Has this ever happened to you? You're at a party filled with random people and somehow you get introduced to a complete stranger. You make the cordial small talk you usually do in forced social settings when the conversation takes a turn toward cars. Both of you light up and the next thing you know, you're chatting like old buddies.
Through all my travels, this same scenario has happened all across America, forging lasting friendships. It seems no matter your race, creed, political view, or car orientation, the shared toils of taking a stock car, picking a part, making the modification, and the addictive rinse-repeat action has a way of bonding people, instantly. Now, in most major cities, I have a homeboy I can call up when I'm in town to grab a drink and catch up on our project cars (i.e. vent). While I've tested this shared enthusiast experience across the continental U.S., my most recent trip to the southern hemisphere for the World Time Attack netted a whole new set of friends.
Sydney, Australia is an amazing city. The harbor, the food, the nightlife, and more importantly, the people, are some of the coolest in world. At the time attack, I was introduced by some of the locals to the staff of Auto Salon, an Australian tuning magazine not unlike Import Tuner. They feature sick cars and hot girls on the cover and their design is clean and uncluttered (where we differ is that they have paper and cover stock I'd die for, but I digress). Their three editors-Charles, Will, and Mark-could pass as our staff's counterparts, except for their Aussie accents . . . and their penchant for "Sex Spec" cars (I kid). Hanging out with them for a week served as a cultural tuning exchange where we discussed trends both similar and different from our respective countries, learning how much the JDM influence has over both markets.
Having seen the magazine and heard local Aussies speak in reverence of the mag-it may not have been the biggest, but it was the most respected-it was sad to learn they pulled the plug. Issue #85 would be their final. While it sucked to see a tuning mag go, what was cool was seeing the bonds they formed with each other as former staffers, and with their peers in the industry. Vendors, competitors, drivers, tuners, and other journalists still welcomed the former editorial crew, even though there was no "ink" to give. Through their passion for cars, they created friendships that surpassed that of a magazine. Something I can also relate to.
Editor
Carter Jung
carter@importtuner.com
facebook.com/carterjung
By Carter Jung
Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!