The internet is probably one of humanity’s greatest creations. In the present, anyone with access is able to find just about any scrap of information that they need. For car culture, the internet has been important. It is where the current generation of millennial enthusiasts grew up inspired by videos of cool cars and motorsports, and other online content. Now, all grown and with money to spend(sometimes), we host car meets with our friends and invite anyone to come out and join the fun using sites like Facebook and Instagram. This month’s featured owner, Alex, knows this modern car culture very well, as he’s been involved with it in one way or another ever since he could drive.
When Alex was very small, he was able to name cars everywhere he went. Later, in middle school and high school he watched rally, rallycross, and X-Games videos that featured drivers like Ken Block and Travis Pastrana. Despite all of this, Alex’s family was genuinely surprised when he bought a Toyota Celica GT and began hanging out with friends at car meets in high school. His uncles, who were much more into cars than his parents, were happy to learn this. Alex was having a lot of fun getting more involved with his local car culture in Austin, TX, but there were a couple of problems. Meets were getting shut down by the police regularly and even the meets that survived were mostly being attended by the same people. It wasn’t enough variety for Alex, so he was glad to be able to go to college somewhere with a much more vibrant car culture.
In 2015, Alex started attending the University of Texas at Dallas. He had replaced his Celica with a brand new Subaru WRX STI and was excited to be in a new town with a new car culture all its own to explore. He became involved with the car enthusiast club on campus, The Driver’s Club(TDC) at UT Dallas. He soon became president of the club after the founder, Fez, graduated. Alex spent a year as president, content with running the club’s monthly meets as a simple, quiet hangout for the club’s members. The meets weren’t widely promoted outside of campus, so things were simple. Only occasionally did the officers have to ask someone to stop revving. After he stepped down as president, Alex’s girlfriend, Sivan, became president of The Driver’s Club and started posting about the monthly meets all the time on social media. The meets grew and while the quiet hangouts were pretty much gone, something very exciting was happening for Alex and his friends at TDC.
Within the next year of Sivan taking the helm, TDC meets had grown substantially. The entire top floor of the parking structure where meets are held was filled to capacity regularly and entire car clubs showed up to hang out at the meets. Alex had also modified his Subaru quite a bit. New Avid.1 AV20 wheels, BC Racing coilovers, and a straight pipe exhaust were all added; just about anything that wouldn’t void the warranty on the car. Before this year’s Hot Import Nights(a travelling tuner car show) in Dallas, Alex was feeling that his car still kind of plain looking, even with a spoiler and huge rear diffuser. A representative from HIN had actually contacted them and offered them the opportunity to run their own booth at the show. Alex’s friend, who had added vinyl graphics to his Impreza wagon, offered to let him use some leftovers. They applied the graphics after the next TDC meet and Alex joined his friends from TDC at their Hot Import Nights booth, prouder of his car and TDC than ever before. Lately, Alex has been pondering a change to his daily driver, though.
Alex has already had his WRX STI for a few years now, so it’s not surprising that he currently has an idea in mind for a replacement. During our interview, Alex expressed an interest in motorcycles, and said he had plans to buy one as a daily. The Honda Nighthawk CB700SC that he has in mind wouldn’t completely replace his Subaru, which would still be taken to shows and on the occasional highway cruise. He just wants an enjoyable daily driver(or daily rider in this case) that won’t cost as much to run as his Subaru or bother his neighbors with a loud exhaust like the Subaru does. While we talked, Alex mentioned missing his old Celica and how he’d like to get a Celica GT-Four someday. He enjoys the thought of blowing the doors off of any Mustang or Camaro who think he has one of the slower, more common Celica models. Whatever Alex’s automotive future holds, a couple things are certain. He’ll definitely be going to car meets and keeping in touch with all the great friends he’s made along the way.
Four-Wheeled Friends 