Seventeen cutting-edge passenger vehicles make up a new exhibit at America’s Car Museum, called “Tuners@ACM.” These modern cars are lightweight, personalized, and very technologically advanced. Tuner cars – just like the hot rods that preceded them in the 1940s and ’50s – have a history steeped in customization of engines, as well as chassis modification, suspension and structure, interiors, paint, and body. Changes range from mild to wild depending on the owner of the tuner car. Each owner is able to use the vehicle to express their own creativity and uniqueness.
“History has a way of repeating itself,” says the ACM Curator of Exhibitory, Scott Keller. “Just like early hot-rodders, the tuner subculture is primarily driven by young enthusiasts who look to convey their individuality through their automobiles.”
The tuner subculture Keller mentions, which traces its roots back to the 1970s, has since become a multibillion dollar industry and a beloved pastime for countless auto buffs. Tuners@ACM features some of the hottest examples of tuners– like APR’s RLMS, a 2018 VW Golf R homage to Touring Car Racing recently nominated as a Toyo Tires Top Build at SEMA.
“The automobile has ingrained itself as part of our society’s culture for more than 100 years,” Keller says. “Regardless of the canvas, the one thing that transcends time is that a car can truly be a work of art, limited only by the owner’s creativity. We are thrilled to be able to put such a display together for our visitors.”
The vehicles presented in Tuners@ACM are:
- 1971 Datsun 240z
- 1971 Nissan Skyline GT-X
- 1972 Datsun 510
- 1978 Toyota Cressida
- 1982 Nissan 180sx
- 1983 Mitsubishi Starion
- 1992 Honda Civic Si
- 1992 Mazda MX-5
- 1999 Honda Civic Type-R
- 2000 Audi S4
- 2000 BMW M3 Wagon
- 2003 Mitsubishi EVO
- 2006 VW GTI
- 2008 Nissan 350z
- 2011 Subaru WRX STI
- 2015 Nissan GTR
- 2018 VW Golf R
For more information about other exhibits at America’s Car Museum, visit americascarmuseum.org.