Driving around in style is easy for Ukiah High Senior Darren Bader with his Lexus Luxury Sedan 250 named Shelly.
Bader’s favorite thing about Shelly is the sunroof, “Because when the windows are down, the wind gets right in my face, so it messes up my hair. But with the sunroof open, it still gets air in, and I can either have it fully open or cracked.”
Along with the sunroof, Bader enjoys driving up the coast and back to Ukiah. Bader describes it as, “An escape from just everything. I can go where I want freely.”
Bader has many modifications he would like to make to the car in the future. At the top of his list of modifications is a GReddy exhaust, an air suspension, and new brakes. Bader comments, “I prefer style over performance when it comes to building cars, so I want to make it look nice … before even doing performance stuff.”
Bader isn’t Shelly’s first owner, though. The first owner was a wealthy woman who only used the car to drive back and forth from her home and workplace. The second owner was a fellow high schooler who needed a car to drive to and from school. After the second owner went to college, the family sold it to Bader.
A fond memory Bader has with Shelly was when he joined a Mendocino Car Cruise in the summer of 2024. During that cruise, a Porsche in the group blew a hole in its engine. While waiting for the Porsche to get towed, Bader found a great spot at a lighthouse to take photos. Because of experiences like these, Bader added, “I can just hang out with people and make new friends.”
Bader has a photography Instagram account where Shelly is a main feature, along with photos of racecars from Formula DRIFT, a professional drifting championship series that Bader frequently attends. You can find his page at @ncdrifting
Josette Mealey
Josette Mealey is currently a senior attending Ukiah High School. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry, playing video games, and reading about the world around her. Originally from Decatur, Illinois, Josette has loved the unique feel of Ukiah since she was six years old. In recent years, she has become interested in local politics and is an active member of her school and community. She is currently the president of the French Club, vice president of the Women’s Empowerment Club, and plays #4 singles for the Girls Tennis Team. This is her second year writing for UHS News.