DARE car will be a custom ride

POST FALLS – When Post Falls police Lt. Greg McLean went to Ed Quist with questions about customizing his ride, the automotive specialist knew exactly what to do to catch the eye of the lieutenant’s target audience.

Aiming to appeal to the teen set, the Police Department’s soon-to-be automotive ambassador for the DARE anti-drug program – a 2004 Chevy Cobalt donated by Knudtsen Chevrolet – will receive a cosmetic upgrade before its unveiling in the city’s June parade.

“You can tell what they like,” said Quist, owner of Q’s Custom Rods ‘n’ Rides in Post Falls. “Most of the kids today like to see the drifter cars,” he said, referring to the street culture of highly customized cars that have been made even more popular by several major motion pictures and TV shows.

Eclipsed by the Kootenai County DARE program’s monster truck, the Coeur d’Alene program’s SUV and the Rathdrum program’s stylized Blazer, Post Falls’ old DARE-mobile isn’t exactly the ideal vehicle to stoke kids’ excitement when cruising up to a school. For more than 15 years McLean has been driving a circa-1990 minivan, which had been appropriated in a drug raid.

“The van is falling apart,” McLean said. “Driving it around from school to school is about as far as you’d want to go. … The van has done its deed for the years we’ve had it.”

So the Police Department turned to the Knudtsens for help.

“They came to us, and they were wide open,” said Eve Knudtsen, co-owner of the dealership. With the donated Cobalt, valued at $20,770 and a popular line at the dealership, the Knudtsens were able to support a valuable community-awareness program for years down the road.

“It’s great,” Knudtsen said. “We have a great working relationship with all” city departments, “and I’d say especially with the police.”

The car also is much-appreciated by those who’ll drive it.

“It’s wonderful,” McLean said. “They’ve been very supportive of the Police Department and program for some time.”

Though the Cobalt is relatively new off the assembly line and doesn’t yet have an extensive customizing collection, the specialists at Q’s have come up with a few ideas that are sure to turn some heads.

“It will look good for the kids,” Quist said. The touch-ups include new wheels, some custom decals with the DARE emblem riding high on the hood, ground effects under the chassis and several other bolted-on bits.

“It’s something exciting for the kids to see,” McLean said. “I think it’s going to come out really nice.”