Come One, Come All! A New Carnival for Old Cars

If on your afternoon walk through Brooklyn last Sunday - whether on a whim, in search of adventure, or maybe through divine luck - you turned onto Beadel Street, what you found there may have surprised you. What would ordinarily be an industrial street in Greenpoint was instead pulsing with life. On either side of the street you saw people, laughter, warmth...and cars. A symbiotic community joined together on a fall afternoon through the shared love of hobby, passion, talent, and overall car enthusiasm. All with a note at the gate imploring, “come on in...”

If The Fast and the Furious has fueled your anticipation of what a car meet is supposed to be or what car culture happens to look like, you'd be forgiven for not realizing that is what you'd just walked into. However, this scene is not from the movies; it's filled with Japanese VHS tapes, brazen caricatures, and a period-correct soundtrack of rev-limiters, Japanese backup alarms, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. And that's exactly the idea!

The Curb Cut is hosting the event, giving out invitations to alter perceptions and help pull back the curtain on what car culture is often (mis)understood to be; where it intersects with life at large and how - if you want - there's plenty of room for you as well. For this, among other reasons, it is fast becoming a beacon for like-minded enthusiasts and curious passersby. And for their season-ending car meet of 2020, all sorts made sure to turn out and join in.

Welcome to the venue: Ground Level Garage. A perfectly suited slice of JPN by way of NYC. Its patina’d and inimitable authenticity flies in stark contrast to the world of speedshop underglow and pink slips. It's a place where the flames of creativity are stoked with care, and the virtues of hard work and discipline may well be etched into the foundation. The walls are draped with tapestries of past idols, and it's filled with cars that respectfully pay homage to their memory.

On the day, while not a carnival by typical conventions, the event was nevertheless filled with all the manor of lion tamers, jugglers, trapeze artists and maybe even a few bearded ladies. There were eye-catching spectacles, sensory-filling sounds, and - when the lions roared - maybe even a perceptible feeling of the ground moving underfoot!

And at the center, its Ring Leader, masterfully weaving all of the acts together; each given a pedestal to perform, to be admired, and to celebrate their talents. This was a refreshing, “come one, come all” approach to a car meet. “Concession stands” packed with doughnuts, grilled meats, and refreshments, raffles and merch; not forgetting a jam-packed street with some of the most desirable, quirky, tried-and-tested vehicles you could ever hope to see in one place. And with an open-armed invitation to enjoy the experience!

The show went on well into the evening like a revolving door of “who's-whos” and “how are yous.” By the time the taillights were disappearing from view, all the food had been eaten, and the VHS tapes spooled over, you could almost hear the thoughts of “well, maybe a bit longer...”

Now, for some, that is where things stop. But for others, this where The Curb Cut gets really interesting. At first viewing, it might be difficult to see beyond the wondrous pantomime of the big top car meet and its captivating performers, but for those looking for more - for those with an itch to scratch and a desire to learn - The Curb Cut offers to be a steady hand in the dark: a torchbearer, if you will. Because the real substance is in seeing what makes the performers tick, what goes into making these cars roar, and why someone would devote their time to honing the craft.

The Curb Cut is a conduit to certain pockets of car culture from a bygone era now alive in the heart of the biggest city in the world. A glimpse at a style of nuanced car tuning you might not expect to find; giving emphasis to the old guard and extolling the virtues of car modification as means of expression, a way of life, and an ever-necessary escape from the norm.

This is car modification with a purpose. This isn't about the flexing or chest-beating bravado we’ve grown accustomed to; it's about veneration of what came before and seeing it painstakingly manifest back to its former glory. Whether that be in restoring the beating heart of a Datsun 280Z or singing the praises of a perfectly maintained Suzuki Every. Perhaps it’s getting sideways in a certified drift machine you built in your backyard or sourcing an oft forgotten classic. Whatever the decision may be, they all are meant to bring us further down the road.

One could be forgiven for thinking that this is about being the caretaker for a particular car, and maybe that is the case to some degree - at least on an individual level - but that's not the bigger picture that The Curb Cut is trying to paint. This is about being Caretakers of a Culture - no single vehicle can be more important than the culture around it. There were no trophies handed out at this car meet and no driver arrived with a lust for victory. It's a story-circle approach to tuning, where the experiences gleaned and lessons learned take precedence. The prize was in being there, taking part, experiencing, and celebrating each other's interests for the sake of all the quirks and differences.

Because the truth is that these special events aren't just about celebrating a gilded past; they're about fostering the moments that we want to live for today. Paving a way for a car culture that may one day be celebrated and revered, in turn, by virtue of these exact moments. And we nurture this pursuit until we find ourselves together once again at the carnival.

- Peter Yacovacci

for The Curb Cut

Come One, Come All! A New Carnival for Old Cars

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