Unlucky Ones Car Club’s 17th Annual Down & Dirty Car Show

In honor of their 17th Annual Down & Dirty Car Show, Utah’s own Unlucky Ones Car Club has invited us into their circle for some long-overdue coverage. The club’s president, Greg Carpenter, graciously hosted this fangirl’s dream interview set-up amidst some of the coolest guys rocking about in SLC.

SLUG: Thanks for having me, y’all. First off; when was this club kicked off?

Greg Carpenter: The original chapter, this crew, was started in January of 1997.

SLUG: We have a healthy crew present. Are you all the original members?

Carpenter: Not all of us, here. Our original members [that aren’t here today] are Byron Diamond and Rich Dohony, who founded the club with Curtis Nicol. We’ve got a lot of guys that have pioneered the way for all of us and we’re just trying to continue that on and make it bigger than it’s ever been. As it stands, we have multiple chapters, so we go as far north as Alberta, Canada. The second most prominent chapter’s here in Ogden.

SLUG: What does it take to get into the club? How can we become members?

Shaun Gerber: One of the most important requirements would be committing to a solid six months of helping out the club to show your commitment to the community.

Slade Hawks: That, and owning a car.

SLUG: What kind of cars are being admitted into the club these days?

Gerber: We’re currently accepting anything pre-1989. For a long time, the cut-off point was pre-1970 or ‘72.

Hawks: When I joined the club, the cut-off was pre-1968. Fast forward to today, and the ‘80s are now considered classics. So we’ve kept up with the changes.

Ramon Garcia: Us old guys have opinions on this, but we also realize that the world’s always changing, and although we don’t personally share an affinity for ‘80s cars, we care about the next generation, because once we’re gone, then what next, you know?

Sonny Carranza: That, and the fact that collecting isn’t what it used to be. Over 20 years ago, we were able to get a rusted, unpainted classic car for about $400–500. Now you’re looking at, you know, five to 10 grand, depending on the making. It’s not obtainable for the younger generation to find those. And so we’ve opened it up quite a bit.

SLUG: How do you guys engage with your audience and how do you keep your shows fresh?

Carranza: We try and do something new every year. Yeah, with the cards and the way we run the show and whatnot. This year, we changed how we’re going to give away the best of show trophy. We’re going to give away seven trophies that are going to be our finalists. We’re calling it “Lucky 7.” And then we’re going to get those owners/builders together and that’s who’s going to get the “Best of Show” trophy. For us,  it takes us out of the equation so nobody feels that there’s any sort of favoritism or or bias. Also, for the recipient of the “Best of Show,” they know that that award that came from their peers, not just from us, but that came from the rest of the of the car builders and owners. And once again, that brings together the community. It means a lot more.

Carpenter: We try to involve as many aspects as possible of this multifaceted platform. We usually try to involve a nonprofit organization we can stand behind. We work on making sure that we’re serving different areas of our community. I [also] run group homes for [people with] disabilities, so a lot of our guys are coming to the show and a lot of them can’t drive. But they like seeing the cars and taking their pictures so we try to keep that passion alive and attainable. We want to have as many cars as possible and as many people show up as we want this year. That helps springboard us for the following year, because if we do that, we can accomplish that goal. Regardless of the changing facets, we make sure we stay focused on our subculture in its entirety. It’s about the whole community and that’s what we do to involve everybody.

SLUG: What are looking forward to this year and what type of feedback are you looking for?

Carpenter: I’m looking forward to having more cars this year than we’ve ever had, and I think we’ve got a really good chance of doing that. So I think we have a good chance of making this the biggest show we’ve ever had. We’ve got food vendors. We’ve got vendors that are bringing their own stuff. We’ve got a nonprofit for animals coming in, and we’re hoping with the whole park, we can load the place. I’m hoping for at least 300 cars to load up the park.

Hawks: We’re all about those puppies! We’re looking forward to being involved with the Street Dawg Crew of Utah!

Adam McCarty: We’re looking forward to community participation in collecting donations for this organization, which feeds shelterless peoples’ pets and works towards helping keep their pets safe. They mainly take dog and cat food, collars and beds.

Carranza: We want people to have a good time and when they give us feedback, we welcome it! We love constructive criticism. It just makes the next show better, following a Kaizen approach throughout our process.

Carpenter: I want to hear what the families, as a whole, felt about the show. This is what helps us calibrate and helps us continually improve with every following show.

Having been Utah’s premier car club since ‘97 hasn’t changed their passion. If anything, it’s bolstered their interest in paying it forward within our community. Aside from catching their show on Saturday, August 24 from 11am–4pm at Magna Park, make sure to visit the Unlucky Ones Junction City Chapter’s car show on Saturday, August 31. Ramon Garcia’s band The Dark Seas will be playing at The Pearl on Main starting at 6 p.m. on August 30. Can’t catch the show but want to donate towards this year’s cause? Then visit the Street Dawg Crew of Utah to make a direct contribution! Lastly, I would like to thank the club’s “heart,” Joshua A. Thompson (a.k.a “Jash”), who kept us focused on #unluckyonescarclub, #downanddirty and #unluckyones, using his many kawaii facial expressions.

Read more recent interviews of community members here: 
Shredding Stereotypes: Salt Lake City’s Radical Adventure Riders
Cassidy Andersen: Not Afraid to Slam