Well it’s been a little while since I posted up, and that’s because I’ve been busy shooting some new rides. Fear not. I’d never let a social life get in the way.

I ran into Jay’s stunning black M3 convertible at a meet earlier this spring and knew right away I had to shoot this car. That was as far as I got. His idea was to shoot downtown so the day we met up I figured ok, if he wants to rip his lip off trolling the pothole ridden streets of downtown Toronto, his game. Surprisingly, this car championed its way around.

Rolling on some M5 fitment BBS RS wheels, this car just oozes style wherever you place it. Like any enthusiasts car, to really appreciate this one you have to go back to the start and understand how far it came. How far exactly? Well, this car started life as a 328i and by middle life it’s become a fully fledged M3.

This is possible since the E36 generation 3 series cars were the same chassis (minus bolt ons) as the M3. The only generation of M3 that this is true for is the E36, so E30, E46, E92 fans are all out of luck if they want to do this kind of ‘build your own’ of their favorite generation M3 when they become more affordable.

Although Jay might debate with you on this being the affordable route to get your own M3. In fact his words on the subject were short and consisted mostly of four letters. But the upside to doing your M3 this way is that you have full control over the parts that go into your car. You aren’t buying someone else’s problems if you properly research and look over the components you buy. The wonderful straight six came out of a southern US car and is in predictably great condition.

Perhaps that’s me trying to put a silver lining on it…

Considering it’s riding so low on its Bilstein PSS9 coilovers the front clearance on the Bimmer isn’t that bad allowing Jay to nearly tuck rim and still get in and out of driveways without leaving his bumper behind every time. Somehow zip-ties wouldn’t suit this car…

The interiors of the latest BMW’s are pretty bland affairs in my opinion. The E36 and E30 gen though are much more full of character. The seats are organic and look like they’d welcome a human form like a baseball glove. The worked in leather is warm and the detailing in the leather surfaces is what set these German cars apart from the competition.

Nice touches populate the interior.

There really isn’t a bad angle on this M3, the wheels dominate the car’s presence, but it makes no difference roof up or down, front or rear, it has proper stance all around, and as much attention was paid to what shouldn’t be fiddled with as what should be.

I love how deep the factory chin splitter is on the E36’s, it echo’s the deep dish of the BBS RS’s nicely.

Suitable camber goes along with such a stance, but Jay’s car avoids looking like its had its knees broken.

See what I mean about angles? Front and rear this thing just properly pops at you. The best part is this car may be for sale soon, so unless I grab it up you should get in touch with Jay if this is your dream car. Once it goes on the market, it won’t last long.

Having experienced the sights and sounds of and ALMS weekend in person last year for the first time, you can’t help but have a few favourites that you tend to capture a few more photos.  For myself, the works GT BMW M3 cars are a couple of my favourites.  Everything from the refined but distinct sound of the inline motor, to the widebody fender flares that give it that MEAN yet polished look…something about these cars keep you wanting more!

Here’s a great behind the scenes look at the cars from the guys at MotoIQ.  Take a look at all the dry carbon work within the engine bay and my personal favourite feature of having very trick carbon fiber exhaust chimney leading to the a-pillar…enjoy!

A Look Inside: The Rahal Letterman ALMS GT BMW M3 Coupes

This collection of Astons is pretty intense, probably not where you’d want to start off… but definitely impressive. If you have more time and patience than me, look here for the PDFs.

Yamaha has been offering enthusiasts Papercraft projects of their bikes (and other projects) for a while, and they’re definitely a step above some of the other DIY templates I’ve seen. Check em here.

How bout a little rally inspired paper induced glaucoma like the above Swift and Impreza WRC cars? For a bunch of sweet models check this site and prepare the bifocals…

Epson Nakajima Racing is encouraging the rape and pillage of our forests with their papercraft site where you can build their entire race team including the JGTC and SuperGT NSX and HSV-010, team infrastructure, and umbrella girls ready to fondle fold at your whim. You gotta see this…

Feel like something more exotic? How about a Lamborghini Jota available here…

Or head here for a whole bunch of race bread paper models to go blind fiddling with, including this Porsche 935 in Martini livery. I’ve seen a 935 in person and believe me a papercraft version of it is more badass than a real version of whatever you’re driving. Just take my word for it.

Car freak/designer Ugur Sahin has become known in the last little while for taking stabs into the murky future of automakers. He’s different though from most people out there who do this as a.) he understands the design language of the marques he fiddles with b.) he clearly has the technical skills to bring to life his ideas at a higher level. One such stab in the dark is his Gauntlet concept shown below. Mosey on over and check out the full bag of images in his gallery here.

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I’m no expert so I can’t comment on this particular cars authenticity or fit and finish but you can tell from the photos its been well loved, restored, and it’s obviously used. Really a nice car to see in person with a classic shape!

As a bonus, here’s some footage of the owner treating this car it was meant to be. Gotta love the telemetry overlay!

Sorry about that folks, we were experiencing some technical difficulties today with the database server. Looks like one of the software engineers had a little too much hooch and spent the afternoon playing hide the pickle with himself rather than, well, anything else. At least that’s the best explanation I was given. Sounded legit at the time.

Since the event was rammed full of Subarus we might as well start on one of the sickest! Here’s Wilbert’s 05 STI running VS-XX’s. Note the slammed Legacy in the background…

Easily one of the top 10 lowest cars at the event was this S2000 which had some serious fender pulling at all four corners to stuff those under.

Don’t want to pull your fenders? Grind em off and bolt on some flares!

Ad camber as needed…

It was a great turn out of both sides of the Japanese scene, Hondas, Subarus, Mitsus, Nissans…

Some of the S2k’s are trending towards having ridiculous fitment in the rear only, going for that more raked, roddish look.

If you told me you were putting a bolt-on rear diffuser onto a TL TypeS I’d look at you sideways, but damn if it doesn’t work well!

Super clean Civic on SSR TypeF’s, my ideal rim!

More of that trend towards exceptional poke in the rear, this time using flares to just barely cover em off. I’m not sure I get the single tip conversion keeping a bumper that’s meant for dual. I get that it’s kinda frankensteinish, but on a car that’s otherwise as sorted and clean as this it doesn’t fly so well. Just me though.

Neal’s pink/purple (you decide) R32 is just such a badass car from every angle. This thing is so properly sorted, I love it. It hasn’t changed in a while because, well, there’s not much to improve on!

Some visitors had the best perspective – down low!

Here’s a G35 I’ve never seen before running the Weds Sports SA-76 – they’re a pretty rare sight around these parts and look great on this car. Another one I wouldn’t believe until I saw it in person!

Another car you probably already know from this site, Arthurs absolutely stunning Trial widebody GC 2 door.

Stretch, poke, stagger, oggle.

A little sample of the Nissan contingent

Super clean 350Z on Nismos with a little nismo artwork too, may not have been Hella anything, but its pretty sick and not many of them floating around the streets up here.

Bugeye dumped on Grids, looking tidy, sounding gnarly.

My absolute favorite cars at the event were the ‘going for its’ – called that for obvious reasons. These guys just pick a stance and go for it! Pull those fenders hard, damn the paint.

Not sure what kit this is, Uras? But the wing on the back just sets it off kinda panda style. SR20′d? Check. Roofrack? Check.

At the other end of the spectrum would be this hyper clean G35 coupe with staggered fitment. It was a tough call between this and a couple others for cleanest setup. This one just needed a bit more drop in the front to clinch it…

Now that the GR Subarus can finally run some decent clearance there was one or two running the properly wide setups.

Absolutely immaculate and beautiful fitment on this Civic. Loved this. Hope to shoot it soon!

This Jetta had impossible fitment riding around on C4 Vette rims. I believe these are 16×8.5 along with what I imagine can only be a truly healthy dose of spacers!

Love the dice caps for the valve stems.

A4 Avante dropped on bags.

The new Civics are  a great platform it seems to go for some nice fitment. This SI belongs to my friend David and it really couldn’t be set up any nicer to be honest. I keep using the word clean over and over but hey, if they adjective fits!

This is about half the # of subarus that were in attendance, which is ironic since there were fewer flushed out Subarus than Civics. Still, the AWD crowd came out to show their support which was awesome.

EvoX’s can do this stuff in their sleep now. Rota Torques. Boom.

That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

More AME’s, this time on a turbo RSX. You may have seen this car shot before on Stephen’s site, truly a sorted car, lots of time and money invested in making this one of the best street RSX’s around!

Let’s take a quick look back at those ratted out cars – the VW (above) and the white/black 240 (below). Fitment, stance, character, just nailed it with these cars. Despite all the high dollar stuff that showed up I think these types of cars are my favorite. They’re showing real creativity, style, flare, and its all genuine, not forced.

Oh I have to share one more, this Accord is just so nicely dialed in. It shows so perfectly you can take a platform not many people would consider, do some really simple but well planned mods and wind up with an absolute stunner. I’m not a Honda guy, and I’m definitely not an Accord guy, but this just looks right to me!

Stretch and Poke was a big success, a casual fun time was had by all and any day a bunch of sick cars gather is a good day, so we’ll be doing it again. Look for more info on the next meet to be organized during the summer, this time with a lot more on offer now we know there’ll be some real interest!