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Cars

Car club covers more than cars

Looking for a car club that's not too technical? One that emphasizes picnics, maybe? This one might be right for you.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published May 13, 2005

TAMPA - Mike Volpe has been a Mopar man ever since he was a kid. The first car he owned was a 1963 Plymouth, and his very first new car was a 1970 Duster.

He was drawn to car clubs too, and had belonged to one in New York when he lived there. He looked for a club to join when he moved to Tampa, but it had to be a specific kind of club.

He worked with cars for a living - he owns A Perfect Image Auto Body on Anderson Road - so he didn't want to get involved with one of those clubs that focuses on technical information about auto maintenance.

"I do that for a living," Volpe said, "so I don't want to do it on weekends too."

He didn't care that much about hard core car shows either. He likes to take his '71 Challenger convertible to an informal show every now and then, but he's not into the heavy competition thing anymore.

"I filled up my office years ago with trophies from my other cars," he said. "They're dust collectors."

The Westcoast Mopar Club turned out to be exactly what he was looking for: a group of people who all like cars, but get together more for camaraderie than anything else.

Since its founding in 1989, the Westcoast Mopar Club has grown to about 120 members. As in most clubs, a few dozen people are really active, attend all the meetings and take care of the club business. Some only show up for the club's annual show every April.

Others don't even come around that often.

"There are some members who, if they walked into my office right now, I wouldn't recognize them," said Volpe, who now serves as vice president. "And they've been members for 10 years."

In many ways it's a typical local car club. But for Volpe and other members, there are some qualities that make the Westcoast Mopar Club special.

The most obvious, of course, is that it revolves around Chrysler products, but isn't specific to one make or model. (Mopar, which was originally strictly the brand name of Chrysler parts, has become an informal name for all Chrysler cars, including Dodges and Plymouths.)

Most members have some pretty cool cars, and a lot of them are into the old Plymouth and Dodge hot rods. But some just have everyday cars that will never be in a show. They just have an affinity for Chrysler cars and for car clubs.

"It's pretty much a social club, and we'll take anyone with an interest in Mopars." Volpe said.

Another difference is that the Westcoast Mopar Club has its own clubhouse and enough land for a large car show.

For the past three years, the Westcoast Mopar Club has been the proprietor of a tract of county land on N Mobley Road, adjacent to Ed Radice Park.

The land had been home to a remote-control airplane club, but when the park opened next door, there was some concern that planes might crash into soccer players or spectators at the park.

The county found a new tract for the airplane people; the Westcoast Mopar Club took over the property on N Mobley Road and dubbed it Field of Wheels.

The club holds its monthly meetings in the clubhouse at Field of Wheels. But more importantly they have enough room for about 100 cars so they can stage their annual car show on the property. The most recent one, just a few weeks ago, hosted about 75 cars.

Besides being a cool event for club members and other car aficionados, the club's annual show is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Westcoast Mopar Club.

"We raise a few thousand dollars a year for All Children's Hospital," said Frank Borza, a charter member of the Westcoast Mopar Club. "They have their telethon every year and we give it to them then and try to get someone to match it so it becomes several thousand more."

Borza likes the shows and the altruistic nature of the club (which also raises money for the Faith Children's Home in Tampa), but like most members he's more into the picnics, the occasional road trips and the informal car talk.

"For us, it's a family thing," Borza said.

That's a bit of an understatement. Of the five or six original members who still belong to the Westcoast Mopar Club, three are Borzas. Frank Borza is the current treasurer; his wife, Joyce, is the secretary; and their son Frank Jr. is president.

The entire Borza family has owned and cherished Mopar muscle cars for years. Frank Sr. owns a 1967 Dodge Dart 383, and Frank Jr. has a 1969 Dodge Charger and a '69 SuperBee 440.

The members that Volpe doesn't know are probably most interested in the club's newsletter, and specifically with its ads from members looking for buy or sell cars or hard-to-find parts.

"The club dues are only $30 for the first year and $25 a year after that," Volpe said. "So it's not a major investment even if you're not that active."

Even though the Westcoast Mopar Club is fairly active, Field of Wheels still has a lot of shows there. But so far, to Volpe's surprise, they haven't taken him up on the offer.

"I say, "We've got this land,' and they say, "Oh yeah, that's great, we'll get back to you.' But then I never hear from them," Volpe said. "I don't really understand it."

For more information about the Westcoast Mopar Club or Field of Wheels, call (813) 264-4900 or go to westcoastmopar.org.

[Last modified May 12, 2005, 00:28:09]