When cars were first made available to the public, they were a privilege for the wealthy. As time has passed, the automobile has become the dominant form of transportation. People choose a type of car that reflects their identity and they personalize their cars in various ways, such as a simple paint job and tuning the engine. Nowadays cars have turned into one of the cultural elements that represent our lifestyle and shape our daily culture. Here are some cases which show how the car culture trend is going in today’s world. How about experiencing one of the types of car culture that are modified to different lifestyles?
Car Camping
Not so long ago when we went camping, a car was just to carry the equipment. But the drawback was that you had to set it up by yourself, which was quite complicated. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, camping sites have been restricted. So people select car camping, “Cha-Bak” in Korean, which means sleeping in one’s own car. The car itself is used as camping equipment. One of the ways to do this is by buying an inflatable mattress and putting it on top of the folded seat. In this way, the car becomes a small room. As this trend has become very popular, it has changed the landscape of the car market. Big cars which are a more suitable option for car camping have boomed and they have surpassed the sale of normal sedans in recent times. To keep up with the trend, car makers are also coming out with an option to make your car camping life-style more comfortable.
Car-Themed Café
There are car-themed cafés across the country and around the world. A car is used as an interior decoration in a café to create a unique atmosphere. Early attempts were no more than just displaying some exotic cars, but these days they show bespoke tuned cars from their-in-house garage and specially collaborated cars with a renowned brand as promotion. With the increasing trend, car makers started to use this method to promote their cars. Instead of an ordinary dealership, they made it into a café so that people can get information about cars without having the feeling that they should buy one of them. Some car manufactures went one step further and created complex cultural spaces where they can not only explore new models but also discover the heritage of the brand by displaying cars from the past.
Car Video Game Modding
The last one is a car video game technology called “modding.’ It comes from word “mod” which is the ability to change the content of games. In car games, mods vary from adding a new paintjob to making a new car. Both car games and tuning cultures have been around for a very long time, but people wanted to implement a wide range of personalization in games as well. That is why the modding trend started. There are many car customization game websites where you can share paintjobs, and create or purchase the one you want. One example is a YouTuber who created his own league of racing using the “F1 22” game. Standard games only supply cars that are currently used in real life F1 races. But he replaced them with modded paintjobs of cars in the past as well as his own.
By Jeong Se-hyuk, Tribune Reporter