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"Car culture will always have that element of guys, just throwing their checkbook at it and posturing. You gotta snuff that out," says John Roman. "That's not it. That's not making anybody better, that's not helping anybody grow, that's short-sighted ego s**t."

Step inside the mind of a master Z-Car tuner in the first episode of CARISMA. John Roman (@thegroundlevel) never expected to end up here. But buying and building his 1976 Datsun 280Z sent him spinning into the world of Japanese street tuning, and over a decade later, he's never looked back.

Now with his own shop in NYC and a career as a sought-after Z expert, Roman sees it as his duty to honor what came before him by preserving as much knowledge about these cars as he can for the next generation.

"Enter this community and this culture with an understanding of your position in it, and if you're gonna contribute, you gotta have some education in that. It's just a matter of respect. Somebody built this car before I rebuilt it. You know, that matters."

"I'm here to build, restore, and preserve old-school Japanese street tunes. I know I love it. It excites me every day. I know there's so much more I want out of it that I'm still chasing. I'm really excited to just get better and better at this through a lifetime of effort."

Produced, shot, and edited by Tom Gorelik.

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