If you have spent a good amount of time on the Roger Williams University campus or had to park your car in any corner of the garage, you can tell that there is definitely an abundance of car culture here on campus, but how would you express your build and find like minded people if you are interested in cars? Colin Mascola, the President of the Mt. Hope Car Club, and Colin Mckay, a regular member of the Mt. Hope Car Club had some answers to the questions that I had.
What is Mt. Hope Car Club?
Mt. Hope Car Club is a group of local people that come together with the same passion: Cars. Although it is no longer a club run through campus because of insurance, liability, and safety reasons, something that the university did not want to be further associated with, it was continued to be run by students because of this passion for cars. Mascola said that the club was started by his friends Trevor and Nick around 2019 who have thus far transferred, but he was determined to keep the club afloat.
What does it mean to you to keep this club alive?
“It means alot to me to keep this club alive because these are people that are just as passionate about cars as I am, and am glad to call them my friends now. Some of my favorite experiences from this club come from the people and the locations. I love learning about new things, so when someone pulls up in an interesting car or has a new modification done, I’m there asking questions about anything that piques my interest. The locations are great too. Colt State Park, Fogland beach, and Ocean Drive in Newport are some of the more picturesque spots,” said Mckay
When does the club meet, where do they meet, and who can join?
Car meets are usually held on Fridays around 5 PM. The usual meeting spot is down by the bridge next to campus where everyone meets up and then drives as a group to the location for the meet which is posted on the instagram @mthopecarclub. “Anybody can join, all you need is a passion for cars and to be active in the community, like willing to show up to car meets when they are posted,” said Mckay.
One of The Hawks’ Herald reporters, Aidan Garrity, went to a recent meet and got the chance to interview a couple of people about their cars. In order, he spoke to Thomas, Jayden Roffi, Jacob, Connor, and Nathan Silvia. Most of the modifications done to their cars range from cosmetic to internal and you could definitely tell that they knew what they were talking about. Mods such as a downpipe, tune, intercooler, muffler delete, intake, headers, and suspension were common in the group and most of them still had big ideas on where they wanted to take their car, especially since most of them loved driving a manual transmission.
As for the future of the club, Mascola has plans to “…make it a two part club where you can go to the meets separately but also have both campus events and classroom meetings as well to talk about cars.”
“The Mt. Hope Car Club is a great place for anybody to foster a love for local car builds, and get to know the owners behind them. The best part about it is that the car meets are free and anybody is welcome as long as they respect the lot,” said Mckay
