By Sophia Gyuk
On Thursday, Nov. 21 the CU Car Club held their most recent meet, one of the final get-togethers this fall season. CU Car Club, while not affiliated with the university, is primarily ran and attended by students. Nov. 21’s meet saw Boulder community members and CU students alike join together to appreciate modified and meticulously maintained cars, trucks and motorcycles.
The club members and several newcomers met on the lower level of the Folsom Field parking garage where perfectly shiny sports cars were parked in rows. Standing among the club members, it was obvious how much care they poured into their craft. In the rows of project cars, engines growled quietly with their owners standing proudly by, eagerly waiting to talk about their custom mechanics.
Photo by Grace Kelbe
Caden Ellerington is a junior at CU majoring in business who has been involved in running and promoting the club since his freshman year. Ellerington aims to “create a fun environment” in CU Car Club, and cultivate an inclusive and safe space where car lovers can come together to focus on what they love best. Ellerington has had a lifetime of experience working with cars, joining his family in their workshop at just four years old. He took over leadership of the club during his freshman year at CU and immediately began organizing meets, cruises and other community-building events. As we walked among the rows of vehicles, Ellerington pointed out his blue chrome raised Jeep truck, with cleverly abbreviated license plate ELRNGTON, which he hopes people will recognize as he drives. Besides his Jeep, the Car Club promoter owns a 90s Tahoe and a 1 Series BMW.
To attract the crowds they do, CU Car Club’s Instagram is regularly active, sharing well-designed posters and graphics featuring club photographers’ recent shots. Evan Ward, a junior at CU in communications, runs the Instagram. Social media really determines the way the club is perceived by the Boulder community. Ward, through his posts and personal statements, hopes to show off the club for what it represents to him, “a calm and fun meet celebrating a diverse group and a good community.” At meets, Ward says club members and newcomers “get closer with everyone” and form “great connections.”
“I’m proud of the community we’ve built here, and especially for the increase in involvement over the last nine months,” Ward said.
Over the last few months, seemingly in parallel with the growing membership of the club, Boulder has seen an increase in street racing and dangerous driving on its roads, much of which done by this type of modified vehicle. Ward emphasized that members of CU Car Club are held to a standard of safety and decorum both on and off the roads.
“We keep things polite and respectful,” he said. “We are decidedly against racing and dangerous driving.”
Photo by Grace Kelbe
Alongside cars and trucks, the central focus of much of the club’s activity, motorcycles are beginning to gain momentum as the project vehicle of choice for some members. The Boulder Motorcycle Club has a partnership with CU Car Club, so motorcyclists make consistent appearances at the meets. Sam Shoemaker, a freshman at CU in computer science, showed me his 2001 Suzuki SV 650S. The motorcycle is a sleek Japanese-made bike with a jet kit built onto it.
“The jet kit makes the bike more powerful at fewer rotations per minute,” Shoemaker said.
After his grandfather got him into bikes at a young age, Shoemaker decided he wanted to continue the legacy.
“In my ideal world, I’d race motorcycles,” he said.
Biking can be unsafe because of the size of the vehicle and the speeds it reaches.
“Be safe out there,” Shoemaker said in reference to his fellow bikers. “It’s hard to see us.”
Photo by Grace Kelbe
Women make up another small yet rapidly expanding group at CU Car Club’s meets. Grace Kelbe, a longtime club member and photographer, talked about her experience as one of few women in the scene.
“Once in a while I’m uncomfortable because it’s such a heavily male-dominated scene,” Kelbe said. “But over the last few months, more and more girls have been coming to the meets.”
She was one of the first two women to join the club and has taken pride in making the club a comfortable and safe space for women as more join.
“Every girl here is super friendly,” Kelbe said. “There are no mean girls here. When I meet girls here, they accept me even though I don’t have a fancy car.”
Besides cultivating an inclusive environment at the meets, Kelbe takes photos. Her favorite angles to capture are three-quarters shots and close-ups of tires and hubcaps, she said. Taking pictures helps Kelbe sharpen her photography skills and learn more about the cars themselves.
“I learn as I go,” she said.
What seems to be a common theme among testimonies of CU Car Club members is their excitement at the culture of learning and gaining experience in the scene. As Kelbe puts it, the club is a “fun and accepting community” that has blossomed out of a shared passion and continues to be a place welcome to all.