The Autopian NC Meetup Was Fantastic Despite What They Want You To Think

When David put the word out last Friday that we were going to have another Autopian Meetup here in Chapel Hill, NC, I was careful not to get my hopes up too far. After all, a lot of organizations would have loved to see our little gathering fail, like the National Council of Churches, the American Dental Association, and, of course, our longtime enemies over at the Potato Research Advisory Committe (PARC). I’m happy to say that despite the considerable efforts on the parts of these organizations to quash our gathering and the relatively short notice, we still managed to get a fantastic turnout of some incredible cars and even more incredible people. Suck on that, Potato Research Advisory Committee.

We once again held our meetup in a thankfully unused-on-Sundays gravel lot across from Chapel Hill BLT-making legends Merritt’s, and who thankfully seemed pretty unconcerned with what was going on over there. The initial impetus for doing the event was because David was in town, and together he and I were feverishly and filthily working to get the hapless 375,000-mile, $800 NYC Taxi in some sort of drivable shape.

It was going, um, okay, and you’ll hear more about the taxi’s misadventures here very soon. For the moment I’ll just say that we got the thing pretty drivable the night before, only to almost have a wheel fall off and discover the alternator was about as capable of charging the battery as your average avocado would be. Still, we managed to limp it to the lot and only almost lost a wheel one more time, which is just, if my math serves, one more than zero times.

Anyway, when we arrived, before the meetup was even supposed to officially start, we were confronted with a pretty fantastic sight:

Look at that! That’s a TVR Chimaera! (crap! It’s a Cerbera! Thanks, Autopians) Holy crap. How often do you see those? And, in a fantastic orange so vivid you could actually get vitamin C just by looking at it, it fit very well, citrusly, with our yellow cab which is, I’d like to remind everyone, a pile of the steaming variety.

And the amazing cars just kept showing up! Here’s a little tour of many of them, and I realize what I’m writing here is not nearly as much as these cars deserve, I’d like to remind you I’m exhausted and we still have a crapload to do on this taxi.

For those of you in the “living human” community reading this, I suspect you’re all aware that one day death awaits, and when that day comes, wouldn’t you be thrilled to be ferried about in this stunning Volvo 960-based hearse? This thing was incredible, and the vast areas of glass are a stark reminder of how different European hearses are to American ones, which tend to hide the coffin behind black vinyl and landau bars.

Also, that’s my friend Andy’s Chevy C1500 truck back there; Andy is generously letting us wrench on the taxi in his shop.

That wasn’t the only funerary vehicle; my fellow Pao-owner pal Attila brought his JDM Nissan Funetarium van, too.

There were Kei vans an trucks in attendence as well, including a Mitsubishi Minicab Wide 55, complete with dump-bed, and a lovely Subaru Sambar Classic, with its charming retro face and some really incredible engine access:

Are there other cars where you access the engine by flipping down the bumper? I’m not sure I can think of any.

Chris from the Triangle Rad group brought this amazing Dodge Ram 50 (a secret Mitsubishi) complete with some 80s-tastic custom graphics. It’s criminal you can’t buy a modern truck with this size and proportions today. Or those kinds of graphics.

This DeLorean was pretty remarkable as well, having not just a special version of the PRV V6 engine with hotter cams, but also a speedometer that went beyond the federally-mandated 80 mph:

This would have made getting to 88 mph a lot easier for those who use these for time travel purposes.

There was a 300ZX with a matching red plastic CRT television on the hood, playing something that I regret the bright sunlight conspired to keep me from seeing.

A snaggle-toothed Miata showed up, along with a Honda Motocompacto that we’re told fits right in the trunk, evoking the original Honda Motocompo/City combo. Incredibly, the owner even drove that suitcase-sized scooter on the gravel.

In another citrusy combination, we have an absolutely mint first-gen Volkswagen New Beetle Turbo next to the Chimaera. Note the rare factory color-coded wheels, too.

My friend Kelli showed up in her lovely little Figaro, which has a nice fresh 75 hp engine, though it’s still in its break-in period, which I know is driving her nuts. She just wants to get over 3000 RPM!

Look at this incredibly preserved Ford LTD coupé! I think this one is a ’75 which puts it near the peak of American automotive baroqueism, with details like reverse lamp filigree and triple-cats:

…and, of course, opera windows:

This 1970 Porsche 911E was an absolute stunner, too:

So clean and white and perfect; just a beautiful reminder of why 911s still captivate so many after all this time.

This strikingly well-preserved first-gen Chrysler Minivan is an unlikely drag strip champ, thanks to factory turbocharging and some strategic owner-modifications.

This thing is genuinely quick, and, unlike most quick cars on the dragstrip, has cable-operated remote manual third-row vent windows.

Look at this third-gen Saturn SL; when was the last time you saw one of these in this great shape, or, really, even one at all?

This is the first Dodge Charger Daytona I’ve seen in the wild! It looks pretty great, especially that novel front end. And the gleefully ridiculous fake exhaust noise and vibration system works pretty well, I’m happy to say. It’s so absurd it’s fun.

Remember the Honda CR-Z? This guy does. These were under-appreciated cars.

Growing up, my family had one of those Sears X-Cargo top carriers, and seeing that speeding snail logo triggered all sorts of old visual memories.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these tiny and charming Toyota Vitz – how is the plural done here? Vitzes? Vitzen? – here in America, but I have to admit, they’re quite charming little city cars. The instrument cluster is especially bonkers, and I don’t think that can be captured in a photograph, though I tried:

Tried and failed, I’m afraid, What’s notable here is that the digital readouts in that pod look like they’re floating in space, like inside that ovoid pod is a portal into deep space, where the numerals for your current speed float, orbiting some unseen star, forever. I’m going to look into how the hell these things work.

Of course, that’s just the cars. It was so wonderful to actually meet fellow Autopians, see them out in reality, and feel their enthusiasm and joy about cars and car culture, and the sublime joys of standing out in a gravel parking lot, eating pizza out of the back of a Jeep, and somehow being interesting in a terribly mistreated old taxi and so many other far more worthy cars.

North Carolina may not be the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of rich and diverse car culture, but, dammit, boy is it here, alive and thriving.

It was a blast, and I can’t wait to do it again.