Car culture is a worldwide phenomenon in which various collectives share their enjoyment of a variety of different cars and car types. There are different subcultures that surround car culture that interact as well as exist independently of one another, but they are all tied together by a common enthusiasm for one common subject, cars.
Early in the school year, Bonita Vista High (BVH) Car Culture Club co-president and senior Haydn Lopez sought to embrace BVH’s underground car culture by restarting the forgotten club. One of his biggest reasons for doing so was because of his sheer infatuation with car culture in general.
“[Car culture is interesting to me because] there is so much history and variety in everything about it. I really love the different kinds of cars and how they all interact and coexist,” Lopez said.
BVH Car Culture Club treasure and junior Gael Jimenez also played a role in bringing the club back to BVH. He recalls the reason why he and his peers knew that they needed to bring the club back to life.
“Car culture club started because a few friends and I wanted to be a part of something. [We made] a club to see if we can impact some people in this school. At one point we were looking through clubs in old yearbooks, and when we saw Car Culture Club we knew that we needed to revive it,” Jimenez said.
It is no secret that many students at BVH have a shared interest in cars and car culture as a whole. By getting the Car Culture Club restarted, Lopez and Jimenez have been able to cultivate a community of said students.
“[Because of Car Culture Club] I have a space where I can talk to someone else about our shared passion [for cars]. I feel like I can freely express a part of myself that some people might see as nerdy or off putting,” Lopez said.
A big part of the reason why Lopez finds cars interesting is because of his cultural and geographical background. He goes on to state how his Mexican heritage and experiences with growing up in National City contributes to his ever growing love for cars.
“Being Mexican and living in National City has given me a lot of good experiences and time to grow up around car culture. Cars were always around a lot and my friends and I would go on bike rides to see them cruising down the street and see all the lowriders everywhere,” Lopez said.
Another aspect of car culture that people find compelling is the vast spectrum of different styles of cars. Jimenez finds a lot of interest in said spectrum, taking a lot of time to analyze the ways that people show their identity through each style.
“I like all genres [of cars] like cruising, drift, rally, drag, I like everything. I just find cars really interesting. I like working with them and figuring out what I need to do to modify a car, and I find it really interesting in how people express themselves in their builds,” Jimenez said.
Although both Lopez and Jimenez have their fair share of experience in working with cars, they make it abundantly clear that doing so is not a requirement to join the Car Culture Club. In a way, the club has greater emphasis on the “culture” aspect than just the “car” aspect.
“The community is not the biggest but we still try our best to be as welcoming as we can. This is a club with no real requirements, we don’t judge, we don’t really care if you have a car or not, we just want to further people’s interests in the matter,” Jimenez said. “Whatever anyone likes, fast cars, drift cars, show cars and stuff like that, it’s always going to be welcomed here because we all share that interest.”
BVH Auto Shop teacher and Car Culture Club advisor Jose Leyva ensures that the club remains friendly by inviting and instilling a sense of mutual respect within his students. He mainly does this by having valuable conversations with his students so that he can really see eye to eye with them.
“For myself personally, I try to give the same respect to my students that I would hope for them to give back to me. And then we kind of do the same with the community when it comes to the Car Culture Club as a whole. We all try to be respectful of everybody and their builds that they present to us, just to make it as inclusive as possible. Because again, [Car Culture Club] is just about expressing ourselves however we choose to. So we want to make sure that we’re including everyone and respecting everyone’s style choices,” Leyva said.
Leyva’s respectful leadership skills are greatly appreciated by the members of Car Culture Club. Jimenez is especially thankful for Leyva’s willingness to help the club in any way that he can.
“I just feel super comfortable with [Leyva], he’s very on point. Whenever we tell him about anything club related, take food fair for example, he’s always ready to help us out in any way that he can,” Jimenez said. “He’s a very responsible and organized person.”
Lopez, Jimenez and Leyva’s roles in keeping car culture alive for the future also plays into the multigenerational pattern that car culture continues to set forth. For example, Jimenez’s father is a mechanic, and the knowledge and interests from that profession were passed onto Jimenez, just as Jimenez intends on passing his knowledge and interests onto the members of Car Culture Club. Lopez explains how he went through a similar cycle, but instead with his uncle.
“I really began getting into cars because when I was younger I would spend a lot of time with my uncle. I remember him having this 97’ Corvette and looking at it and thinking ‘why doesn’t this look like my family’s Lexus?’ It’s just fun to think about how his passion for cars really passed onto me and where I am today,” Lopez said.
With the success of Car Culture Club this year, it’s only expected that the club continues to grow and be successful with the future generations of Barons to come. Lopez goes on to mention how he hopes that the club progresses along with car culture as a whole.
“This is a club for people that want to learn and control their interests and determine their own desires to get into cars, and I think that it’s a really cool opportunity for everyone in this school. I hope that this club doesn’t just die out and that as long as there’s a consistent car culture at BVH, there’s also going to be this club to pair with that culture,” Lopez said.
