Seahawks car club goes way beyond flags and decals

Sporting Seahawks colors on game day isn’t enough. These fans roll Beast Mode year-round.

They are members of Hawk Wheels, a new 12th Man car club for boldly blinged motorists.

There are no dues, but there are standards.

“You need four directions of bling,” said club organizer Mike Wear. “Not like a Seahawks sticker on your car. Not those people who fly their little flags. We’re the kind of people who plaster the entire rig and put lights on.”

What’s up with that?

“We’re blue-collar boom,” said Wear, 47, a tech fix-it guy with blue-and-green hair and a 1998 VW “Beetle of Boom.”

“We’re average joes who love the Seahawks, who go overboard on their cars. We’re not loaded, but we watch religiously. I’ve been to one game in my life.”

The club was formed three months ago when Wear met two other Snohomish County guys with Hawked-out vehicles at an Evergreen Speedway Seahawks event.

Andy Aguinaldo was there with his blue Suzuki sport motorcycle and Marvin Golesch with his green off-road play toy.

“We needed a Seahawks car club on the north side of Seattle,” said Aguinaldo, 54, a Boeing production manager.

Wear created a Facebook page and the club was official.

Four Hawk Wheels members competed with other Seahawks-themed car clubs in the region at a Kent car show in October and took home three trophies. Eight participated in Marysville’s holiday parade.

Hawk Wheels has a roster of 13 vehicles that includes a Harley, a BMW, a minivan, a Chevy Cruze and a food truck.

Sure, members like to show off. But it’s more than that. Charity is a key component. They collect for food banks and help homeless people.

This Saturday, Hawk Wheels is hosting a “12s for Tots” toy drive in the parking lot by Toys R Us on Everett Mall Way in Everett.

Other times, you might see the tricked-out fleet lined up outside Wear’s tiny Rucker Avenue repair shop, Hardwear Gadget Repair, where they meet to talk cars and football.

They have jerseys personalized with the nicknames of their rigs.

Aguinaldo’s crotch-rocket bike is “Crotch Lockett.” He has a custom trailer on order. “The inside, when you open the lid, it’s going to be like you’re looking into a stadium and a football field,” Aguinaldo said.

Another beetle is “Pinky Hawkadero.”

“It’s blue-purple — blurple — with pink rims and pink seats,” Marianne Martinez-Evans, 46, said of her 2000 VW. “It’s a girlie car.”

She works at an embroidery company and does other jobs to help support her Hawks habit. A constructive outlet, unlike others in her past, she said.

“I’m a woman in recovery. Five years clean and sober,” Martinez-Evans said. “It’s something outside my 12-step programs. I get to be active in society and give back. My car makes me really happy. I’m not the only one who gets something out of it. A lot of other people do.”

She and Wear both have electric guitars that match their beetles.

Shaun Garringer, 37, a heavy structure mechanic at Boeing, festooned his 2015 Chevy Cruze with decals and lights. It’s only a start. He plans next to pimp out the wheels and interior of “Boom Cruzer.”

“It gets a lot of attention. I love the look on the faces when people drive by and the kids who want to get pictures with it,” he said.

Those who carry a badge are welcome. Garringer recalled his encounter with an Everett policeman.

“I was in the Safeway parking lot and he pulled behind me and I was, ‘Uh-oh, what did I do?’ He comes out and goes, ‘I really love your car. Can I take a picture with it?’?”

Send What’s Up With That? suggestions to Andrea Brown at 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown. Read more What’s Up With That? at www.heraldnet.com/whatsup.

Toy drive

A toy drive will be held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 19 in the parking lot by Toys R Us, 1325 SE Everett Mall Way, Everett.

Can’t make it? You can drop off toys at Hardwear Gadget Repair, 3620 Rucker Ave., Everett, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

For more information, call 425-252-9327.

Legion of Varoom! Meet Marianne, a 12th woman with “Pinky Hawkadero,” her Hawked out car. #seahawks #VW pic.twitter.com/qmwMxBA5iL

— Andrea Brown (@reporterbrown) December 15, 2015