If you go
› What: Riverside Spring Meet car show.› When: noon-7 p.m. Saturday, March 26.› Where: First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Reggie White Blvd.› Admission: Free.› Website: www.riversidechattanooga.com.
If you go
› What: Riverside Chattanooga Pre-Meet.› When: 6-10 p.m. Friday, March 25.› Where: The Bitter Alibi, 825 Houston St.› Website: www.riversidechattanooga.com.
Vendors and sponsors
› Simply Clean› Cloud 9 Automotive Brand› BC Racing› BC Forged› SouthrnFresh› Atlanta Air Ride› SlammedEnuff› Adrift Productions› Custom Concept Motorsports› S&P Automotive› NTown Motorsports› UROTuning› 3SDM USA› Forge Motorsport› Chattanooga Brewing Company› The Bitter Alibi
Organizers of a new car show are rightfully revved up about the Riverside Spring Meet, which debuts Saturday, March 26, at First Tennessee Pavilion.
Mason Gavin, 26, and Matt Skudlarek, 28, say they’ve been toying with the idea of a car show for a couple of years and plans have finally settled into place. Their inaugural event will feature 450 “unique and amazing” vehicles and more than a dozen vendors offering a different twist on the norm.
“We wanted to have something geared toward our demographic, our age,” says Skudlarek.
Both are fans of other local shows and have modeled the Riverside Meet to have a similar family-friendly atmosphere. But if the Coker Cruise-In is the granddaddy of Chattanooga car shows, Gavin and Skudlarek are the young upstarts who want to show off their hypercustomized rides without such a reverence for classics.
Gavin likens it to the contrasts between a baseball game and a soccer match. Both are fun, but each has a singular energy.
“I wouldn’t say one is better than the other,” he says. “It’s just different.”
So rather than a walk down memory lane through American muscle cars, the Riverside Spring Meet will show off the latest technology in car culture and how the owners reinterpret base models.
“It’s not all ‘Fast & Furious’ cars,” Skudlarek says, referencing the high-octane models from the street racing film series. “They’re not all souped up to go fast.”
But visitors will see an array of custom modifications in wheels, suspensions, side skirts and front lips, turbo-charged cars and rebuilds, even a right-hand drive Nissan Skyline.
“What’s cool about these cars,” says Gavin, “is that most of these vehicles will have things you wouldn’t expect to see. A Toyota Corolla after modification looks completely different than the one your mom drives.”
One thing the Riverside Meet won’t be is a competition. Rather, Skudlarek and Gavin see it as a place to appreciate each other’s cars and spend time with friends, sort of a large-scale version of the unofficial meet-ups in parking lots around town.
In addition to Saturday’s main event, car buffs can attend a pre-meet party Friday night at The Bitter Alibi, which Skudlarek co-owns. Gavin is a partner in another sponsor of the event, Adrift Productions, which provides automotive photography and videography services.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.