Driven Canada: The Best Of The West
Driven Calgary

Hello Speedhunters! Last year I had the opportunity to share some coverage of Driven Calgary with you, and I’m honored to be back again with a quick look at what the 2017 show had to offer.

Driven is a show that tours Western Canada, mainly focusing on the aftermarket and featuring local clubs and vendors. Every year it always amazes thanks to the modified cars that exist in the Great White North and the quality of those builds.

Driven-Calgary2

Since Driven is one of the first events of the year, it’s a great place to unveil the winter’s progress or even unleash an entirely new project from the skunkworks. Unfortunately, my own car didn’t have anything new to show as I somehow managed to pick up another Mustang project in the fall which took up most of my resources.

My own disappointment aside, I was excited to see what Driven had up its sleeve this year.

Driven-Calgary4

Setup takes place the night before the event, and to organize the chaos the staff ask groups to meet beforehand and roll in together. One of the cars in our group was this Consulier GTP-LX. I actually met the owner at a Driven event a few years ago, and at that time I had no idea these cars even existed. It’s powered by a 2.2L turbocharged Chrysler engine and the body is made entirely out of composite materials. Due to its power-to-weight ratio it was very competitive in motorsports and was eventually banned, hence the vanity plate.

Another car in our group was this gorgeous Supra with a fresh 2JZ swap. I’ve known this car since high school and it’s evolved into one of the cleanest Mk3s around. I believe the owner has a new set of wheels on order, but I absolutely love the RAYS Volk Racing GT-Cs on this car.

Driven-Calgary9

One of my favorites from the show was this clean Nissan S14. At a quick glance, it appears to have some kouki body parts, but upon closer inspection it is all zenki. I love how aggressive it looks with a simple hood lip, and the Advan Racing GT wheels in titanium blue and custom Koncept Industries hood louver really complete the car. The owner didn’t stop there either; under the hood lives a turbo LS1.

Driven-Calgary8

While setting up, another Supra caught my eye as it glowed in the darkness of the Olympic Oval. Then again, I might be a bit bias on the colour…

Driven-Calgary11

Local YouTube celebrities the Lowcals also made an appearance, and in addition to meeting fans they contributed a prize package to the Children’s Hospital auction at the end of the show.

Driven-Calgary12

Birdy from Kings Must Rise/Lost Royalty was another local YouTube personality in attendance.

Driven-Calgary14
Driven-Calgary13

I’ve never had the opportunity to own anything close to a Honda, but some of the builds at the show left me extremely envious.

Driven Calgary also caters to bike fans, and as such there’s always a wide variety of two-wheeled creations at the show for enthusiast to drool over. I feel like I should be showing you a beautiful Ducati or Kawasaki, but I instead fell in love with the slowest of the bunch. This Honda Ruckus was too cool and very nicely built.

Driven-Calgary20

Although there is still strong evidence of the show’s roots in the tuner scene, it’s amazing what turns up. For many people here in Alberta, trucks are a natural vehicle choice, but often for no real reason. Even I daily drive a Ford F150 for my daily 60km round trip for work. Staying true to the Alberta way, trucks had a huge presence at the event this year.

Driven-Calgary21

A car I think perfectly bridges the tuner and domestic cultures is the ThreeTwenty Ford Focus known as Mustard. I’ll admit, a Focus sedan has never been on my list of dream cars, especially with the availability of the hatchback ST. But that begs the question: why didn’t Ford offer a sedan ST? ThreeTwenty’s Bill MacKenzie didn’t wonder, he just made his own.

Driven-Calgary22

The opportunity to upgrade the powertrain came up when his friend’s gorgeous Focus ST was involved in an accident that destroyed it. The car was taken apart, allowing Bill to complete the conversion and at the same time keep a part of the ST known as Ketchup alive. This sedan ST is so beautifully done; it’s so unique but at the same time is a car that could have realistically came from the factory, minus the aftermarket bits.

Driven-Calgary23

There really is something for everyone at a show like this, and I hope you’ve all enjoyed my coverage of Driven Calgary 2017. I wish I could share all the cars from the event with you, but you can check out the bonus pictures for a few more.

If you’re in Western Canada this summer, make sure you get along to the other Driven events in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Richard Brown
Facebook: NoPulp Photography
Instagram: RichlyOrange

Cutting Room Floor
Driven-CalgaryB1
Driven-CalgaryB2
Driven-CalgaryB3
Driven-CalgaryB4
Driven-CalgaryB5
Driven-CalgaryB6
Driven-CalgaryB7
Driven-CalgaryB8
Driven-CalgaryB9
Driven-CalgaryB10
Driven-CalgaryB11
Driven-CalgaryB12
Driven-CalgaryB13
Driven-CalgaryB14
Driven-Calgary10
Driven-Calgary19
ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

45 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

It's interesting to me, that the writer chose to put his group first, in the article. And buried pictures of SEMA cars at the bottom of the page. I was at the show, and expected a better representation.

2

Hello Raj And Mike. Thank you for the concern. I appreciate the feedback.

Cars were chose because I had a story to write about them, or they fit in with the overall story. I also had to use images I thought were acceptable. The 400R for example was displayed in a way that I could not get good shot of it other than the rear, therefore not really something I could have written about. Photos in the "cutting room floor" are photos I liked and cars that I enjoyed but didn't necessarily fit into the story or that I had sufficient information about.

I apologize if your favorites were not mentioned in the articles - I chose the cars I enjoyed, had a story about and/or had a good photo of.

3

Thanks for the reply, Richard!

First off I'd like to apologize for any rudeness in my statement. I guess I forgot how to give constructive criticism. And that sucks. But I appreciate your response and kindness despite that. And now I understand a whole lot better.

Thanks again for taking time to put up the coverage!

4

So I suppose the suitable name for the article could be "Driven Canada: The Best In The West.. Of The Cars Displayed In A Way That I Could Get a Good Shot."

Just my 0.02 and take on it. With automotive journalism taking photos is half of the process, talking to people about their machines and writing about what you learn is a the other huge part. It's just sad to see so much potential overlooked.

5
Airik Keringes

No "Mike", a suitable name would be "Cars at a Show that I thought other people may like." which is what Rich put together for you... and put together well in my opinion.

Maybe shut up and don't be a "I want BETTER free content!!" prick perhaps? Whining about things that are provided for you for FREE is a rather throbbing "Dick Move"... that is, until we start reading "Sweet shit I photographed and wrote about after attending a Car show."
Photos and Story: by Mike

6

I had already spent well over 18hours at the event and could not have possibly had the time to track down every owner on top of that. I apologize if you're unhappy. If you feel like you could do better please submit an article next year, I'd love to see more canadian content on SH!

7

Yeah.. Very interesting and narrow minded selection of cars.. Last year's feature by the same photographer overlooked the highest caliber builds at the show... This year the show had less to choose from but some heavy hitters were way over looked. I was surprised to see that the 400R somehow managed to end up on the cutting room floor without mention LOL.

8
Flavien Vidal

He is not a paid professional writer/photographer... He just happens to be there, and picture/talk about what he likes best at the event. If he were to be sent by Speedhunters to actually cover the whole thing, your point would have been valid (sort of... it's not like you pay to read Speedhunters) and I'm sure that would have been different, but this is not the case... He just shared what he liked, and sorry if that doesn't match your tastes, but it doesn't really matter. Enjoy what you're given, I'm sure some other outlets covered your favorite cars there.

9

That being said. I'm still very happy to see Canadian shows getting recognition.

10
Tom Westmacott

Wow, great photos, the cars look awesome. Especially the blue Supra in the lead image, it just looks 'heroic' stood up there on the stage. Really good camerawork.

Also some cool cars, built with taste and restraint and quality.

11

Thank you, appreciate it!

12

Woeful coverage yet again. Are we attending the same show?

13
Airik Keringes

Man... you just suck, do you know that?

14

Nice to see more Canadian coverage up on SH again, nice work Richard.

I still need to make it out to Calgary some day.

15

Thank you! Appreciate it!

16
Tommy Tomatoes

Terrible coverage. No one wants to see an orange mustang that is not in the show and was in an article last year. Or a car that you have known since high school. At the top of the article too?

So many great cars this year, and so many get overlooked. Who approves this garbage on SH? Makes Calgary look sub-par.

17

Hello Tommy, I apologize if you thought my coverage was sub-par. I covered cars I had information about or thought were interesting to me. Please submit your own article to SH if you feel you can do better, I'd love to see more Canadian articles!

18
Tommy Tomatoes

I should rephrase, I'm not knocking the MK3 supra... but so much amazing stuff has been left out. Its a shame really.

19

I actually find more attractive the sedan version of the Focus, the hatchback has some ugly rear lights. I photoshopped one and changed the lights and it looks way better https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8605/16431458956_dff930a032_b.jpg

20

Wow! Sad to see so many negative, sour assholes with no time on their hands here. Bashing someone capable of writing & shooting better than yourselves makes you look like a real bunch of winners. If the article was "that bad," it wouldn't have been chosen by SpeedHunters. Grow up.

Keep doing what you're doing Richard, you showcase awesome talent whether it's your own or fellow enthusiasts. Great work & we all look forward to your next articles & photos!

21
Richard Browm

Thanks guys! Everyone is entitled to their opinion, the negative comments are just more useful if they're worded in a more constructive form. I don't pretend to be the best at this. I just wanted to share Canada with the rest of the world, if another person feels like they can do better by all means submit it to the I am the Speedhunter program. I'd love to see more Canadian content!

22

TOTALLY agree with Melissa, what a bunch of chumps!
This was a pretty fair, if not good presentation in my humble opinion and I was VERY impressed with most of the cars shown, unlike many many other presentations here. Richard's writeup was not Pulitzer Prize material, but certainly worthy of what he presented and I had no problem with it at all.
Why can't people just move on and say nothing when they don't like something? If your opinion is asked by all means fire away, but otherwise it just makes you look like a total douchebag.

23
Boost Infested

Nice write up and great photos Richard.

To Raj, why don't you make like a Michael Jackson and just BEAT IT!

24

Shooting indoors is always tricky; looks like there was some decent light available which you made good use of. Nice photos.

25
Richard Browm

Thank you! Appreciate it!

26

Oh man it's refreshing to see this kind of wheel fitment. Cool pics and write up. Everyone has a different experience at the same show, and it's nearly impossible to speak to everyone and hear their story. Like you said, you went with what you had, so I hope you can bring us some more event coverage soon!

27

i was really expecting to see a hellcat from are favorite Canadian

28
StealthStar17

Two questions:
1. When is the Driven show going to be in Edmonton?
2. Where in Edmonton is it going to be?

On a side note, that Maserati GranTurismo with the Liberty Walk kit was also present at the Edmonton Motor Show.

29
Richard Browm

August 19th at Macewan University!
Drivenshow.ca has more information

30
StealthStar17

Two questions:
1. When is the Driven show going to be in Edmonton?
2. Where in the city is it going to be taking place at?

31
StealthStar17

I just I realized I posted this comment twice. Please ignore this comment.

32

Come to Winnipeg Driven, we would love to see a speedhunter in the 204, we have 3 SEMA winning show cars you might want to check out in the G106 booth

33
Richard Browm

Winnipeg's event looks awesome! Unfortunately I won't be able to attend. I'm always amazed by the quality of builds that come from there!

34

Wow so many premium assholes in the commets. If you pricks know to write better article ten write it,otherwise get lost.
I more like stories about local guys who give their last money and a lot of passion to build awesome cars. I dont care about Sema build wich we seen on every social network in universe. Keep it up Rich, you doing it great. I like to see that your Mustang is still with you.

35
Richard Browm

My opinion exactly. The SEMA builds are incredible no doubt! I just personally like the stories of the "average joe" build vs the no limits builds. All the cars at Driven were incredible and I wish I could have shared them all/

36

Nailed it - SEMA cars were at SEMA. There was coverage of SEMA on here too. I'd far rather see things that I hadn't seen previously, which Richard delivered.

37
Daniel Jenkins

That red Honda was BEAUTIFUL!

38

I really enjoyed the coverage. I'd have thought that the Focus sedan was a USDM thing rather than a one-off creation if you hadn't said. I like it!

People moaning about the content, I will never understand. I've seen a picture of a 400R before, but I've never seen or even heard of a Consulier GTP-LX, I'd love to see more of that!

39
Richard Browm

Thank you! Yeah the Focus Sedan really does look factory, the owner displayed the mods on a sheet that looked like a dealership tag.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that didn't hear about the Consulier before. Such a cool car!

40
DerbyCityGinger

A local guy here has a Red Focus ST sedan built by a shop called Rebel Devil Customs. Apparently that shop has done like 4 or so conversions now, and are even attempting a swap into the MK1 Focus.

41

Nice coverage, was going though the bonus pics thinking ,ohhhh the gtr fanboys are gonna get their panties up in bunch when they see them in the cutting room floor and not in the "real" coverage, lo and behold.....

42
DerbyCityGinger

Wow, why are so many people trashing this article? Looks like a group of people at the show who are mad about not getting their cars in the article. Do you expect him to do a full feature on every car there? There's 38 photos for Christ's sake.

43

the maserati is 10/10 panty dropper

44

Seriously, that guy with the S14 just doesn't get it. Why would you have the hood louvers oriented as an intake. Doesn't he know that the hot air has to go somewhere, and by it's very nature it wants to go up, and rise in the atmosphere. You are forcing a bunch of hot air, to where? Out the bottom of the car? At least it's a low pressure zone, but the reality is that you have a bunch of incoming air from the radiator that has become really hot, and it needs to go someplace 'up'...and that's why car manufacturers put vents in their hood. Very rarely do they make intake scoops in the hood, and if they do, they require a form of ducting to properly force the air to cool the car. An un-ducted, reverse oriented louver on your hood, is going to f**k a bunch of shit up, your cooling, your aerodynamics, and possibly even your high speed handling.

45
Josh Buchanan

Richard- "Mustard" needs a feature! I love OEM+ type of builds and this one seems very interesting.

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS