All my friends know that I stay up really late every day, so when I wake up early for an event, it’s usually because I’m motivated to shoot a drift event or some kind of local Japanese car-based meet. However, waking up just to go to a car cruise is a completely new concept for me. I’ve been hearing about the Leavenworth Euro Cruise for a few years now, and to be honest…I never really cared to check it out until now! It’s a good thing I stepped out of my shell though, because there were a lot of cool cars at the event that I probably wouldn’t have ever seen if I didn’t go!
It’s true what they say – as we get older, things change, our minds open up, and sometimes… we realize what we’ve been missing. This cruise from Bellevue Community College to the touristy city of Leavenworth, with a stop at Washington’s famous Steven’s Pass was definitely something I’ve been missing out on for a long time! I attended the cruise with our writer Lucas Perez and photo newcomer Jeff Santiago, and even though we rolled up with Lucas’ R32 Skyline and Jeff’s Honda S2000, mostly everyone seemed cool with our non-euro cars attending. Well, at least they didn’t throw eggs at us or anything.
Lucas Perez will be writing the next update from the cruise, so he will probably have a bit more info on the cars. I’m honestly not the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to European cars, so I don’t want to pretend here and write a lot about cars that I don’t know about. This being said, I just focused on cool cars that caught my eye, like the silver VW Jetta in the above pic. It easily was one of my favorite Jettas there – super low, great fitment, and aggressive-but-clean. Props to the owner.
When we pulled in to the first stop of the cruise, Bellevue Community College, this red Audi was the first thing that caught my eye. The car was very tastefully done, and the stance and fitment look pretty good… It’s a great looking car!
Unfortunately, Lucas and I got to the college a little late – only about twenty minutes before everyone started leaving. This being said, I didn’t get a chance to take too many photos there. I’ll post some more up for the second phase of the coverage, which will be written by Lucas.
I think this is the first older gen Volkswagen Passat that I’ve ever seen-and-liked. I never seem to notice them, because most of the Passats I see are stock, and have nothing really noticeable done to them. Again, what drew my eye to this car was its awesome fitment and stance, not to mention the tasteful styling. I love how clean this car is.
While on the freeway, several BMWs passed by us, and I happened to have my camera out at a great time. The owner of this BMW E46 M3 vert was super cool and made sure I got the photo I wanted. Does anyone know what kind of bumper that is? It doesn’t look stock, that’s for sure.
Leavenworth is a pretty small European themed town. It’s a pretty popular Northwest tourist destination that is known for having some pretty awesome bratwurst.
While walking on the main street, I happened to glance over and see this GTI peeking though a couple of trees and a roof. I wish I was able to check the car out up close! It was hard to check out all the cars because there wasn’t one big centralized parking lot that everyone could go to. Everyone pretty much had to drive around and find street parking wherever they could. It’s a shame, because it made shooting all the cars kind of difficult. I’m sure I missed a lot of cars. If anyone attending the cruise has photos posted up on Flickr or something, please paste a link in our comments section!
One of my favorite wheels, I swear… I think properly sized CCW Classics look good on ANYTHING! This is the first time I’ve seen the copper colored Classics also, and I think they look good! I also like how low this Vee Dub is. Very nice!
While my original comment on this car was off by far! I think its great that everyone had to correct me on this since I’m still very new to the “Euro scene” lol. I was informed the car had a Votex body kit, Hartmann wheels, E-code lighting. This car was definitely an eye catcher! Volkswagen did a great job of making a big bodied four door. I think the body lines remind me of a Mercedes Benz though, what do you guys think?
Stay tuned to MotorMavens for Volume 2 of the coverage from the Leavenworth Euro Cruise!
::Yoshi Shindo
Deeeyummmm I love slammed dubs. <3
lower your shutter for rollers homie!!!
1/30!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FTW!
I was really confused when I rolled up into Steven’s Pass and saw an R32 skyline. One of my favorite cars, but had never seen one in person. Didn’t expect to see one on a Euro cruise!
That M3 vert is rad. That’s not a CSL bumper is it? Anyway…
Nice Jettas and that VW CC is a clean design. It does look like a Benz copy though. Doh.
Can’t wait to see what else you snapped. Any old school vdubs, aircoolers?
YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT YOSHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice coverage so far, can’t wait to see the rest of it. Marks red audi is on coils not bags 😉
I love Jeffs S2k, was nice to see him and Brandon make it out to the drive.
Yoshi, I’m pretty sure it’s a CSL bumper with shaved vents or something. That’s Ravi’s car, has like 900-1000whp or something like that.
Glad you found that white GTI, was one of my fav cars there, shit had a cage, stance, and awesome wheels, best combo evar. lol glad you guys made it out, too bad we didn’t get to kick it, I only saw Jeff and Brandon for short periods of time.
@hechtspeed – I think it IS a CSL Bumper! The guy has just shaved the single sided air intake, and mounted the toepick. But i does look very nice!
HEY ZACH!
Since you obviously know the owners and details of the cars more than our boy Yoshi, do you think you might be able to help us track down some feature cars? Hit up Yoshi pls man! We’d love to have you help out, if you’re down! I hear your new Z is pretty damn fast!
Yoshi nice Pics… Sorry I missed you at my car (Bagged E46) But I got your card and thought I’d check out MotorMavens… looking forward to seeing Volume.2 of the coverage.
i like the CC! i havent seen it in real life yet, but man it looks nice! can’t wait to see what it looks like once the owner puts some wheels on it!
Great coverage. Lot’s of nice rides here!
wow! i’ve always wondered if there was some sorta euro cruise to leavenworth. it’s a bavarian themed town so it’d only be natural for a german car meeting! oh, and bellevue communit college is now just bellevue college 😉 i can’t wait til episode 2 of coverage. hurry up, lucas!
Good to see more Euro coverage. Some day I’ll be going to this cruise (with my Jetta and my camera), and I’ll maybe get you some pictures for next year. 😛
The E46 M3 is Ravi’s. It’s another form of the CSL bumper, but with the shaved/filled intake duct. He’s got the HPF Stg.2 turbo kit. Once the VF SC kit blew his rings, he decided to build the motor up even more while HPF installed their kit. With the lower portion of the motor built up, he’s running with the Stg 2.5 guys. Car makes around 835hp on race/meth. Ravi is one of the friendliest people you could ever talk to….awesome individual!
Awesome coverage, thanks for attending! :thumbup: :beer:
You took a photo of my white MKV, I hope it turned out! Here is a link to the photos I took. nice job on the write up, looking forward to the 2nd installment.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51308156@N07/sets/72157624328135272/
That CC is more than lowered. Votex body kit, Hartmann wheels, E-code lighting all around. Sit it next to a stock CC and you’ll see a BIG difference!!
THANK YOU YOSHIII FOR THE PICC OF MY PASSATT!!
that red a4 is lame. who the hell puts mercedes wheels on an audi?
Wow thanks for all the comments and info you guys provided. I should start learning more about the euro scene so next time I know what I’m talking about lol. Next installment is going to be awesome. I can’t wait for it!
oh btw thanks everyone for the kind words and support!
Oh btw @Kris I never knew that, I couldn’t even notice. The styling of the kit and wheels make it look stock. either way it’s a beautiful car!
@Joesavi, no problem man! you got one of the cleanest passats IMO.
Great job Yoshi!
I had a good time this year as usual, its my third year going. Even more cars than last year I hear! Lots of dope cars, hopefully the people I gave business cards to hit us up!
For sure Antonio. Always down to help out.
No worries Yoshi, love the pic! I kept the CC looking OEM as I don’t think it needs a lot of flare. But it does get frustrating when everyone asks if it’s stock! Maybe I should get one of the those big wings the Honda guys use!!
Hey Yoshi,
Im the owner of the E46 M3. Man, those are some great shots! Rolling down 405,at 60+mph, pissing down rain, hanging out the window and snapping pics, you are the man! Major props! Btw, great read..
The front bumper is a CSL bumper with shaved intake hole and one piece race splitter.
OT…Jon, thanks for the Kind words man,and right back at you! Sorry i missed you at the meet.. Need to catch up soon!!
Ravi
Haha yeah I hear ya, I will def fix the post with the correct info when I get home tonight. Sorry everyone if I got the wrong info posted on some cars.
dope coverage yoshi… i’ll have to agree with you that white MK5 GTI on CCW Classiks are freaking awesome.. love it.. great job Yoshinoya
Some good work, dude! Keep it up.
Don’t sweat it Yosh, great pics and great coverage! Keep it up!!!
Interesting… you just made a lot of Euro enthusiasts aware of this site because of this coverage. The shots look pretty good.
This is the 10th Annual European car cruise to Leavenworth. There were nearly 900 cars at Bellevue CC this year. Make an effort to spend time at Bellevue CC next year, even if you can’t make the cruise, since it’s also one of the largest Euro GTG’s you’ll ever see. That’s where you’ll get to really check out the cars. Once you get to Leavenworth it’s time to hang out with friends and have fun. The cars go into hiding at that point.
The white gti on CCW’s you showed is Scott Moore’s. The car just placed in the top 5 VW’s at Wuste in Vegas as well.
Looking forward to more photos..
@Ravi Thanks man! yeah I was starting to get pretty wet, but had to do it to get the shot! I wish I got to see your car up close!
@Tamer @James Thanks guys! I’m trying!
@Joel I’m glad! I want to show everyone that we do more then just Drifting and Japanese cars! Our writer Tamer is a euro guy also, hes been showing me little bit of the Euro scene, he got me interested! I noticed that I missed out on quite a bit at BCC I was pretty disappointed that we got there so late after seeing how many cars were there. Thanks for the info, tips, and kind words!
Started noticing/watching you blog a few months ago, and your photos are very nicely done, glad you could make it out to the cruise! you should definitely try to make it out to Waterwerks in a few weeks out in Tacoma im sure you will see many of the cars from the cruise and more.
Here are some of my photos from the Cruise
http://www.cox-photography.net/Photography/Auto-Photography/Leavenworth-Drive-2010/
lookin forward to volume 2