Castro Oasis – West Haven

Spring was just a few days away when CVR returned to Castro Oasis in West Haven for our March monthly meeting. It was cooler than normal but I did see a 911 Targa in the parking lot with the top off, so good for the driver!  

It was apparent that the CVRers were ready to put winter behind them and talk about their favorite subject, cars! Specifically, Porsches! Registration for the meeting was strong, and approximately 80 CVRers made their way to the event that night. Luis Castro and his team were ready for CVR and had a number of fine machines set up around the immaculate shop for the CVRers to take in. Revolving on the shop’s central floor platform was the evening’s main star, a late-model Subaru BRZ.

The membership greeted each other and caught up on things while taking in the sights of the shop, and before long, it was time for dinner. Luis once again delegated the dinner portion of the meeting to his sister Evelyn Castro, who runs an amazing catering service. Her company Evjoy (tasteeevjoy.com) focuses on superior ingredients and scratch cooking, and you taste it in the results. The membership enjoyed delicious Italian sandwiches and salad while the socializing continued.

Once our amazing dinner was completed, it was time to get the meeting started. President Bob brought up the CVR board members that were present, including Dave Vaccaro, who filled us in on the latest developments surrounding CVR’s 2026 DE schedule and The Rock event. It’s going to be a busy summer. We also welcomed a few new members and discussed a few items that were for sale in the Mart. With the CVR business meeting complete, it was time for the main event, and we handed the microphone over to Luis.  

Luis welcomed the CVRers back and went on to remind them of the many services available at the shop, including ceramic coating, PPF, window tints, and all forms of auto detailing. The main topic for the evening was a fascinating one: Liquid PPF (Paint Protection Film). This is the latest advancement in automotive finish protection, and Luis was excited to share it with us. The big difference is that unlike traditional PPF, which is cut for the application from sheets of material and applied by a technician to the vehicle, liquid PPF is actually sprayed on utilizing a spray gun, similar to what you might use to repaint a vehicle. The main advantages with this approach is less application labor (versus the PPF sheet cutting and application), a cleaner more thorough application (no edges exposed, material is applied right over the corner, AND rather than just a clear film application, you also have the option to add a color to your PPF which makes it possible to change the color of your car while protecting it! The results were impressive.

The Subaru in front of us had a Ferrari Blue liquid PPF installed over its original black finish. The job was very impressive with fantastic, even, metallic distribution. Luis went on to remind us that the protection part of the result is there in force. Your typical vinyl wrap is only about 3 mils thick, while the liquid PPF is 9 mils thick. The Subaru was headed to the track with its fantastic new color, but also with all that finish protection!

The CVRers listened closely and when the time came for questions, Luis took a number of them as the audience wanted to learn more. It was a fascinating topic and showed yet again that nothing stays the same.  

With the presentation complete, the CVRers came forward to look at the Subaru more thoroughly now that they knew they were looking at an application of the actual product. While they were inspecting the car, Luis’s sister Evelyn continued to reward the meeting attendees’ pallet by bringing out some delicious desserts in the form of freshly baked cookies and strawberry ladyfingers.

We then closed the meeting with a raffle prize of gift certificates donated by Luis and the Castro Oasis team. Thank you, Luis, his brother Jonnathan, and his sister Evelyn, for hosting our meeting at your most impressive location.  

And please CVRers, be sure to patronize our sponsors, and when you do, be sure to tell them you are from CVR and that you heard about them at a monthly meeting or other event.

Thanks, Jeff Coe, CVR Programs.