Bimmercruise Turns 10

from MotorWerks Magazine Volume 1 Issue 1

by MotorWerks Media

Evolutionary M3 - A never ending story

BIMMERCRUTURNS

10Words and Photos by Ian Rae

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ISE

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“It’s Canada’s largest BMW show”

Bimmercruise Turns 10

Yeah that is right, Bimmercruise turned ten this year! Canada’s biggest BMW car show has made it to its’ tenth anniversary but not without some vision and hard work by the originators. It all started when three close friends from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) saw a need for a BMW only show in Southern Ontario; one that would cater towards hardcore BMW enthusiasts, just like they were. Kevin Kukkonen, David Sinodhinos and Randy Sparre, who all owned 1988 BMW E30s at the time, took their idea, massaged it and turned it into what would become Bimmercruise. “Cruise” was added to the event title when the threesome decided the event had to be more than just a car show and allowing participants to cruise to the show venue collectively would only enhance the experience. After the first three years Sparre was running the venture on his own, he explained, “Both my partners got married

and as we all know, it is difficult to balance work and a family life, never mind adding in something as time consuming as organizing something like Bimmercruise. They both support me when we run the event but have other things in their lives that preclude any more involvement. It seemed that getting married was the catalyst for leaving Bimmercruise and with me getting married in January I had a lot of soul searching to do as to whether I could continue running the event. Luckily my future wife, Anita is fully behind me and because of that you will be seeing Bimmercruise continue well into the future.” The first event was held at Centennial Park near Toronto and over the years the event has moved to many venues including Toronto Motorsports Park and Mosport International Raceway. As time went on, more than one cruise had to be organized to bring attendees from as far afield as Pennsylvania and New York State. Cruises would

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Parkview BMW was on hand showcasing the BMW brand.

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Above - E30 Zone at Bimmercruise

Below - Randy Sparre loves his BMWs

AutoX action at Bimmercruise

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arrive at the final destination having travelled through some of the most scenic countryside Southern Ontario had to offer. The social aspect of the event was huge and many friendships were formed over the years with most continuing to this day. In 2008 Sparre took the decision to grow Bimmercruise to include all European vehicles and the name was changed to EuroFest. Randy elaborated, “There was much talk from attendees about making the event something more than a static show, we had the cruise but some people wanted to see more, something where they could involved in an activity with their car. I looked at Toronto Motorsports Park as a venue but felt that even though it had the drag strip, road course and plenty of space for the show it would be too big a venue just for a BMW show with two to three hundred cars on an annual basis. That is where the idea of EuroFest grew from; there were no all Euro shows in the area so it seemed the natural progression to grow the event to encompass all European makes. I did all the proper marketing of the show, joined all the relative forums on the Internet and did my best to promote the event, but come the week of the show if there is a 40% chance of rain it seems that the owners of exotic cars don’t want to take them

out of the garage. The BMW guys are totally different, we probably have had four years of rain in the ten years of Bimmercruise and we still got one hundred and fifty cars show up even in inclement weather. The BMW guys are definitely more dedicated. Although still involved with EuroFest, Randy decided to return to his roots and celebrate ten years of BMW car shows by holding Bimmercruise as a separate entity once again in 2010. A search for an appropriate venue brought the show to Brampton and the Powerade Centre. The huge North parking lot gave Sparre plenty of room to spread out the various classes with space to spare. As part of growing the show for the 10 th Anniversary event, a new attraction was added, Autocross. A longtime BMW driving instructor Randy Sparre had been involved with the BMW Club Canada Trillium Chapter for many years. A chance encounter with AutoX organizer John Venditti at one of the Trillium events brought up the possibility that the two events could complement each other and the Year 10 event would be the perfect place to expose Bimmercruise attendees to AutoX, a seldom seen but exciting motorsport for the masses. The plan worked perfectly, the acres of space at the Powerade Centre allowed for the two distinct events within

Bimmercruise to have plenty of space but yet be close enough for spectators to take in both. The increased acreage was especially beneficial to the AutoX participants who for the first time this year were really able to showcase the power and handling of their vehicles due to the extended space. As to the future? “I see the dedication of the people who have been coming to Bimmercruise for many years and it is mainly because of them I want to continue. I have to admit I am at a crossroads with EuroFest, I may not continue with it, but we will have to wait and see. Spectator attendance is highly dependent on weather; a bad forecast not only affects the turnstiles but the future of the event. The Internet is a great thing for promoting events like this but somebody posts the show sucked on a forum and we have a whole new problem with next years’ event. The problem was the guys perception of a poor show was created because he was not fighting through a crowd or there were not rows upon rows of show cars there. Weather was the real problem, especially when the weather patterns around Toronto Motorsports Park are so different from Toronto itself. As I said before, my Bimmercruise guys tend to be diehard and weather is not as critical to them. I see a long and successful future for Bimmercruise and I hope we can stay at the Powerade Centre for many years to come. It is pretty central for most people in the area and to have a venue where we have concessions and washrooms available to us, there are not many places that can compete with it. Let’s just say, there are many new and exciting things coming down from Bimmercruise, keep your eyes open for them. Before I end, I have to say a big Thank-You to all the volunteers that have helped out over the years, I could not have done it without them. And what can I say about all the sponsors that stepped up to the plate with various forms of support from day one! Bimmercruise happens because of their support, there would be no Bimmercuise with all these great people. So in closing roll on 2011, Bimmercuise is going to be bigger and better! Count on it”