Essay • Clubs • Forums • Real People
The Car Club IsThe Internet We Lost
The old internet was a bunch of strangers helping each other fix their cars. That still exists. It just meets in parking lots now.
Before the feed
Remember When the Internet Was Useful?
There was a time when the internet was a bunch of forums. You had a weird problem with a weird car, you typed it into a search bar, and you found a 14-page thread from 2006 where some guy named Dave had the exact same problem, fixed it, and posted blurry photos of every step.
Nobody was selling you anything. Dave wasn't an influencer. Dave was just a guy who wanted to help the next guy.
That internet is mostly gone. Now it's feeds. Algorithms decide what you see, half of it is ads, and the other half is somebody yelling about tires they were paid to yell about.
But the old internet didn't die. It moved into car clubs.
ttFJC, reporting in
Forums Were Car Clubs With Bad Lighting
I'm still on IH8MUD as ttFJC. It's one of the last places where the old internet still works: build threads that run for years, people who know the difference between a 1FZ and a 2F, and posts from people who actually did the thing. I've written reviews there myself, like my LC250 review from XOverland Ranch, and people actually read them and asked questions.
That's the thing about a forum. It's a group of people who care about the same weird thing, sharing what they know for free. That's also the definition of a car club.
Screenshots only
I'm Not on Facebook
This is going to sound fake, but I'm not on Facebook. My friends send me Marketplace listings as screenshots, like it's 1998 and we're passing notes in class.
And here's what I noticed: the most useful car information in my life doesn't come from a feed. It comes from people. Somebody texts me a listing. Somebody tells me a trail is snowed in. Somebody knows a guy with a tow strap.
That network is the car club.
The job description
What a Club Actually Does
A car club is the old internet in person. Real names, real faces, and real consequences for being a jerk.
It answers your questions. Somebody in the club has already broken the thing you just broke.
It shows up. When you’re stuck on a trail, an algorithm doesn’t come pull you out. People do. For the record, TRPLOK never gets stuck. I, on the other hand, have been pulled out a couple of times by my brother.
It keeps cars alive. Clubs pass parts, tools and knowledge around until a 30-year-old truck keeps running for another 30.
It passes cars around. My Lexus, TRPLOK, came from my friend Tom, who built it up before he sold it to me years later. I know that truck’s history because I know the guy who wrote it.
It makes friends. I met one of my best friends, Johnny, on the trail. That story’s here.
Local chapter
Montana Still Has It
The good news is that Montana is full of this stuff. 406 Cruisers runs Land Cruiser trips and keeps old Toyotas on the trail. The Jackalope Drivers Club does grassroots ice racing in West Yellowstone, and their 2 Frost, 2 Furious event is coming back. The Vigilante 77 Rally gets a bunch of people with interesting cars together and then goes and gets them dirty. And Ressler Cars & Coffee brings Bozeman out almost every month in the summer.
None of these are perfect. Clubs have politics, drama and at least one guy who won't stop talking about his exhaust. Forums had that too. It's part of the deal.
Your move
Join One
If you've been doing cars only on your phone, go to a meet. Bring the dirty car. Ask the dumb question. Help somebody load a trailer.
You'll learn more in one parking lot than in a month of scrolling, and somebody might even have the part you need.
Find Your People
Want to know when the next run or meet is? Ask. Somebody will tell you, probably with a screenshot.
Never Lift.
Drive Fast · Take Chances · Never Lift
