Simply stated, the ground is too high.

It seems nowadays that Southern California cars have been taking the scene by storm. There are lots of shows and events for crews to come out to. When you combine this with exposure on forums, facebook, tumblr and many other media sites the scene becomes saturated with the same cars. The Northern California circuit is much different. This collection of rides comes straight from the SF Bay. I am proud to present to you some of the cars of my personal friends. We were graced by our Tucson correspondent Otis who was in Norcal for the weekend at Pebble beach. I called Mike, Dom, Carl, and Calvin to participate in some photoshoot shennanigans with Otis!

First up is Dom’s BMW E36, Dom is 100% Euro to the core. He is so Euro that he was born in Poland. Dom’s style is nothing short of immaculately clean. I have never seen his car dirty once in my life, and I see him pretty frequently. His car sits static on custom Broadway Static edition Fortune Auto coiliovers with some uber rare BBS Bugatti wheels.

Next is Carl’s Wolfsburg Edition Jetta MK4. Despite having the option of driving high on air suspension, Carl still drives as low as possible. He got pulled over twice recently for driving too low. I swear its that Jetta GLI lip of his. Air lift bags + OEM Corvette BBS RS are his winning combination.

Static Vs. Air. It really doesn’t matter. Whatever suits your lifestyle best is the best option. From riding in both cars I can tell you from experience, it feels pretty darn cool to air out. At the same time knowing that the car is sitting static commands respect.

This is, err, was Michael’s Golf. It has since been sold but I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and good memories from this car. Sitting bagged on some Rotiform NUE’s this thing sat super aggressive, yes it’s laying frame. It even made the arduous journey to Las Vegas for Wuste!

Super stretched tires on the rear helped the fender practically sit between the rim and tire. This style is a little something I like to call a Michael sandwich (patent pending) (<-- Just kidding)

Carl’s side profile is menacing!

Here we have my LS400, its a work in progress. In its current state it is sitting on some maxed out Megan Racing coilovers and Veilside Andrew Racing V wheels. I recently swapped the badges over from the USDM Lexus ones to the JDM Toyota Celsior ones with the grille as well. Hiding out underneath the bumper is a little blast pipe :)

Here is the mugshot line up of some of the cars. I always feel so tall next to these bagged vee-dubs.

Michael and Carl will forever be known as the MK4 bros because of the things they have both went through with their builds. Learning and adapting to new obstacles thrown at them with these cars. One day I hope they look back on this picture with fond memories!

Farewell to Michael’s golf! She will be dearly missed by all of us and I hope the new owner takes care of her just as well as you did Mike! I will definitely miss seeing it aired out in front of your house and the smell from the catless exhaust.

Oh hey there is the grille I was telling you about! Lookin spiffy!

Most of my friends call this car the land yacht, or land tank. I wish I could get that as a license plate. Hmmm “LANDTNK” I bet it’s already taken.

In true hardcore euro fashion Dom wasn’t satisfied enough with the US E36 hoodbra offerings. That is why he had this Peanut Butter leather hoodbra shipped from Germany for his car. It matches the interior quite nicely though. Only the best!

Here you can get a better idea of how low this thing sits. It’s crazy. Its beyond crazy! The frame is literally shaved off a little bit from all of the contact with the road/driveways/etc. That Avus Blue really complements the BBS Bugattis!

So legendary.

Is it just me or does that Boser hood give the car angry eyes? Either way you look at it Carl has his VW game on lockdown.

One last shot of Michael’s Golf. Bye :(

I would like to high five everyone involved with making this shoot a success! The car scene is all about good friends. I wouldn’t know a lug nut from a from deep socket if it weren’t for all these guys (especially Mike) learning from the best! These are some of my friends’ cars that I have just shared with you. I cannot even describe all the memories from riding around in each and every one of these. I thank them all for the friendship they have shared with me and I can’t wait to see what the future brings!

Simply stated, the ground is too high. What makes you love what you do?

Photos: Otis Blank
Words: Michael Klonoff

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