The Petersen Museum Organizes a Car Meet for the Premiere of Ken Block’s Climbkhana
A truly special car meet, featuring American drift king Ken Block and a few of his tail-happy toys.
Ken Block's newest drifting short film (calling them Youtube videos seems inappropriate) about tackling Pikes Peak in the Hoonicorn V2 premiered Monday, but the lead-up to the debut was almost as exciting as Climbkhana itself. In celebration of the film's launch, the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles teamed up with Toyo Tires and Turn 10 Studios to throw a huge rooftop car meet on Sept. 24.
As a car meet veteran, I rolled up to the museum parking lot right at 4 p.m., unfashionably on-time as usual, expecting a Cars and Coffee-esque madhouse and no parking. After acquiring a tail of other lost sports cars and eventually reaching the roof of the parking structure, I was greeted with an impressive display of modified vehicles. I self-consciously muscled my filthy Datsun 240Z into a shady parking space near the back to hide the dirt and went to work drooling over the sea of lowered euros and Fast & Furious-inspired USDM queens.
Aside from the usual Subaru squad and stanced BMWs, the meet featured two immaculate Datsun 510s, a brand-new Civic Type R, racing-spec Shelby Cobra, and even a right-hand-drive Isuzu 117 Coupe.
The real stars of the show were from Mr. Block's collection of course, featured in the Hoonigan Car Pack expansion for Forza Horizon 3 and upcoming Forza Motorsport 7. The twin-turbocharged, 1,400-horsepower Hoonicorn V2 took center stage, with Colorado dirt still visible on the rear diffuser. Flanking the 'Stang was Block's personal 1978 Ford Escort RS1800 and Hoonigan-tuned Porsche 911 courtesy of RWB. Kenny from the Block himself appeared for autographs and pictures, with Microsoft personnel in tow bearing high-tech racing simulators and Forza 7 demos for show-goers to try.
This is the Hoonicorn's last look at sunlight for a while, as the car will be put on display in the museum next to Block's Ford Fiesta.
I had the opportunity to speak with Block for the 10 seconds it took to sign his autograph, so I asked him if his hand was sore yet, to which he replied "Nah man, this is the easy part of my job."
