This is another mild rant on car meets. I’m hoping this will make a few rounds and people will read it and try to change things for the better…Especially in Southern California.
I went to a car meet this past Friday night here in San Diego. This is the first time I’ve been to a meet in about 4-6 months. I’ve noticed a gradual change since moving out here in 2006-for the worst. When I arrive at the parking lot meet this past Friday, I back my 350Z into a parking spot of the back row, no biggie-I’m not trying to show off my daily, I just want to chat with other people that have similar interests in cars as I do. I get out of the Z and start walking around. There is a good selection of cars to look at and many rows to weed through. Everyone seemed to be standing or sitting in chairs by their own cars, which is fine, but when I tried talking to these people about their cars and try to share what I liked about them, most of their answers were really short and didn’t seem to want to talk to someone who wasn’t in their ‘squad’ ‘group’ ‘team’ whatever you want to call it. Nobody is welcoming. Shit, all the money that these people dump into these cars you would think that they would want to hear about it, or at least be more enthusiastic about someone else enjoying their passion as much as they are. Instead the ‘scene’ seems to be headed into limited interactions. could this be the cause from Instagram or Facebook un-teaching us how to communicate or show emotion?
Just as a comparison, I went to a car meet in Georgia a year or 2 ago. The people out there, while yes, some were camped out by their cars, most were out walking around getting to know one another and when asked what the others favorite car was that day… it was something other than their own… it was shocking, and then to top it off, they would even bring me to the random nice car and explain why that car was so awesome.
This is what I’m getting at-> Recognize the world doesn’t revolve around your car. People are not expected to like it, and when they do-show gratitude that someone else feels the same way you do about something you have. Be welcoming, talk to people. If we cant talk to one another and have sticks up our ass this community has no future. It will no longer be a community.
-Melissa
(the featured image is not of reflection of the Friday night meet I was talking about)
MelissaDrifts.com 
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Decades ago we would meet up by Fedco or whatever used to be where Home Depot on Balboa us now or st Winchells across the street. The usual friendly banter, maybe even hustling for a street race to be held somewhere else. We appreciated the privilege of having a well lit spot and we ALWAYS picked up after ourselves and behaved.
Around the mid-80s the mini truck scene started happening and everything changed. They littered like crazy, blasted their crappy stereos, and started fights. Result? We ALL got kicked out.
There are true car enthusiasts and there are punk posers. In the 70s I used to drive all the way up to Van Nuys Blvd on Wednesday nights. Lowlife element showing up helped get rid of that part of automotive Americana as well. Sad.
absolutely! I remember car meets back in pre-2006 being pretty awesome, but the last few ive gone to i had the feeling that i was just an outsider that no one wanted to talk to. Depends on the group i guess, but people get big egos and want to be all cool in front of the group i guess. One thing is, you rarely get this attitude at the track.
I agree. The racetrack has a completely different vibe. Sharing tools, people coming together when ones car breaks. That’s what it’s all about
Very true but some people(like me) don’t like bragging about my car at car meets. Yes I’ve put over 20k in parts alone, but I really don’t care if anyone notices. I modified my car for myself, not the scene. But I do agree they atleast have to be friendlier cause I’ve ran into rude people before. Their are still good shows to go to though.
come to norcal, we’re not anti social.
I would love to! And I believe you, the one time I went to San Fransisco I ran into another Z32 owner by the golden gate and walked up to him and started talking about Z’s. He was totally about it. This was like a little over a year ago.
People in GA are still out there walking around talking to each other at the meets, they just aren’t real big anymore. It was cool to see a simple weekday meet of 700+ cars. Everyone hanging out, checking out all the cars, sharing laughs, and having fun. Too many a$$hats screwed that up by acting like idiots when they left. Now I go to smaller meets and all is cool.
2014 was a good year.for me when I joined with the Carmeats crowd rocking my first car. One of my first meets in SD was at the Bonita Tapioca Express and later was a BBQ at one of the parks. The big meets were ok, but I always preferred the small meets that was under 15 cars. I would see the groups like you mentioned, but once they pop hoods is when the talking starts.
I remember my fun would be these weekly meets at the Marina way parking lot at the end of J street and we would all hang out in our lawn chairs till 10 or midnight. Ocationally we would had people drive past and we would attempt to wave them over to join… it was a hit or miss. Other times we would do pizza runs. I miss those days. There was also driving down Proctor Valley road at midnight 😀
2015 went low and their facebook pages are trolls or other random things… like YOHB? I am now up in the PNW getting rain, but would not mind someday doing a drive to SD to revisit with some of my old car friends.
was it the zion market meet? you should come talk to the guys from SDS we’re generally pretty friendly.
Yeah it was the Zion meet. It’s not everyone that acts like this, I did meet one guy/car that was really nice, but I always see that as a rarity these days. Which cars do you guys have (SDS)?
sds is the sd subaru club. we’re a pretty friendly group.
The car meet community is what keeps me going. I enjoyed the car meet in Georgia for a few years before moving to Fort Worth, Texas. I was not long in Texas before moving back to my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. It was the car meets that allowed me to make new friends without having to go to bars or another activity that does not interest me. There will always be some asshats that for some reason, when they get around a crowd, have to try to ruin it for everyone else. I will be at the meets to the end.
I have been to 100’s of shows and cruises here in the Northeast, all of the New England states, because I sell nanotechnology based polishing products at these events. Taking my ’78 Ford Fairmont Squire wagon gets me lots of looks but much more conversation at the Classic car shows than the Tuner shows.
The age of these two groups are usually markedly different. Older people seem to make up a large majority of Classic car owners while Tuner car are owned by a much younger group. The amount of work done on all of these vehicles whether Classic or Tuner varies equally. And, the value of individual vehicles in both groups range from thousands to millions.
To me it seems as if the older owners have more time and interest in talking to others about their vehicles – each one seems to have a special story. And, generally, they seem to have more fun doing nothing but sitting near their vehicles. Young owners are probably busier in their lives and are much more into using their technology and social media.
At most of the shows where I’m a Vendor there is little mixing of the two groups. Usually the show or cruise is put on by one group or the other.
It is disappointing that there isn’t more mixing, interest, and real appreciation by both groups of the love and hard work each individual has put into their vehicle.