It was a foggy trek from Brooklyn to Oak Ridge Park, New Jersey for the rain delayed 2026 start to the Grassroots show calendar. Roll in was under thick clouds but magically the sky cleared up and the rest of my time wandering the lawn was under blue skies.

I was trying to describe the show to my Uber driver and it’s a tricky to get to specifics. There’s JDM and euro tuner cars as a base with an assortment of supercars, modern classics, overlanders and track cars.

I like this show for the setting and the odd rarities found among the dozens of lowered BMWs, Nissans and Mazdas.

Two Polish-related cars stood out. The first, a dark blue modified Fiat 126 which the Italian marque licensed to build in Poland from 1973 – 2000. The second is a 1980s white Polski Fiat 125p sedan, also modified. I can’t ever remember seeing one of these in person before. From a distance it could be mistaken for a BMW 2002.

Speaking of which, one of my favorite picks from the show was a green 2002 from Philadelphia built as a restomod touring car racer. The combo front turbofan wheels and quad fog lights are nice design touches.

Photos and Text: Dave Pinter