I have never been to Portugal in my entire life, but if I had known there would be a treasure trove of ‘80s, ‘90s and early ‘00s icons waiting to be discovered I might have been there a decade ago.
It all began when a friend reached out via email, explaining that a childhood buddy of his was turning 40 and would love nothing more than to share his collection and community with Petrolicious. Naturally I was happy to oblige, and I’m glad I did.
I was picked up from the airport by a man named Jean Paul, who then took me to meet the man who was organizing all of this. The two friends prefer to remain anonymous, but they have known each other since they were three years old; they’ve grown up together, fetishized incredible cars together, worked incredibly hard to achieve the success required to drive those cars…together. They are best friends, and when I arrive it couldn’t be more clear their shared passion for all things automotive.
Over the course of the next three days I spent time getting to know the two, their family, and their friends in and around the car scene in Portugal. Needless to say, several films will come out of this trip—it goes down for me personally on record as one of the most inspiring discoveries in a community I’d never even been to.
