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C-Hutch - A thread of remembrance.

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  • C-Hutch - A thread of remembrance.

    On September 6th, 2021, we lost a legend.



    Many of you remember Cory as C-Hutch, Hondamonster, and the brainchild of STANC|WORKS (note the spelling). To those of you lucky enough to meet him in person, you'd know that he was so much more than just a car nut with a passion for making the every-day exciting.

    I made this thread so everyone who got to know him could share their stories. No matter if he helped you with wheel specs for your build, he gave you a ride home when your car broke down, or if you just bumped into him at a car show, please feel free to share.
    BB6 Prelude . . E36 ///M3 . . VA WRX Limited . . 1969 Nova
    Originally posted by Ollie
    We all love to turn heads. Sub-consciously we're all materialistic attention-craving dickheads.

  • #2
    Back in 2008, I made the life-altering decision to buy my '98 Honda Prelude, and with that, came a few introductions to like-minded Honda enthusiasts. After being persuaded to fly down to Tennessee and couch surf for a weekend to attend Import Alliance in 2010, I landed and met part of the "Tennessee Prelude guys" at a communal friend's house. At midnight, after a few celebratory Coronas, I heard the familiar sound of steel grinding into the pavement as a 4-cylinder Honda struggled to overcome dragging it's belly through a concrete gutter. A moment later, a red Accord lumbered up the driveway with "Wet Paint" taped to the back window. It was Cory.

    Now I probably don't need to explain the hilarity of a dumped, rattle canned, early 90's Honda three-wheeling into a fairly well respected housing tract at all hours of the night, but it was an entrance I'll never forget. A moment later, a fairly well-worn C-Hutch hopped out of the driver's seat with the biggest grin on his face, followed by a "What's up dude!?" and a back-slapping hug. 10 minutes later, we started scheming how we were going to to paint a white-and-black "7" on the hood to complete his new-found look. We used a barstool as a template for the circle, and a printout of a #7 from Microsoft Word that matched the font on a pool ball. At 2am, we were all a little giggly, but it worked.



    The next day, a fellow member had a wheel spacer loosen up halfway to the speedway, and Cory was the first to offer a hand. He pulled out a tool kit, helped pop off the wheel, and set to work- no one asked, it was just what he did. After struggling with stripped hardware and questionable fitment on some back road, we rolled into IA with "Lowrider" at a speaker-warping volume, for obvious reasons. A little tired and high off of the feeling 'we made it', we laughed all the way through the gates. At some point, someone shouted out "that's so f***ing hard!", which made us both hysterical. "SOFA KING HARD" got said a lot that weekend. Even after going nuclear hot waiting in line, nearly getting heat stroke from pushing the car through the lanes to get in and out of the speedway, Cory literally never stopped smiling. It was infectious; everyone around him had a chuckle and a laugh as we rolled around.



    We all spent the rest of that weekend goofing around and having fun. We stopped for BBQ somewhere where Cory snagged a Domo plushie out of a crane game, hung out with some of the other gang, and had a great time. At some point, he had to split to help another member on here (because, that's just what he does), which he did dutifully and with a giant smile, as always. I had to jump on a plane the following morning, promising to be back for Round 2 in 2011. With the welcome everyone gave, that was certain. 2011 was a whole 'nother ball game for fun.



    Even through all the sweat, frustration, and backfires of the weekend, Cory literally never buckled. His determination to get every detail right on the Accord before it made through the gates (even at 2am on 3 hours of sleep) was inspiring. Even if it was nothing more than brilliant ingenuity that pulled it all together, it was his vision, and he saw it all the way through. It was all grins, 'we got this', and constant laughing at the ridiculous situations we found ourselves in. I was just some shmuck on the internet that landed in this group, and he treated me with the utmost warmth and respect, as if I had been there for years.

    You can't fake being "one of the good ones". Cory, he set the gold standard that weekend. I'll never forget that.
    BB6 Prelude . . E36 ///M3 . . VA WRX Limited . . 1969 Nova
    Originally posted by Ollie
    We all love to turn heads. Sub-consciously we're all materialistic attention-craving dickheads.

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    • #3
      My introduction to Cory also happened to be at an Import Alliance event, in Atlanta. It must've been early 2011. I was staying at Jeremy Whittle's house for the night with Mike B., Rodney Nichols, and Rachel. Cory was running late as he was putting the finishing touches on his Integra.

      At 4 AM, he finally arrived. He managed to catch a quick cat nap on the couch before we all got up for the show. His Integra was freshly painted black and low as hell. I remember he cracked a joke about the 4 hour drive from Nashville to ATL that went "I didn't have a radio, but at least I was able to listen to rub step."

      That kicked off the following 10 years of friendship. There was never a dull moment hanging out with C-Hutch. Southern Worthersee trips, H2Oi, that time the Nashville crew explored a half torn down abandoned hospital together, the times we spent hanging out in cabins at Pigeon Forge, and the few times we got to be around each other when we both lived out here in SoCal... God, what good times.

      My absolute favorite time with him was when the Nashville crew decided to race each other to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I was riding shotgun with Cory and he beat everyone by a significant amount of minutes, so to kill some time we listened to some music. Somewhere in there he proposed to me with a green apple Ring Pop, and we celebrated by singing along to OutKast's "Hey Ya!" at the top of our lungs with all of the windows down.

      Goddamn I'm gonna miss you, Cory.




      Ol Dirty Bastard - RIP

      Photo by Alex Dooley
      2016 Ducati Scrambler, 2015 Subaru Impreza

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