempted to fuck with it. I have a car that's GREAT to fuck with, and it will continue to be so in the future. I don't need to end up with two cars that could serve the same purpose.

So anyway, there was a last showing of the 311RS in the form of a meet-and-greet at a local Mitsu dealer before it heads off to the NY Auto Show and then to its new owner. Seeing as I knew quite a number of attendees, I didn't spend a ton of time talking to Ryan, but when I left I did further discuss logistics on having my steering wheel leather removed and wrapped in the motorsport spec suede used on the 311RS wheel, considering it needs it, and beyond that he mentioned the possibility of an exclusive party at the warehouse over the summer when the other 10 cars are in there being torn down. Much excite.

Whelp, Sonic meets started up again tonight. We're back!

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Hehe, Grappler's in the background of this one:

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And as usual, link to the full album and full res: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29843549@N08/...57633453491954/

Awesome pics! Plenty of cool rides.

Trying to get my local folks to do a Sonic drive one of these days since one finally opened up around here.

I see what you did there...

MOAR!

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Linky: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29843549@N08/...57633453491954/

Is... That... A... Chandelier... In... The... Car? How and why?

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Because xB.

A couple shots from last night. Not one of our larger meets and nothing really stood out.

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Ignore the rust, please. Also ignore the dirty.

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This post has been edited by Spaz on May 30 2013, 06:39 PM

So, I didn't shoot for a couple weeks, weather was shitty and I just wasn't motivated. This week was perfect weather and I went to town.

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The things this girl comes up with... That's sprayed on, through a lace overlay that was then removed. I was very impressed with how it turned out. All her JDM parts are starting to come in (after a 6-month wait) so it's been different every time I've seen it over the past couple weeks.

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Another buddy's K24. It's in a Fit, nbd.

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This car isn't super fast right now, but by the end of the summer he's shooting for over 1000 horsetorques.

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And my buddy TJ from Iowa showed up, newly wrapped and looking good! And yes, that is a FULL Holden Monaro conversion.

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I got to drive this car at the last driving school, even on garbage rubber it's a rip:

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And, highlight shot of the night, a buddy's bike.

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It seems like the bikes are getting all the best shots this year, in going through everything from these meets.

Anyway, as usual, here's a link to the full set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29843549@N08/...57633453491954/

MAP Proving Grounds turned out to be a photographic success for me, since I didn't end up running my car at all. I didn't make it away from the road course paddock on Sunday, and arrived too late on Saturday to really do any shooting.

Full album is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29843549@N08/...57634309633205/

Here're some of the highlights!

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This is my mechanic, in case anyone wondered.

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Yes, this was taken in the paddock. Yes, it was the middle of the day. Yes, I occasionally do work.

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Been a long time, so I'm going to just do a small batch dump here.

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Well, I've been to a few events this year so it's probably time to bump this thread!

I suppose we'll be seeing more of these in the coming months.

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My buddy Jared's bike, again, with new paint. He offered a rig shoot with my car later this year in trade for a couple bike pics.

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The only other car at this show to make squeal-y track brake noises coming in.

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MMMmmm... Boosted 5.3L

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Grappler!

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NBD, just an 1800hp UGR Superleggera.

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Bump for fall shoots. Did a test run of a couple spots with the Evo with only one usable pic, then hit it up again with Grappler and a couple other buddies tonight. Going out again on Saturday with the Evo again, along with a ZL1 and a Supra! The past few years have been shit for fall colors but the rain we got this spring was PERFECT setup for this.

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Full album, will be updated after Saturday: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29843549@N08/...57648758184081/

Well, it's been a while since I did any shooting of anything, but Euroworks was yesterday, and this was my first time ever going. had a great time, got to catch up with a few people and got a chance to play with the camera a bit more. As is customary, highlights followed by a link to everything in high res. Enjoy!

I asked, and no, it won't fit an Evo.

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One of my favorites.

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Center locks tho.

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The 311RS program still going strong, with Porsche builds in testing.

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Not a euro, but a buddy's AMX. Amazing car.

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Yum, RUF.

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And of course the owner/organizer's 911 briefly positioned perfectly in front of the Euroworks booth.

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Full album is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29843549@N08/...157656399054421

HNNNG

Your buddy has excellent taste. I need a ride.
What year? the AMX grill cover makes it impossible to tell from the front.

Truth be told... I have no idea what year it is, only that it's a beast of a machine.