Wasteland Weekend is a Mad Max themed four-day post-apocalyptic party held every September in California’s Mojave Desert. It’s been steadily growing every year since the inaugural event in 2010. With more than 2,000 attendees at last fall’s Wasteland Weekend, the organizers decided to add an additional event to the Wasteland calendar in order to provide car builders with a venue specifically to show off their wild rides - opens in new window or tab.—and inspire curious onlookers to join their ranks. We headed to the first annual Wasteland World Car Show - opens in new window or tab. in Torrance, Calif. last weekend to check it out.
“The amount of skill and creativity out there when it comes to repurposing discarded objects and rusted metal is incredible,” said Adam Chilson, Wasteland Weekend’s art director and build supervisor. “We’re proud that we’ve helped create a venue for people to showcase it all.”
The 2015 Wasteland Weekend featured more than 100 customized cars and motorcycles from all over the country. Some owners convoyed thousands of miles to show off their creations in the temporary desert city. “You don’t need to bring a themed car to enjoy Wasteland Weekend,” said Jared Butler, co-founder of the event. “But everyone who comes without one seems to add building a Mad Max car to their bucket list by the time the weekend is done.”
Wasteland Weekend 2015. (Photo by Keri Kilgo)
With Wasteland Weekend 2016 still four months away, the timing of the car show provides enough lead time for inspired car builders to get something ready for September—or at least to make travel plans to attend the event. “There’s nothing like the feeling of riding in a car you’ve worked all year to build and seeing 100 or more Mad Max cars rolling around you, in the wide open desert, with no civilization in sight,” said Chilson.
The Wasteland World Car Show attracted dozens of apocalypse-ready vehicles—from a posse of vintage VW Bugs to a Ford pickup with a 429ci V8 poached from a stock car.
Free to the public, there were plenty of individuals in full Wasteland regalia on hand to enhance the Mad Max vibe.
If you’re interested in joining the ranks at this year’s upcoming Wasteland Weekend event - opens in new window or tab., the festivities take place Sept. 22 to 25 in California City, Calif. “It’s not just the visuals. It’s the sound,” said Butler. “We only do slow cruises at safe speeds, but still, with the roar of the V8 engines and cheers from the Wastelanders, you really feel like you’re inside a movie.”
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