Cars & Boba
how do you spend your friday nights?
When you hear someone say that there’s a car meet in your area, what comes into your mind? It seems that there’s mixed feelings about it depending on who you might ask. For the average person who may not look twice at a car we might all dream to have, they may roll their eyes and say “not again…” For the average enthusiast, they may raise their eyebrows and ask who’s showing up, or where it might be. There is no doubt that there are many of us car enthusiasts, but it seems that it is separated by the troublemakers and the peacemakers. It’s safe to say that this bunch weren’t the troublemakers. It was respectful and caused no disturbance at the lot. With one post on social media of a designated time and location, a group of individuals who share the same passion come together to share the lot and meet other likeminded individuals.
I was out driving at night looking for new photoshoot spots until I got a message saying “cars & boba?“ I immediately thought “hmm why not?” It has been awhile since I’ve been to any car meets since I truly dread taking photos in dark parking lots, but recently I’ve met a lot of new people in the scene that has given me more reasons to go. I pulled up pretty early and saw some familiar cars from Instagram, as well as some cars I’ve been wanting to see but just never had the opportunity to. One of those cars is Andy Zhu’s (Tamed) Liberty Walk M4 GTS.
I still remember the first ever time I saw a bolt on widebody kit that left me in awe. It was around 2012 or 2013 when I saw the LB Ferrari 458 posted by Liberty Walk on Instagram. As a kid, I couldn’t believe what I saw and it instantly became my dream car at the time. From then on, I’ve watched Liberty Walk make custom kits for a multitude of cars and have always appreciated each and every one of them. Some might argue that widebody kits ruin the car, and some might argue that they accentuate the car. Wherever you stand, I think it’s safe to say that widebody kits — especially when done right look absolutely dope.
I love what Andy did to his Liberty Walk M4GTS. Wrapped in Satin white with a big Voltex wing, HRE rims with red lips on the right and blue on the left; canards both on the front and the rear of the car with some painted yellow, and a Gundam sticker on the door to top it off. He clearly was going for a Gundam theme here, and I think he absolutely nailed it. It does look like a Gundam.
There were quite a lot of people walking around, cars rolling in and out of the lot which made it difficult for me to take photos of each and every car present. The lot was also incredibly dark in most areas which meant that I had to set up my tripod for every shot and set it to a 10-15 second exposure. While there were still a number of cars that I failed to cover due to the time it took for me to shoot one car, I still got some photos to turn out presentable at the very least.
As someone who was first exposed to car meets in Asia, Hondas would usually fill up the lot in most car meets I’ve been to and up to this day, it seems like it has not changed one bit. It makes sense though — a car with style, reliability, good aftermarket support and is well-balanced… who wouldn’t want one?
I don’t think the dominance of Hondas in the car scene will diminish anytime soon. With different platforms from different eras, there’s a Honda for every car enthusiast out there. From Civics, Integras, S2000’s, NSX’s, they all made an appearance at the meet.
While the meet was indeed filled a lot of Hondas with different themes, it’s impossible not to see other enthusiast cars at a meet like this.
The meet was very civil and respectful. I finally got to meet some of the people I’ve connected with on Instagram but have never seen in person. Car meets like this are the ones that remind you of how simple it is for us car enthusiasts to be happy. It doesn’t always have to be the biggest in the city nor has to have the most expensive cars in the world. It’s all about the community; the mutual respect for each other’s tastes.
From fully built motors that is ready for the track, to limited and hard to find kits, to OEM+, we can all agree that each theme serves a different purpose for the owner.
It’s nights like these that I find to be very relaxed. You bring your car that you love so much — maybe gather up a few of your friends to roll up to the meet together. Enjoy the nice weather as well as the food and drinks around you, and most importantly build meaningful relationships with people just like you.