First Class Fitment 2011: Official Coverage (Part 1)

There were planes taking off, helicopters landing, guys wrenching away in their hangars, and it was the perfect fall day for First Class Fitment 2011!  Open to all makes and models the Princeton Airport in Princeton, New Jersey was host once again to one of the most diverse gatherings of cars on the East Coast. With no parking spots painted on the ground, and a limited space at the small private airport (which celebrated its 125th Anniversary earlier this year) most would drive by and never think to host such an event at this venue… however that is the beauty of it all! While most events are tailored to one specific make or model, First Class Fitment brings together people from all corners of the car community with one common interest, fitment.

Without further ado we present First Class Fitment 2011!

With quality, variety, and fitment still our top priorities each and every car in the show was hand selected through a pre-registration process.   Bigger is not always better, however we are happy to say that was not the case for First Class Fitment 2011.  This year we worked with the airport to secure some more space for the show and that additional space combined with the unique back drop the airport offers, great weather, and a laidback environment made for a day we know we’ll never forget!

After months of planning and with less than two weeks until event we had all of the show cars finalized, e-mails sent out, and I was starting to work on the layout for this years show…we were full steam ahead! That is until I checked the 10-day weather forecast for Princeton. They were calling for rain the entire weekend but we realized all we could do is plan for the worst and hope for the best…

Well, someone was on our side because the forecast cleared up and we had a perfect fall day for the event!

On little to no sleep, we got to the airport early to start setting up and before we knew it the cars started rolling in.  Virginia, Quebec, Kentucky, and everywhere in between; it really was humbling to see how far people traveled for our event in little old Princeton, NJ.

With Canibeat staff members spread out all across the country we never have everyone all in one place, however we had more staff members at First Class Fitment than any other event we have ever attended!  Now I live 10 mins from the airport but somehow this guy (Danny Rice, Canibeat Staff Writer) was the first person at the airport the morning of the show… and he drove straight through the night from Louisville, Kentucky in his Harlequin!

Now back to the setup for this years event… We couldn’t have been happier with how First Class Fitment 2010 went given it was our first time hosting an event.  However, there is always room for improvement and we treated this years event like it was a blank canvas, and an opportunity for us to make a great thing even better!

One of  the hardest parts about planning the event is the selection process.  We spent countless hours and many late nights sorting through the hundreds of submissions we received this year trying to compile a list of the best of the best in each respective make and model.  Although it is not an easy process we feel that it creates an environment unlike many other shows with a variety of cars and people that may have otherwise never crossed paths.

There is no easy way to count exactly how many spots there are at the airport, but we had an idea of how many cars we were able to fit last year and we knew there was the potential for MUCH more!

Anyone who was at the show can attest to the number of people that were taking photos throughout the day.  Well, we wanted to give you a unique look at First Class Fitment 2011, so we have compiled photos from seven different photographers, each with a different style and perspective on this years event.  Enjoy!

Jesse Godin

C3 Photography

Sid Fligel

Alex Bednarik

Canibeat Staff photographer Brendan Lester

…and Anthony Lezada (also a Canibeat Staff photographer) who flew out all the way from California for this years event!

And Matt Nugent who captured this shot of the “BK” sticker which was made in memory of Liberty VIP member Brendan Kennedy who passed away in a tragic motorcycle accident just a week before the show.  Sadly Brendan was never able to see his recently completed Q45, which had just undergone a major facelift.  Brendan had debuted his Q45 at First Class Fitment 2010 and had planned on attending this years event with his new and improved look, so the guys at Dreamakers Kustoms who performed all the work on the car brought the car down from upstate New York to display the car at First Class Fitment in his honor.  If you would like to help out the Liberty guys are selling these stickers and t-shirts which all the proceeds from will be donated to the Kennedy family.

Brendan, you will be greatly missed and may you rest in peace… Our thoughts and prayers are with your family and friends.

About the Author

Dave Tormey

Dave is a co-founder, editor, and photographer for Canibeat and currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey. He's a business man working in corporate America by day and freelance photographer and do everything guy for Canibeat by night. Also enjoys traveling, collecting sneakers, and organizing events like First Class Fitment.