Hi everyone!
My name is Aldrich and I’ve been invited to contribute to the site. I run my own blog as well (http://aldrichevangelista.blogspot.com), but I will try my best to post quality stuff and promise not to bore you. I’ve decided to make this a full introduction with my trip down memory lane, so you know where I’m coming from and why I will post what I will.
I’ve been in this Calgary car scene for about 14 years now (before some of the illMotion members were legally driving), and I’ve seen a lot of changes in it. Shops and teams come and go, the scene having its ups and downs. I’ve known the illMotion guys for quite a while now, and although I sometimes don’t agree with everything that they do, I can’t argue with what they are trying to accomplish with the local car scene by trying to revive it, and will do my best to help them every step of the way.
If you’re reading this post, and/or frequent this site, we have a common passion… cars. I’ve had three cars in my lifetime so far, and for some odd reason (and most of you can relate me to), I can’t leave any of them alone. I have to modify something. It started with my 96 Civic coupe. Bought new in 1996 by my parents, it was meant as a commuter car for my dad, with some occasional driving by me since I had just turned 16, and gotten my license. But that idea didn’t last very long. I pretty much was into cars at 14, and know I couldn’t just let something I drove look like every one elses car. A few years later, my parents ended up with another car, and I was free to do whatever I wanted with the Civic. The car changed every year (mainly the wheels, I think I’ve gone through 10 sets), but I wasn’t truly happy with her until 10 years later. Here is my first love Jen-Elle in her prime (photos from 2006):
DTP Calgary 2006 with Mercedes Terrell:
After some editing in Photoshop:
Another one at DTP 06 taken my my buddy Trevor:
Wow, I miss that car. Maybe one day, I’ll buy another and do everything exactly the same, except with another motor for more power. I think thats what lead me to my next vehicle, my lack of power in the Civic, which by the way ended up with a best 1/4 mile time at Race City Calgary of 16.8 on the stock SOHC 1.6L non-VTEC motor.
Granted, I didn’t get a chance to do a bigger motor swap, but around the time that I thought about it, I fell in love again with another car. Or I should say truck. Working in downtown one day in summer 2006, I saw one for the first time, and I said I had to have it. And finally on October 6, 2006, I took her home, Jen-Neen, a 2006 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner.
The night I picked her up:
The very next day, taking home ‘Best Truck/SUV” at SCC Calgary 2006 (by default since there were no other trucks there):
I told myself that I wouldn’t mess with it, but the stock look didn’t stick with me, and being who I was, aside from the wheels, and lowering, I did all the little things that added to the big picture.
Here she was in her prime in 2008:
DTP Calgary 2008:
It was around the time of these pics (2008) that the economy started taking a bad turn, and I realized that I was in a pretty bad situation paying more that I should monthly for this truck, and with the big 4L V6 (which put down a respectable 15.4 at Race City for her weight) eating so much gas, the decision was made to find something smaller and more economical.
I was kinda worried because I thought smaller would mean less power, I had gotten used to decent power with the X-Runner. And so I started looking at smaller, more economical cars. I didn’t like what my options are. But then I guess it was meant to be. My brother picked up a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX hatchback in early 2008, but in 2009 decided that he didn’t want it any more. Way better on gas, decent power, and cheaper payments? How could I go wrong? Did both of us a favor and took it over so he didn’t have to pay for the lease break, and I had a new car! While I didn’t like the look of the new hatchback at first, it ended up growing on my pretty quickly. I just wish it was red (can you tell what my fav car color is yet?).
Thanks for taking a trip down my memory lane, hope I didn’t bore you too much. So what does the future hold for me? I don’t know. All I know is that I will try my best to help out this site with pictures and articles and with the ill.motion team in general. Look out for some interesting posts from me in the near future.
In leaving, and in the spirit of NSX week, JC is gonna kill me for this one:
