It keeps growing, and growing, and growing
The closed El Toro Marine Station, near Irvine, Calif., was transformed into a staging area on a recent sunny Saturday in March. The massing legions were not troops, however, but instead were Chrysler LX platform cars (Chrysler 300Cs, Dodge Chargers and Dodge Magnums) and the passionate owners who love them, out in full-force for the 3rd Annual Spring Festival of LXs.
Event organizer and founder John Fortuno, himself owner of a modded out 2005 Chrysler 300C, gave a succinct yet accurate summation of the annual celebration: “It was freakin’ awesome.”
The show car area boasted six rows of LX vehicles, with more than 500 cars total. Each row was a ridiculously long quarter-mile thread of stunningly tricked out and modified Chrysler 300Cs, Chargers and Magnums in all their glory. Owners and cars from 19 states and every province in Canada were represented, with enthusiasts from far away locales such as Florida, Texas, Michigan, and West Virginia making the long trek to Southern California. All told, more than 1,100 car fanatics poured into El Toro.
“Last year was about 318 vehicles, so we had basically 200 more cars,” remarked Fortuno on the event’s impressive growth spurt. “The line of cars was so long you got tired of walking. It was overwhelming, the amount of cars we had. We had every single color of car, and what seemed like every single configuration you could create as far as mods go. And they were all 300s, Chargers and Magnums. You walked around, and it was just endless.”
Aside from the vista of jaw-dropping Chrysler dream machines, the LX Fest included displays from vendors such as DUB and West Coast Customs, with DUB featuring 20 cars on display. Local Chrysler dealerships Glendora and Tuttle Click were also on hand, promoting Mopar®’s large line of LX platform-specific parts.
Blues-rock guitar star Kenny Wayne Shepherd made an appearance with his supercharged Dodge Charger SRT8®. He also debuted a 1972 Charger complete with a Mopar crate engine, with cameras from Hot Rod TV rolling during the unveiling. Team Mopar Formula Drift Champion Samuel Hübinette also wowed the crowd throughout the day with tire-smoking drift demos in his Dodge Viper SRT10®.
More than 20 Chrysler execs and engineers attended the event, including Ralph Gilles, Chrysler LLC Vice President - Design, and Mike Accavitti, Director, Dodge Brand and SRT® Global Marketing Communications. The Chrysler folks left their suits at home and were like kids in a candy store, talking with the LX owners about their modifications, taking part in a round table discussion and oohing and aahing over the amazing line-up of cars—basically, just having a grand old time. The Chrysler honchos also pulled a few strings to bring a “special guest” to El Toro—a production model of the new Dodge Challenger SRT8. The much-sought after new car superstar was delivered by Chrysler to the event just in the nick of time to tantalize LX Fest attendees. And judging by the crowds the HEMI®-powered beast drew, that’s just what it did! “They brought it in at 6:30 in the morning and it was sitting in front of the hotel at the front door,” said Fortuno. “People were freaking out when they walked out the door.”
Attendees could rightfully claim they were part of the world’s largest gathering of Chrysler LX vehicles. And with the euphoric raves Fortuno received following the event, it may have been the world’s largest gathering of satisfied Chrysler owners as well!
“Everybody had the same positive feedback: ‘Amazing. Unbelievable.’ The crowd was spectacular,” said Fortuno. “There was a guy that was part of the West Coast Customs crew that said he had never attended an event where the crowd was so pleasant.” Days after the event, an exhausted Fortuno was nonetheless focused on the 2009 edition of the show and the continued growth of the LX Fest. “With the introduction of the Challenger, we can mix it in with the group,” said an excited Fortuno. “It’s part of the family, part of the next gen of cars that are coming out. And those owners will be brought in to what we do going forward.”
