Once a year, The Rumblers Car Club converges and takes over the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York for their Hot Rod and Kustom Kulture gathering. This once-little car club, which has grown from an amalgamation of enthusiasts in 1996 to an international syndicate of lead sled lovers, hosts one of the most popular events on the East Coast. Professional photographer and Detroit native Dave Christiansen went to Union Avenue under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to capture the passion and the glory that is Hot Rodding with nary a sanctimonious Hipster in sight.
Since their first show back in 2000, The Rumblers Car Club has breathed new life into the Hot Rod scene in New York City. With the help of other local clubs over the past decade, The Rumblers have laid a firm foundation for those hell bent for nostalgia. To boot, The Rumblers have a world-wide presence with seven chapters across the United States (New Jersey, Orlando, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Francisco) plus their first overseas chapter in Hamburg, Germany.
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1957 Pontiac wagon is an unusual sight. 1960 Caddy's almost-stock status is an unusual and appreciated change.
This part of Brooklyn is not a car-friendly place in the least, so it’s great to see a get-together with enthusiasts who share a common bond of custom cars and popular culture. Visit a place like the Mopar Nationals and you may see three ‘Cudas in the same color, but here you’re bound to see much more individuality.
Our sense of nostalgia often idealizes something that ends up being not quite authentic, but this is here, now – The Rumblers use the equity of the past and the things learned along the way to bring Hot Rodding into the 21st Century. It’s an aesthetic that fits in our zeitgeist as well as that from the 1950s. Can you think of another facet of the hobby that can make that claim?
Women are an integral part of The Rumblers. While the old car hobby tends to be male-centric, there are not many segments of the hobby where sugar and spice get equal billing with frogs and snails.
To learn more about The Rumblers, you can visit their web page and Facebook to get the skinny on how you can attend their future shows in NYC, as well as Orlando and Cleveland.
We’ve got well over 500 pictures to scroll through, so take a minute, put up your feet and enjoy the gallery below!


































































































































































































































































































































































































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