MOD 2009 – The luxury treatment
Driving a tri-colored race prepped Mitsubishi Galant VR4 around Rochester does not gain you very much respect on the road. It stands out like a sore thumb, people have no idea what they are looking at, and nobody looked at the car as anything with performance before it was painted.
Saturday morning we rolled into the Mitsubishi manufacturing plant in Normal, IL, which was hosting the 2009 Mitsubishi Owners Day, where we received nothing but respect and love for the car we were driving
. From the first thumbs up by the guy at the front gate to the team of people who came out to support us, there could not have been a more humbling, amazing place to be with this car.
Through the many members of GalantVR4.org, we earned a friend who also worked at this Mitsubishi plant. While were were expecting to have some place to park the car where everybody could see it, we could not have expected the 
accommodations that came out for us. We had a reserved section to park, right in front by the main stage, and across from the Welcome Tent, making it a premier location. A few minutes after arriving a tent was given to us to use. As we started unpacking the car and feeling humbled by the level of gestures being offered towards us, two guys walk up and offer to wipe down the car. They heard we drove all day yesterday and wanted to help by cleaning it off for us. Not only did they clean the car, but they were smiling the whole time, happy to be there. It was enough to bring a tear to Tim’s eye.
From the respect that we received from the workers, to the thanks that we received from the GalantVR4 group, we are certainly not accustomed or deserving of such praise. We were treated to dinner, handed a beer and felt very welcome among the group.
