Las Vegas car culture gets a bad rap sometimes. It’s known as Sin City, after all; the gem of the Mojave desert and a sleepless entertainment capital, where the people are just as interesting as the glitz and glam itself.
It’s also massively stereotyped as a hub for street racing, or the performative rich with more money than taste. As a resident, I believed in the negativity. Or, I did, until I found a place which proved that Las Vegas’ real car culture has a lot of good to take pride in.
Enter Gears & Grinds. Founded over seven years ago by Tyler Gallo of the Paddock Auto Club, what began as a diminutive group of enthusiasts loitering in a cafe parking lot exploded into a bi-monthly variety-fest.
Now, it’s a sponsored event supported by numerous club members and small businesses, for the public to bask in the aura of noteworthy cars championed by some eclectic locals.
All walks of life congregate around cars for all tastes, from all corners of the globe. JDM imports rub shoulders with classic American muscle and the occasional seven-figure hypercar. Wealthy collectors intermingle with grassroots racers and blue-collar wrenches. Track rats socialize with show car folks who then interact with drifters.
For these few hours at least, social and class barriers evaporate, while strangers become new friends – all in the heart of the city.
At a previous show, a crowd gathered to admire a forgotten generation of Honda Accord hatchback, clad in Jazz Solo-esque decals befitting your 90s Taco Bell fever dreams. You could basically hear the synthwave emanating from it. A few spaces over, a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport drew in a similar-sized crowd, despite its immensely greater prestige.
My dinky Subaru BRZ was allotted front-row parking that morning, a privilege typically reserved for the heavier hitters. I suppose showing off the Indigo Blue Advan RZ II wheels I had bought made me an exception.
The most recent showing, shot for this very story, was smaller in attendance, yet the machines were no less alluring. With the sun peaking over the mountains, I greeted the first early birds to roll in. The silent parking lot slowly erupted with the bustle of an entire community.
Peep the Honda N600 and Japanese lowrider hearse (yes, really) parked a stone’s throw from a Superformance Ford GT40 MKI replica, R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec, and a Ferrari Testarossa. There’s even a market for collectible Hot Wheels and Tomicas, popular with families looking to indoctrinate their little ones. I bought two Tomica Premiums.
Some days can get pretty crowded, but I still can’t imagine a better way to kill a Sunday morning in this city.
Alas, Vegas may never shake its stereotypes – but its residents couldn’t care less, and surely you won’t either. Thanks to Gears & Grinds, people now know there’s a tightly-knit car community built upon genuine passion, nestled cozily in the shadow of the Strip.
