By the time you guys read this I’ll probably be walking around in New York City already, taking in the hot ass, incredibly humid, weather before we are set to host the East Coast Wekfest stop in Edison, New Jersey. These last couple days have been interesting. The photos and words from Wekfest Los Angeles have generated some pretty good discussions. I’m glad we can have a constructive conversation about our automotive tuning community. I’ve probably written much more than I have in quite some time and I’m glad my words are being absorbed by people. Any time you have such a competitive environment like Los Angeles and San Jose, it is going to spark some banter. Everyone who competes and has been competing over the years wants to win. They want to feel validated for their hard work. I get it. The rest of the crew at Wekfest gets it too. We’d just prefer that you understand our process. That’s why in the last few Vlogs I’ve given you guys a glimpse into the war room where we talk about the show and its competitors. I think moving forward I’ll continue to do so. Sometimes I do it for comedic relief and show that I’m watching cat videos on Instagram or something but we do spend a bulk of the time at any event we host deliberating. It’s not always easy either. We’ll sometimes discuss who goes where and who wins what up until the very end of the show. Though many of us aren’t exactly in that mindset where we ourselves want to compete in that way with our cars, we fully appreciate the ones that still have the competitive fire…

I’m glad everyone shared Part 1 and were so understanding of my words in Part 1 of the Wekfest LA photos. It was honestly a bit surprising how much it was shared but I suppose people have had a lot of similar thoughts on the subject. As our automotive community has evolved, it’s important to recognize that some of the old ways need to change or see a similar type of evolution. If you prefer the traditional points-based system of judging at car shows, that’s perfectly okay. I am in no way trying to sway anyone into not attending other events that use this method. What I’m doing is merely trying to get people to understand that what we do may not be necessarily ‘conventional’. It just works better for us. Being openly objective allows for enthusiasts to present their cars to us without having to be confined to, in our opinion, a rigid structure. Our requirements at Wekfest are based on numbers or categories. We are much more free-flowing, looking at overall execution, understanding of flow and style, quality parts selection, with more emphasis on themes…

Let me ask you a question…

How do you quantify style?

I think it is a very important question to ask when it comes to judging a car show. It’s the main reason why myself and others within the Wekfest group thought long ago that the old point-based system of deciding on the best car builds was obsolete. It’s a rudimentary system that doesn’t work in today’s age of automotive tuning. How do you assign points to style, to flow, execution? You simply cannot. That’s based on objectivity. It should be determined by those with the adequate experience and knowledge. Building an award-winning car should not be calculated on a numerical system. Numbers are formulaic, predictable. You can’t calculate good taste. That requires soul…