Let’s face it, we all eagerly await spring. But the time is especially sweet for local members of car enthusiast clubs.
About 30 members of the Windy City Miata Club took advantage of sunny skies on a recent day for a group drive along Lake Shore Drive, said Jeff Sporleder, club president and former Naperville resident. The largest Miata club in the country, the nonprofit has over 300 members and meets for monthly breakfasts that often follow a group drive.
“With the wind blowing in your hair and great music on the stereo, life is good,” Sporleder said.
Driving a Miata, he said, is like driving a go-cart. “It is an affordable car and very responsive.”
Started 25 years ago when the first Miata was released, Sporleder said the group is gearing up to celebrate the anniversary with a special event in June at Pheasant Run in St. Charles.
The car is the reason members join, he said, but the camaraderie and friendship is often the reason members keep their Miatas.
“We have members from every walk of life that would never have been brought together under other circumstances, but since owning the same car have formed a bond due to the club,” Sporleder said.
Other car models also have owners’ clubs. Two examples are the Windy City Goats organization, started 18 months ago by Naperville resident Ken Braun for Pontiac GTOs, and the Illinois Camaro Club.
A “goat,” according to Braun, who serves as group president, is a high performance mid-sized Pontiac GTO that was made from 1964 through 1974, and again from 2004 through 2006. He first became interested in the vehicle after hearing the song “Little GTO” at a college party in the 1960s and then plopped down $3,300 for a new red 1965 Pontiac GTO.
After actively participating in several GTO associations, he created the Windy City Goats with a simple mission to preserve the heritage, knowledge base, and greatness of the Pontiac GTO. The group meets monthly at Mullen’s Bar and Grill in Lisle and will be hosting its second car show in June.
When Naperville resident Roy Pikus joined the Illinois Camaro Club six years ago, he was pleasantly surprised to find that members did many other things besides wielding wrenches. Pikus, who owned his first Camaro in 1971, said the group does have some members who are “very hands-on mechanics,” but it is not the majority.
“Most members are in the club because they love cars, especially the Camaro,” he said. “We do many social things like cruise nights, car shows, and picnics.”
Pikus owns three restored Camaros and said, “when the weather gets nice, the cars come out of storage.”
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And although he occasionally enters his vehicles in car shows, he said, “God invented these vehicles to be driven.”
Janek is a freelance reporter.
Area car shows
Aurora
Aug. 23, 7th Annual LaSalle Street Auto Row Car Show
Bolingbrook
The Promenade Bolingbrook
June 13, Windy City Z Car Show
July 4, SuperCar Saturday
July 12, Porsche Car Show
Sept. 5, SuperCar Saturday
Downers Grove
June 28, Rotary GroveFest — Festival of Cars
Lisle
June 13, Windy City Goats, Summer Challenge Car Show.
Naperville
June 14, Naperville Iron Gate’s 2nd annual International Auto Show
Sept. 7, 6th annual Labor Day Car/Bike Show
Plainfield
Tuesdays through Aug. 25, Cruise Nights, downtown Plainfield