I never left the Subaru scene, but scouring the internet for all the newest and coolest parts and swapping turbochargers and suspension pieces had been placed way on the back burner for raising kids, building a house, and commuting back and forth to school and sporting events throughout the years. But somewhere along the line, my now 14 year old son became a car nut. Credit Gran Turismo, credit the endless car shows on tv nowadays, credit youtube, credit whoever, but he loves his performance cars, particularly Subarus. While we have been to a few local car shows, he hasn't seen many of the jaw dropping "internet" cars up close and personal. This year, Boxerfest, one of the country's largest all-Subaru gatherings, was moved to Sunday, May 1st, which was perfect since I work most Saturdays. A quick check on Google Maps showed less than a three hour trip from central PA so we were set! My wife and I packed up our 10 and 14 year old boys, grabbed some snacks and off we went to Boxerfest 2016!
The weather report looked pretty lousy all week for FedEx Field in Landover, MD, site of the event. But, no matter. We all had rain gear and umbrellas and it was on a paved parking lot so no worries of walking through mud all day. The entire way down, it rained, but our boys had fun watching for "modded" Subarus coming up behind us and watching and listening to them drive by, as there were plenty enthusiasts taking the same path to Boxerfest from PA as we were:
"Wow, did you see that one?!"
"Here comes another one! Put your window down so we could hear it!",
"Go faster, Dad, so we can follow him!"
Ummm no, we're good.
Upon arriving at FedEx Field, we saw a group of 30 or 40 Subarus sitting to the right of the entrance road. My kids were amazed at all of the Subarus in one place, but I thought, "Surely, there is more to Boxerfest than this". We turned around and canvased the area and that is when we saw the "main" parking and show area. Speechless is the only word that comes to mind. As we drove into the parking lot, our heads couldn't turn fast enough and our eyes couldn't focus quick enough on the hundreds and hundreds of Subarus lined from one side of the lot to the next. Everywhere you looked, one more modified than the last. Bugeyes, Hawkeyes, Legacies, Bajas, Crosstreks, GCs, GRs, narrow bodies, Hyper Blues, Launch Editions, you name it. If you were a Subaru enthusiast and you were within driving distance, you NEEDED to be at Boxerfest.
While my wife and kids were excited to get to the show and vendor areas, honestly, I could have walked up and down the lanes of the parking lot for hours just seeing all of the different variations of Subarus that were in attendance. Boxerfest put together a great "goody bag" with tons of stickers, calendars, coupons, pens, keychains, and all sorts of trinkets. Subaru of America was there with the STi Concept BRZ and plenty of freebies they were handing out as well, including a super cool Boxerfest Badge of Ownership icon for attendees as well. They also had a Subaru Rally Team walk-through trailer with lots of pictures and free posters and such and a "Super Production" class STi rally car that my boys got to sit in which was a highlight for both!
The big names in the Subaru aftermarket were on display as well with companies such as Cobb Tuning, IAG, Grimmspeed, and KillerB Motorsports to name a few and the car show and autocross gave the audience hours of viewing pleasure. There were some fully built cars there that were jaw-dropping. The amount of detail in every aspect of the car and the time and money that the owners put into them would have been absolutely unthinkable 17 years ago when a 20mm rear sway bar was THE upgrade to have. The Subaru scene has grown exponentially over that time, in ways most of us who were involved in the 1990s would have never dreamed of.
But, despite it's growth, the core of the Subaru enthusiast remains the same. As neat as it is to see the fully built "Gran Turismo" cars, the vast majority of the hundreds of Subarus there were simply the daily drivers of the owners who remain passionate about his or her Subaru, where upgrading a rear sway bar or installing a new set of springs over the weekend with some buddies still makes for some of the best times a car guy can have. It's what makes us Subaru enthusiasts. The desire to make the car we love a little better in our own unique ways. Yet I'm sure the question still gets asked from time to time, "Why would you do that to a Subaru?" Simply put, it's a "Subie thing", and if you have to ask, as the saying goes, you really wouldn't understand.
There is one other constant that has been with the Subaru enthusiasts throughout almost two decades and that is Subaru of America themselves. I have been an enthusiast since before it's infancy here in the US and I watched Subaru of America's view of us grow and accept us as a legitimate customer base of their company. They have reached out and have been a part of virtually every aspect of the Subaru performance market in this country from rallying to road racing to drag racing to autocross, to meets with thousands of Subaru fans at giant venues, they have treated us the same way they did when it was only 30 of us in a parking lot 17 years ago, and for that I thank them.
As for my gang, our road trip to Boxerfest was a success! We talked about and scanned through pictures the whole way home, each "building" our dream Subie out loud with what wheels we would have, what color it would be, what year and what style we would want...it was a fun ride back to central PA. My 14 year old already plans on saving up for a 2002-2003 "Bugeye" WRX, maybe some JDM projector headlights, a nice set of wheels, a decent exhaust to let out the rumble a little. I mean...
it's for the kid...
really....
it is.
It's not my fault he has good taste in cars.
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