http://www.westernfrontonline.net/fe...a4bcf6878.html
Two cars in a Starbucks parking lot display stickers fastened low on their windshields, emblazoned with messages such as “Gangnam Style” and “Tailored Gang.” Both cars are gray, like the pavement below or the overcast sky above. But what truly separates them from the rest of the cars in the parking lot is they both hover just inches above the asphalt, the bottom of the car nearly touching the road.
Western students Kee May, Naveed Naficy and Julian Gossage have spent hours dismantling and redesigning these cars, bringing them lower and lower to the ground. The style is called “slammed,” but despite the speed implied in the name and the aerodynamic appearance of such low suspension, these cars are not for racing. For these Western students, it’s all about looks.
“It’s just aesthetically something we’re interested in, it’s a hobby we like to put our time into,” Naficy said. “We just kind of want to get the message out that [slammed cars] are not out there to street race or cause trouble.”
Most of the drivers he sees or the people he meets at car shows are college-age, despite the finances and expertise required to slam a car, Naficy said.
About $1,000 goes into the process, Naficy said, although there’s a lot of preliminary work that leads up to that ride height, in addition to the extra price of any customizations or enhancements. Most of the slammed car drivers in Bellingham, about 60 to 70 he estimates, are still in their teens or early 20s. Some of these drivers have given the slammed car community a bad reputation because slamming cars isn’t about flashiness or drag racing and is instead about the work put into them. Naficy said.
There are two ways to achieve this low effect, May said. The first is called “static,” meaning the car cannot rise up or be lowered. The second method allows for more mobility. Some slammed cars can be lifted, creating a different riding experience where the driver can move up and down as they travel by pressing buttons on a controller. Both May and Gossage opted to have static cars, but they aren’t stopping there.
“You get addicted to going lower, [to] always adding something to your car, to starting a new project,” Gossage said.
Gossage wants to sell his slammed car and start again, although he said there isn’t much of a market for slammed cars in Bellingham. They are seen more often on the streets of big cities, such as the metropolitans in Japan where the style originated, May said.
That is one of the divides between slammed cars and low-riders. At Western, the M.E.Ch.A. club hosts a car show every year, but their focus is on low-riders. Low-riders also rely on different methods to achieve their height. Naficy said slammed-car drivers are generally younger, but not only is it a different environment than slammed cars, low-riders generally use hydraulics or an air-bag system to drop the car, Naficy said.
Bellingham has Tailored Gang for the slammed car scene. Tailored Gang is a group of guys who slam cars together and it is the name they gave themselves for when they go to car shows. Naficy said Tailored Gang is a way to present a unified, cohesive crew at car shows, but also a way for the guys and girls to advertise their work and share with the community. On Facebook, Tailored Gang has garnered more than 1,500 fans who can see photos of the group’s work, watch videos of the cars on the road, or buy Tailored Gang Tee-shirts.
“We’re just a group of friends who decided to put together a team,” said Naficy. “We’re just a group of guys who have a similar interest, and this way we’re unified.”
Tailored Gang has a lot of supporters, but the response among their friends is mixed. Some people find the style pointless, and some people are impressed, but how their work is perceived is not what pushes these drivers to lower their cars, Kee-May said. The reward for the hours spent with their cars jacked up, tires off and the suspension pulled out is simply knowing they are able to slam cars and seeing how the ride looks when it’s done. The cars represent a level of dedication and responsibility that many people strive to emulate.
“It’s just like a lifestyle,” May said.
Still, despite all the “likes” on Facebook and the commitment required to accomplish slamming, the cars still have dissenters. May and Gossage said people have yelled at them or given them thumbs down as they drive past because they don’t like the cars. Even Gossage’s girlfriend has urged him to buy a truck and replace his car.
Gossage has had problems with the police too; he said cops have pulled him over about 10 times in the last year. Gossage said they will “hassle” him because his car is so low.
These are minor problems compared to the limited routes available to slammed-car drivers in Bellingham.
While tires usually hoist a car far enough off the ground to make even the most unpaved street navigable, slammed cars offer no such protection. Since the underside of the vehicle is so close to the ground, it’s more vulnerable to any dangers on the road, such as speed bumps, sewer caps, potholes and the C-lots here on campus.
Also off-limits is Fred Meyer’s, most of High Street, Garden Street and Indian Street, May said. The roads are just too uneven, inclined or coarse, meaning slammed-car drivers have to carefully plan their routes and be prepared to walk if they want to protect the delicate mechanics beneath their car.
Despite their limitations, the cars are still expensive. Gossage said his oil-pan was broken at least eight times while he was driving, and he has to spend money on replacing his oil every few weeks in addition to whatever he spends upgrading or reinventing the car.
“If you have money and you’re willing to be patient and dedicate your money to your car, [then slammed cars are worth it,]” Gossage said. “If you don’t have a job, if you don’t have steady income, you probably shouldn’t get one.”
Gossage and May learned most of the techniques online and now are able to completely disassemble and reconstruct their own cars. Passing these lessons on is something Gossage cannot and will not do — Gossage said it’s something people have to do themselves to learn. Still, it’s a skill they encourage people to acquire, because building a slammed car is so much more gratifying than simply owning one.
“I wouldn’t say [slamming cars is] for attention, because I don’t really like when people know what car I drive,” Gossage said. “It’s for my own satisfaction, like ‘I built that.’”
**Don't b scared be prepared for the worst**
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