Some say that tuning is dead especially here in Montreal with the price of gas and the new laws we have in affect there is a definite change. The whole scene has been changing..gone ( for the most part ) are the times of huge body kits and big useless spoilers. A good example of how its been changing is if you look at one of the purest forms that is in the tuning scene..the car meet.
The JDM Monday meets started a few years ago in the parking of the Overdosed Performance shop. The meets started out as a place for people who had JDM cars or with JDM inspired cars to come out, chat about their cars and plain old have a good time. The meets were good but not very big but with the help of a few social networking sites and a local car forum the meets started to get bigger..a lot bigger. Almost every week the meets got bigger and bigger. From there being about 30 cars it grew to 80 and then 100 cars. It was cool because even tho it was called a “JDM” any brand or type of car was welcome, it was all about just having a place to meet up and talk cars. Pretty soon the meets got so big that the entire parking lot was completely full..like 130 cars.. People were blown away with how big the meets got ..if we only knew what was instore for the meets in the future.
The meets were rocking but sadly with the declining economy and the surge in online shopping the Overdosed Performance store had no choice but to closed its doors. Even tho the shop was closed the Overdosed team still existed and we ( yes Im a member!) were not about to let them die. We looked around and found the perfect spot…it was a huge Walmart parking lot in a mall complex that was perfect and since there were other meets that took place there we knew we would have any problems. So the meets had a new home and the started off pretty good even tho it was the end of the season we had a decent showing up until it got to cold and the snow hit the ground.
Once winter was over everybody was excited to get the meets going again..So with some nicer weather upon us we started posting about the meets. The first meet was really good..about 100 car..we were very happy to see the meets back and doing well but like I wrote before..we did not know what we had started..this is where it gets cazy.
The second meet of the year is where it blew up. The meets usually start at around 8 and I showed up around 7:45 to see the parking lot packed with cars. There was well over 200 cars at the meet it was really impressive. As weeks went by the meets continued to grow and grow, averaging 450 and 550 cars every Monday night. There are almost more modified cars that show up to these meets then at local most car shows. With every type of car from pure JDM’s to chromed out lowriders with even shops and companies that come and set up booths these little JDM Monday meets that started out in a tuner shops parking lot have really turned into a beast. With the meets being as huge as they are there were a few issues. For one the meet overtakes the Walmart parking lot completely and obviously Walmart was not to happy about it. The second thing is a gathering of so many enthusiast would also bring a hand full of “ricers” that would show up just to show off by either trying to do burn outs or attempt street races … a few times it got out of hand.
Luckily the meets success did not go unnoticed and the organizers were approached by the owner of a restaurant that was about 3 minutes away in another section of the mall complex and he wanted the meets in his parking lot. Now the meets are a bit more organized with one entrance to the site the fast and furious wannabe’s should be away.
It is really impressive how these meets have grown and I think it’s a sign that tuning is not dead and just getting bigger. Sure its not what it used to be back 4 years ago but its an evolution.
If your ever around Montreal on a Monday night come by and check out the meets.
For more info check out www.odv2.com