What a year to come into the scene on, A diamond among the rough. Thought I'd take some time to reflect on the year that was for us over at Mobsters these past 12 months.
Project Cars
First of all I'd like to address a few things that were stated in the ' Unveiling ' Article at the start of this year. The Project cars first of all, Connor's 33 skyline had a sour inconvenience when it spun a bearing not far into the year. It wasn't that surprising because the car had a blurry past and hadn't been driven for quite a while. The car got stripped back to a shell for a full respray which got placed on the back burner because priorities changed again for Connor. When the skyline project picks up again ? Honestly a couple years sadly; but it will get its chance in the sun again. And of course when it does we will be updating you all.
Next Project car is a sweeter story. The SS VZ Commodore project is going well, its past the stripping stage and now slowly on the rebuild. The car's not at a stage of completion where its ready to be shown and documented properly, so it will remain hidden until it's at a point with more visual progress. Then the video tape will get wound back and we will start releasing video footage that documents the whole build process. But trust me, I'm very excited for the future of this car.
Featured Cars
Next I feel I should discuss the Featured cars displayed on the site this year. 3 Cars isn't a lot if I'm being honest and I'd love to have done more, but 3 was the best I could muster. 2021 will have more featured cars. Gotta keep expanding and documenting the great rides getting around the area. Little Recap on the trio that made it this year.
Jesse's s14
Im very thankful for Jesse's warmness and cooperation when I approached him with a very odd proposition in January. But he came through and we kicked the whole program off brilliantly. Jesse, ( as stated in his article ) moves through cars quite quickly and as a result the 14 is no longer with him. Although, there is a high chance one of his cars in the future will nab a spot in here again.
Pat's 180
I was lucky to get the chance to do an article on this car. Covids laws came in to effect not long after we got together. I'd seen many pictures of the car over the years and this was the first time id see it in the flesh. Complete props to Pat and his brother Brett on their work with the car. Fantastic looking thing it is and nicely complemented by how hard it goes on the track.
Connor's Liberty Wagon
After a few months break from previous article due to another car article falling through. I secured the opportunity to witness an early morning shoot with Connor and James. While James worked his magic behind the lens; I quizzed Connor on how the beast came to be. Connor unloaded a substantial amount of information, so much I had to bother him in the dms after to make sure I had all facts straight. This car is always an ongoing capsule of ideas and development. Hinting it might have an update article in years to come.
Next years got a banger article ready to go ! Plus I'm hoping a couple of the Crew's cars might get a spot too. Always appreciate all support in reading these articles and any sharing and spreading of these write ups is a massive help.
Articles
Articles were even fewer then featured cars. But I did manage to get an inside scoop of what goes on behind the scenes over at J Films with the very talented Joey. Was great interviewing him and i'll strive to do more next year. Watching the quality of production continually increase over at J Films this year has been an absolute treat. Make sure you guys follow all the socials.
The Crew after a year of Mischief
Now everyone knows " who you choose to be around you, lets you know who you are. " Brownie points if you get that reference. This crew has had an interesting year. Christopher had met Both Jordan and Connor before and spent time with them, But he didn't have much to do them for the majority of the year. Dave is the newest addition to the crew. I met him through work late 2019, being a car dude, I was pretty quick to gel with the man. His skills in industrial design were proving very helpful towards the growth of the brand. The ideas he was hatching on his car at the time were intriguing also. It would have been dumb to waste his potential and not add him to the team. Dave had no connections to the rest of the crew when I officially added him to the lineup. From an outside perspective, this would seem a bit odd to have a crew which aren't tightly knit and haven't known each other for ages. But all the guys are cordial and I had a hunch there shouldn't be any reason for them not to get a long. Christopher was the first to meet Dave. The first time was only by chance, randomly at a car meet. Being both Subura dudes, 10 minutes and they were BFF's ! That really set the ball in motion for Dave to meet the other two now.
Few weeks later. A gatho and cruise was in place bound for the Eagle Hawk Hotel, the rest is history really.
Our next goal is to get all crew member's cars together for a big family photo one day, But with how things work around here. That could be a fair way off sadly.
All in all i'm very excited with the crew that stands before me and look forward to the antics we get up to in 2021.
The Local Scene during 2020
Maybe the most restrained and quietest year in the scene we may ever see. I hope that I didn't just jinx myself there. Not much happened into January due to fires, A couple of fund raiser meets were held, which had great turn outs and a cause to get behind. Then of course the virus we shall not talk about really blanketed the months of February through till august. All meets had dried up, no choice and completely understandable. Because even the thought of rebelling and having meet would have high chances of Police arriving due to the group gathering limit being so tiny. Even closer to home, I didnt get up and take many photoshoots at all this year. probably a tenth of what I did last year. I did manage to do an autumn shoot with Connor luckily, which came up a treat.
I wanted to take advantage of the scene being quiet and took Strawberry off the road to prep for her respray. But i'll talk about that another time.
The scene picked up again after July. Jap X meets popped up a couple times and are always a treat to attend. A new meet rose up and filled in the gaps very neatly. This being Jap Inc, hats off to you guys. I've seen the turn outs at some of the gatherings towards the back end of the year, they were impressive and great to see. People were itching at the bit to get out with their cars, see nice cars that haven't been out for months and catch up with car meet homies. The Boosters Show and Shine on December 6th was important to us all I feel. To have a car show we could all get our cars smickened up for, go that but further then usual in the prep for regular meets. It was a needed ender for the year that was. Being the only car show for 2020 it drew a big turnout. Lots of variety in Cars too being a club event. The Volvo cars were out, as well and the SS club, German, JDM and old school. Well done to the Boosters for a good first show, Appreciate your efforts.
(^ pic @craven_what)
Yes its been a lame year for us. We should feel lucky compared to Melbourne's scene, who couldn't attend their drags strips for 11 or so months. But it still sucks. No meets or chance to go drive. A reason for people to finish their project cars; just kidding. "we don't do that here." There's not much we can do apart from hope for better times ahead, no different to what the majority of the world is doing. Thats enough of that.
Thankyou to all who have read the articles and supported the brand this year. Merch is still on the horizon. I'm very excited to finally complete the last few steps needed for release. I Love the designs. And the " can't kill the scene " feels a bit special considering 2020.
To the Crew, love your work boys. Heres to 2021 and keep on Mobbin !