Juniors Arnav Chandra and Lucas Hsu zig-zag down the highway, cutting through fog and towering redwood trees. The two are test-driving a 2011 Lotus Elise sports car. With each turn down the windy trail, they take mental note of the car’s stability and precision. Their destination is the top of San José’s Mount Hamilton, where Chandra will photograph the car for his Instagram account. Chandra and Hsu, both avid car enthusiasts, spend their free time driving, filming, posting and working on luxury cars.
But while the two share the same fascination with cars, their roads into car culture were very different.
Before Hsu ever looked twice at cars, a passion for them lived in his father, Danny Hsu. When Hsu was young, they would travel to exhibitions of the latest supercar models and industry innovations. His father even boasted his own collection: a Corvette C2, a Porsche 928 and a Mercedes 500. But none of this excited Hsu, until in eighth grade something finally clicked.
Hsu came across the Netflix show “Car Masters: Rust to Riches” a series in which a team restores old cars. In one episode, the hosts traveled to Puebla, Mexico, where they remodeled a beat-up 1973 Volkswagen Beetle into a rugged, off-road race car. He was hooked — eager for the same mastery that could allow him to take something completely ordinary and transform it into something beautiful.
“I spent the rest of that vacation doing tons of research on fixing and modifying cars,” Hsu said. “My next step was figuring out which car I wanted next.”
With his father’s support, he began the search for his own “Rust to Riches” project. He wanted a car that had potential: something he could personalize with a new color, new interior and new feel but still had the exclusivity that made it feel special. On top of that, his Japanese heritage drew him specifically to Japanese cars. For hours during the summer, Hsu scoured the internet for the perfect car, until he stumbled upon a 1989 Nissan 240 SX on Craigslist. Known for its clean drifting and signature pop-up headlights, it was just $16,000 — far lower than the model’s typical price.
“It happened so fast,” Hsu said. “I remember sending the deal to my dad the same day.”
From there, Hsu “modded,” or modified, the car. The 240SX is known as a “blank canvas” for modding in the car community due to being old and versatile. He and his dad used YouTube tutorials to wrap the Nissan in modern silver vinyl over its previously brown exterior.
Because the car is old, Hsu has also faced challenges with its engine breaking down several times, most recently in February. Once, the car wouldn’t switch gears, and Hsu had to call a tow truck.
“There’s lots of problem-solving,” Hsu said. “It can take days to diagnose the issue, get the parts and then actually fix it.”
All of this trouble-shooting has brought Hsu and his father closer together. What began as occasional advice has turned into weekend nights spent in the garage, exchanging ideas and solutions.
“I’m excited that Lucas and I are able to share the same hobby,” Danny Hsu said. “It’s something we can work on together and share ideas.”
While Hsu focuses on modding, Chandra uses social media to share supercars with the world, inspiring his love for photography. His passion for cars bloomed from a common childhood captivation: trucks, planes and other vehicles. For Chandra, that obsession has endured throughout his life. Merged with his passion for photography, he began filming cars.
“I would take scenic photos of mountains and always see people taking car photos there,” Chandra said. “I was doing the same thing, except without the cars, so I decided to change that.”
In sophomore year, he began going to car meets, where car enthusiasts gather to showcase exotic vehicles. There, he photographed supercars and connected with the car community. At Club Sportiva, a luxury car club, he assembled his first Instagram post, featuring a photoshoot of a Ferrari F12. But being expected to consistently take good photos was daunting at first.
“That’s something I would feel stressed about a lot,” Chandra said. “A lot of times with photography, when you’re shooting for someone you don’t know personally, there’s a lot more pressure.”
Getting his license on his 16th birthday was the final piece of the puzzle for Chandra. His friends introduced him to the scenic Skyline Boulevard. The rich landscape and the feeling of slicing through the fog instantly made him obsessed with getting into a supercar for himself.
“It was a lot more fun to actually feel the motions of the car, and how it was held under pressure, rather than just seeing them,” Chandra said. “I completely stopped going to meets after that.”
Soon after starting his channel, Chandra was invited to a Fourth of July event in Livermore, where an entire airport became a showcase for more than 1,600 attendees and their supercars. Chandra took this opportunity to hop in a Pagani Utopia, a hypercar often characterized as a fighter jet on wheels, and floored it. It was his first time drag racing.
“It felt like a level up from previous events,” Chandra said. “It was also kind of surreal to see the true depth of the car community. Something on a completely different level that I had ever experienced before.”
Chandra has had a few close calls. Once, his car began to spin out of control on a windy mountain road. In January, a friend lent him a McLaren to drive around for a few days. While sitting in a cafe, he witnessed it get rammed by a drunk driver in the parking lot, and had to pay for half of the $13,000 damage. But none of this shook Chandra’s resolve.
“I’ve been a confident person my whole life,” Chandra said. “It’s just a combination of that and getting practice that has made me comfortable with these situations.”
While some car enthusiasts obsess over a car’s appearance and power, Chandra places greater emphasis on the handling. The experience of feeling grounded to the road is what makes him feel alive.
“It’s really hard to enjoy driving if you don’t feel connected to the road,” Chandra said. “When you can feel everything on the road, like in a car with no power steering, it’s a very raw and enjoyable experience.”
That philosophy began to shape more than just his own driving. As Hsu began his modding journey, Chandra introduced him to Highway 9, a popular place for car meets, which Chandra frequents due to the proximity to his home. The highway’s twists and turns enabled Hsu’s less powerful Nissan to provide an exhilarating ride for him. Its slow speed wasn’t noticeable because the road itself gives little room for acceleration.
“Driving there was definitely something I’ve never done before,” Hsu said. “It almost feels like you’re driving through clouds. It’s very adrenaline-inducing.”
This year, Chandra and Hsu submitted an application for an Automotive Interest Club at Lynbrook. The club would feature hands-on activities, like learning how to change a tire, as well as lessons about car culture.
“We want to teach what the car cultures of the world have to offer,” Hsu said. “It’s a good experience for Arnav and I to teach others and learn for ourselves.”
