Rain. It will put off a lot of car enthusiasts on the day of an event. With vague signs of clearing and only a few hours before the event, I was worried.
Looking to be an awesome catch up with many friends I had not seen for months, some, years. The crew at Southside by Night had been working on the 2024 event for some time and one develops an instinct for when we know it’s going to be a fun one.
The rain soon reduced to a sporadic drizzle, worry turned into excitement as I picked up supercar collector Ken Chen and made our way there.
As we drove in, The crew greeted each car owner with warmth, directing us to our parking areas, all of which were central to the event itself. Nowhere was far from the action so every car owner could feel important and a part of the show.
This complimented the stunning array of machines, spanning from the Far east, through Europe’s delights, to some American legends.
As I pulled up in my 718 S, I had a bit of a fanboy moment when a GT4 RS parked next to me.
A recent acquisition by Mitchell Wan; the spec of number plate ‘8U’ is gorgeous; mixing splashes of yellow throughout, against the signature silver wheels. In my humble opinion I am glad he did not go for the gold as the silver really stands out with this colour scheme.
As we stepped away from the cars, we only looked around for about 10 seconds before our mouths were drooling at the smell of the food stands.
A silent rule is that a good car event must have good food/beverages too, and there was something for everyone here; flavour central!
Highlights for me were Lydia’s CharKor BBQ, and Lemak. Great portion sizes, delicious flavours and did not put me into a food coma: handy while looking at cars and meeting new people.
As we looked around, with a background of live music from local artists, more cars had arrived, painting an enticing picture of the event.
One thing that photos can not convey, is the feeling of community and mutual appreciation at this particular event. The world is an unsettling place as a whole at the moment, and this is the exact type of thing a lot of us need right now.
It felt like a group of people united by a common love being able to get up close and personal with the cars and builds we aspire to. Introductions and relationships forming, and old friends bumping into each other. The friendly event organisers created a comfortable atmosphere and overall buzz; something that has been amiss in more recent times from some events.
I’ll let the photos tell the story but I’ll share some highlights for myself:
I loved seeing the GTR generations from R32 to R35 lined up next to each other. As being a salesperson for the gorgeous cars once upon a time, it was great to see what has become an increasing rarity, parked together!
There was a crew of modern BMW M machines together with some fierce modifications at play. One was a show stopping type of purple that I think everyone will remember.
A few classic American vehicles including some rods and a black Chevy Bel Air no one could walk past without taking time to appreciate.
Then, a 991 and 992 GT3 Touring turned up drawing the majority of attention perhaps also fueled by the GT3 Tik Tok/Insta Reel phenomenon of current…Who doesn’t love a naturally aspirated road legal race car after all!
Looking past a nicely specced manual Audi S1 hatch, I could see a rainbow with an R32 GTR at the end of it. Many would say better than a lot of gold perhaps in some cases, more valuable these days.
While continuing to walk past vendor stands, Diecast & Drift caught our attention, offering scale models of well known but also some odd ball cars. I know a few people who own those exact models would be handing them the cash before even saying hello! Very cool. https://www.instagram.com/diecast_and_drift/
As the evening turned into night, the event was in full swing, and some of us moved our cars into a long line after hearing that the ‘Lion Dancers’ will be here soon. Admittedly I thought they said ‘Line Dancers’ but we were still unsure of what the plan was!
So we waited with our pride and joys until some traditional Chinese musicians playing period instruments broke into song.
Then in a spectacular light show, we had the privilege of witnessing Chinese Lions performing a dance processional along the main strip in front of our cars!
After this we were then treated to the song of our people while man, woman, and machine began to exit creating a combustion symphony.
A huge shout out to the Southside By Night squad for creating a fun and exciting night for all that came along. Props to Alan and Mitchell from Carstyle Crew for their support and energy.
See you all at the next one!
Amazing event. Cars, friends, Food, Entertainment and more. We all had a great night.