LONDON’S CAR CULTURE IS THRIVING

If there was one word to describe the current classic and modified car scene of London, it would be thriving. And yet, in many ways, there’s every reason it shouldn’t be. ULEZ restrictions. Increasing inner-city congestion. The dwindling of specialist garages. The number of hurdles you face with owning a modern classic in London is far from insignificant, but what that adversity does is create a deeply passionate, tight-knit community of collectors, appreciators and, ultimately, friends.

As we made our way over to a multi-storey carpark in West London to spend the day with key members of London’s car community, it took mere seconds of being immersed in this cultural movement before being swept up in its infectiousness. The cars were nothing short of spectacular: A Nissan Skyline R34 GTR in Bayside Blue; a Honda Integra Type R DC2 in Championship White; a silver Porsche 911 996 Turbo with 9FF centre-locking wheels. The list could go on. But beyond just the cars themselves were the owners: a welcoming group of people from different backgrounds, all mirroring each other’s passion for keeping London’s car culture alive. It’s this love of preserving cult classics that’s epitomised by the re-release of Nike’s much-adored Air Max SNDR, a shoe that captures the progressive energy of the cars at the meet — making it the perfect opportunity to spotlight the synergy between SNDR and modified car culture.

Speaking with one of the key protagonists from the meet, Ghaleb, a journalist, co-founder of Mildly Interesting Cars of London and Head of Brand at Shooting Brake, about the reissuing of the SNDR and its relationship with car culture: “I think it’s important to preserve and reproduce culture, much like today. It’s something that’s important to people mainly because that era was the sweet spot for culture. It was a time where people could afford to buy nice things en masse, and it was a time there was a lot of optimism and self-expression from the ‘90s, which created lots of avant-garde cars, fashion products and shoes etc. Everything I wear, whether or not I buy it new or old, seems to represent motifs from that era — it represents my own optimism and love for self-expression”.

Touching upon his role at Mildly Interesting Cars of London and his love of self-expression, Ghaleb said “Cars often get pigeonholed as a signifier of wealth, power and masculinity, and all of that stuff can be very exciting, but the cars that we love at MICOL are cars that are very expressive. So something like an old ‘90s two-tone Mercedes SL — that’s a really expressive car that, to me, looks like a casual summer suit. That’s one of those cars that’s almost part of an outfit, you don’t drive it, you wear it. The stats, the price, the value, none of those matter, but what I find interesting is it’s quite hard to own an old car in London now, gentrification has led to the closure of a lot of old garages and parts places, and the infrastructures kind of gone, so you have to try a lot harder to keep an old car on the road. So what I find interesting is what makes the person that lives in London — probably quite a nice part of London — and probably has a normal life, want to keep that car on the road? It can be an absolute faff sometimes, you’ve got to spend your whole day travelling to garages in the middle of nowhere, you’ve got to find parts on eBay, so why bother? But it’s because that person really loves that car and it’s quite expressive for them in a way that a more modern car isn’t”.

Debbie, a DJ, producer and recent founder of the YouTube series, Driving with Debbie, touched upon the synergy between self-expression through cars and sneakers, commenting “I think it’s important as it shows who you are. Especially with the cars in the way they’re all modified, it kind of replicates their personality, so I think it’s a great way of expressing yourself. And I love shoes, which is also a great way of expressing yourself. Every pair of sneakers I have has a story behind it”. Debbie recently started her YouTube series Driving with Debbie where she picks up friends — who also happen to be renowned musicians — and drives them around London while they have a casual conversation with one and other. Speaking about the series, Debbie said “So the series is called Driving with Debbie. I just wanted to show popular figures in a more comfortable light, but I didn’t want it to be where we sit down and do something weird. I’ve just got my car, so I thought if I get some of the famous people I know in my car, what will come of it? It might be the most casual thing ever. It’s also a way to get my name out there, especially with my DJing and producing”. Debbie kickstarted the series with South Florida rapper Denzel Curry, commenting “I’ve known him since 2017, so almost seven years now. I didn’t even mention it to him, I kind of kidnapped him as he was in London — I was like, ‘you’re getting in my car and we’re recording it’, and he was like ‘okay’. I've known his management and team for seven years as well and they were so supportive – he posted it on his socials and did a collab post with me, so I’m really appreciative to them, I love them so much”.  

There’s a distinct thread between the inclusion of musicians and Driving with Debbie, stemming from a passion that began in Debbie’s earlier years: “Music has been around me my whole life. My mum was in a church choir and my brother played instruments growing up, so it’s always been around me. The first full album I ever listened to was Alicia Keys’ Songs in A Minor when I was like four years old, so I’ve been tapped in since then. Growing up with two older brothers — one is in his thirties, and another has just hit thirty — I was surrounded by music like Bob Marley and Grime, and I grew up listening to what I like, so my taste is kind of like a melting pot of genres”. Showcasing her musical talent, Debbie even produced the soundtrack to accompany the editorial's video.

Having spent the day soaking up a snapshot of the modified car culture in London, it’s evident that the scene is stronger than ever, providing an outlet not just for like-minded people who love cars to come together, but an opportunity for self-expression in a myriad of ways.