By: Sarah Summer 

When the world shut down in 2020, father and son Ruchin and Neil Kansal didn’t just pass the time with sourdough starters or streaming binges. They dragged a rusted $1,500 Acura Integra into their garage, armed with nothing but stubbornness, tools, and the hope of teaching Neil how to drive stick. What followed was a transformation — of the car, of themselves, and of their relationship — that spilled far beyond the garage and onto thousands of miles of open road. Now, their new memoir, The Kansal Clunker, captures the grit, the laughter, and the lessons of two epic road trips that sound ready-made for the big screen.

That memoir, The Kansal Clunker (out December 9), feels tailor-made for the big screen. It has all the elements of a road-trip movie: old cars that should never survive the journey, late-night repairs patched together with duct tape, landscapes stretching from mountains to coastlines, and a father–son bond remade by the road.

“This started as Neil’s dream to learn to drive stick shift,” Ruchin says. “We thought, why not buy a cheap old car and let him learn? We never imagined that a simple idea would lead to cross-country trips and eventually a book.”

From Garage Project to Epic Road Trip

The Kansals’ story begins with that battered Integra in the spring of 2020. While the pandemic upended daily life, the garage became a lifeline. They stripped the car down, rebuilt it piece by piece, and painted it lime green. What started as a teaching project quickly became a shared obsession.

At sixteen, Neil was not just learning how to drive a manual transmission. He was learning resilience. “Through building that car, I realized adventure lies in figuring things out as you go, even when you don’t have all the answers,” he told Authority Magazine.

When the project was done, the Kansals decided the car deserved more than a spin around the block. They pointed it toward Colorado’s Mount Evans, the highest paved road in North America. Over 5,000 miles later, they had proven the Integra could make it — and discovered how much a road trip can teach about grit, patience, and the meaning of family.

The Alfa Romeo Adventure

But they were not finished. In 2023, they upped the stakes. This time, a 1983 Alfa Romeo Spider with Cape Spear, Newfoundland — the easternmost point in North America — as the destination.

The Alfa was less forgiving. “Arriving at Cape Spear at sunrise felt like crossing a finish line we weren’t sure existed,” Neil recalls. “The Alfa gave us everything from leaky roofs in torrential rain to a burning intake hose outside St. John’s, and somehow we kept it alive with duct tape, tools, and sheer stubbornness. What could have been a disaster turned into the adventure of a lifetime.”

Ruchin admits he doubted the car would survive. “We had doubts that the Alfa would make it all the way to Cape Spear. But by the time we arrived, we had driven it through breathtaking scenery, torrential rain, quirky places like the world’s largest axe and covered bridge, ferries, roadside repairs, and 2,000 miles.”

It is easy to imagine these sequences playing out on screen: headlights cutting through storms, a breakdown at midnight, and finally the reward of that first sunrise at the edge of the continent.

More Than Cars

On the surface, The Kansal Clunker is about road trips in unreliable cars. At its heart, it is about the more profound lessons that came along for the ride.

“Standing at Cape Spear for the first sunrise in North America, despite every storm and setback, showed me that there’s always light waiting at the horizon,” Neil says.

For Ruchin, the sunrise sparked bigger thoughts. “The sunrise reminded me of what is constant and predictable in life. It also reminded me of the time I watched the sun rise in Japan, and how perspectives differ based on where one stands.”

And then there was the surreal weight of history. “Walking through Cape Spear’s WWII bunkers after driving 2,000 unpredictable miles in a 40-year-old Alfa was surreal,” Neil reflects. “These tunnels were built to face the threat of war, and here we were, just two travelers patching leaks and chasing sunrises.”

Lessons for Leaders

Beyond the travelogue, The Kansal Clunker doubles as a story about leadership and resilience. Ruchin, who has held senior executive roles at Deloitte and EY and now teaches at Seton Hall and Brown, sees the parallels clearly.

“What do car clunkers have to do with leadership? Plenty,” he explains. “They teach you to problem-solve under pressure, to improvise when plans fail, and to trust the people you are on the journey with.”

This angle makes the book versatile — equally at home with travel fans, business readers, and anyone who has ever dreamed of setting out on a road trip without knowing if the car, or the travelers, would hold together.

Critical Praise

Early readers have been emphatic.

Mona Verma, award-winning author, calls it “a gripping travel saga — lucid, vivid, and joyfully told.”

Steve Adubato, Emmy Award–winning anchor, says, “A powerful reminder that the toughest journeys teach us the most about leadership, resilience, and family.”

And Dr. Katia Passerini, president of Gonzaga University, highlights its broader message: “Through a father–son journey of resilience and trust, Ruchin and Neil show how learning across generations transforms families, communities, and organizations alike.”

Why It Feels Like a Movie Waiting to Happen

The Kansals’ memoir reads like a screenplay in waiting. A pandemic-era beginning in a suburban garage. The lime-green car that becomes a character in itself. The breathtaking vistas of Mount Evans. The storms that nearly sink the Alfa. The ferry crossings, the quirky roadside stops, and the sunrise at the edge of North America.

Add in the family drama, the lessons learned, and the humor of breakdowns and roadside fixes, and it is easy to picture a father–son road-trip film that is both heartfelt and cinematic. Think Little Miss Sunshine meets Ford v Ferrari with a touch of indie travelogue grit.

What’s Next

With the Kansal Clunker set to release in December, Ruchin and Neil are focused on sharing their story widely through interviews, podcasts, and events. They also hint that the Clunker tradition is not over. Whether or not another car enters their garage, their story has already proven that meaningful journeys often start in unlikely places.

As Neil puts it: “The true adventure lies in figuring things out as you go, embracing mistakes, learning on the fly, and growing through the process.”

For readers who love road-trip stories, memoirs about resilience, or the thrill of duct tape saving the day, The Kansal Clunker offers all of that — and a reminder that the journey is always more important than the destination.

The Kansal Clunker: The Car That Rebuilt Us – 

By Neil and Ruchin Kansal

Publishing December 9, 2025

Find it and follow their next adventures at: http://thekansalclunker.com