I remember the weather during last years motor show; it was nice and sunny, warm, and clear skies. It was so nice in fact that we had a preshow Scion meet. This year however? Well while this photo may look clear, it was bloody freezing with little bits of snow.

As it were, there is currently about half a foot of snow outside as I’m typing this. Lovely eh? At least majority of the Edmonton Motorshow is all indoors, except this year was the first time that they had a drift demo put on by the folks over at Spec D and Sherwood Nissan!

It’s actually been a while since I’ve been to a drifting event, so this was a nice breath of fresh air (or should I say tire smoke) from the usual rallycross and track day shenanigans that I’m more used to.

I also wasn’t really dressed for the weather at all, so once the demo was over I quickly headed back on inside…

…where we kick things off with the Fiat 500 Abarth. I had the opportunity to drive a regular Fiat 500 in Toronto last year and it was quite an enjoyable car, so I can only imagine what the Abarth version must be like.

I should also mention that we’ve seen a lot of the new stuff at both last years show as well as at the 2015 L.A. Auto Show, so I’m going to be skipping around quite a bit here.

Well that would certainly be useful on a day like this…

I might get some hate for this but I actually really enjoy the modern day Viper colors over the traditional red or blue with white racing stripes.

Toyota came out in full force as usual, this year with the new 4Runner, Tacoma, and Tundra, all in TRD Pro trim of course.

One vehicle that I’m super excited about this year is the new C-HR. I saw the concept back in L.A. which looked pretty good and I think the production model has still retained a lot of the original styling cues in a good way. Also as a side note, TRD Japan makes a couple different lip kits for them that look amazing.

Neat little pair of Toyo COMS EV’s.

So obviously we had to get here eventually: the new Civic Type R.

It’s getting a lot of mixed reviews so far, and I personally feel no different. I got the chance to drive the original EK9 Civic Type R recently and loved its simplicity. The new one is just so big and bulky and the exterior looks far too “busy”.

I’m personally not a big fan of all the red Nismo-ish pin-striping around the vehicle, especially on the wheels (I guess Honda didn’t get the memo that the “time attack” styled wheel days are over). I do however quite like that red center exhaust tip…

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens when these finally hit the dealers (which by the way is looking extremely limited in quantities and selling a bit over MSRP, just in case you were planning on getting one).

Here’s the NISMO 370Z for comparison; I think the red accents look work a lot better on here compared to the Civic…

Is it just me or do the current lineup of Genesis models look pretty damn good?!

Here was something interesting and fun; Chevrolet Canada had a 2017 Tranverse wrapped in white and was happily handing out markers for everyone to draw whatever they wanted to right onto the vehicle.

This was actually to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, so happy birthday Canada!

Another car that we’ve seen at the L.A. Auto Show: the new Ford GT.

Honestly what a wild looking ride. Hopefully we’ll see one at the track!

At first glance I would’ve thought this to be a BMW or Mercedes, but it is in fact the KIA Stinger Concept. Yup you read that correctly, it’s a KIA.

Really cool display from GMC for everyone to see the underside of this Sierra.

One of the highlights of the show for me was the Lexus LC500. More specifically, THIS LC500.

The low and wide stance, the lip kit, the huge H.R.E. wheels; I absolutely love everything about this car.

By now the NSX is nothing new…

…but what is new is the Precision Concept that was sitting right next to it.

One of the neatest details I noticed about this car were the triangle patterns found in the rear taillights, the rear windshield, rear quarter glass…

…and even in the headlights! Very Cool.

Another very impressive looking concept, the Buick Avista. Now THIS is a sinister looking car.

One thing I did notice from this years show was just how many concepts and “fun” cars were brought out to the show. For example, Inifiniti (who is partnered with Renault Sport in Formula One) brought out the R.S. 2016 season car…

…and right next door, Porsche brought out this fierce looking 919 Hybrid (although this isn’t actually the real thing).

It would appear that the “Black Gray” color from the GT3 RS has really caught on as we’ve seem very similar hues of this color on multiple other vehicles, such as this 911 Turbo.

Super smooth looking finish on this C-Class.

Still not sure how I feel about the giant “mouth” grille seen on so many cars these days…

Of course we can’t have the Edmonton Motorshow without the aftermarket side of things. No this is not an Enzo, but is in fact “Insanity”, a twin Rolls Royce jet engine powered dragster in Enzo clothing.

Now THAT’S an exhaust.

Super cool airbrushed helmet from Beauchemin Family Racing.

Oh and in case you’re wondering what that helmet is for, it’s this 1000HP drag bike.

Glad to finally see Wayne’s immaculate S13 out of the shop!

So refreshing to see a proper Lamborghini again.

I’ve never been a big fan of M Coupes but this one was looking very good on its BBS wheels.

Oddly enough I think the Lambo doors work pretty well on this GT.

Mark’s Liberty Walk Maserati Gran Turismo sitting low in the Driven booth.

This year there was a contest open to public for a chance to get their own cars featured in the show.

Called Unrivaled Rides, the top ten chosen entrants got to show off what they got at the where the public will then choose their favourite.

As I’m typing this a winner has yet to be announced, but best of luck to both my friends Ross and Berry!

One of my favourite things at the show is the auto auction as you never know what you’ll come across.

It’s been FOREVER since I’ve seen a SVT Cobra R, and with good reason as there was only ever 300 of these units ever produced.

Rather interesting two-tone paint job on this Corvette.

Really enjoyed this newer generation Challenger modified to look like the iconic Plymouth Superbird…

…complete with that unmistakable rear wing!

Oh would you look at that, a Porsche lineup that isn’t all RWB builds…

All joking aside, this 356B was easily one of my favourites as well as biggest surprizes from the show.

As much as I love modern Porsche’s they really don’t make them like they used…

Kind of found it ironic that this Jaguar 420 was in green. Right-hand drive too!

If you’ve never been to this auction before, it’s filled to the brim with lots of juicy classics.

Unfortunately that’s about all I can say as I don’t really know a while lot about these cars…

Lastly we have all the other fancy exotics hidden away in a rather nice quiet hall.

Like many people, I was never a big fan of the Bentley Continental but my goodness have things turned around.

Fancy Ferrari F12tdf taking center stage in the hall.

While I’ve shot some rallycross earlier this year, this is the first big event of the season for me. The season is upon us, so be on the lookout for regular updates for the next little while!

-brandon.

Click HERE to view the full photo set on Flickr.