Car fans get revved up at Cruzzin at Riverview

Robert Boo looks at his 1968 candy teal, low-rider Deville with proud eyes. For him, cars are much more than just a mode of transportation.

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"They got personality," said Boo of Phoenix. "They got attitude."

This was the scene Saturday as a variety of cars from low riders to model Ts revved their engines for the inaugural Cruzzin at Mesa Riverview Car Show.

The weekend-long event that began Friday at the Mesa Riverview Mall not only features a car competition, but also food, live music and entertainment.

Gary Sprinzl, 63, and 53-year-old brother Steve organized the event. The two Mesa residents said that they decided to put on their first show in an effort to bring together Arizona car culture, give back to the community, and one other glaring reason:

"Basically, because were nuts," Gary Sprinzl said. "Car nuts."

The brothers spent their entire lives around cars, horsing around in their grandfather's Packard dealership in New York.

Sprinzlsaid there's very little about cars he doesn't like.

"Bumper to bumper, I love everything," he said.

The brothers hope the car show will become an annual event that benefits the community.

"Whole families can come to these events," Gary Sprinzl said.

He added that he hoped to help out Mesa Riverview with the tough economy.

The car show was originally planned to be held in Phoenix but was relocated in an effort to bring shoppers to the mall.

Portions of proceeds from the car show will benefit the 100 Club of Arizona, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide financial assistance to families of public safety officers and firefighters who are seriously injured or killed in the line of duty.

Rachel St. Moritz, spokeswoman for the club, applauded the event's organizers for approaching the nonprofit club.

"The only way to do what we do is through the community," St. Moritz said. "Those guys are amazing."

Mesa resident Dave Evangelisti, a 59-year-old transplant from Chicago, feels that car shows are a way to showcase America's heritage.

"They are a part of our history," Evangelisti said. "We wouldn't be where we are today without automobiles. Henry Ford changed the world."

Evangelisti said he frequents car shows for the camaraderie. He said he used to get teased for his first car, a 1960 AMC Rambler, but now he takes a souped-up version of the Rambler to car shows.

"I can make a few people eat their words a bit," he said.

Evangelista and his "mustang jalepeño red" 1964 Rambler visit car shows at an amazing clip; he tries to get to one at least once or twice a week, he said. "Us retired folks can do that," he said.

The Cruzzin at Mesa Riverview Car Show continues today with such events as a Big Band Challenge and 1940s and Older Car Show until the show ends about 11 p.m.