Driven to Cure

From incredible podium finishes to dream builds finally coming together, there are just so many great automotive stories to tell. But this next one is clearly different. “Driven to Cure” is a nonprofit spreading awareness on rare forms of cancer. Located right in our own backyard, Greg Carloss tells us more.

GREG CARLOSS: Cars are often a direct reflection of their owners, and this Nissan GT-R right here was built to drive and “Driven to Cure.” And ever since 2016, it’s been doing that for people all over the country.

Everyone has a dream car and making that dream a reality can be lifechanging. It definitely was for the founder of the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, Driven to Cure.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Driven to Cure started back in 2015 with the gentleman’s name of Andrew Lee. He found out he had a rare form of kidney cancer called HLRCC back in his freshman year of college. There was not treatment, no cure. When his family found out his father asked him, you know, “what’s your life goals, what do you want to achieve?” And Andrew was like “you know what, I always wanted my dream car, a Nissan GT-R.” Couple days after, his dad went to him and was like “hey, let’s go get that car.”

GREG CARLOSS: When Andrew and his dad Bruce picked up the 2015 GT-R, it was white with a tan interior. But that didn’t last long because Andrew had a vision. And it went beyond making the car his own, as he describes here back in 2016.

ANDREW LEE: And then I had the idea if we turn it into a show car, you know, we could start raising awareness for kidney cancer in a way that no one has ever really done before… and built the car, made it orange for kidney cancer awareness and we’ve been going to shows and having a lot of fun.

GREG CARLOSS: Sadly, Andrew passed away in 2019 and then, in 2022, his dad Bruce lost his own battle with pancreatic cancer, but Driven to Cure continued on with its mission thanks to volunteers like Anthony Castro.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Driven to Cure has helped a lot throughout the years. We have collected over $1.5 million in total donations. Donations through either NIH and National Cancer Institution. We do car shows around the DMV area. We sell merchandise like sweaters, shirts, hoodies, stickers. We also collect donations on our website.

GREG CARLOSS: Raising awareness requires grabbing people’s attention, and Andrew knew just how to do it. Even as we were filming this segment, people gathered around to ask about the car. And the first question: “what color is that?”

ANTHONY CASTRO: Andrew wanted a specific color for his car. After a couple of tries he figured out “man, this is the color of paint for the vehicle.” And we now call it Driven to Cure Orange. It is a trademark color now.

GREG CARLOSS: 20-inch VIPMODULAR wheels are canopied by a Liberty Walk body kit while an Airlift suspension drops it into its show stance. There’re carbon fiber-backed Bride seats inside and custom DTC badging all around.

GREG CARLOSS: I normally wouldn’t ask this, but this car’s so awesome. Can I drive it?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Absolutely, let’s go for a ride

GREG CARLOSS: That, that sounds good. It is unique!

ANTHONY CASTRO: Again, it is a car tuned by SB Automotive, formerly Baker Performance. They tuned it for the car to make 650 horsepower.

GREG CARLOSS: Alright can I get into it just a little bit here?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Yeah, absolutely. Go ahead.

GREG CARLOSS: (laughing) Oh man, that’s good. That sounds so good, man.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Yeah, it sounds amazing.

GREG CARLOSS: So, do you ever give it a little bit of a workout? I know you said you don’t really drive it very often.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Maybe once in a while, I can definitely hear Andrew saying “alright go on! Go for it!”

GREG CARLOSS: That’s what Andrew would’ve wanted.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Exactly.

GREG CARLOSS: It feels good on the road.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Yeah and that’s one of the things that Andrew loved about when– when he was driving his GT-R. Middle of the night, nobody around, he would just go to the back roads and just enjoy his car. Again, this was his cure.

GREG CARLOSS: It’s an honor to drive it. I really appreciate you letting me do it.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Of course.

GREG CARLOSS: And, uh, we should probably park it before I get into any trouble, but one more time lets… Ok, I’m done. I promise!

ANTHONY CASTRO: No problem.

GREG CARLOSS: Though I never actually met Andrew, driving his car kind of makes me feel like I did. This car is Andrew Lee. And it will always be Driven to Cure.