“Because the Internet” is first and foremost an amazing album by Childish Gambino. It’s also a thing that older guys like me say about younger enthusiasts’ motivation for why they build the cars they do. Let’s face it: the current landscape of the car scene has changed pretty rapidly over the last few years. Magazines are dying. It’s easier to run a Facebook fan page than a blog – and even easier to just exist on Instagram. Gone are the days of finely curated articles and features telling us what cars we should be captivated by. Today, we can choose what we want to see and when.
Likes and followers have become the currency of our culture. And if that makes you long for the old days, then you yourself might be old and/or irrelevant. You might take one look at Mitch and any of his builds and utter the words “because the internet.”
The idea that someone might build something for the approval of the internet probably isn’t a far-off concept. In fact, I’m sure it happens – like people used to build rides just to be seen in magazines. (Don’t believe me? Then explain the “Readers’ Rides” sections.) With that being said, I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who has built their car for the approval of the internet. And Mitch is no exception.
Mitch recently imported his 1999 Toyota Mark II from Japan and reminded me why Canada is so amazing. This was made possible by Mitch’s real-life interpretation of TLC’s “Waterfalls.”
Several months ago, mechanical failure sent Mitch and his infamous R32 off a cliff and into a waterfall. This unfortunate event led to the very obvious punch line/advice: “Don’t go chasing waterfalls.” We can joke about it now, because Mitch managed to walk away from what could have been a tragic accident. Mitch’s R32 was not so lucky, however, and a replacement had to found.
Mitch spent some time looking for potential replacements and landed on this JZX100. For those of you less than familiar with the JZX100, I can explain why they are so cool in three words: RWD, 1JZ-GTE and 5-speed. This very simple formula makes for 4 doors of delight.
This car pretty much came cool from Japan. With its purple hue, I can say its easily one of the shiniest cars I’ve ever shot. It also came equipped with aero and suspension. Mitch replaced the wheels with something that was more his taste. After dropping the car a few inches, he fitted a pair of 18 inch Advan Model 5’s up front.
Mitch intentionally decided to run a different pair of wheels in the rear and they are these 19’ inch SSR Minervas.
I can already imagine the amount of people who are thinking, “Well, that’s not fair. He just bought the car as you see it.” There’s no denying this car didn’t undergo any radical transformation that turned it from a caterpillar to a butterfly.
Mitch did have the foresight to buy a JZX100 – a car that is arguably not a very popular car. He also had a good sense of taste to buy this one in particular. Yes, anyone can buy a cool car, but the thing is… people don’t. And I don’t think it’s for lack of trying, I think it comes from lack of patience. All too often, we sacrifice exactly what we want for how soon we can get it. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Mitch and his JZX100.
You may or may not be thinking that this article comes off a little defensive. But sometimes it seems as if the car scene has become a little offensive, and I don’t think this is a new thing. What I do think is the trade-off for un-curated experience means that everyone has a voice – for better or worse. So, instead of accusing someone of building it for the internet or playing the broken record of “built, not bought” – just sit back and and try to enjoy the ride, four seats and all.