Honour thy modder...

Fatlace.  Speedhunters.  Nissansilvia.

If you’re perusing this blog then no doubt you’re familiar with these names.  These monoliths dedicated to our most beloved obsession.  Personally, Speedhunters is the first blog I trawl when I turn on my computer, and generally the last as well.  I’m also a regular on NS, if your building a Nissan then there’s no doubt you could build a complete car from the used classifieds alone!

 But are all these international blogs and forums helping the scene or hurting it?

I still remember the day fatlace was registered in my favourites, I was trolling the s14 picture forum on NS and there, sitting in all its glory was a slammed, kitted matte grey zenki S14.  At first glance it looks like regular garden variety primer but upon further inspection it turned out as ‘battleship grey’.  This played quite a part in the colour I ended up painting my 200.  Though with the Fatlace influx came the Hellaflush movement.  In the states they have no laws that govern how high your car must be while rolling, so that we poor sods in Aus are saturated with all these images of super slammed imports and sedans that we could never replicate without some handy air tanks in the boot.  Noooo, 100mm at the lowest point for us, well unless you want to keep your rego anyway. 

On the other side of the coin however, where would we be without the inspiration found abroad?  Anyone remember ‘that 240’ from speedhunters?  Without any images from Wekfest, Hellaflush or Gatebil events clogging up my hard drive I’d hardly be the worldly automotive guru that I so clearly am.  So with our scene being so saturated with all these standout rides across the world, what does it take for us to be surprised?  If you go out to any local show, you can be guaranteed that there will be rides there that took 100+ hours to build that dude spent in his garage with his welder in hand or some kids pride and joy, who probably started an apprenticeship just to fund the custom paint for his fist car.  But because we’ve seen that particular car with wider wheels/ lower stance/ crazy paint we just dismiss it.  Sucks. 

So I think when it comes down to it we just need to get out more and really appreciate the story and effort that was put into them.  Get a back story and if you get a chance, congratulate the guy who took the time and had the guts and vision to build something that he or she can be proud of.  Who cares if it’s not your cup of tea, if you’re involved with the scene in any way, shape or form, you can appreciate what hard work looks like.

See you at the track!

-Willie

Ps, voting for bretts drifter is still on at our FB, so check it out!