The New Wave
Initiatives that are reshaping the youngtimer culture
Across Europe, a new generation of projects is emerging around classic cars. More community-driven than concours-focused. Less about polished paintwork and “investment purchases,” more about people, the smell of petrol, and music echoing through old industrial halls. Cars are becoming a pretext once again - for meeting, talking, and sharing a passion together.
Just a few years ago, the classic car world felt somewhat like a museum. Everything gleamed, everything was perfect - including the people. Today, it is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. No longer a closed circle of collectors, but a movement born from the need to be together. From the desire to show that a car is not a trophy, but a fragment of history, emotion, and lifestyle. The contemporary scene is moving away from hierarchy and judgment. It is not interested in podiums, but in experiencing the moment together. What matters is the atmosphere and the people who genuinely want to be there.
Berlin
In Berlin, this spirit has taken shape in the form of VHCLE, a project created by Marc Reschke. It is neither a club nor an agency - rather a platform for encounters, built entirely around an idea. VHCLE brings together people who believe that automotive culture can be part of contemporary culture, not just a memory of it.
Their recent event, The Hideout, held in the legendary Funkhaus, felt like a cross between an exhibition and a film set. Raw interiors, soft low light, a carefully curated playlist, and pizza instead of fancy catering. Cars blended into the background while people talked - about life, work, and cars that actually mean something. This year also marked another edition of Tape Jam, which I had the chance to attend for the second time. Two years in a row, and each time the same impression: something authentic, with an incredibly coherent atmosphere.
I met Marc at the HFMSTRS BBQ, which he co-organized in 2023 (more on HFMSTRS later). It was my first encounter with the Berlin scene - and it was immediately clear there is no entry barrier here. If you have passion, you belong. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, who you know, or what you drive. You simply join the conversation, and everything unfolds naturally.
Hamburg
In Hamburg, Emil’s Garage stems from the same need, expressed at a different pace. Founded by Emil Pourkian, it is a creative agency working with brands such as BMW, Breitling, and Jägermeister, while also being a space where classics serve as a backdrop for stories about emotions and people.
The idea originated with a Volga GAZ M21 - the car of Emil’s grandfather - a symbol of authenticity that still defines the brand’s DNA. Emil’s Garage organizes its own event format under the name Sundowner, where industrial spaces become the setting for meetings and conversations. There is no podium and no rulebook. There is passion, style, and a strong selection of cars. Emil’s goal is to change the way we perceive classics- from museum exhibits into living symbols of their time. Cars that have something to say.
Stuttgart
HEIZR Club represents another pole of the same energy - and is arguably the most recognizable initiative of its kind in Europe.
Founded by Felix Bauermeister, HEIZR was built from the outset around relationships rather than prestige. Their slogan, “Creating the most casual classic car community in Germany”, captures the essence perfectly. HEIZR is a community that grows because it is rooted in emotion, not hierarchy.
Projects such as HEIZR Logistics, HEIZR Industries, and HEIZR Recycling show that automotive culture can function as a platform for broader cultural expression. Each event is curated - thought through like an exhibition, but charged with the energy of a street event. Polished, yet never rigid. HEIZR connects people, not cars - and that is where its strength lies.
Munich
HFMSTRS originate from Munich - a project founded by three friends: Jasper Schwering, Daniel “Rasi” Rasenberger, and Tobi Krengl. They started with small meet-ups and shared drives, without a plan for a brand or structure. Just people for whom BMW meant more than a logo. The name references the Hofmeister kink - the iconic BMW design detail.
HFMSTRS appear wherever a place carries a special context: AVUS, Dingolfing, empty car parks at dawn, tunnels that amplify the sound of an inline-six. But it was Wheels & Weißwürscht, co-organized with BMW Classic, that became their most recognizable format. An event that plays a key role during Como Car Week, held at Villa Erba - a place usually associated with elegance and inaccessibility. HFMSTRS bring in a completely different energy: openness, conversation, accessibility.
It is a community driven by a simple sequence: passion - people - cars. In that exact order.
Warsaw
In Poland, a similar sensitivity is being developed by Tomasz Sarna, a photographer and the creator of the @roadflavor project. It began with a series of events called Colors, organized in Warsaw. Each edition dedicated to a single color- from red to blue, the latter of which I joined back in October together with my Alpina B5.
These are gatherings with a soul. They are not about cars, but about what happens between people. A sharp eye, the right place, the right moment. Nothing is accidental, yet nothing feels staged. Roadflavor proves that the Polish scene is maturing. It is not chasing the West - it is creating its own language.
PTRLSM
Against this backdrop emerges PTRLSM (read: petrolism) - my own passion project, conceived from the very beginning as a platform for contemporary automotive culture. Not a magazine. Not a fashion brand. Rather a space where emotion meets aesthetics, and where what matters is what we experience with cars - not simply owning them.
“On a daily basis, I work on brands in the hospitality industry - designing memorable experiences. At some point, I realized that this way of thinking was missing in automotive culture. PTRLSM was created to think and talk about cars the same way we talk about places - through people, context, and the sensitivities behind them.”
We create texts, images, and projects that show automotive culture is not a hobby, but a language. Clothing is an addition - not the core. Made in Poland, in small runs, designed with form and tactility in mind - an organic extension of the stories we tell.
In 2026, I am planning the first event under the PTRLSM flag - a small-scale, curated gathering. No stage. No competition. With a rhythm and atmosphere that linger in memory longer than the cars themselves.
The New Wave
What is happening today around youngtimers is neither fashion nor nostalgia. It is a new ecosystem of initiatives that have given classics a second life - not as objects, but as pretexts. A generation raised on analog cars and digital tools has created a culture where the car becomes a backdrop for emotions, friendships, and conversation.
For some, it is a Saturday morning in a garage. For others, an evening in a warehouse, with music and wine. For everyone - a shared space where passion and aesthetics meet in the middle.
Dawid
(photos: Marc Reschke, Roman Raetzke, Jasper Schwering, Wiktor Franko, Maciej Skrzyński)
Originally published in EVO Polska (Issue 21) and online.