Car clubs aren’t just for high-end cars, or muscle cars like Mustangs or vintage cars.
The reliable Subaru has its own club where members take pride in their vehicles, get together for car meets or long rides and help each other out with breakdowns and maintenance, explained Richmond resident Elwin Wong, who’s president of the Vancouver Subaru Club (VSC).
A pink and white sticker on a Subaru identifies a club member, be it an Impreza, Legacy, WRX or STI owner.
“(The club) … is hopefully a warm, welcoming place where people can get together, chat and give a helping hand to each other,” said Wong.
“Whether someone breaks down and a member goes and helps them out wherever they are, or even car maintenance, hopefully as a community, all that is naturally incorporated into what the club means to drivers.”
VSC, formerly known as the Impreza Club (or I-Club), started in 1998 as a forum for drivers to make friends with similar interests.
Wong, who joined as a member in 2004, said the club started a pre-summer barbecue tradition in 2006 where club members would get behind the wheel, cruise together along the highways and enjoy a day or weekend outdoors at a local or provincial park.
However, that was short-lived when permits were required for provincial parks in 2010.
Car nerds standing, talking and looking at cars for two or three hours is not the only thing that goes on in a local car club, he added.
From Friday car meets in Burnaby, to winter weekend car trips to Merritt and a huge annual summer car meet to fundraise money for Ronald McDonald House, Wong said he can’t explain the pride he has in the club for how it has grown.
“The club is now more diverse and not just performance-oriented or racer-performance group. It’s about learning from each other and appreciating the cars.”
Growing up, Wong said he has always been a car enthusiast and remembered “driving” next to his dad with his stick-on plastic wheel while in the car. He added it’s one of the fond memories that got him into cars.
While car meets are largely fun and relaxing for car enthusiasts to gather and catch up, Wong said there is always the stigma of car groups being “loud and disruptive.”
“There’s always good and bad in every group and you can’t police it all,” said Wong. “But, unfortunately, there are people who do burnouts and disrupt the public space while at a car meet, which can ruin the hobby for the general car community.”
“It’s also about safety as well and I know the action of (some) individuals shouldn’t reflect the whole community, but it’s unfortunate society itself sees it as that.”
