Advan Racing

At the ripe old age of 38, I’ve become somewhat of an upperclassman in the tuner car scene. And as such, I’ve witnessed it change a great deal since the early 2000s. When I got my first car, social media didn’t exist. Well I guess – we barely had Myspace, but I just used Myspace to play sadboy emo music in hopes to gain the attention of my high school crushes. Needless to say, most of us hadn’t figured out how to use it as a vessel to show off our cars yet. Nah – back then, car culture was evolving to the internet via forums & forum whoring. For the youngins out there, “forum whoring” means posting excessively on forums… and that we did. I’m happy to say that I was able to live through the glory days of car forums, and all the shenanigans that took place on them. Forums were much more about a sense of community (and lighthearted sh¡t-talking)… rather than exploiting yourself for likes & views. 

Josh Guillot

The impact that social media’s had on today’s car culture…

No disrespect to the gajillion TikTok users out there, but it’s just not for me. I already experience too much daily brain rot as it is with the limited social media platforms I use. So I’m not looking to add any more fuel to that fire. I have the ol’ reliables – Facebook & Instagram. Mostly – I use Facebook to keep up with local car shows/events, and to stay in touch with my long distance friends & family. And my Instagram page is where I host the vast majority of my “car content”. But look – I’m by no means a digital creator, influencer, or whatever the kids are calling themselves these days. I just enjoy sharing the occasional picture/video of my car. If people dig it and want to follow along – cool. But if not, that’s fine too. I don’t have a hyper-cliché Instagram handle on my car, as I’d rather meet people organically. And the people that end up becoming my audience – I want to actually get to know them & chop it up with them. Not just have them be a hollow number so I can pump up my ego. I don’t put my worth, purpose, or value in that. And in my opinion…

The biggest change in car culture over the last 20 years…

People used to build cars on the simple principle that they wanted to. It excited them. Back then – the passion & addiction was driven from within. We didn’t see ourselves OR our car as content. Sure – any attention we got felt nice, but it was localized, personal, and conversational. We didn’t place our self-worth in likes, follows or shares. It just didn’t exist… you understand? 

E3 Spark Plugs

Nowadays, I feel like social media has produced less genuine car enthusiasts… 

And a lot more “attention enthusiasts”. Think about the words/titles we’ve allowed to become normal: Creator, Influencer, Follower. Lol gtfo – it’s so cringe it should make your skin crawl. The forum era car enthusiasts would’ve mutilated that kind of superficial, self-important, self-promotional BS. Man… I often wish we could just hit reset and go back to the good ol’ days. The days before social media brainwashed car culture into thinking they were some sort of D-list celebrities. It’s not a good look. But I suppose that’s just the way it is. 

car tuner magazines

I’ll step down off my high horse now…

If you need me, I’ll just be here thumbing through my massive collection of OG tuner mags. Chasing those nostalgic feelings that seem to fade more & more from the mainstream with each passing day. But seriously… go scrape that tacky IG handle sticker off of your window. It’s bad. <3

E3 Spark Plugs