RYAN AND KUMAR GO TO CARLISLE, PA
Ah, something new for me - drop me off on the opposite coast of the country and point me in a vague, general direction. Not necessarily my best-case scenario, but that's what I feel like on Thursday, July 6th as my flight
lands outside of Washington, DC on my way to meet Kumar, the June Carster of the Month winner, and present him with his check - one thousand dollars worth of check. One grand worth of prize Carster cash, and it's his all
his.
Now, if only I can tell which bag is mine on the overstuffed luggage carousel in the baggage claim area . . . but no fear - I have a plan! I'll just wait patiently until everyone else has gathered up their bags and the one
remaining item of luggage circling forlornly on the carousel will, of course, be mine.
Sometimes it's lonely being a genius, but I endure.
I battle my way to the exit doors of Dulles Airport and collect the keys to the rented Toyota Corolla. I tried to get a Dodge Charger, but they wouldn't rent a muscle-car speed mobile to a single male under the age of 25.
What? Look at this face -- do they think I'll careen recklessly through the narrow streets of Georgetown, politicos and interns scattering as waiters and patrons at the outdoor cafes brace themselves against the sonic boom of
my passing?
Now that you mention it . . .
But enough about me, this is supposed to be about Kumar, so I'm off to Harrisburg, PA and my luxe accommodations at the Best Western where groups such as the 300M Club and the DodgeIntrepid.net Club mingle about in the
back
parking lot of the packed hotel, meeting, greeting, glad-handing and, best of all, proudly introducing their dizzying collection of hopped-up, souped-up, jazzed-up Chryslers and Dodges, all in anticipation of the weekend's
All Chrysler Nationals convention to be held at the fairgrounds in Carlisle, about 20 miles away.
Friday's convention day is more a pre-show day, as the big events and judging aren't to be held until Saturday, so I rouse myself at the crack of 10 a.m. and head off to Carlisle, camera and promotional Caster t-shirts in
hand, my little Toyota Corolla purring contentedly the whole way. Or so I assume. I can't really hear much over the Kelly Clarkson, er, I mean, AC/DC disc I have blasting on the stereo. Is it just me, or would Jason Nevins
remix a kitchen sink if you paid him enough? But it's got a great beat and I can dance to it. I give it a 10!
I spend the majority of the day hanging with the members of the 300M and Intrepid clubs, with some quick runs through the hundreds of other Dodges and Chryslers on display throughout the rest of the fairgrounds. Tagging
along
with Kumar, who manages to glide through his day under a plethora of monikers, from Lumar, Kumar, Kumi and Kumiyer to just plain Kum, I also meet the loyal band of brothers who successfully supported Kumar in his shot at the
June Carster of the Month cash prize. Their affection for Kumar is clearly evident, and his own gregarious personality, along with his over-the-top Chrysler, is obviously the clincher for the deal. I hand out the Carster
t-shirts, snap some photos, chat with personable club members and event vendors, check out Carster members' cars and learn more about 300M's than I thought was humanly possible.
Upon returning to Harrisburg for the night, the car club members spend their time lovingly cleaning and detailing their automobiles for the next day's judging, while others race or swap stories over kegs of beer. I learn
that
Kumar is a very active member in the 300M Car Club, taking just as much interest in everyone else's car as he does his own. And while the age range varies, the common glue that holds the group together is their reverence for
the hugely popular Chrysler 300M, and I make a lot of new friends that night over food, drinks and conversation around the open bonnets of shiny clean automobiles.
But Saturday is the big day, and I arrive in Carlisle again at the crack of 10 a.m., which is actually only 7 a.m. in Santa Monica, so cut me some slack, okay? With an armload of t-shirts to give away and the signature
oversized Carster check in my hand for the photo op session with Kumar the Great, the 300M group greets my arrival to their tent with a spontaneous round of applause. Dear god, just how many beers did I drink last night? I
settle in for the day with Kumar and the gang. Sure, Kumar is just your average guy with a pizza oven and coffee maker built into his car, plus enough traffic and car violation tickets under his belt to fund continued road
construction throughout Virginia and Pennsylvania for the next year, but there's also a lot more to our June winner than his automobile - he works in an IT department for a company in Virginia, loves computers, approaches
everyone he meets with an open and infectiously upbeat attitude, and he prefers intricacy and detail over overt flash.
As Kumar points out all the modifications he's personally applied to his 300M, I'm struck with the enormous amount of work and effort he's put into his Chrysler. Since the 300M is not traditionally thought of as an
after-market car, there aren't a lot of after-market parts available for easily modifying the vehicle, which means that many of Kumar's modifications are his own design - the self-installed back-up reverse motion sensors and
camera, the perfectly placed subwoofers, the five monitors throughout the car, the custom clock in the trunk lid with its custom designed glass. Again, intricacy and detail rather than a set of flashy rims or vertical-wing
doors. In fact, the entire 300M club is in a league of its own, with their custom grilles, self-designed drop kits and tricky suicide doors - they've literally had to make all their own mods from scratch as there isn't anyone
else out there doing it for them. The more I learn about the effort the club members pour into their automobiles, the more props I have to give them for their obvious work ethic and creativity.
Throughout the rest of Saturday, I spend my time photographing the numerous cars at the show (many of the photos will be available online soon), meeting new people, telling everyone I meet about Carster and
enthusiastically
interacting with car fanatics of all ages and backgrounds. At the end of the day, the 300M Club allows me the opportunity to formally present Kumar with his Carster of the Month check, and then it's time for me to go -
clothes to pack, plane to catch!
Now that I'm back on the West Coast, I have to say that the hospitality the 300M Club extended was greatly appreciated, and I feel like I just made a lot of cool new friends even though I was only able to spend a day
or
two in their company. I had a blast meeting up with Kumar and the 300M crew, and if they're representative of the members that comprise the Carster.com community, then we've got a terrific group of people
indeed.
Congratulations Kumiyer, and thanks for the warm welcome, guys - you're what Carster is all about!
-rc1320 Carster Co-Founder |
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