1999 - 2003
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was no Youtube or social media. Gathering information or research on parts, troublshooting, or what events were taking place really could only be done through online forums or actual interaction with people, whether it be over the phone or in person. The resources just weren't really there to link people on an international level like they are today. That being said, when new trends or fads came along within the car industry, the first people to know where people who had actual connections within the industry.
Fast forward to today, and you can pretty much gather information regarding any topic (not just automotive related) within a couple of minutes. Finding info on what parts work or don't work, what events are taking place near you, or gaining knowledge on how to tackle the next modification on your own vehicle couldn't be easier. The internet is probably the most powerful tool ever, and it's easily accessible by pretty much anybody. However, in a way, I think it's actually made people quite lazy.
We've all seen it. Especially those of us who are active in online groups or forums. Threads that are hundreds of pages long and along comes a brand new member who asks the same redundant question that's been answered 7 times on the previous page. You reluctantly help and prompt them to utilize the "search" function in the future. Then all hell breaks loose. They have a fit and proceed to display new levels of ignorance and entitlement while they scold you for not doing all of the work for them in their search to find information. God forbid anybody should have to actually put forth an effort, right?
Why is this relevant? Because back in 1999 and into the year 2000, I was only 8 years old. It was around this time that I just started getting into cars. The internet, while it was accessible, was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. This was back when you had to choose between either making a phone call, or talking to somebody through messenger online; you couldn't do both. Those who remember AOL instant messenger know this struggle.
Finding information back in this day, at such a young age, was actually quite difficult. As a young kid, it's not like you can ask all of your friends (who also don't have a license) or are into cars. You can't just decide to go out at 10pm on a Friday night to a car meet either, because you have to be up early for your little league baseball game the next morning and need plenty of time to eat that bowl of Apple Jacks prior to leaving.
I had a small interest in cars, in the sense that certain cars would catch my eye on the street. I knew what some of them were, but I didn't really know much of anything beyond that. So with no knowledge and no real access to information, what do you do?
For me, I was a bit lucky because my Dad was heavily involved in the automotive industry. He had gone through a few different cars just in my early lifetime, and around the year 2000, he was the owner of a MKIV Toyota Supra. This vehicle later went on to become the star of the original F&F movie that many are able to instantly recognize today.
My parents weren't together at this time though, so I only saw my Dad a handful of times every month. Still, what time I did have with him, I spent asking lots of questions. Questions about how an engine works, what is a turbocharger, what does suspension do, how does a clutch work, and the list goes on and on. He even went on to show me stuff from different racing series and got me turned on to the Gran Turismo video game series.
Around 2000 and going into 2001, my Dad was heavily involved with the F&F movie and I was lucky enough to see some of the cars and such in person. As a young kid, I was easily infatuated with what I saw and instantly grew an interest. Shiny, bright cars with cool (so I thought) graphics, tons of vents and big wings? What's not to like? Needless to say, from that point on, my interest in cars has done nothing but continue to grow. However, with age and wisdom comes change in priorities, interests, and most importantly, taste.
In late 2001, I thought I had it all figured out. I started saving away money from chores and doing work around the neighborhood so I could buy my own car when I turned 16. I was pretty adamant about getting something I could modify. Cars like the MKIV Supra, FD3S RX7, and DC2 Integra etc all came to mind. I honestly didn't really care what it was. So long it was mine and I could have fun with it.
2002 comes along and something happened though that seemed to change everything. I stumbled across a GIF on Google one night looking at street racing pictures and videos and it was unlike anything that I had seen before.
It was two cars sliding next to each other, side by side. One silver and the other red. I had seen people do donuts before and stuff, but this seemed entirely different. A few minutes of searching lead me to discover "Drifting". At the time, it was still pretty new here in the US. Hawaii already knew about it and it was trickling its way to the mainland and to California. I started spending all of my spare time looking at pictures and whatever video clips I could find on drifting and quickly became obsessed.
This continued for a couple years. I started finding torrents of short video clips scattered throughout the internet of videos. I had a couple Grip Video DVDs along with some other DVDs and magazines I managed to find and submurged myself in everything I could that was drifting related. I started learning about the cars too. Learning about what cars people were using and what was popular and best for drifting. The iconic video of Koguchi's black 180sx around Nikko Circuit easily made me dead set on getting a 240sx hatch for my first car. It was just a matter of researching what I would do to my own when I got it.
I spent hours upon hours researching parts and creating my own build lists filled with ideas. Everything from 400hp SR20 powered cars to full blown 800hp RB26 powered cars. As a still young kid, it was easy to dream big and get in way over my head in my aspirations, but it was fun to sit there and think about getting a car of my own to go drift with in just a few years time.
2003 came and I was still heavy into drifting and cars, learning everything I could about it. Given that I was only 2 short years away from getting my permit, I started getting serious about my future build. I had stuff from over the years and hobbies that I didn't really get to go out and participate in anymore, so I started selling whatever I could to get money together. An old dirt bike, a couple small RC planes, old Pokemon card collections (even my Charizard card FML) and continued doing stuff like mowing lawns and washing cars around the neighborhood to earn money. At the age of 13, I was sitting on over $3,500 of my own money for a car and felt really good about it. Birthdays and Holidays helped too, as I all I would ever ask for was money to save away to buy a car.
My Mom had some reservations of her own regarding my interest in cars and thought it was all a waste of money. To her credit though, she still supported my aspirations and commended me for having a passion in something and working towards a goal.
However, when late 2003 came along, the U.S. was starting to see the arrival of some cool new tuner cars and it was getting me a bit anxious. Two cars in particular that really caught my attention and started to cause me to shift my focus away from drifting and older JDM vehicles...
Fast forward to today, and you can pretty much gather information regarding any topic (not just automotive related) within a couple of minutes. Finding info on what parts work or don't work, what events are taking place near you, or gaining knowledge on how to tackle the next modification on your own vehicle couldn't be easier. The internet is probably the most powerful tool ever, and it's easily accessible by pretty much anybody. However, in a way, I think it's actually made people quite lazy.
We've all seen it. Especially those of us who are active in online groups or forums. Threads that are hundreds of pages long and along comes a brand new member who asks the same redundant question that's been answered 7 times on the previous page. You reluctantly help and prompt them to utilize the "search" function in the future. Then all hell breaks loose. They have a fit and proceed to display new levels of ignorance and entitlement while they scold you for not doing all of the work for them in their search to find information. God forbid anybody should have to actually put forth an effort, right?
Why is this relevant? Because back in 1999 and into the year 2000, I was only 8 years old. It was around this time that I just started getting into cars. The internet, while it was accessible, was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. This was back when you had to choose between either making a phone call, or talking to somebody through messenger online; you couldn't do both. Those who remember AOL instant messenger know this struggle.
Finding information back in this day, at such a young age, was actually quite difficult. As a young kid, it's not like you can ask all of your friends (who also don't have a license) or are into cars. You can't just decide to go out at 10pm on a Friday night to a car meet either, because you have to be up early for your little league baseball game the next morning and need plenty of time to eat that bowl of Apple Jacks prior to leaving.
For me, I was a bit lucky because my Dad was heavily involved in the automotive industry. He had gone through a few different cars just in my early lifetime, and around the year 2000, he was the owner of a MKIV Toyota Supra. This vehicle later went on to become the star of the original F&F movie that many are able to instantly recognize today.
Around 2000 and going into 2001, my Dad was heavily involved with the F&F movie and I was lucky enough to see some of the cars and such in person. As a young kid, I was easily infatuated with what I saw and instantly grew an interest. Shiny, bright cars with cool (so I thought) graphics, tons of vents and big wings? What's not to like? Needless to say, from that point on, my interest in cars has done nothing but continue to grow. However, with age and wisdom comes change in priorities, interests, and most importantly, taste.
In late 2001, I thought I had it all figured out. I started saving away money from chores and doing work around the neighborhood so I could buy my own car when I turned 16. I was pretty adamant about getting something I could modify. Cars like the MKIV Supra, FD3S RX7, and DC2 Integra etc all came to mind. I honestly didn't really care what it was. So long it was mine and I could have fun with it.
2002 comes along and something happened though that seemed to change everything. I stumbled across a GIF on Google one night looking at street racing pictures and videos and it was unlike anything that I had seen before.
It was two cars sliding next to each other, side by side. One silver and the other red. I had seen people do donuts before and stuff, but this seemed entirely different. A few minutes of searching lead me to discover "Drifting". At the time, it was still pretty new here in the US. Hawaii already knew about it and it was trickling its way to the mainland and to California. I started spending all of my spare time looking at pictures and whatever video clips I could find on drifting and quickly became obsessed.
This continued for a couple years. I started finding torrents of short video clips scattered throughout the internet of videos. I had a couple Grip Video DVDs along with some other DVDs and magazines I managed to find and submurged myself in everything I could that was drifting related. I started learning about the cars too. Learning about what cars people were using and what was popular and best for drifting. The iconic video of Koguchi's black 180sx around Nikko Circuit easily made me dead set on getting a 240sx hatch for my first car. It was just a matter of researching what I would do to my own when I got it.
I spent hours upon hours researching parts and creating my own build lists filled with ideas. Everything from 400hp SR20 powered cars to full blown 800hp RB26 powered cars. As a still young kid, it was easy to dream big and get in way over my head in my aspirations, but it was fun to sit there and think about getting a car of my own to go drift with in just a few years time.
2003 came and I was still heavy into drifting and cars, learning everything I could about it. Given that I was only 2 short years away from getting my permit, I started getting serious about my future build. I had stuff from over the years and hobbies that I didn't really get to go out and participate in anymore, so I started selling whatever I could to get money together. An old dirt bike, a couple small RC planes, old Pokemon card collections (even my Charizard card FML) and continued doing stuff like mowing lawns and washing cars around the neighborhood to earn money. At the age of 13, I was sitting on over $3,500 of my own money for a car and felt really good about it. Birthdays and Holidays helped too, as I all I would ever ask for was money to save away to buy a car.
My Mom had some reservations of her own regarding my interest in cars and thought it was all a waste of money. To her credit though, she still supported my aspirations and commended me for having a passion in something and working towards a goal.
However, when late 2003 came along, the U.S. was starting to see the arrival of some cool new tuner cars and it was getting me a bit anxious. Two cars in particular that really caught my attention and started to cause me to shift my focus away from drifting and older JDM vehicles...
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