[CARS - A Passion or a Culture ?]
CARS – A PASSION OR A CULTURE ?
A week back, I received an invite to be a guest author
for a prominent blog site that caters to the interest of automobile
aficionados. Not only do they cover topics of sculpted metal on two and four
wheels, but also a range of information on launches of electronics to earth
movers to technical information from ECUs to engines.
The invite ignited the fire of excitement in me. I
felt considered, important and most of all, I felt like an encyclopedia of the
automobile. To the contrary, I didn’t know where to start or what to start on.
I felt I was held between not knowing what to write and having half knowledge
on what I wanted to write.
But the one thing that I knew I did have like many
others who I’m sure are reading this is the passion that drives us all. We have
this inner most desire to know anything and everything about the invention of
the past century – The Automobile. Some of you have identified the interest you
have in cars and the like. I truly haven’t. Maybe it’s because I find every
part of the invention as interesting as its history to the factory it’s made to
knowing everything about the guy who test drives them. I just haven’t been able
to find one part more interesting than the other. Or maybe it’s just me.
Car culture is catching on in every society across the
globe. From Americas to South Africa and Siberia to Australia. But I just
haven’t been able to understand the difference between the mindset of a
culturist and a passionate. I don’t know to which genre I belonged to. So I
went on to find out. I started this journey off in the earlier part of the 21st
century. My travel took me to various locations and had the pleasure of meeting
a lot of wonderful people, to who I am most grateful.
Tuners – A term given to the stalwarts who dwelt deep
into the heart of automobile improving and perfecting every detail from the
very nuts and bolts used to hold the machine together. The term is very
frequently heard of but never completely mastered. A part of the reason for that
is because of the ever evolving automotive industry that has been improving technologically.
There are various aftermarket products available to suit almost every car in
the industry specific to any global region. These products are consumed mostly
by tuners who take up projects in cars that carry a lot of performance
potential but otherwise look and drive like a fairly normal automobile.
I have come across and met owners of tuned cars. Most
of them, or should I say, all of whom I have met, wear their caps backwards,
large sweat shirts and equally large denims who can look at an engine cover and
identify it by the nomenclature that the Japanese factory had christened it
even before it went into production. Their vocabulary consisted mostly of codes
like; EK, DET, SR, etc..These were just the prefixes. What followed them were
permutations and combinations of alphabetic and numeric codes to which even Mr.
Einstein would look confused.
In order to fit in to this “underground” society, I
tried to learn more about these engines and chassis the way they saw it. I
could understand the nomenclature, capability and reliability of these power
trains whose reputation preceded them. But Hell!!! There was no way I could
make them out by just looking at it sitting in a crate. The only thing I gained
was a new set of clothes that made me look totally out of place and took more
space in my wardrobe than the two helmets and riding boots put together.
These engines were so good that in spite of the
manufacturers seizing production of a few older models, a good number of
Samaritans continue to salvage parts from various sources to build them up
again. This was the following that created the “underground” society of
automobile aficionados. A meeting of such a society would see the best of the
best that the land of the rising sun had to offer. Nissan Skylines, Toyota
Supras, Honda Civics, Mazda RXs and a whole lot more from the current
generation.
Then there are the retro cars from the 1980s. These
were a restored examples fed with proteins to improve their otherwise meager
engines output. Some of them found their way from junkyards, barns and dusty
garages to being restored and displayed on glistening tarmac under neon lights.
I really don’t know if the owners of these amazing looking automobiles actually
drove them. A few examples had been fit with air suspensions which could
increase or decrease their ride height.
Tuner cars had serious power under the hoods. It was
as if they didn’t care about what the best of Stuttgart or Maranello had to
offer. For them their “rides” were capable of much more at a fraction of the
cost. They boasted about how they could control the power output based on
whether they drove in the city or left skid marks on the streets where they
raced.
The engines in these cars range anywhere between a 1.6
to a 3.5 liters. The internals of the engines were reworked and specially
treated to take the high intensity of pressure and heat generated during the
engines firing and combustion. They had turbo chargers or even superchargers to
increase brake horsepower and torque. All of this can be controlled by the
driver using a computer thats lodged on somewhere on the dashboard of the car.
The body kits and boot aerofoil are for technical
purposes and are designed by experts to create the down force and stabilize the
car whether it were going round a turn or in a straight line.
There are instances where these decade old Japanese
classics have made minced meat of higher valued and powerful exotics in the street
racing scene.
Well is that passion or culture? You decide.
These people liked music too. And it showed – quite literally.
I didn’t know which was bigger; the alloy wheels which were shinier than the
paint or the speakers blaring music that silenced even the engine that powered
the car. It was like the equipments within the car itself were competing
against one another. Most cars had customized panels to hold the speakers in place
so that the sound would reflect off the inner walls and pierce through the
listeners eardrums and create a throbbing effect right between the eyes. Pretty
creative I would say.
Some of the larger cars, read SUV, had speakers on
almost every inner panel facing the occupants. And when I talk about speakers,
they aren’t just black circular discs with a magnet in the middle singing a
pleasant tune. These, like I said are the size of the wheels the car rides on.
Once you are inside one these decibel demons, comfortable
in one of the usually four seats available, you will find yourself being stared
at by a galaxy of black cones waiting to scream at you. You are instantly
gripped by a fear of not knowing what would be read by the player, get
amplified to over a million watts and fisted right into your body from all
possible directions. For all you know there could be a sub atomic woofer placed
under your seat that could double as an ejecting mechanism to throw away back
seat drivers. I for one didn’t have what it would take to experience the sort
of torture that I would be subjecting myself to. I am told that there are
competitions to find out who has the higher decibel count. Louder the better
then say. I did not wait to hear or see who winners were or who had turned
deaf.
Well is that passion or culture? You decide.
I never understood the concept of making ones car look
better by adding or extending the body by way of usage of fiber glass or metal.
Out of curiosity to check where the roots of modifying initiated, I stumbled
upon the breed of Riceboys. It has its roots in the United States of America
where 18 year olds got hold of their first car on being awarded their drivers
license. And since the market was flooded with affordable Japanese hatchbacks
which ran miles together on a sniff of octane, most of them had their hands on
a Honda. The Japanese brand that an average American would not mind being
associated with apart from Sony. The Riceboys had a specific liking towards
vinyl stickers. They came in a variety of colors and combinations. They made
the cars look fast even when they were covered with a layer of dust or soil.
Honda Civics was and still is a rage amongst this breed. For starters, to
qualify as a Riceboy racer, on Stage 1, one had to have vinyl graphics in blinding
colors in contrast to the actual color of the car. Next they had to have a
larger than life boot aerofoil or spoiler adorning the rear. To add more
substance to the Go-Fast effect was Stage 2, the exhaust muffler – a large tin
that looked like it was taken from a used can of powdered milk fabricated to
the tip of the exhaust pipe. This added a touch of mime of a really fast car
when the throttle was opened. But that’s where all the Go-Fast effect tends to
seize. The car would be doing barely more than 40 kmph when it is heard as it were
doing 140 thanks to the sound effect from the “customized” exhaust system. Then
there is the Stage 3 - the most outlandish of all visual Go-Fast modifications
– the body kit.
Stage 3 completes the Riceboys “ride”. Overtly large
overhangs in the form of a body kit at the front, sides and rear of the
automotive structure. Some of the most creative ideas on metal sculptures arise
from body kits. How to tame and bend sheet metal to form shapes that can drape
your car is how you exhibit your creativity to disfigure your otherwise average
looking automobile. And this breed excels in the process.
Next time you are alone in front of a mirror, try
stretching parts of your face in different directions. Starting with your lower
lip, you pull it either using fingers from both hands or just a tug from the
middle. With your nose, you can try a smashed nose or a pulled up nostril. You
can tug both sides of your eyes and make them look sleek. You could also try
Captain Spock’s pointy ears for aesthetics. Now try doing all this at one time
and see how you have transformed your otherwise average looking self into a
unique being with just the expansion of the epidermis. This is the base of
creativity for turning your car into a unique Go-Fast “ride”.
Pull the bumpers out and lower by a foot, cut a gash
in the centre to make it look like an air vent. Add a variety of lights enough
to penetrate and see through the car in front of you. And you have a creation
of choice in the making.
From the above illustrations there is no
doubt to a layman these are really fast looking cars. To the Riceboy it’s more
than that. It is what he or she sees as what I can call – obnoxious creativity.
Creativity, never the less.
Well is that passion or culture? You
decide.
The sort of modification to an average
car, as I detailed is very common in car cultures across the world we live in.
But there also exist a breed much creative than the Riceboys. I haven’t been
able to find what they call themselves. But I would prefer to define them as the
Carnivorously Creative.
These are people who turn perfectly good
looking, technically sound, sometimes classic cars into a rolling mass of
obscenity.
For instance ask yourself – what would I
do if I had a Mercedes McLaren SLR?
I am sure that most readers would answer
– DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!! Or BURN RUBBER!!! Or FLOOR THE DARN THING TO
SEE HOW FAST IT CAN REALLY GO!!! There can be a varying list of adjectives and
verbs that each of us may use to express our excitement and rush. Unfortunately
for some, their interest lies in how much more exclusivity can they add to an
already exclusive car. There are projects taken up by individuals who have the
sources and need to show off their inherited or acquired wealth on being
exclusive and obscene at the same time. Now to attain both these qualities in
one go, one has to have an open mind. What marketing gurus would call as
thoughts out of the box? A few months back I stumbled again on the internet -
being the largest source of information, upon a very unique specimen of the car
I was describing – The SLR.
Only a person with a brain the size of a
pea and pockets as deep as the Mariana Trench could come up with a creation
like this monster.
What could be the inspiration behind
this creation of exclusivity? Could it be a liking towards fiber glass? Or is
it the obsession with the colors of Red and Gold? Or would it be to come up
with the ugliest SLR ever?
I don’t see any valid justification to
the surgery this otherwise fantastic piece of machinery has been subjected to.
It was also informed from a source that
the owner of this exclusive creation had 5 kilograms of gold and a couple of
precious stones adorning the car at specific places. Why didn’t he just buy a
jewelers kiosk instead? May be he wanted the worlds fast jewelers store.
But all criticism and pun apart this is
another cult of followers. They are there all around us. Some keep their
exclusivity confined to their garages after they find out that they have
redefined maiming. Others proudly display their exclusivity in public and enjoy
the attention derived by redefined obscenity.
There is a huge cult following this
pattern. They maim almost every premium automobile ever manufactured. From BMWs,
Porsches and Audis to Mercedes Benzs and Range Rovers. All have their exclusive
“plastics surgeon” sitting somewhere outside the factory waiting for the first
car to roll out.
Well is that passion or culture? You
decide.
Aaah…the Classics…AC Cobra, Ferrari GTB,
Porsche 911, Jaguar E Type, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro,
Mercedes SL Gullwing, Land Rover, Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, Mercedes G Wagen
etc.. The list could go on.
If one were to get his or her hands on a
classic that needs restoration, you could end up building it back to the original
form it was when it rolled out of the factory or it could be a drawing board of
your own creativity.
I am sure the above pictured used to be
a perfectly running and a well maintained Ford Mustang Boss 302 from 1970. A
classic no doubt. But the owner of this example had other ideas. He was a
hybrid of sorts. Inside him hiding was a talent of Riceboy and Mad Max.
Is
it a classic car?
Yes
it is.
Does
it have a powerful engine?
I
sure hope it does.
Does
it have what it takes to be a Riceboy racer?
Let
see, it has the body kit, the exhaust tips and the huge laundry hanger. Yes
qualifies.
Does
it cover the parameters of being a sleeping predator when on the road?
By
the matte sandpaper scrubbed finish I would say – Yes. Mad Max is back!!!
But
I wonder how Mr. Mad Max plans his entry and exit strategy. There don’t seem to
be any shut line or handles on the doors.
Well is that passion or culture? You
decide.
Then there are the serious collectors of
cars. This cult inspires me. No matter what the make or model.
If it’s rusted and not taken care of
follow this process: 1) Adopt it. 2)
Nurture it. 3) Clean it. 4) Refurbish it. 5) Restore it. 6) Repaint it. 7) Show
it off. Repeat process two, three and seven every other day.
These are saints in the church of the
Automobile. They do not discriminate. They warmly welcome all rust and dust
into their asylum. Unlike the swamis, sages or saints we know off, they don’t
light candles or lamps. They don’t wear cloaks or saffron. They don’t
necessarily carry symbols of the faith they believe in. They light blow torches
and welding rods. They wear overalls or cheap T shirts and denims. They carry a
monkey wrench, a Leatherman and a measuring tape.
These are the guys who have carefully,
persistently and patiently carried off bringing back cars that were once
thought of being dead, back to life in their full pride and glory.
I am sure and many of you readers would agree that there
are more sub cultures around the world. This was just my understanding of what
I experienced. It was the information, technology and sometimes shocking
situations that helped me put all these into words to share it amongst my
fellow members. There is never any intention to hurt or tarnish any culture or
sentiments of any individual or sect in this literature. If in any way, you -
the reader, have been offended I extend my sincere regrets and apologies.
But I do have to say that I still
haven’t been able to identify the difference between the mindset of a culturist
and a passionate.
I end this with just one understanding.
Which ever the culture, where ever on earth, what ever breed, we all share one
common interest and that it of Cars. And what ever we do with them is driven by
the love and passion we have for them.
Thank you.
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