As if in awe they can’t help but kneel. Kneel before the high priests of the automotive world. Growling and banging they pass by, the Mercedes and BMWs, the Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Whereupon the boys bow, one or two knees up on the asphalt to take that perfect picture from a low camera angle. It is devilishly like worship.
It is the PC Hooftstraat around lunchtime, the time when the high mass of car spotting comes to a climax. While people are brawling on terraces while enjoying some bubbles, dozens of teenagers swarm in a state of excitement from Van Baerlestraat to Hobbemastraat and back. It is just over 374 meters of asphalt, that’s what they came for. Or better: for the cars that pass them over the PC as if in a parade.
Show off wheels
It is something of the last few years, say the entrepreneurs who watch it with sorrow. Not those cars of course, the PC has been a guarantee for showy show, on wheels and in high heels for decades. Because of old and especially new money. Nothing new per se.
But since this year, boys and boys who have lists with them have also joined. Put those check marks when there is something else to check. If they have a photo or a video of cars that radiate aggression in everything. They are car spotters. Plane spotters, but with cars. Nervous types, the eyes shoot from left to right, because you will just miss that Lambo. Not on camera means not seen.
Outdoor model Mercedes are favorite. BMWs and Audis are also doing quite well. Tesla’s not, say classmates Dennis Planting and Hugo Kroes, both 12, who traveled specially from Mijdrecht and Baambrugge this afternoon. “Electric cars are not interesting, of course they have to make noise.”
‘Cars in the Wild’
Planting and Kroes are not the only ones who come from afar. In fact, many come from even further away. They spend a day on PC to complete the collection as much as possible. Ronan Polmann and Stan Molenaar, 17 and 16 respectively, came from Nijmegen by train. They had already been to Laren, recently they visited the boulevard of Knokke-Heist for their hobby, also a former car spot. “A car show is fun, but you want to see them in the wild.”
The community is to a certain extent close-knit: the boys know each other from the forums where tips and tricks are exchanged. And from Insta and TikTok of course, where every shot car is presented almost fully automatically. The 11-year-old Kasper Zagorski from Alkmaar, his father is also walking around here somewhere, sprints from hot to here. “At the Albert Heijn is a Ferrari Roma,” he shouts collegiately. And away a handful of boys, afraid of missing out on such a grand prize.
Scooter alarms go off spontaneously
If it sounds harmless, it causes a lot of irritation among shopkeepers in the street. At the gift shop they are disappointed: “Many car owners like all that attention and give them extra throttle. It’s a huge noise.” At a clothing store, they don’t want the name mentioned so as not to offend potential customers, they speak of ‘idiotic’ driving behaviour. Every now and then a car roars past, making so much noise that scooter alarms go off spontaneously.
It must come to an end, says Patricia Linhard, who speaks on behalf of the joint entrepreneurs. “It goes from bad to worse. In the PC Hooftstraat, but also in the surrounding streets. They drive way too fast and make way too much noise. This is no longer possible. We are in consultation with the municipality and are investigating what we can do. Higher speed bumps are an option, but that doesn’t get rid of the noise.”
According to Linhard, a Rotterdam study that is currently taking place is being followed with particular interest. “Sound meters have been installed there. If someone causes too many decibels, a fine will automatically follow. If that turns out to work well there, we should introduce it here as well.”
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