Words and Photos by Pat Bryar with additional phots by Drobsicles, Dave Wood, Brian Holzli
The annual pilgrimage to Edmonton for the Dropsicles Meltdown car show is always a plus on my list. Gathering the troops bright and early to leave Red Deer as a group and convoy our way to a show that I’ve rarely missed since I started going about 20 years ago. With Dropsicles in its 30th year and this being Meltdowns 29th, it was a great show to attend.
Being hosted now at the Edmonton Whitemud Equine Learning Centre, Meltdown has continued its legacy of being a must attend show. The show was moved to the Equine Centre in 2022 to change things up from its previous location at the NAIT South Campus where it had great results. The new location proves to be a great spot allowing more vehicles, on site camping and no more hot asphalt and tar to get stuck to your shoes on those hot Alberta summer days!
Highlights as always come from the games the club has throughout the day. From a donut eating contest, tug-o-war and the ever popular frozen t-shirt challenge! The new location on soft grass makes for a lengthy fight and plenty of jockeying for the win!
Highlights by some attendees included those that came from far and wide. A beautiful white C6 Corvette by Devan Dwyer came all the way from Winnipeg, Manitoba to attend. Sporting a full air ride system and custom wheels, it looked like it rolled down the highway as smooth as butter.
An incredible build from Jesse Chomick and Jen Black was an Isuzu Amigo featuring a full custom chassis and hydraulics. It was presented on the show grounds three wheeling hard showing its vintage 17 inch billets spinning in the air.
Rich Shewchuks Mazda B-series rolled out to the crowds for the first time outside of his local shows. With a long way to go, it was still able to show well and draw attention, and conversation as it displayed a supercharged Ford V6 plucked from a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. A gnarly bumper to rollpan custom chassis with one off features like cantilevered independent rear suspension, upper and lower control arms and integrated air tank mounts. Sitting solid on anodized Niche wheels.
A highlight for me personally was the re-emergence of ‘Peach Pit’. A classic survivor sport truck from the 90’s show scene down in the states. After hiding for 8 months in its new Canadian home, it was brought out to its first Canadian show and we couldn’t have been happier. It looked stunning with paint gleaming after a lengthy reconditioning, still showing off its original three spoke Antera wheels and much to my delight, selling t-shirts to promote the truck and its journey.
Food was provided by local food trucks. Fox Burger was a hit as always. Serving up their incredible smash burgers they kept the crowds full and smiling all day. Also along for the ride was Calle Mexico with their super authentic tacos. It felt like I was back in the sunny weather well below our southern border on a beach relaxing and enjoying the finest food they had to offer.
Mini donuts this year were supplied by The Mini Donut King. These sweet rings of dough, coated in cinnamon and sugar were not just enjoyed, but virtually inhaled by the crowds, especially Garrett Slifka as he took top honors in the donut eating contest. The man is a machine.Finally as the day came to a close, the awards were handed out. Classes for mini truck mild and wild, sport truck, tuner car, special interest, classic car, muscle car, low rider and of course what has now become the Rob Balcom Best of Show in honor of the late Rob Balcom who passed last year. This award was taken home by ‘Peach Pit’ and well deserved.
As every year when the show closes, I look forward to next year. It’s always exciting getting to see what rides they will bring, what new mods have taken place and I always look forward to seeing friends I have not had a chance to see since the previous year’s show.
Not only was this a successful show though the weather wasn’t fully cooperating for the first half of it, the Dropsicles were still able to raise $4400 for the Alzheimer’s Society of Alberta and NWT. Registered vehicles came in at 128, but the smiles enjoying seeing all those glorious rides was innumerable.
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