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For one, I NEED to have a car that is an individual; I just can't stand driving something that is the same as everyone else on me local roads (some would argue that my cars aren't very much individuals on internet forums, and that would mainly be true). I always notice what's different about everyone's car. I can pick my friends' cars out on the road by various dents and dings, as they tend to hot have modified vehicles. I love looking back at my parking spot when I get somewhere and admiring my car.
I used to have a lifted Jeep Cherokee that was an individual for a while, but then a lot of people around me started having very similar lifted Jeep Cherokees (I knew most of them didn't have a 5-speed or a 4.7 Stroker...). I ***** when someone would say, "I thought I saw your Jeep at ___________, but I couldn't tell, I was just driving by." I wanted people to never question if they saw my jeep.
Then I got a 2000 Civic Si that was junk, but it did introduce me to a whole new world of cars. Jeeps were simple, lift it as high as you can afford and put on the biggest tires you can fit, external modifications done. With my car there was a more stylistic decisions to make. I started reading threads on numerous forums. There was the fast and furious types, there were the track focused types, there were the fake JDM crowd, and there was the actual JDM crowd. "Rice" had no appeal to me. I liked going fast, so I started looking toward track type forums. I started looking at parts, some JDM some JDM style... I started watching videos and I started to understand the JDM movement in truth. That appealed to me; clean OEM+ cars, just JDM and not USDM. Then I started realizing that in Japan, there were a lot of people that were all about USDM, and I realized it was just about being subtly different, but remaining clean.
Then someone posted their Mk1 Golf on a Civic Si Forum, to me, it looked perfect. The stretched tires, the fitment... It was really well done, but then the track guys started bashing stretched tires, and I just didn't understand it. They admitted that it looked good, but failed to see that someone could like the looks of a car more than the function.
...I'll never forget how Mike broke the internet with his E28 with the rusted hood. With the great tire debate still going on, someone posted Rusty, before it was known by that name, on the civic forum. People went crazy over the fact that someone would rust a BMW hood and put neon yellow wheels on a BMW. The debate intrigued me, but I was tired of Civic guys bashing the E28 for basically not meeting the guidelines of most of the Civic Sis on the forum, so I clicked the link over to bf.c and took a look. I liked what I saw, and not just the arguments. I liked that people were taking stylistic cues from the VW scene and applying them to BMWs. The anger fueled people like Mike and Sean and the other Stancé Prïmo members, or however they used to type it. At that point my civic was acting up, and I left the Civic life for good and moved on to an e36 M3 convertible, which I guess a few Si people moved on to. I spent my time on bf.c and knew what direction I would eventually take my m3, and I knew I didn't want to ruin it, I wanted to keep it clean, which is expensive, thus the reason I haven't done much to it. But I still craved that look of florescent wheels and rust, so I did that to my Jeep. There was, and still is nothing like my Jeep on the road, or the internet. I loved the ****, it kept me going. Then I got a Mk4 Jetta and played with that for a while... and on... and on...
Overall, I love when people cringe when I scrape, I love how cars look longer when they are slammed, I love when wheels and tires and fenders all go perfectly together, I love when people ask how I turn, and I love when my car turns heads. I love this scene because you can have a budget of $0 or a budget of $100000 and have a desirable car either way. This scene is more of the "build it how you like it" type, just being low binds us each to every other. There aren't very many other scenes that borrow ideas and appreciate what others have done. Staggered is an amazing showcase of the different cars that fall into the same category as "stanced," even though I **** that phrasing. Where else can you have slammed and rusty BMWs, Audis, VWs, Hondas, Datsuns, Nissans, hot rods, Lexuss, Miatas, Mercedes-Benzs, and etc. intermingling with clean and slammed BMWs, Audis, VWs, Hondas, Datsuns, Nissans, hot rods, Lexuss, Miatas, Mercedes-Benzs, and etc? The best part is being able to be inspired by something that is the farthest thing from your own car. Are there cars I don't like? yeah, but that's not the cars fault. Are there modifications I don't care for? Of course, but to each their own.
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CliffsNotes:
I guess after all this rambling, I would have to say that I like this scene because it gives the most personal expression available in a car scene. You can still fit in if you are low and slow and rusty, or quick and carbon fiber clad, or anything in between and beyond.
I used to have a lifted Jeep Cherokee that was an individual for a while, but then a lot of people around me started having very similar lifted Jeep Cherokees (I knew most of them didn't have a 5-speed or a 4.7 Stroker...). I ***** when someone would say, "I thought I saw your Jeep at ___________, but I couldn't tell, I was just driving by." I wanted people to never question if they saw my jeep.
Then I got a 2000 Civic Si that was junk, but it did introduce me to a whole new world of cars. Jeeps were simple, lift it as high as you can afford and put on the biggest tires you can fit, external modifications done. With my car there was a more stylistic decisions to make. I started reading threads on numerous forums. There was the fast and furious types, there were the track focused types, there were the fake JDM crowd, and there was the actual JDM crowd. "Rice" had no appeal to me. I liked going fast, so I started looking toward track type forums. I started looking at parts, some JDM some JDM style... I started watching videos and I started to understand the JDM movement in truth. That appealed to me; clean OEM+ cars, just JDM and not USDM. Then I started realizing that in Japan, there were a lot of people that were all about USDM, and I realized it was just about being subtly different, but remaining clean.
Then someone posted their Mk1 Golf on a Civic Si Forum, to me, it looked perfect. The stretched tires, the fitment... It was really well done, but then the track guys started bashing stretched tires, and I just didn't understand it. They admitted that it looked good, but failed to see that someone could like the looks of a car more than the function.
...I'll never forget how Mike broke the internet with his E28 with the rusted hood. With the great tire debate still going on, someone posted Rusty, before it was known by that name, on the civic forum. People went crazy over the fact that someone would rust a BMW hood and put neon yellow wheels on a BMW. The debate intrigued me, but I was tired of Civic guys bashing the E28 for basically not meeting the guidelines of most of the Civic Sis on the forum, so I clicked the link over to bf.c and took a look. I liked what I saw, and not just the arguments. I liked that people were taking stylistic cues from the VW scene and applying them to BMWs. The anger fueled people like Mike and Sean and the other Stancé Prïmo members, or however they used to type it. At that point my civic was acting up, and I left the Civic life for good and moved on to an e36 M3 convertible, which I guess a few Si people moved on to. I spent my time on bf.c and knew what direction I would eventually take my m3, and I knew I didn't want to ruin it, I wanted to keep it clean, which is expensive, thus the reason I haven't done much to it. But I still craved that look of florescent wheels and rust, so I did that to my Jeep. There was, and still is nothing like my Jeep on the road, or the internet. I loved the ****, it kept me going. Then I got a Mk4 Jetta and played with that for a while... and on... and on...
Overall, I love when people cringe when I scrape, I love how cars look longer when they are slammed, I love when wheels and tires and fenders all go perfectly together, I love when people ask how I turn, and I love when my car turns heads. I love this scene because you can have a budget of $0 or a budget of $100000 and have a desirable car either way. This scene is more of the "build it how you like it" type, just being low binds us each to every other. There aren't very many other scenes that borrow ideas and appreciate what others have done. Staggered is an amazing showcase of the different cars that fall into the same category as "stanced," even though I **** that phrasing. Where else can you have slammed and rusty BMWs, Audis, VWs, Hondas, Datsuns, Nissans, hot rods, Lexuss, Miatas, Mercedes-Benzs, and etc. intermingling with clean and slammed BMWs, Audis, VWs, Hondas, Datsuns, Nissans, hot rods, Lexuss, Miatas, Mercedes-Benzs, and etc? The best part is being able to be inspired by something that is the farthest thing from your own car. Are there cars I don't like? yeah, but that's not the cars fault. Are there modifications I don't care for? Of course, but to each their own.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CliffsNotes:
I guess after all this rambling, I would have to say that I like this scene because it gives the most personal expression available in a car scene. You can still fit in if you are low and slow and rusty, or quick and carbon fiber clad, or anything in between and beyond.
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