34 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JULY 23-29, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE From the greasers of the 1950s to the muscle car enthusiasts of the 1960s, one thing that cool cars have in common is that they attract young people to them. Luke Garner is the 20-yearold executive director of the Highway 1 Foundation. His two comrades in the new nonprofit, Demetrius Thomas and Ethan Davis, grew up with Garner, sharing their love of automobiles and car culture. The three graduated from Monterey County high schools and transformed their enthusiasm into an organization with the goal of bringing more people together. So far, they’ve put on three car shows at Del Monte Shopping Center in Monterey, but they say this is just the beginning of their philanthropic endeavors. Weekly: What is the Highway 1 Foundation? Garner: Right now we have just one type of event, but the goal is to bring the community closer through various car events. We’re trying to give out an automotive scholarship through the end of August. Applicants can let us know how they’re involved in the automotive community through an essay—whether that’s through engineering, car sales or automotive photography. Even though our very first event wasn’t through the Highway 1 Foundation because we were just getting started, we raised about $1,500 in back-to-school supplies. We want to do more things like that. How do you raise funds? Garner: We bring coffee and donuts to events and set up a booth at automotive events, which is the main way we get our information out now. We’re starting out small, but we’re also gaining sponsorships. What is your connection to the automotive world? Davis: We all grew up around cars and found a love for them. We wanted to create a cars and coffee event and felt like there weren’t many of them, so we decided to do it ourselves. Garner: The events that do exist around here are good, but we became friends with a lot of people from the Bay Area and figured we could bring them down here to expand it in Monterey Bay. We want the area to be known for more than just Car Week and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. What do you drive right now? Thomas: A 2021 Nissan Rogue. Garner: I drive a 2018 BMW X5 x-drive 35i. It’s great for snow and I’m almost done paying it off. Davis: I drive a Prius right now. But I want a Mustang GTD. It’s a pretty rare car to get. Your dream cars? Thomas: I’m looking to buy a 2026 BMW M2—you know, something more sporty. Garner: It might take some time but I would love to own a 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish. I forget the name of the color, but it’s like a light blue. I just think that looks gorgeous. If you’ve seen James May’s car from Top Gear— it’s that one. You are all pretty young—is that the demographic you’re going for? Garner: It’s fun to be in the automotive world. A lot of the older participants have cool stories and are setting the footway for the younger generation to get into cars, too. Davis: What we realized growing up in Monterey and being around car culture is that we see every generation out there. You’ll see 90-year-olds driving crazy Ferraris and then you’ll also see kids younger than us—like 10 or 11 years old—freaking out over some other car. I think by hosting these car shows, everyone merges together over one community love of cars, and it’s all ages. Thomas: We try to cater to all ages, but around 20 percent of those who show up to our car shows are Gen-Z. Garner: We also have a lot of volunteers who are younger getting in their community service hours. They tend to be around our age or maybe a little younger. Does your outreach extend beyond Monterey County? Davis: We have someone from Drako Motors in the Bay Area. He brings his 2,000 horsepower electric cars. We found him while driving to Big Sur and we connected on Instagram and LinkedIn. So we’re getting people interested in our cause from Silicon Valley along with younger people from the Bay Area. A lot of people from Santa Cruz too. Highway 1 Foundation Cars & Coffee happens 9-11am Saturday, July 25. Del Monte Shopping Center, 1410 Del Monte Center, Monterey. Free; donations accepted. highway1foundation.org. Drivers Permit Gen Z car enthusiasts start a nonprofit to share their love of automobiles and build community. By Sloan Campi Left to right, Demetrius Thomas, Ethan Davis and Luke Garner are members of Gen Z and striving to draw a younger demographic to car culture through their nonprofit, the Highway 1 Foundation. DANIEL DREIFUSS We Save Lives. You can, too. Golden Oldies Cat Rescue www.gocatrescue.org 831•200•9232 Adopt Volunteer Foster Will you join us? Older Cats New Beginnings Spork Want to meet Spork? Please fill out our online adoption questionnaire. 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