That first encounter triggered a deeper interest in the scene, but when Puikkonen went to research it online, there was almost no information. “Everything was word of mouth,” he says. “Quite early on I understood that this project could not be done quickly. The rhythm of it is slow, repetitive and seasonal.” Over the next four years he continued to visit his home country, approaching groups in parking lots, slowly building what would become his new book, “Cruise.”
He found that the scene is particularly active in northern Finland, where public transport is non-existent and the distances are vast. Young people gather in their modified vintage cars, often bought for as little as 300 euros, driving the same open roads until dawn. According to Puikkonen, some locals disapprove of the loud engines, loitering, the music blaring out of speakers, but on the whole it’s widely accepted as a rite of passage, and the atmosphere is tame. “The culture is very Finnish. Since people are quite reserved, this is an easy way of communicating, through cars,” he explains. “You can just sit and observe—you’re protected by your car. You can see this even through how they communicate, driving really close to each other and chatting through their windows.”