How Two People And A Canyon Road Changed California Car Culture Forever

J and Nicole Ryan may not yet be household names, but the marks they’ve made on car culture are indelible, especially in Southern California. The two created what has become an almost sacred pilgrimage among car people, up one of America’s greatest driving roads and into a parking lot filled with some of the earth’s truest enthusiasts. The pilgrimage is called “Good Vibes Breakfast Club,” and its story will move you.

Galpin Motors’ “My Porsche Story” — in conjunction with Porsche Santa Clarita — tells fascinating tales about people and their Porsches, and this one about J and Nicole Ryan and “Good Vibes Breakfast Club” is truly a masterpiece.

Here it is:

The clip begins with J talking about how he met Nicole, who was Chris Rock’s publicist while he was a production supervisor on Everybody Hates Chris. Nicole, J says, was often on the road representing big-name clients. “She would take no shit,” he says in the video above. The two married in 2013, though not long after, she began having vision issues and “she was clumsier than usual,” J says in the video. Nicole was then diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, MS. This changed everything.

“We realized we couldn’t do what we used to do, and we couldn’t live like we used to live before the diagnosis,” J says, referencing their previous life filled with travel and adventure. He and Nicole understood they had to do something new, so they figured they’d buy a Porsche 911. 911s weren’t that expensive at the time, and it seemed they were only becoming more popular. J describes in the video how he ended up with the particular yellow car you see above (a 2005 Porsche Carrera S), but the important point isn’t that particular car — which he and Nicole modded into a bit of a hotrod — but rather what they began doing with it. “We really felt like we were saying ‘fuck you, world. We’re doing our own thing! This is for us!'” J says.

Specifically, one Friday they took a drive up Angeles Crest Highway to a restaurant called Newcomb’s Ranch. It was fun, beautiful, and serene. “We found our escape,” J says about the 10-acre private property. “This worked and we should do it again. And we came up the very next Friday, and never stopped coming,” he said, mentioning that he and Nicole would post photos on Instagram.

This Friday pilgrimage up that amazing canyon road to Newcomb’s Ranch was already a well-known journey among car enthusiasts by late 2019 (when I myself did the drive), but it was really during the pandemic when J and Nicole’s Friday AM journeys morphed into something great. “It just blew up. It. Just. Blew. Up,” J emphasizes in the clip.

The video, shot prior to Nicole’s passing on August 1, 2024, includes an interview in which she — coiner of the name “Good Vibes Breakfast Club” — describes what made that trek so special to her. “Coming up here reminds me of when I was a little kid, when we went to see my grandparents, and all I saw was trees,” she says in the video. “It reminded me of that good, wholesome excitement of going to see family members.”

Speaking about the close-knit community that has been brought together by her and J’s weekly pilgrimage, she says: “That car has become our life. It’s serendipitous how it all works … That’s what [Good Vibes] is for. Give back to each other.”

I chatted with David Osorio, who was part of the production team that made this incredible video. He noted that in the episode you’ll notice Nicole talking about the community “protecting” Good Vibes. “That’s because this isn’t the type of car event that cheers for revving or over-driving your car. Good Vibes is as close to an enthusiast church as you’ll ever get,” he said.

In terms of what makes GVBC so unique, he told me part of it is the fact that so many people get weeded out. “You have to be able to have a free Friday morning. This opens it up to many entrepreneurs, high-level professionals, and artists. Secondly, you have to be able to drive. It’s not easy going up the mountain to Good Vibes so many of the ‘watch me stand by my car at cars and coffee guys’ are out.”

David, a longtime driving enthusiast and car nut, told me that the weekly event builds upon California canyon culture, something that has existed for decades. “So many true enthusiasts enjoy a drive through the canyons because it’s cheaper than a racetrack and convenient,” he said, “but don’t be an idiot, never cross the double yellow, and know you and your car’s limits. This is a golden unspoken rule for many true to the game.”

Ask anyone in the LA car world about Good Vibes Breakfast Club and Newcomb’s Ranch, and there’s a good chance they’ll know about it. There’s something pure about this thing that Nicole and J built. It’s not about showing off, it’s not about speed, it’s not about professional networking — it’s about sharing joy with people, and using cars as a vessel through which to do it.

If you’d like to see more My Porsche Story episodes, check out the one on Bruce Meyer and Matt Farah.