The loose definition of “car guy” fits everyone from the dude swapping a blower onto his Chevelle to the kid putting spinner hubcaps onto his Honda. We’re all part of the car culture in one way or another. Recently, I have paid more attention to the automotive subcultures that surround us. BangShift is a pretty wide open deal with respect to automotive interests. On any given day you’ll see Bonneville, big rigs, drag racing, ad vintage road racing. What I’m talking about today is the narrow interests. Specifically the brand or even model specific subcultures in the automotive hobby.
I have been dipping my toes into a couple of B-Body and Caprice specific sites just to ask relevant questions and learn more about what people have done and not done with their cars. I do know know the GM model and option codes for all the cars and stuff like that, but many guys do. I do not find that weird with the Caprice crowd, but when I start peeking into Pacifica forums and they are talking Chrysler options codes and stuff it is totally bizarre to me. I have thought about trolling a couple of the Pacifica boards because I believe the car is such a steaming pile of shit that anyone who actually argued on behalf of a Pacifica must be hooked on strong prescription meds. On the flip side, some good things come from enthusiasts that “normal people” (HA!) like us would think are total weirdos. Take this for example.
When Chad and I were traveling to the MPMC conference in LA, we had a rental Toyota Yaris because that was the cheapest pile at the rental agency. We were able to find the complex and totally bizarre procedure to shut off the factory traction control on some weirdo Yaris enthusiast message board. We then did ATF assisted burnouts all over the greater Los Angeles area. Win for the Yaris board on some weirdo level.
From Chevy Luminas to GMC Acadia’s you can find specific board and enthusiasts for every car ever made (almost), even the toaster on wheels models.
What is the weirdest automotive subculture?
