SOCAL VINTAGE BMW

Perseus Ancheta, Anthropology 102

THE COMMUNITY

The SOCAL Vintage BMW Meet occurs annually every

October at the Woodley Park. It is made up of BMW car

owners that collect and restore cars that a regular driver might see as scrap metal. It ranges from the

early BMW to the early year 2000’s models. They drive from all over the country to

showcase their hobby.

A BIMMER FOR EVERYONE

The BMWs here at the SOCAL Vintage BMW Meet might look the same to a non-car enthusiast, but a second like

might prove otherwise. Each car is

like the owners personal touch, from the color scheme to

the minute detail such as the yellow

foglights as shown in this picture.

This particular interior is the car from the previous slide and it shows just how detailed and personalized this car is. The car looks pristine yet it is obvious that it is decades old! It may be possible that the car was kept original with only a few changes but more

likely that it was restored and changed for the good by the owner.

CA TUNED BMW BUILDERS

This particular BMW M3 actually became a social network sensation through the mobile app called Instagram. The builders ,CA TUNED, restored this from an old rusting rolling shell to an immaculate like new M3. The car is dropped on bags, a type of suspension that lower or raise up your car by balloon like

bags, it is a mix of old school and modern technology.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This is a little section where a group of owners set up their own little store front of used parts. What you see might look like trash but many of the parts

lying around are rare parts that can only be passed from owner to owner, including the steering wheel (bottom right) and the set of

rims.

Same Cars? But definitely different owners! If you look closely you can see that the one of the right has the amber signal lights on the bumper while the other does

not and the car on the left is much much lower.

Father and Son Bonding

This is a picture of a father and son. The car displayed shows not to cut any shortcuts and buy quality parts. In this picture, the father was explaining to his son the importance of quality parts and what occurred to the car.

The Food Truck Culture

The food trucks arrived just in time for lunch. The food trucks like the cars were all very different. They had art that matched the food that they served. The line was long but all the people waiting did not seem to mind.

The SOCAL Vintage BMW Meet is only an excerpt of the car culture that takes place in Los Angeles. This event opened my eyes to the hard work, time, and passion that many of the car

owners have put into their cars. All these BMWs might look the same to one eye but in reality it is a reflection of the owner’s

creativity. Building fast, functional, and beautiful cars are for everyone but it takes talent to build one and call it your own.