Photo Contributed by Erika Flores

“I feel like it’s a whole separate community from the males. We are definitely underappreciated and we definitely get taken advantage of a lot and definitely looked down on, ” female car enthusiast Eris Tohbler said. “We are just the same people but In female bodies, so it’s like what’s different?”

I believe that women should be more respected and appreciated in the car community.

In recent years, especially on apps like Instagram and Facebook, women are beginning to make a mark for themselves in the surrounding car communities. Whether it be Japanese, American, European, German, imported, or locally purchased cars, women are beginning to shine in their auto mechanical work.

I hate when I’m driving in my car, the windows are tinted and all of a sudden I hear “Hey boss, nice car!” Then I lower my car window a tad and I hear “Oh, it’s a girl” and they drive off in their trumpet-sounding cars, at least my car sounds like it can breathe.

Of course, cars and auto mechanics have always been a place of interest for many people, but it has always been a more male-dominated scene, according to an article by Victoria Scott.

“Unfortunately, as a result of these trends, for most of the 20th century, automotive design, manufacturing, sales, and advertising remained almost entirely male-dominated pursuits,” Scott said in the article.

Being a female mechanic myself, I was lucky enough to find a community that allowed me to grow and expand my knowledge instead of hearing, “this is a man’s job.” I’m driving a 37-year-old car, I should at least know what to do in case of an emergency.

Sometimes girls will try to impress and play up a game that of course fails. These girls fail to understand that even when their charade goes bad, it doesn’t affect just their chances of getting a boyfriend who’s into cars, but their boyfriend is going to go around talking about how some random girl tried to pick them up.

The story will go about her talking about a four-cylinder high-pressure coolant steering line that broke and that she needed a socket wrench to fix the hose that broke by the door.

See, some women know the difference between motor oil viscosity, gasoline, and diesel, or how a Miata MX-5 has a piston engine but an RX-7 has a spinning Dorito engine even though both have pop-up headlights from the 90s. For those women, they deserve not the “she’s a fake car girl” title, she deserves the “wow, look at that strong and cultured woman” appreciation.

“Me personally, I would say it’s a 50-50 thing because nine times out of 10 we see a short female in like this scene, they’re either like models, you know what I mean?” Instagram influencer and car mechanic Amber Garcia said.

Garcia has been in the car community since 2013 since starting her present project car; a 1989 MK3 Toyota Supra with a 1JZ-GTE VVT-i TRD single turbo engine that she tunes and shows.

“Women, they have like their boyfriend build a car. For me, it’s like they’ll see me and they either expect that of me, but when I post me tuning my car or actually doing something with the car, I feel like I get more appreciation, guys usually tend to just focus on the models and the pretty face” Garcia said. 

Garcia said she has tuned and fixed her car along with helping many other girls on their journey towards being in the car community. She said you’re doing something bigger than yourself and that’s the point.

“I feel like it’s a whole separate community from the males. We are definitely under appreciated and we definitely get taken advantage of a lot and definitely looked down on, ” female car enthusiast Eris Tohbler said. “We are just the same people but in female bodies, so it’s like what’s different?”

Tohbler said she believes that anyone can learn to grow in the car community and find their way through it, even if they’re getting looked down on for doing so. 

“Even if we’re getting looked down on and discouraged all the time it’s okay, we got this, you got other people. Keep moving forward,” Tohbler said.

She said despite the obstacles she has faced, it is rewarding to drive her car after fixing it. 

According to an article from Laist, women in Los Angeles and across the state of California have started, “a new future for custom car culture.”

The article also said car clubs are growing for different types of cars, low-riders, bombers, JDM, USDM, and many more. 

In the surrounding areas, including Santa Paula, Oxnard, Ventura, Camarillo, Malibu, and the Los Angeles area, there are quite a few car clubs such as AKIRA STARS, Midnight Therapy Auto Club, Supra Garage, Msmotorhead, Kaizen Motorsports, and the GentlemenZ Club to start. A ton of women from different walks of life have come to join the clubs be part of car shows, and host their lady-driven meets.

I believe the car community is a type of culture that brings everyone together. It doesn’t matter your walk of life or where you’re from, man or woman, you share that same drive. You share the same motivation to continue to do better in the car community and share your talents.

At the end of the day, we all know, the car community and auto mechanics, it’s not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle.