| [October
15/16/17 2004]
Abraham Lincoln once said that "You
can please some of the people some
of the time, but you can't please all of the
people all of the time." It's unfortunate
that Honest Abe has been 6-feet under for more
than one-hundred years, because for one weekend
in October close to 60 000 spectators could
all be heard singing the praises of the fifth
annual Sport Compact Performance Auto Show.
In five years the Sport Compact Performance
Auto Show (SCP5) has grown into one of North
America's premiere automotive lifestyle events,
even having been dubbed by certain industry
leaders as "the indoor version
of NOPI". One of the keys to the success
of the SCP Weekend is the support from the people
of Montreal, as 58 000 spectators from Quebec
and beyond took in the three day event. Closing
the doors for short periods to avoid overcrowding
on the field of the Olympic Stadium is quickly
becoming a tradition on Saturday nights.
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Chris Guerreri's Polk Momo Acura CL.
Won Best of Show at SCP5 |
Spectators stuck
waiting for the doors to re-open weren't disappointed
after being greeted by four Lamborghini Murcielago's
courtesy of John Scotti. With the Lamborghini's
getting the event started on the right foot,
show-goers were invited to take a tour of the
Mezzanine, which overlookied the field of the
Stadium and where many of Quebec's tuner clubs
showed off their best and brightest member's
rides and local vendors hawked everything from
energy drinks to pocket bikes. The
slow-going traffic down the stairs leading to
the field offered spectators a bird's eye view
of what awaited on the main field.
Once on the field, 3rd Place Best of Show and
first ever "Coupe Quebec" winner Chico
Zetino's Auto Nu Design Golf greeted the masses,
giving way to the Future Shop Installer Challenge
and Eddie Farcon's carbon-fibre BMW (2nd Place
Best Of Show, Best Body).
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Chris Guerreri's widebody Acura CL held
court in the Polk/MOMO booth before winning
the top prize as Best Of Show and taking
home Best Demo Vehicle for good measure.
The quality of the car show competitors
was almost overshadowed by the sheer immensity
of the corporate booths as Hankook's display
rose forty-feet into the air and Rocawear
Canada erected a two-tiered booth setup
that overlooked the stage named after
Jay-Z's clothing empire. Not to be outdone,
SCP5 title sponsor Castrol Canada hosted
several show-stopping cars courtesy of
Guerreri's Pennsylvania cohorts, the WRTeam,
and Miss Sport Compact Nights Christine
Isabel all but guaranteed steady traffic
in and around the
booth.
Despite the long lineups at the ticket
counters, getting locked out at
the gate and having to jostle for position
just to snap a picture, nary a complaint
was heard when the doors closed on SCP5
Sunday evening. In an industry fueled
by pride and ego it's near impossible
to satisfy the wants and needs of the
sponsors, competitors and spectators.
Another
popular cliche claims that nobody's perfect,
but for three days in the fall of 2004,
SCP5 came pretty damn close.
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