By: Christiana Hudson, Talon Staff
It is not unusual for Russell Louis to have people honk, holler and stare as he drives by. On one occasion he even had someone climb over their passenger seat and hang out the window at a red light to give him a high five.
Tallahassee Community College student Russell Louis is the owner of what is possibly the most noticeable car on TCC’s campus. The fairly common Honda Del Sol has been modified into an eyecatcher with 762 stickers and a bright red metal star that sticks up 9 ½ feet from the trailer hitch.
“There are a lot of people who just love it because it is fun, you know, it’s not supposed to be taken seriously,” Louis said.
Three years ago Louis discovered the Bosozoku style of car. He really liked the unique aspect of these brightly colored cars with crazy designs.
“They will generally be painted really bright colors and stuff with designs all over it,” Louis said. “They have these exhausts that go way up, sometimes they will be lightning shaped or all these other crazy shapes.”
After learning about Bosozoku, Louis wanted to create his own. At the time he only had his little Honda Del Sol. Most Bosozoku cars are more square with box-shaped frames, but he didn’t let the shape and style of his Honda stand in his way.
He started by painting it. Louis set up a spot in his backyard where he put up a wall of tarps around the car so the cats wouldn’t mess up the wet paint as it dried. The Honda went from black to the white it is now. He also started with a single pipe on the rear of the car. The pole went straight up and reached 8 feet and 7 inches tall.
Since then Louis has added leather seats and built seat warmers into the interior of the car. He rigged up a train horn and off-road lights. There is even a strip of lights running along the bottom of the door to illuminate the ground at night. He has replaced the single pole with a bright red star he made himself. The star is made from metal pipes Louis welded together to form the star.
When asked what is his favorite part about the Bosozoku style, Louis said that he loves how unique it is, and how no car is the same.
“There are no parts you can go and buy to make it look like that,” Louis said. “Everything has to be hand fabricated by whoever owns the car. So, every car will look different. It’s a fun way for whoever owns the car to express themselves.”
He is very happy with his car and handles people’s negative reactions well. Because he gets a lot of people who don’t enjoy his car and some who have said he ruined it, Louis has put a sticker across the front windshield that says, “Beautifully ruined.”
“I believe it is always important to express yourself in some way,” said Louis. “For me right now the best way to do that is through my car. It is very much a representation of me and the things that I like and it doesn’t matter necessarily what people think about it because it is my car and I like it.”
