I gathered myself up early final Saturday morning, took a two-hour ferry journey to Finland, after which drove on to the lakeside metropolis of Lahti, simply over 60 miles from Helsinki. Right here, a bunch of fans often called the CDLC Group hosted what I consider to be the perfect stance present ever seen in Northern Europe.
Being the final weekend of summer season, I needed to spend it with nice individuals and automobiles, and FittedFest 2022 delivered on each counts.
FittedFest is CDLC’s largest occasion, historically held this time of the 12 months on the excellent Lahti Harbour location.
After a two-year hiatus as a result of Covid, I had a felling that this 12 months’s FittedFest was going to be greater than ever. CDLC’s social media machine was working extra time, sharing profiles of all of the automobiles being prepped for the occasion. The hype was actual.
I’ve been following this occasion for a few years, and over that point it’s grown massively. New for 2022, the CDLC mixed the official present space with an additional meet within the parking zone.
However regardless that FittedFest’s bodily measurement was doubled, I nonetheless observed so many worthy automobiles parked outdoors of the occasion confines. It simply goes to point out how automotive tradition is rising on this area, and particularly with regard to high-quality builds.
For essentially the most half this can be a native occasion with the overwhelming majority of automobiles coming from Finland. But it surely was additionally good to see a small variety of company making the journey from Sweden, Estonia and Latvia.
One thing nice to see was the evolution of quite a few automobiles. Take this Opel Kadett I’ve featured prior to now for example. As a result of a venture isn’t actually completed, proper?
Whereas many automobiles at FittedFest adopted tried and true recipes, others shocked me. These two Mercedes-Benzes positively fell into the latter class. Each regarded ‘regular’ from the entrance, however as I modified angle one grew to become a bonkers 9-second avenue automotive and the different a stanced limo.
Even the lowriders have been geared up with correct hydraulics, a uncommon sight in Europe.
Europe actually is spoilt for alternative relating to stance-centric occasions nowadays. Ultrace in Poland is unquestionably on the high of the record, along with Wörthersee in Austria and Gamers within the UK. Like these occasions, FittedFest prides itself on clear execution plus a normal feel-good perspective.
CDLC Group actually is sort of a huge household, with everybody understanding one another and hanging collectively.
The ‘Individuals’s Selection’ and the ‘Total Winner’ of this 12 months’s occasion was a glowing drift-spec Hachiroku. Janne Mattila, the AE86 Levin’s proprietor, painted the automotive in sweet purple lower than every week earlier than the occasion. The lowrider-inspired roof is Janne’s handiwork too, however this was accomplished a bit earlier. The Toyota sits on Work Equip 01 wheels, whereas the Precision-turbo-equipped 4A-GE engine places out near 600hp.
Simply as this AE86 combines quite a few types in a single automotive, FittedFest itself is a melting pot of automotive tradition. Niko Aaltonen and Antti Eskeli, the co-founders of CDLC, are completely in contact with the most recent traits, however they clearly haven’t forgotten their roots, enjoying old fashioned hip-hop and alluring lowriders and customs to a stance meet. Lengthy could FittedFest proceed.
Vladimir Ljadov
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