As someone who’d describe themselves more as an aspiring car enthusiast than a fully-fledged “car guy,” I knew I needed to start somewhere when it came to car shows - and Importfest felt like the perfect place to do so.
As the name suggests, Importfest is one of Canada’s premier car shows for modified imported cars or, as they call themselves, “Canada’s Biggest and Baddest Car Show,” which does have a nice ring to it. The show took place right in the heart of downtown Toronto at the Metro Convention Centre on July 12, 2025. For the record, it was hot — temperatures hit nearly 30°C outside. Having never been to a car show inside a convention centre, I was a little worried it might feel stuffy or corporate, but as soon as I turned the corner and saw hundreds of polished cars staring back at me, I knew we were in for a good day.
Despite the events name, the first car that caught my eye was a massive, slammed Ford F-150 in a beautiful duck egg blue and white combo. I’m a Honda guy though, so it wasn’t long before I found my comfort zone - anything Honda made between about 1988 and 2000. A blacked-out EF Civic hatch stole my heart for a few minutes before a sleek black S2000 came along and had me daydreaming about all the places I’d drive it. Outside of the Honda gang, a few things stood out - like the car with real fish swimming in a fish tank headrest. Animal welfare questions aside, it was quite the statement, I honestly don’t even remember what car it
was. Another highlight was the Subaru painted like an Arizona Iced Tea can — some of the best paintwork I saw all day. The Marlboro-liveried Mercedes instantly took me back to the 1990s and the BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) days at Donington Park. Final shoutout goes to a BMW 330i, which was probably the cleanest build I saw all day. Super simple and tasteful, it looked just as good at the show as it would in a supermarket parking lot.
Beyond the cars, it was great to see the passion and respect on display. Like any scene, I’m sure there’s some rivalry and drama behind the curtains, but what I saw was people trading compliments and giving props. As someone who’s spent more hours than I’d like to admit in a garage trying to respray a door and match the paint, I know how lonely those builds can be. Seeing people get pumped over your hard work cars must really validate all those solo hours. Another thing I loved was the individuality on display. In a world where it feels like every new BMW M3 or Audi S8 rolls off the line in some version of Nardo Grey, the variety here was refreshing. From cars so perfect they looked undriven to others wearing their stone chips and imperfections with pride, everything felt unique. Even when two of the same model were side by side, they always told different stories - and that kept things exciting.
Towards the end of the day I realised that as cool as it was seeing these cars sit still - it would be nice to see them drive a bit, which is where the end of the event delivered. I was pretty surprised to see that the police had shutdown a whole block of Front St to allow the cars to leave the event and drive down a car version of a film premiere red carpet past thousand of attendees. Every time there was a pop or bang the crowd lining both sides of the road got more excited, it was simple car enthusiast fun. Make cool car make loud noise = good. Being a part of that crowd was weirdly exciting even if no car went faster than 10mph - maybe I need to start going to more outdoor shows here.
Big thanks to PASMAG for having me down to cover the event and to everyone I spoke to about their cars. As a first timer in the Canadian car scene I felt welcome so hopefully this is the start of many. Now, how much does a EF hatch Civic go for these days I wonder?...
Writeup and photography supplied by Gabriel Hutchinson (@gabrielreddphoto)
