The Occidental Car Club hosted its first car show on the Academic Quad April 5. The event featured 12 cars, shown by automotive enthusiasts from throughout California, as well as music, screen printing and a performance by Azúcar, Occidental’s Latin dance team.
Jose Bustamante (sophomore), president of the Occidental Car Club, said the club’s e-board has been planning the event since February. The goal of the event, according to Bustamante, was to connect students, faculty and staff with a similar interest.
“I think we want people to know, ‘Hey, we’re here,'” Bustamante said. “We’re a space where people can come and share their interest in culture and cars, whether you are staff, faculty or just anyone from campus.”
Bustamante took over the club as president when previous e-board members graduated. According to Bustamante, the Occidental Car Club started as a place where students could exchange tools and connect others to trusted mechanics in the area.
“I knew what the club was capable of, especially with the car culture here in LA,” Bustamante said. “I feel like a lot of people share love for cars, even though it’s not really put on display at times.”
According to the Occidental Car Club’s Instagram, the event was a cooperation of several organizations on campus, including the education department, OXY ARTS, ASOC Sustainability Fund, KOXY and the Intercultural Community Center (ICC).
“A lot of our members are [from] everywhere, so we always try [to] get our own identities outside of the car club involved,” Bustamante said.
According to Bustamante, the e-board ran into logistical complications as they planned to have cars on the Academic Quad for the first time.
“There’s a lot of waivers, a lot of paperwork,” Bustamante said. “Thankfully, SLICE, Victor Chico and Ginny Salazar, both administrators and faculty here at Oxy, have been able to help us out.”
Victor Chico, the Postal Operations Manager at Occidental College, featured his 1971 Datsun 510 Rotary at the car show.
“He’s the car guy on campus,” Bustamante said.
According to Chico, he first got involved in cars through racing, and his specialty is rotary engines. Chico said his car has appeared in numerous car shows over the last 30 years and was even featured on the cover of SEMA magazine. In recent years, Chico said he attended car shows supporting charitable causes with his team, Team Ultraspeed.
“[Any show] that has to do with autism, breast cancer, I like going to those ones,” Chico said. “I want to give back. So those are always fun to me, and it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter to me if you win or lose, you know, it’s more [about] getting together and talking to people.”
Chico said when he first heard about the Occidental Car Club, he was excited to participate and continue sharing his interest in cars with students.
“I’ve taken a lot of the Oxy students to some of the big car shows,” Chico said. “And a lot of the international students I’ve taken because they don’t really have that kind of culture.”
Despite his many achievements with his cars at previous shows, Chico said at the Occidental Car Show, he did not compete for a prize.
“I just want to be there to support,” Chico said.
Many of the featured cars were brought by other members of Team Ultraspeed. One participant drove from San Diego to bring his car, Chico said. Bustamante and Arjun Singh (sophomore) also brought their cars to the Academic Quad.
“We’re trying to highlight local [car] clubs in the area, not exactly Oxy students, but in the broader community.” Singh said.
To those who are interested in getting involved with car culture, Bustamante said to talk to people showing their cars and ask questions.
“A lot of these guys love talking about their cars; ultimately it’s like an extension of themselves, something that they take and work on back at home away from Oxy,” Bustamante said. “They want to share this with you. I think the more you talk [about] it and become a part of the culture, the more you’ll find out about the events [and] the more interested you’ll be in [it].”
Contact Graham Jewett at gjewett@oxy.edu
