Some things just feel right. Like watching the weather slowly getting warmer and drier after a long and cold winter and putting your fun car back on the road; or seeing your friend finally take the plunge into running their first-ever set of authentic wheels after months of encouraging (and occasionally mildly cyberbullying) them.
We promised Kyrstin that we would film this feature on her widebody S2000 on her birthday weekend under the condition that she ditched her replica wheels and got herself fitted up with a set of authentic wheels that match the effort she has put into the rest of the car.
After a very exciting middle-of-the-night DM saying “I got real wheels!!”, we began planning this video. If you ever read my article “Middle Child” from a few months ago, you know that I have some conflicted feelings towards the concept of gatekeeping. After really aggregating my way through it, I came to the conclusion that gatekeeping with tact is necessary to keep things in the automotive world moving in the right direction and encourages others to hold themselves to high standards. Whereas gatekeeping with arrogance really isn’t gatekeeping at all; it’s just a blanket excuse for being a shit person.
You see, gatekeeping with arrogance is bullying somebody on replica wheels without ever sharing a positive sentiment, or a single piece of advice or knowledge. Gatekeeping with tact is when you gently let somebody know that something sucks, but you also encourage them for what they have done well, then provide them with assistance on how to improve.
Without pumping my ego up too much; gatekeeping with tact is something I have become very proud of doing. I greatly appreciate all of the people that have given Checkpoint and myself as an extension the credibility to listen, provide advice and offer guidance. You will never see me get excited about replica parts, but you also will never see me bully somebody for having them. The way we improve at things is by asking questions, learning from mistakes, and continually striving for more.
Kyrstin and her S2000 are a great example of somebody striving for improvement and, although the car isn’t completely done yet, we wanted to take advantage of the great spring weather, the fact it was her birthday weekend, and the opportunity to celebrate her getting her RAYS wheels fitted by making this video.
Keep encouraging your friends to build their dreams.
One last thing; we want to express our gratitude to everyone who has been supporting us. Whether you’ve been watching our YouTube channel, buying good goods or merchandise, reading the blog like you are now, or sharing our content on social media, we seriously appreciate all of the love and encouragement that we’ve received and can’t thank you enough.
This Friday (April 22) at 12:00pm (Noon) PST our new drop of Japanese Good Goods Will be going live!
You can see all of the ‘coming soon’ products as well as purchase any of our branded merchandise, including our new sticker designs, on our website here:
https://checkpointjapan.bigcartel.com/products
If you’re looking to style up your car with some small five-lug wheels before the summer, we have you covered. We just added a freshly restored pair of Longchamps to the store.
See you soon.
Checkpoint Japan 