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Valve & Piston: The enthusiast behind the IG-favorite car page

Interview by Shayan Bokaie, Photography by Ryan Neeven

Over the last five years, Instagram has become the center of the car universe, with almost every subculture in orbit. From short form content to deep enthusiast debates, the visual focus of the platform has brought the community together and created pen pals across continents. It’s also become a positive tool in gaining the interest and engaging those who may not be totally familiar with cars or the hobby.

One of the largest players in the landscape is Valve & Piston, a page that’s skyrocketed to over 300,000 followers by building a community around daily content that enthusiasts insatiably crave. The one man band behind the account is Hootan “Hootie” Rashidifard, who doubles as a venture capitalist for his day job. He’s managed to build a connection with a wide audience globally while also building his own tidy collection of cars. 

We spoke with Hootie to learn more about the importance and role of social media in growing the car community and to take a peek in his garage.

Photographed by Ryan Neeven

Shayan Bokaie: Valve & Piston has evolved into a pillar in the automotive community at the moment. How would you define it?

Hootie Rashidifard: I originally started Valve & Piston as a way to catalog things that I liked about cars. It was actually born out of an Instagram thread that I had with my friend. We would message pictures back and forth that inspired us, and eventually we sent so many pictures that it was difficult to find what you wanted when you were looking for that piece of inspiration. And so I told him “Hey, maybe I should just start an account and post these things.”

Over the last five years, it has evolved into a way of evangelizing automotive art. A lot of these cars—whether it's an F40 or an E28 M5—are not attainable for most people. The goal of Valve & Piston is to post these photos so that people can appreciate the cars, take inspiration from certain components, and maybe translate that into a more accessible automotive collection.

Shayan: Instagram as a platform has expanded the reach of the hobby and brought the community closer together. What are your thoughts on building a car enthusiast community on social media?

Hootie: For me, there are a couple of formats that work well for automotive art and cars, mainly video and photo. On Instagram, I often know people by the car, I don't even know them by their name or their username. And I don't think that extends to other platforms.

One element of my page is working on my own cars and displaying the mentality that if I can do it, you can do it. And I make mistakes, and my cars break down, and I break tools, and all these other things that people are afraid of. I think Instagram can make classic car ownership seem accessible and charming.

Valve & PistonValve & Piston

Photographed by Ryan Neeven

I also infuse my personality as an enthusiast into the profile. I post this ‘Weekly Meditation’ which I think is wildly ironic where you’re typically supposed to meditate to calm music, but instead you're hearing a turbo Formula One engine and you're like, “this is not meditative at all, in theory.” And that's the point—to bring humor to people's day, but to wrap it in this appreciation for automotive design and engineering.

Shayan: Your current garage includes a BMW 2002 Tii Touring, Land Rover LR3 ‘Valve & Piston Recovery Vehicle’, and a 993 Porsche. Can you walk us through your lineup?

Hootie: I'll start from oldest to youngest. The first is the 1973 BMW 2002 Tii Touring. It's a total Frankenstein BMW car that was built by the president of the BMW 2002 Touring Club in Germany, Andreas Einzig. It's basically a race car, and it's totally gutted on the inside. It has a roll cage, BBS RSs, and a five lug swap. It has a bunch of fiberglass body parts and an E30 M3 engine in it with a dogleg transmission. It's got X5 front discs with E28 M5 calipers. It has 7-Series rear discs with E34 calipers. It came with a binder that has all of the modifications that were done to it, and it’s all in German. When I have to fix something, I'm typically using Google translate to try to see what the actual part is or taking the part number and Googling it.

Photographed by Ryan Neeven

The soul and the character of the car was built in period by someone who actually raced it. That character translates from the engine that was used, to the seats, to the cage, to the BMW M1 steering wheel. Sure, you could put a modern MOMO Mod 7 wheel on there. Would it be better? Maybe, but it doesn't have the same period character as this car does. So I really see it as a piece of history that I don't want to alter.

Shayan: Respecting the intention of the car is valuable, even if the intention wasn’t set by you.

Hootie: The next car is a 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera 2. I purchased the car from a friend who had done a few modifications, but then I added some of my own. Mostly suspension bits, RS bushings and mounts, short shift kit. Other than that, the engine is stock. I've debated modifying that engine, but Porsche really designed and engineered it to an optimal state.

Image courtesy of Valve & Piston

Then I have a 2006 Land Rover LR3 that I bought last year that came pretty modified. It has a lift on it, bigger tires, rock sliders, a roof rack, and a tire carrier on the back. And the big thing is it has a front air locker and air compressor, and a stock rear locker. I added large front auxiliary lights as well as a bunch of roof accessories. I get bored with black cars, so I wanted to make this one a little bit more interesting, and that led me down a very deep rabbit hole. I started looking at European emergency vehicles for inspiration. I ended up adding a recovery vehicle livery based on that, and I made it in my own way.

Photographed by Ryan Neeven

Shayan: How would your define your collecting philosophy?

Hootie: To me, it’s all about the soul of a car. My view is that the soul comes from imperfections, and that's what makes cars more human. That’s what gives me a personal and emotional connection to a car. It might be that the AC doesn't really work. It might be that the suspension is hard, or the exhaust is too loud, or that sometimes the car won't start. That it might leave you stranded. Those imperfections are typically outweighed by the car excelling in another regard. It could be looks, it could be the feel of the road when you drive it. And that's why I gravitate towards race cars when I'm looking for new vehicles. I'm trying to take elements of that race car and make it roadworthy.

Valve & PistonValve & Piston

Photographed by Ryan Neeven

I once bought a fully gutted ‘79 911 SC hot rod—shell, pedals, steering wheel, shifter, that's it. And I took that car and I made it into something that could be driven daily, but I made sure to retain a lot of its soul. When I drove it, I felt like the car and I were battling through something together, and that built a closer bond. You have to play to the benefits of the car to really extract the maximum value, in spite of the car’s downsides.

Shayan: Preach. It might be highly illogical for traditional consumers, but it’s absolutely knots on for enthusiasts. All of your vehicles are very different from each other. What would you say is the biggest lesson you learned in owning these three unique cars?

Hootie: One thing I've learned is that it's not always about you. And I think when I was first buying cars, I was trying to make it all about me. I wanted the full experience, and I didn't care for my passengers or what I had to do to be able to share that experience with others. At one point my now wife and I decided to drive from San Francisco to Yosemite, and at the time the only car I had was the 2002, the race car. I thought the drive was a lot of fun, but turns out she actually had a horrible time. I realized that on the drive back from Yosemite, when we were sitting in two hours of traffic in 85 degree weather, and there's no AC, and your legs are getting burned on the transmission tunnel.

Photographed by Ryan Neeven

As I’ve progressed in my car journey I’ve recognized that it's not all about me and my personal philosophy. The 993 was a significant step up from what I traditionally would buy. It has an interior, radio, and somewhat working AC. And then the Land Rover is by all means enjoyable for passengers.

Shayan: Expanding ownership beyond just serving your own experience.

Hootie: Exactly, and I think that's in some way an extension of Valve & Piston. The goal of Valve & Piston is to allow people to appreciate cars. You want to take people on a ride. You want to share that experience. And you want to make the experience enjoyable.

More about Valve & Piston

You can join the action on his Instagram (@valveandpiston) and check out his website for merch and phone wallpapers.

Meet our contributors

Photographer Ryan Neeven captures cars, travel, and architecture around the world most notably captured on his project, Doors of Italy.


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