A Little His
story
AKA "Oh - That's too much to read..."
For a while now, I've felt the need to write a little about how we started. So, here we go... I can't tell the story with out mentioning Copperstate Street Rods. The roots of our car club starts here with the premise of idea sharing. Our founder Scott Simmons needed an outlet to talk "cars" with like-minded folks. He reserved the conference room at the Verrado Coffee Co. and posted a flyer. My neighbor, Bob Green (you might know him from the AMC AMO circle), asked if I was interested in going. For a short while it was just the three of us and the occasional plus one. We started inviting others with the popular term "Cars-n-Coffee" and word got out - fast.
Unfortunately, Scott had to leave us for a new job in Texas. As our group continued to grow and different cars started to attend, we elected to change the name to reflect our location and to sound more inclusive. We wanted to encourage owners of all classes of vehicles, not just Street Rods. White Tank Customs & Classics was born!
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We decided to remain an open group with no elected officials and no club dues, keeping more of a social club atmosphere. Anyone can come or go and if you have an idea for a show or cruise, plan it and we'll attend. Beyond our bimonthly events, a difference of ideas from individual members is our foundation to help club interest from becoming stagnant.
Cars-n-Coffee: This is where the rubber meets the road. It was important to us to keep the forum about sharing ideas. We continue to meet the first Saturday of every month, 8 am, in the Verrado Coffee Co. conference room. Along with the opportunity to exchange experiences and ask questions, we now put videos up on the big screen, have occasional guest speakers from industry professionals and of course, talk future club business.
Soon the club wanted to have a branded logo to identify with. Something to show our pride. After a handful of proofs we chose a logo to have printed on shirts. However, it became evident we needed some income. But without club dues, how? The 50/50 raffle was the answer. Every month, whomever attends Cars-n-Coffee has the opportunity to purchase tickets and someone takes home 50% of the prize! The other 50% goes to the club to help achieve our goal, offset event advertising and most importantly, keep us from charging club dues to our members.
Later we identified a need to provide an evening venue for the folks that found it tough to make our morning meets. In effort to keep it local, we were lucky enough to strike a deal with the (then) new Culver's of Verrado and have been gratful of their hospitality ever since. It's just across the intersection from the coffee house we were based out of. I'ts hard to get more local than that.
"3rd-Friday" is your typical Cruise-in, show-n-shine, hang out and enjoy the culture event. Like the name implies, it's the 3rd Friday of every month. Due to its popularity - sadly, we outgrew the parking capabilities of our host. February 15th of 2019 was our last "3rd Friday" at Culver's of Verrado. We had a great turnout. Even our founder Scott Simmons was able to make it out. - We want to give a huge "thank you" to Greg Landon and his team at Culver’s for having us. It was a good run, but it's time for us to move on...
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March 15th, 2019 marks another chapter for our club as we settle in with our host at Canyon Trails Towne Center, Carl's Jr. The manager (Sandra) has been really good to us.
Unfortunately, around the same time, the Verrado Coffee Company (where it all began) gave notice that it would be closing its doors soon. April 6th 2019 was our last Cars-n-Coffee meet at the Verrado Coffee Co. Luckily we scored a deal and June 1st, 2019 Verrado's The Center on Main became our new home. That left us without a "Club House" for a month... What to do? We cruised to Fresh Donuts!
Late in 2019 one of our members was approached by some of the folks at MATCO Tools. They wanted to do a charity car show with the proceeds going to Phoenix Children's Hospital. We couldn't turn down an opportunity like this. We got to work advertising, planning and coordinating for the big day March 20, 2020. Sadly we had one small bump no one foresaw - COVID.
15 Oct 2021 marks the day we come home... Wait - What? In full disclosure, Its always been our intent to get our 3rd Friday back home, Verrado. Peter at AutoZone afforded us the opportunity and we jumped at it.
Quite a few years as White Tank Customs & Classics has gone by and we've had several successful events. Looking back, "WOW", we've done a lot... everything from organizing a multiple car clubs cruise to Arlington, AZ and to the world's largest sundial in Carefree, AZ; to hosting the AMC Nationals at our Center on Main; and car show's that has raised over $8k for the Phoenix Children's Hospital. We've had the privaedge of working with some big names like, Detail Garage of Avondale, MATCO Tools, and Speedway Motors.
Sure, we've had some flops too... let's just say Trunk-or-Treat is not going to happen in the near future... but, all in all, the events have been fun and memorable. And there's plenty more on the horizon!
Thankfully to the drive of our key members and Jim Johnson (MATCO Tools) we were able to partner up with Speedway Motors and on Oct 23, 2021 was able to raise over $8K for the Phoenix Children's Hospital. Our highest achievement to date.
So, this is where I wrap it up. Long ago, I was new in town. I had no idea who to go to for "what" car services or where the car shows were at. By joining a network of like-minded people, this club has afforded me the opportunity to gain invaluable knowledge. Thanks to Scott, the "car talk" came to
us and we're able to share it with you. If you're as passionate about cars as I am, you're in the right spot. I look forward to seeing you at one of our future events.
Thank you all for supporting our little group!
-Tim
P.S. I'm sure I missed some defining events... please send us a comment with your version of a favorite. Thanks again for checking us out!
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