To suggest Western Sydney indie artist grentperez ('Cherry Wine') has had a quiet year would be one of the biggest understatements of 2022.
The soulful crooner who deals in '60-'70s flavoured pop-R&B-jazz dripping in European tones from yesteryear has built a massive following online.His Spotify Wrapped 2022 stats alone highlight his incredible reach with 127M streams and 11M listeners; he's accred 4M likes on his TikTok account and another 500k subscribers to his YouTube channel.
With a string of singles dropped throughout the year, he shared his 'Trail' mixtape at the end of September, featuring highlight tracks 'Wishful Thinking' and 'Ego'.
Fresh from releasing a Christmas song earlier this week (tis the season of course), here grentperez appeals to his inner revhead sharing his five favourite cars... vroom, vroom!
1: Mitsubishi Evo 8 MR + Evo 9 Wagon
The Evo 8 has always been a favoured model in my eyes; since I was a kid I had always been a fan of its timeless, aggressive design with such harsh angles on the front bumper like a fighter jet, it honestly looks so cool.Not to mention the AWD and lightweight paired with the very, very capable 4G63 engine, making it an incredibly nimble vehicle for a fun, daily ride or the winning car in many rally, hill-climb, time attack track events. The wagon is just the evo, but cooler.
2: AE86 Levin Hatch/Coupe
This car does have a reputation of being overhyped due to the popularity it gained from the anime 'Initial D', but it's just so iconic and cool.At stock it's rather sluggish, but with a few slight mods the car is a weapon due to its lightweight turning it into an agile, rear-wheel drive fairy. I specifically love the Levin for its front end, casting a much more aggressive silhouette than the Trueno.
3: Porsche Carrera GT
Honestly, this car is just awesome to put it plainly. The design by Porsche has not failed with this car; the almost Le Mans-style cabin leading into those insane, honeycomb engine windows matched with the long-wheel base makes for an incredible look in my opinion.Along with this, the power output of 450KW was absolutely nutty for its time. It is unfortunate that the car is very dangerous to drive though. I'd also say the Porsche 959, but the Carrera is another childhood fave.
4: Lamborghini Gallardo (2005 model)
The Gallardo is one of my childhood favourites. I had always dreamed of owning one. The styling of 2000s Lamborghini were so perfect, and the boxiness of this Gallardo is very pretty. This, along with the Murcielago of the time, would be a perfect one-two.
5: S13 180SX
One of many Japanese icons, the 180SX has had such an influential mark in the car scene; used for drifting, autocross, circuit, this car along with the other S-chassis prove to be very pretty and capable cars.The SR engine sounds so nice as well, I would love to eventually get my hands on an N/A (Naturally Aspirated) SR engine one day.
grentperez joins Flight Facilities, Lime Cordiale, Cut Copy, Rico Nasty, San Cisco and others at NYE In The Park at Victoria Park (Sydney) 31 December. grentperez also plays Wine Machine at Dalwood Estate (Hunter Valley) 18 March.
