“Get Wrenching.”
It’s more than just a tagline; it’s a lifestyle choice. It’s the sound of a 1/2-inch drive ratchet clicking in a cold garage. It’s the smell of PB Blaster and 50-year-old upholstery. And right now, the most exciting part of the Analog Modern movement isn’t happening on a sterile showroom floor—it’s happening in driveways and home shops, led by a new generation of technical masters who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.
Forget the lifestyle influencers who just pose with cars. We’re talking about the creators who understand the difference between a vacuum leak and a timing issue. Meet the New Guard.
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The American Iron: Julia Brooke (@JuliaBrooke)
If you think bodywork is just sanding and painting, you haven’t seen Julia tackle her 1970 Ford F100. This isn’t just a restoration; it’s a masterclass in American grit. Julia’s approach is refreshing—she learns in public, documents the failures, and celebrates the technical wins.
We’re talking about serious metalwork here. Watching her navigate the structural integrity of a 50-year-old chassis while dealing with the patina (read: structural rust) of old Detroit steel is a reminder of why we love analog machines. There are no computer diagnostics here; it’s just you, a welder, and the mechanical reality of a truck built when aerodynamics was a suggestion, not a requirement.
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The European Precision: Joy van Haelen (@joy.vanhaelen)
Switching gears to the European Youngtimer scene, Joy van Haelen is bringing a level of technical precision to the home garage that would make a factory technician sweat, while keeping it humble and asking for help from her friends when the task falls outside of her expertise. Joy’s fleet is a greatest hits of the 90s, featuring icons like the Volvo 850R and the legendary BMW E28.
But she’s not just driving them; she’s saving them from the brink of structural extinction. We’re talking about the high-stakes world of heavy metal fabrication and precision welding. Her E28, notoriously nicknamed the Flintstone Car, arrived with floor pans so rotted you could practically walk the car home. Joy’s ability to slice through decades of oxidation, fit custom-fabricated sills, and restore the chassis’s rigid soul is a masterclass in technical grit. It’s exactly what the Analog Modern era is about: having the technical mastery to ensure these mechanical legends don’t just look good, but stay structurally sound for the next forty years.
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The Rotwheels Rescuer: HHWheels (Caroline Richey)
Finally, we have the Rotwheels specialist. Caroline Richey (HHWheels) has a talent for finding the machines most people would leave for dead and bringing them back to life. Her projects, often featuring her father, James, as a technical mentor, are a testament to the save everything mindset.
Her VW Bug build isn’t just about nostalgia; it’s about understanding the simplicity and the quirks of air-cooled engineering. Caroline’s content highlights the unusual, the neglected, and the weird machines that define automotive history. It’s tactile, it’s messy, and it’s incredibly rewarding.
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The Payoff: Why This Matters
At 8ravens, we talk a lot about the Analog Modern soul. It’s the bridge between the tactile past and the technical future. These creators—Julia, Joy, and Caroline—aren’t just fixing cars; they are preserving the mechanical literacy of our culture.
They prove that you don’t need a million-dollar shop to master a machine. You just need a set of tools, a service manual, and the willingness to Get Wrenching.
The Legacy? These builds will still be on the road when today’s touchscreens have long since delaminated. That is the power of the Analog Modern era.