Seattle has a new car club in town and its for everyone. The All Cars Northwest group is breaking down barriers between types of owners and doing so with safety in mind.
Created by Timmy Walsh and Tyler Lonergan, the All Cars Northwest meets are meant to be a gathering that mingles sub-cultures. A gathering of like-minded gearheads with different tastes.
“I’m really excited for this. I didn’t expect this big of a turnout considering the weather,” said Lonergan, a Kirkland resident. “We started this group maybe three months ago and it was small, just a couple of people.”
Last week, it started gaining traction and the founders decided to make it live last week. Since then, more than 350 people have joined the group.
“I shared it on a couple buy-sell-trade-meet spots and it went from 15 people to 30 to 40,” said Walsh. “It got word of mouth, and I’m honestly I’m blown away. I love it.”
All Cars Northwest has three tenants:
1: No shenanigans (burnouts, engine revving, reckless driving, or drinking/drugs and driving are all banned).
“I want us to be known as a clean group. I want people to understand that rules are rules,” Lonergan said. “We’re keeping peace as much as we can. We ask them to leave if they’re being disorderly.”
The two have spoken to the police prior to using the parking lot for meets and have been given permission from the local authorities. And, when things get out of hand, they’ve even alerted the authorities to dangerous activities.
“If they start getting lippy or do something we don’t like, we write down their plate numbers and call the cops,” Walsh said.
2: Respect all vehicles at the meets.
“I want it bigger, but I want everyone to gather in the center and just talk, share their wisdom and split off with people they’ve never met before to share their cars,” Walsh said.
3: When joining, introduce yourself and your garage!
“I walk around and I just start talking to random people I’ve never met before,” Walsh said. “Just figuring out what they’re doing and what they drive.”
That even goes for vehicles, regardless of size.
“Cars! Its nice to be out and around all the cars, because its been a while,” said Colton Cordon, Marysville resident whose foxbody Mustang is currently being fitted with a turbo.
At the meet, he was driving around a RC drift car that he often uses at the RC track at Evergreen Raceways.
Their new, public group is hosted on Facebook, where members can converse about all things automotive or prepare for the next monthly meet.
“They put me on the top five and I had to come,” said Jose Frayle, Everett Resident and owner of a 2007 Subaru WRX. “I’m pretty excited.”
(More below photograph.)
A few friends of Frayle’s mentioned the show to him and he decided to enter his car, not expecting top spot.
There really was something for everyone, from pre-war Ford trucks to built race cars. An approximate 150 people showed up even though it was cold and raining.
Monthly meetings are held at the closed grocery store parking lot near McMenamin’s Mill Creek, at 13314 Bothell Everett Highway, Mill Creek WA 98012.
Currently, there are plans to meet prior to the NW Charity Toy Run! on Sunday, Dec. 3, at Pacific Raceways. The ‘Pre-Meet’ will meet at the usual gathering spot (near the McMenamin’s Mill Creek) on Sunday at 7:30 a.m., prior to driving down to the NW Charity Toy Run! as a group.
“You get car people together and they could be talking about world peace and some perfectly mint ’63 Impala drives by and everyone just shuts up and stares at it,” Walsh said.” You can’t beat it.”
To learn more about the group, please visit them on Facebook at http://bit.ly/2fG0MDd.
