Under the Hood
What car meets are really like.
This past summer I went to two car meets, one in Roxbury, Massachusetts and one in Harrison, New Jersey, and asked nine people there what they wish outsiders understood. Then I added three longer interviews with adults who organize car events. Together, these twelve conversations describe a big gap between the reputation of car meets and the reality of the people who go to them and run them.
At the meets, I approached people directly at Roxbury Community College in Boston and at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, asked if they would talk to me for a school project, and recorded short interviews on my phone with a small microphone. Everyone quoted from those nine conversations agreed to be recorded. The three organizer interviews are longer and organized around questions to explore their experiences. For now I label the organizers by age and role instead of by name. These twelve conversations are not a scientific sample. They are twelve honest conversations with people inside car culture.
Who said what
This grid shows how the twelve conversations line up. A dot means that person said something that fit the row. I coded these myself, so another reader might draw some lines differently. The organizers got longer, different questions than the attendees, so the rows are not a fair contest. The grid shows where voices overlap, not who is right.
| What the person said | Xavier 17 | 19 Lawrence | 21 Worcester | 28 Dorchester | Levon 18 | Daniel 23 | 21 Irvington | 14 | 32 Brazil | Organizer 44 | Organizer 36 | Organizer 36 | Of 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Described what outsiders picture | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 7 | |||||
| Said the meets they know are safe, calm or well run | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 9 | |||
| Drew a line between meets and takeovers or street meets | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 5 | |||||||
| Pointed to where the reputation or the trouble comes from | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 6 | ||||||
| Described a cost of the reputation | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 4 | ||||||||
| Said the bad behavior is real somewhere | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 7 | |||||
| Shared knowledge, builds or help | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 5 | |||||||
| Family is part of the story | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 6 | ||||||
| Friends, belonging or community | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 6 | ||||||
| Used wellbeing language (therapy, depression) | ●yes | ●yes | 2 | ||||||||||
| Invited outsiders to come see for themselves | ●yes | ●yes | ●yes | 3 |
Who actually showed up
Who the nine people at the meets came with
Age range, all twelve
Mapping car culture
If you ask someone who has never been to a car meet what one is like, you usually get the same words: reckless, dangerous, illegal, kids doing something they shouldn’t. Those responses are based on something real but rare: YouTube clips of street takeovers or news stories about street racing. I wanted to know how that reputation reflects the experience of the people who actually go, so I went to two meets and asked everyone the same questions. What do you love about this? What would you change? What do you wish people who have never been here understood? Afterward I added the people who plan these events, since organizers deal with the reputation head on. On this page, an Organizer tag marks someone who plans these events and speaks for the whole scene. An Attendee tag marks someone describing their own day at one meet.
Car culture is not one group, and these twelve conversations touched seven different parts of it. Cars sit at the center because they are what everyone shares. Tap or click a branch to see what people said about it.
Where it starts
Two of the organizers traced their interest back to toy cars and video games. Nobody described a moment when they decided to like cars. It just started when they were small.
“Everybody's starts with, like, a little 50-cent Hot Wheel, right?”
OrganizerAge 44 · on how it began“It started when I was young. ... Hot Wheels, then Need for Speed.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on how it began“get to see the cars, enjoy time with my family and friends.”
AttendeeAge 14 · came with his dad · sixth meetBelonging
This was the idea that came up most. The car is what first gets people talking, and the community is what keeps them there.
“people are always looking to be a part of something ... whether that's because of a lack of family or whatever it may be”
OrganizerAge 44 · on why people join“I found my footing and I was like, oh, these are my people.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on finding the sceneOrganized meets
These are planned events with a place, a time and rules. The organizers and attendees both described them as places where people help each other.
“it's nice because the friends like what you like.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on why he likes meets“When community help each other. When you want to build like some project, and you don't know yet how start, you have a lot of guys can help you.”
AttendeeAge 32 · originally from Brazil · 5 years in the sceneCasual hangouts
Cars and Coffee style mornings are looser. The 44-year-old organizer described them as one of the few places where background stops mattering.
“they could be poor, they could be rich, they could be straight, gay, man, woman, doesn't matter ... looking at the same car, and they both get something from it, and it starts a conversation.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on Cars and Coffee“there's a lot of wholesome interaction happening, and I think that's probably what keeps people coming back.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on why people returnSpectators
Not everyone who comes has a car on display. Some people come mainly to look, and looking at other people's work is a big part of the day.
“I just like seeing all the builds.”
AttendeeAge 21 · Irvington, NJ“Just seeing everybody's builds”
AttendeeDaniel · 23 · Allentown, PACollectors and rallies
At the top, rare cars and rallies draw very wealthy owners. The 44-year-old organizer helps run one of these rallies. He said that even there, what people want is an experience.
“at some point money doesn't get you everything.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on the wealthiest owners“What we're able to do with Gold Rush, I always refer to as the rock-star treatment. It's an experience.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on a rally he helps runWhat it is not
All three organizers pushed back on takeovers and sideshows. They said the reputation comes from those events, and two of them said regular meets get lumped in anyway.
“Nowadays we hear a lot about sideshows, these illegal meets, and that's what everybody thinks is happening the majority of the time.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on sideshows“it's unfortunate when people all associate us together with that type of activity.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on takeoversThe branches are my own way of sorting what people said. Other people might group the same quotes differently.
The gap
Most of the people I talked to knew what outsiders assume about car meets, and almost all of them disagreed with it. Here is how I counted. I asked seven of the nine people at the meets directly whether car meets are dangerous, so their answers show what they think when asked. The organizers describe the same gap from the other side of the table.
“I think people could see it as like reckless. I think there's ... a lot of like more drugs. So I feel like that people could see it as dangerous, and like people speeding as well.”
AttendeeXavier · 17 · first time bringing his car“$100,000 cars, cars that you can only get off the lot, when in reality it be cars that your grandfather probably drive”
AttendeeAge 28 · Dorchester, MA · oversees the event“Probably people looking for followers and meeting up in big groups.”
AttendeeAge 21 · Worcester, MA“Immediately people think Fast and Furious, or a low-quality person.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on what people think when they hear you are into cars“I don't think it's a dangerous environment. I think it's just very civilized and well put up. So, I would say, I mean, some people do make it a bad environment, but for the most part, most people here are cool.”
AttendeeLevon · 18 · Philadelphia, PA“People always want to feel safe in here ... because they have rules. It's not like a street meet.”
AttendeeAge 19 · Lawrence, MA“I think the car community is a very chill community. I don't think anybody's gonna get hurt.”
AttendeeDaniel · 23 · Allentown, PA“99% of the people [who] came were respectful ... Nobody was speeding. Nobody was making noises or whatever.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on a meet he helped host at a friend's shop“That isn't a bunch of people who want to do donuts and burnouts and cause havoc in the street. Those are two very different groups.”
ORGANIZER · AGE 44 · ON HIS CHARITY EVENTSWhen asked, nearly everyone said meets aren’t dangerous. In all, eight of the nine people at the meets described what they saw as safe, calm, or controlled. Seven of them were answering a direct question. The one who was not, the 21-year-old from Worcester, called the meet “all chill” without being asked. People did not claim nothing bad ever happens. Levon said “some people do make it a bad environment,” and Xavier and the 28-year-old described real dangers like speeding and takeovers. I come back to that in theme two.
The line between meets and takeovers
The nine people at the meets mostly called the reputation a mistake. The organizers explained how the mistake works. They said the public mixes together two very different kinds of events. That dividing line is how organizers see it. Several things the attendees told me made more sense after I heard that.
How the reputation reaches the people who run meets
The three organizers described one chain of events from different angles. Each step below is told by one of them. Read it as how organizers see it. I did not interview a city official, a neighbor or anyone at a takeover.
Takeovers get the attention
“Nowadays we hear a lot about sideshows, these illegal meets, and that's what everybody thinks is happening the majority of the time.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on sideshowsEveryone gets lumped together
“it's unfortunate when people all associate us together with that type of activity.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on takeoversOrganizers pay for it
“to be able to get what I want, I need to give something. A donation is a great way to ask for permission.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on running charity events“We're accredited. We have insurance. ... we always have to approach whoever we're trying to work with defensively instead of looking at it as an opportunity.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on working with the city“They were doing some shenanigans up the street that we didn't know of.”
“Like we get blamed for stuff like that too.”
OrganizerAge 36 · after a neighbor blamed his meetA line five people drew
Nobody asked about takeovers by name. Five of the twelve people brought them up on their own, and every time they described them as something separate. The 19-year-old from Lawrence made the same cut when he said his meet was “not like a street meet.” Three of the five are organizers.
“I never been to one, but I can only imagine ... doing donuts, everybody get excited, want to step in the middle of the circle ... This is a controlled environment.”
AttendeeAge 28 · Dorchester, MA · oversees the event“A whole lot of us look at them as not one of us. But the greater public doesn't know the difference, and that's what they think the car community is.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on sideshows“They're not even part of our thing. They're just some hooligans doing stuff.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on strangers who showed up at his meet“those are very frowned upon by enthusiasts.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on takeoversThis line is how organizers and attendees see it. I did not interview anyone who goes to takeovers, so I cannot say how they see it. The organizers do not fully agree about who those people are. The 44-year-old organizer said, “We don’t believe they’re car people.” One of the 36-year-old organizers described people “looking to be somebody” and “looking for where they fit in, but are looking in the wrong places.” Looking for a place to fit in is something attendees and organizers also said they found at meets. Both views could be partly true. I cannot tell which from twelve interviews.
Where the reputation comes from
This was the question my nine interviews could not answer alone. Three organizers pointed to the news or movies. At the meets, one person pointed to how rumors spread, one to the police, and one to online attention.
“Depends like how they heard, from who they heard. Because sometimes this can be like a messy, and crime stuff. Other times can be like just nice things, car, cars, you know.”
AttendeeAge 32 · originally from Brazil · 5 years in the scene“I think of the hooligans getting on the news for doing bad stuff.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on how the media shows car people“Is that true? I mean, the [hooligans] exist, but I don't know about the high stakes racing.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on movies about street racing“if I propose an event to the city of Boston or to [an agency] or whatever, they're very hesitant because they're like, well, what we see on the news are these kids doing these things.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on pitching an event to officialsThe 21-year-old from Worcester guessed that outsiders picture “people looking for followers.” Separately, an organizer worried that young people see takeover clips online and chase views. He called it “the era of quick dopamine hits.” Two people of different ages, in different interviews, tied car meets to online attention.
The 21-year-old from Irvington said the only real danger is police overreacting, “because then people are gonna want to run.” An organizer said that when takeovers get “involved with the police,” “we have to play damage control.” Both pointed to the moment police arrive as the moment things go wrong, but they described it from opposite sides.
Built, not bought
The other thing that came up again and again was about the importance of the knowledge gained. Nobody at these meets learned how to build a car out of a manual. They learned it from each other by asking questions and sharing experiences. While standing in a parking lot and looking under someone else's hood, questions and conversation happens. It's not a coincidence that the New Jersey meet was called Built Not Bought. That same idea kept coming up in what people told me, it's the valuable experience and ideas that makes these meets rev.
“Everybody's really out here just to bless each other's builds, like, ‘Oh my god, you did this? Oh, that's something I've been thinking about, but now I get to see it with my own eyes, come. Now I might do it to my build.’”
ATTENDEE · AGE 28 · DORCHESTER, MA · OVERSEES THE EVENT“When community help each other. When you want to build like some project, and you don't know yet how start, you have a lot of guys can help you.”
AttendeeAge 32 · originally from Brazil · 5 years in the scene“It's just a whole lot of ideas floating around in a controlled environment.”
“It's always better to build it than buy it.”
AttendeeAge 28 · Dorchester, MA“We just like things because they're cool. And we want to see other people's cool stuff. ... it's like show and tell almost.”
“The willingness of showing how something is to anyone that's interested”
OrganizerAge 36 · on why he goes“You find the right mesh of people. You build the car mechanically, I design it visually, and then it comes together and then you help each other out with each other's cars.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on building cars with people who have different skills
Checking out a build at Harrison, New Jersey. Cars like this one are the whole reason people show up.
Five of the twelve people talked about sharing knowledge, builds, or help: two at the meets and all three organizers. The 44-year-old organizer added a careful note: “we plant some seeds, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.” I did not interview anyone who was mentored, so this is what organizers say they try to do, and I have not tested whether it works.
A car meet works a little like an open source project. Somebody tries something on their own car then other people see it and ask about it. Afterwards, they take the idea home to their own garage and car.
The car is the excuse
If you took away the cars, what's left looks like a pretty normal Friday night at a park: families hanging out, people telling stories, music playing, food nearby. Four of the nine people I talked to at the meets came with a parent, a stepparent, or a sibling. One fourteen year old came with his dad and had already been to six meets.
A dad and his son checking out somebody's build. Four of the nine people I interviewed at the meets came with family.
“It's not a dangerous environment. It's just like to show off your cars and to stay positive and to show your hard work and what you've been putting into it.”
AttendeeAge 14 · came with his dad · sixth meet“They should come in and see what it's about, honestly. You'll find friends.”
AttendeeAge 21 · Worcester, MA · came with mom and stepdad“I like the vibe, like the music, everyone's like showing off their cars, and the food's amazing.”
“I think it's a great place for like community, and a great place for people to meet up.”
AttendeeXavier · 17“A lot of people come and like use the cars to like help with their real life, you know what I mean? Depression and stuff. I think, yeah, I think this help a lot the community.”
AttendeeAge 32 · originally from Brazil · 5 years in the scene“looking at the same car, and they both get something from it, and it starts a conversation.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on two strangers at an event“it's nice because the friends like what you like.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on the people he has met through cars“once I kind of found cars I found my footing and I was like, oh, these are my people.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on his first meets“There's something about hanging out with your friends in a garage after work and working on a car where it's almost like therapy.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on why cars bring people together“The trip to Vermont is the excuse, and everybody gets a little something.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on his annual Vermont tripThe 44-year-old organizer says of his yearly trip, “The trip to Vermont is the excuse.” One of the 36-year-olds says working on a car with friends is “almost like therapy.” The other calls meets “show and tell almost.” Each of them treats the car as the reason people gather, and what people take home is time with each other. The attendees said the same about friends and family. One said, “You’ll find friends.” Another said he comes to “enjoy time with my family and friends.”
In separate interviews, a 32-year-old attendee said people use cars to help with real life, “Depression and stuff,” and a 36-year-old organizer said working on a car with friends is “almost like therapy.” Two people out of twelve is not a pattern yet. It is the kind of thing I want to ask about in the next round of interviews.
Four of the nine attendees came with family. The 44-year-old organizer said parents joined his online forum and then their kids did too. The 36-year-old organizer imagined a teenager who “learned it from his dad.” I did not interview a parent and child together, so I treat this as a lead.
The real culture
I started out asking about reputation, but people kept describing the culture itself. Nobody gave me a definition of car culture. Even so, the same few ideas came up in different words, from a 14-year-old at his sixth meet to people who have been to hundreds. One of the 36-year-old organizers has built his work around a short motto, and his words are a good place to start.
“I'm trying to protect the culture by teaching the youth. ... it's really to kind of keep the culture alive while it's evolving. That's the hardest thing.”
AGE 36 · ORGANIZER · ON HIS MOTTO, “PROTECT THE CULTURE”A place to belong
Attendees and organizers both described the meets as somewhere people find each other. Several said it in terms of support and good company.
“you build these connections in this community of people that support each other all the time.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on the people he has met“there's a lot of wholesome interaction happening, and I think that's probably what keeps people coming back.”
OrganizerAge 44 · on why people return“get to see the cars, enjoy time with my family and friends.”
AttendeeAge 14 · came with his dad · sixth meetSomething you build and show off
The cars matter, but mostly as a way to share work. People came to show a build, to see other people's builds, or to build something together.
“I just wanted to show off my new car.”
AttendeeXavier · 17 · first time bringing his car“I just like seeing all the builds.”
AttendeeAge 21 · Irvington, NJ“Keep it as a community. Let's build cars together.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on what he wants for young peopleA hobby worth protecting, and a side outsiders miss
The organizers talked about the long run and about what people driving past never get to see. One attendee said the same thing in a simpler way: come and look for yourself.
“Teach them to be in it for the long run. This is a long process. It's a lifelong hobby. Let's not ruin it before you get to enjoy it.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on young people and takeover videos“what you don't see is where that kid learned cars from. Maybe he learned it from his dad. ... Or maybe he just finished tinkering on that car with his five friends in the garage and he put this new part on and he's excited to try it.”
OrganizerAge 36 · on the driver people see on the highway“listen, James Bond is a car guy too. Why aren't we associated with James Bond instead of being associated with criminals?”
OrganizerAge 44 · on how car people get pictured“I think they should come out and experience it, and then they'll change their mind.”
AttendeeDaniel · 23 · Allentown, PAAcross twelve conversations, car culture meant a community that supports its members, a way to share what you have built, and a hobby that people want to last. It also meant a side that outsiders rarely see. The grid on the People tab sorts all twelve people into these ideas and the others from this project, so you can see who said what and where the voices overlap.
Twelve conversations, one pattern
This is only twelve conversations, and there were hundreds of people at these events, so I want to be careful not to draw too many conclusions. But a pattern was hard to miss. Almost everyone said that meets were safe, well organized, and more about the relationships that happen there. The organizers added a missing piece: they say the bad reputation comes mostly from a different kind of event. Knowledge gets passed hand to hand instead of bought off a shelf. And for many people this is where they see their family, their friends, and sometimes just a version of themselves that feels good. That's a very different story than what people usually think of car meets.
What these twelve cannot tell me
Everyone I talked to is inside car culture. That means I know what insiders believe outsiders think, not what outsiders actually think. The organizers also have a stake in how car meets look, and I try to read their answers with that in mind. Some of my questions to the organizers began with comments about my own good experiences at meets, which could nudge an answer. For the next round I am using neutral wording. The next people I want to talk to are outside the scene: neighbors, teachers, and local officials.
I recorded video at both meets along with the audio, and I'm going through that footage now to see what it adds beyond what made it into these transcripts. This page will keep growing as I do. If you've been to a car meet yourself and any of this rings true, or does not, I would genuinely like to hear about it.