I touched down in New York on September 20th, completely running on caffeine and adrenaline. There was traffic to fight and barely any time to decompress or shake off the flight before Sunday morning arrived, kicking off the absolute craziest double-header car day of my year.
The first stop on the itinerary was Grassroots Edition: Objects in Motion, a highly anticipated collaboration with Saab Brooklyn.
I had the absolute privilege of rolling up to the meet with Roger from Scotch Bonnet Motorsports. Roger brought out two of his immaculate vintage BMWs: a flawless E32 735i sedan and the legendary M Coupe “Clownshoe.” He threw me the keys to the E32, and let me tell you absolutely nothing beats the smooth, mechanical soul of a classic 1980s/90s BMW cruising through New York. It was the perfect introduction to the trip.
The Venue: 99 Scott Studio
Our destination was 99 Scott Studio, located right on the industrial intersection of East Williamsburg and Bushwick. This isn’t your average parking lot meet; it’s a massive, raw industrial warehouse space characterized by soaring 20-foot ceilings, exposed brick, concrete floors, and a sweeping private gravel courtyard. Typically home to high-end fashion shows, avant-garde design exhibitions, and underground raves, it was the ultimate architectural canvas to stage custom cars as actual fine art.
According to the official promotional rollout on Instagram, the exhibition beautifully merged automotive culture with fine art, featuring custom-crafted automotive builds staged outside the venue and custom artwork suspended inside the main gallery space.
Inside the Warehouse: Pure Curation
We set up Roger’s BMWs outside the main entrance and immediately started mingling. The turnout was incredible, and the vibe was effortlessly cool. It gave me a chance to connect face-to-face with people I’ve interacted with online for years, alongside meeting entirely new heads in the tri-state community.
Stepping inside the main warehouse building, the sensory experience completely shifted. A live DJ was spinning tracks to set the mood and in true enthusiast fashion, it was @galdos2k running the decks, who actually had his own incredibly clean Honda S2000 parked right outside of the warehouse.
The indoor gallery area heavily favored vintage Porsche engineering. The floor was stacked with early 911s and a stunning collection of pristine, early Porsche 356 Speedster, the timeless, lightweight models that defined the golden era of sports car racing. Seeing those flowing, classic lines framed against raw concrete walls felt like walking through a modern art museum.
The Courtyard: Carbon, Swaps, and Rare Iron
After walking through the main gallery warehouse, you are led out into a sprawling gravel courtyard and parking area where things got incredibly diverse. The curation out here was a wild, beautiful mix of eras and philosophies:
- The JDM Heavyweights: A pair of legendary Nissan Skyline GT-Rs, both an R32 and an R33, standing side-by-side with immaculate street presence.
- The Italian Exotic: A jaw-dropping De Tomaso Pantera, bringing that aggressive, wedge-shaped 1970s supercar energy to the Brooklyn dirt.
- The Grassroots LSx 996: A wild, wide-body Porsche 996 wearing proud Grassroots Edition branding. The real kicker? Pop the decklid, and it’s completely LSx V8 swapped. Pure American muscle stuffed into a German track icon.
- The Euro Oddity: A clean Renault Mégane hot hatch, a rare piece of French forbidden fruit on US soil.
- The Showstopper: The car that completely stole the show for me was an absolute work of art, a classic Mini Cooper constructed entirely out of bare carbon fiber, powered by a Honda B16 VTEC engine swap. The engineering and power-to-weight ratio on that build are just mind-boggling.
A Lasting Impression
From the flawless organization to the incredible attendance, Objects in Motion was the perfect introduction to New York’s car culture. Blending fine art, industrial architecture, and world-class automotive execution is exactly the kind of elevated direction the scene needs.
It was also a massive highlight to connect for the first time with some of the guys from the legendary PrimeNYC crew. I’ve heard about their iconic Honda meets for years, so it was great to finally link up with them in person and talk shop.
New York car culture definitely left a hell of a first impression on day one. But the Sunday marathon was only halfway over. We packed up the E32 and the M Coupe, said our goodbyes to Brooklyn, and pointed the headlights further upstate toward the river for Classics Up The Hudson 2…
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