Think a 1991 silver Honda Accord couldn’t blow you away? Think again.
In the hands of senior criminology and criminal justice and economics major Paul Flood, that faded car – nicknamed “Stella,” as in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, by Flood’s friends – transforms your average, beat-up oldie to a “beater” that Flood spends every cent of his paycheck on.
“They all have prettier cars,” Flood said of his friends’ BMWs and Ford Mustang Cobras, before driver Jenn Chang kindly interrupted.
“I think it’s pretty,” said Chang, a junior communications major.
But Flood, president of the official university club College Park Tuning, quickly transitions away from his words of modesty, claiming the Accord’s lack of exterior flash does not prevent it from earning admiration from his club friends.
“No one really is like, ‘My car is so much better than yours.’ yours.’ These guys have a lot of respect for it, because I put a lot of work in it,” said Flood, who claims he has done 100 percent of the labor on his own.
Since getting involved with College Park Tuning his freshman year, Flood has taken the group from a club-for-car-enthusiasts idea to helping them get approved by the Student Government Association. Today, College Park Tuning has 11 board representatives, several sponsors and 160 total members, three of whom lined up their cars in Lot 9 outside Comcast Center this week to show support for their president.
And College Park Tuning isn’t the only thing Flood has built upon – when he first bought his car back in his hometown of Philadelphia for $2,000, he was 16 and only one month removed from receiving his driver’s license. Six years and more than $5,000 later, the Accord stands stronger than ever after being the recipient of countless hours of work from its prideful owner.
Asked the exact amount of money he has put into it, Flood hesitated and then called out to his friends, “Anyone got a calculator on them?”
Flood then proceeded to walk through all the features: $2,000 for the motor, which enhanced the horsepower from 130 to over 200; $600 for suspension; $800 for Rota slip stream rims and Falken FK452 tires; $400 for entertainment, including TVs in the overhead visors and a PlayStation system in the glovebox; $600 for the exhaust and then another $600 to $700 on motor work.
He at least managed to save on the cost of his pop-off steering wheel designed to prevent auto-theft, since it was a gift from his girlfriend.
Flood’s job as a manager at Potbelly Sandwich Works downtown has covered the expenses the past two years – he frequently has to skip meals, he says, as most of his paycheck goes toward the car.
“[My friends] buy my food” in exchange for his working on their cars, he said. “If it’s something serious, they buy me two nights of food.”
And when he entered the university, Flood actually used $1,500 in family bonds intended for his college education to pay for auto work.
“My mom wasn’t happy,” he said.
In addition to his self-imposed responsibilities working on Stella, Flood’s job as president of College Park Tuning has had its share of time commitments, as he has watched the club grow from a couple of car geeks hanging out in Hagerstown Hall on North Campus to a group that requires a huge binder, known as the CPT Bible, to organize its contacts and events.
“I feel like a full-time event planner the last couple of years,” said Flood, who organizes an annual spring car show on the campus and takes the club to various car shows and track events around the area.
Flood, who Chang refers to as College Park Tuning’s “father figure,” is also quite skilled at resolving the sometimes heated inner-group conflicts, according to College Park Tuning member Tim Minor.
“Paul will actually talk to people and sort it out,” said Minor, a senior criminology and criminal justice major. “Everybody’s got different ideas. He does a good job of letting everyone know what’s realistic.”
With Flood’s expected graduation coming up in December, it will soon be time to pass on the reins to one of his friends and also time for him to use his college degree to find the next job to support his No. 1 hobby. While he says he would like to one day have his own shop, Flood realizes a job outside the auto world might be in his future.
Still, that hardly means Stella, which Flood said will soon receive a new paint job, can expect any less attention.
“I would love to keep this [Accord] and rip it apart and start all over again,” Flood said. “That’s what I love about cars – it’s a never-ending addiction.”
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