What is the Scene?
This isn't directed at anyone, more or less just a "thinking out loud" for a second -
I keep hearing and reading out the "Scene" is dead, or it's not what it used to be, and I'd like to elaborate on the way I see it, as well as get everyone's input on how they see it.
Back in the 1990's the Car Tuner scene was booming. For the first time, Imports where making as much or more power then domestics, Japanese companies where pumping out uber advanced, bad ass cars at pennies compared to their German counter parts. Kids were also inheriting Mom and Dads late 80's Hondas while baller guys where first in line to pick up a DC2 or DSM.
Chapter One -Old School
Two things happened -Gangsta-Wannabies and Fast and the Furious.
The GWs started showing up a meets, hoping to turn the thing into a street rave, blasting music, picking fights and steeling anything and everything. Even in BFE Indiana we had them damn "OC" (Osecola) kids showing up all pants sagging in their busted rides talking trash and the minute you turned around all your CDS where gone.
FNF - prior to FaceSpace, the only way to hang out was too… hang out. It wasn't uncommon for my friends and I just to get dropped off at the mall or Meijer and wander around forever (aged 12-14) cause there was nothing else to do. FNF happened when I was in HS and then suddenly everyone wanted to live that life-style. Not actually street race, but just be "cool". So the next day every Plymouth Breeze or Ford Probe in the school parking lot was hitting up Autozone for under lights, wings, chrome washer caps so forth so that Friday night the owner could hard park and look cool. These are the "true" ricers in my opinion. They don't care about cars let alone know anything about them, the car is just a fashion accessory so they can "be part of the scene". These guys are normally the big "Brand Trashers" as they are not real automotive enthusiasts, they just spit out stereotypical rhetoric. "Domestics suck, No replacement for displacement, ricer-burners, gas guzzlers, Front-Wheel-Fail"
These two groups ruined the scene. Now, the big car hangouts in my neck of the woods are dead. The only thing we see are either major league organized events (Import Alliance, HIN et al) or just 3-6 good friends hanging out and taking a few photos.
Today, most kids don't seem into cars, they'd rather Mybook it up, squabble on the interwebs so forth. I honestly don't see the "Autozone Ricers" anymore.
There was also major community backlash because of the "Autozone Ricers". Bodykits, underlights, decals, vinyles, wings.. hell anything that wasn't OEM+ was not only out of style, but also down right hated. The entire import scene became the 1998 Camaro scene - if it wasn't to make you faster, it didn't belong on the car.
However it does seem like recently that old-school 90's styling is coming back into vogue. S3 magazine is full of that, and people now thing yellow window tint, purple paint, gold vinyl's, oversized wheels and ill fitting body kits are cool again..
Proof
Chapter Two - New Breed
The internet has both saved and destroyed the scene. Now, I can go on Zilvia and troll about BSing with fellow 240 owners all across America. Get help, give help and have a more global scene feel. However I think it's also lead to a new culture that is more hostile. People expect everyone to rock a Magazine/Blogspot quality ride. If you don't, you're a poser, ricer so forth.
This is kind of like saying, "Well if you don't look like a Abercrombie model, your ruining humanity" or something. Those cars featured in Import Tuner, DSport or Speedhunters are the super models and pro-start athletes of the auto world. We need to keep that in perspective, because it really seems like everyone is expecting some 18 year old kid who just bought his first car to be rocking a ride as bad ass as BronzeCarmry's the next day.
I also think the greater exposure of the blogs and internets creates fads spreading way to fast and getting burned out to fast. Roof-Racks, Tow-hook toys, stickers, illest, fatlace, deepdish hellaflush so forth.. People quickly imitate this and in many cases either don't have the funds, patients or know-how to really pull it off as well. The result is a sea of "poser" mobiles, it's like every fat chick running out and getting lip injections to look like Angelia Jolie.
I also see a resurgence of the whole "life style" crowd. Once again, these hipster-skater ken block wannabies are not really into cars, they don't care about cars, they don't even care about their car.. they just want to be "be cool" and "be part of the scene". I think we see this all the time with the dumbass threads people post.. if they honestly cared, they could have searched and found the answer in minutes, but they are too busy updating their facestalker, searching for the latest set of shoes and hoodies from Journey's Online and downloading Kayne West's new album to give a crap.