Group will host a charity auto show this Sunday on campus
Pretty much every weekend through the spring, summer, and fall months in Greater Boston, somewhere within 10 to 20 miles of wherever you are, car enthusiasts are meeting up to ogle, admire, and photograph some of the coolest looking things on four wheels. It might be on a giant lawn, like at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, or down at Patriot Place in Foxborough, or with greater and greater frequency, it might be at a designated parking lot on Boston University’s Charles River Campus.
The BU Auto Club is a newcomer to the fast-growing car club scene, founded in 2020 by a student who has since graduated. Running the show this year has been Arnav Anandam (ENG’25), who joined the club as a freshman in fall 2021, and says the organization has seen dramatic growth in the last few years. Its year-end event, a charity auto show, is scheduled for Sunday, April 27, at BU Lot R (766 Commonwealth Ave.). The aim: to raise money for Make-A-Wish.
“It wasn’t much more than a small group of friends who had cars on campus and liked to drive around together,” Anandam says. He became club secretary, and soon the group started hosting bigger events, car meets, and even “cruises,” where five or more cars will drive in unison to a picturesque spot, like Cape Cod or Maine, for a photo shoot.
Cognizant of the much more active car clubs and events at nearby Bentley University and Babson College, Anandam knew BU had the potential for bigger and better things. Go-kart events and watch parties for Formula One races proved a hit, and the momentum took off. Finally, in April 2024, the BU Auto Club held its first official car show, raising more than $2,000 for the New England division of Make-A-Wish, the nonprofit that grants wishes to seriously ill children.
Soon the BU Auto Club was finding partners, like the luxury dealer SR Auto Group, and the Red Bull marketing team showed up at an event with its unmistakable Red Bull Mini Cooper. BU’s events are held at Lot R and some have been so big they’ve had to turn cars away. At any given event, attendees can see new and classic BMWs, sleek Mazda Miatas, Mercedes Benzes in all colors, various Porsche models, Jaguars, Corvettes, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and the occasional supercar of supercars, a McLaren.
Like for any student club, social media has been a huge driver of popularity. The club has also held events, like a movie night to watch Ford vs. Ferrari. The club’s Instagram account has more than 1,500 followers, and they’ve had more than 600,000 total views on short-form video content.
“We love telling people our story about how cars can represent so much and how they can bring so many people together,” Anandam says.
The BU Auto Club Spring Charity Auto Show is Sunday, April 27, from 10 am to 1 pm, in Lot R, 766 Commonwealth Avenue.
Follow the BU Auto Club on Instagram @buautoclub.
