Why Do You Love Cars?

[Ryguytoodry]

Recently I hit a motivational wall. I spend so much money and so much time on my car, and it's just sitting in my driveway. I can't drive it, start it, all it does is sit. Sure I work on it and spend hours a week on the phone trying to find out when back ordered parts are coming in. Sometimes I even sit in the drivers seat and imagine what it will be like when it's finally finished, but I guess it wasn't cutting it. All it took was my friend finishing his car a couple days ago to get me back in love with these big chunks of metal, dollars, and blood. The first time we started it since being in parts for years, he could do nothing but smile. Then I realized, this is why I do it. One day the car will be done, and it will probably be one of the greatest moments of my life. The smell of burnt tires and old engines, the stutter-like sound from a huge cam, the looks people give you when you show up in a car pushing 50 years old, its all part of it. Not a lot of people understand why I do it and it's hard to explain to them. Maybe you guys get me, I don't know.

-Ryan

 

[krowbar]

We all seem to have the 'bug'. Each to a different degree. I love the nostalgia,sound,smell,beauty and down right evilness of some. It takes me back to days of cheap gas and just driving and having fun in my ride. The days of cheap gas are long gone,but it's the feeling of freedom I guess. I love being able to work on just about anything on my vehicles without having to hook a computer up to the computer on the car and let the computer tell me what is wrong. It's becoming a lost art to have and work on these old monsters. I love going in my shop and smelling the faint vapors of raw and spent fuel, grease and the remnants of rubber on the insides of my wheel wells. I remember in the 1st fast and furious movie when the guy with AD/HD said why he was into cars....."It just calms me down"... Until I get pissed and make a new wall decoration with a wrench. I just have a passion for the stuff.

 

[Dennis H]

First ex is gone. Coronet is still here.

 

[Bruzilla]

That's an interesting question, and an important one. Perhaps the most important one. After 30 years in this hobby, I've seen a lot of great project cars hit the road, but I've seen more hit the wall in a driveway or backyard and go nowhere, and I think the question you ask has a lot to do with that.

I'm thinking too many guys get fixated on impressing others more than themselves, or let the ideals of others drive their own decision making. This problem is especially acute when it comes to restorations. I think most guys like the sights, sounds, smells, and road feel of getting out in an old car and driving it. You're thinking about the sound of the engine, the vibrations coming through the wheel, the looks you get, the tunes on the stereo, etc., you're not thinking about how awesome the car will look sitting in a perfectly lit, environmentally-controlled, museum-like storage area where it will be judged on the merits of its restoration. And yet how many folks in this hobby end up spending themselves into failure because they haven't aligned their desires with their project and go broke trying to make a perfectly restored museum piece when what they actually wanted was something nice to drive around in?

100 point restorations are a wonderful thing it you're looking to build a car that's going to spend its future hanging out in car museums or car shows, but these cars have little practical value. Once you get a car perfect, it immediately starts becoming imperfect as age, driving, and environmental factors start attacking it again. And there are lots of guys who feel their car just has to be perfectly restored before they'll be happy with it, which is fine. But if your goal is to be out on the road, focus on getting the car out on the road and don't waste a ton of time and money restoring the car as this is the most frequent points of failure with car projects. If a non-original, incorrect, part gets you back on the road within your budget, use it!

 

[djais1801]

agreed...we all love cars at the root of it...some people agree on how to express their love, and some don't and that's okay...some think they should be museum pieces down to the nut/bolt (this is my uncle) who is a GM guy, and has trailer queen Top Flight cars: 1962 Imala SS409 convertible 4spd; 1954 Vette NCRS Top Flight; 1967 Stingray convertible NCRS Top Flight; 1969 Camaro Z28 396 car; Porsche 930 Turbo convertible...BUT He never drives any of them...they are on lifts in his garage, and has recently caught the "boat" bug (39ft Sutphen w/ twin 500 hp motors) so they're forgotten...it kills me that they are not out in the public to be appreciated...but that's his idea of love. Mine is to drive them, smoke the tires, turn up the music, stare back at it as I walk away from it...etc.

 

[99ss]

They represent freedom to me.

 

[Budnicks]

I'm a motion & speed junky, I love the feel of driving a powerful car, especially a 60's era Muscle car... It's form over function, as long as the car is not a pile of rust, if it drives good & is relatively dependable, safe & fun to drive, that's more important to me... I think they are like a beautiful woman, I can't take my eyes or thoughts away from them, they are truly works of automotive art... It makes me feel young maybe, yearning for that feeling of my ill spent youth, I love the style of cars, some people collect jewelry, some collect art, some collect sports memorabilia, some would rather invest their hard earned money in Real-estate or Property, some also a big fancy house... I'm just fine with an affordable & comfortable house, in a nice area & an old muscle car Hot-rod & my 99 4x4 Dakota daily driver, sitting in my garage or the POS F350 4x4 tow-rig I hate, but is good for it's purpose.... I get bored with projects after they are done, I'm on my 60th or so race or project car over 39 or so years now, started with my 1st 68 Charger R/T @ 15 y/o... My step father was a racer, I blame him...LOL... I was hooked on go-carts, mini-bikes & then motorcycles, long before cars... I also think it's kind of because the thrill of the hunt is a big part of the muscle car, collector car or even race car or motor driven "anything" hobbies, because they are never truly done, your always hunting for something or working on something, creating something cool, in your own mind... Maybe it goes back to the caveman mentality of being a hunter &/or gatherers... To me it's the love of the cars, I love looking at them, I sometimes like working on them, I really love driving them & it's worse than any drug, it's very addicting, sometimes very expensive too @ certain levels... Sometimes I just can't leave well enough alone... The problem is I want way too many/much & have way too little....

 

[Richard Cranium]

I guess we've all got to be into something for a hobby & cars, especially Mopars, did it for me. It's been that way since I bought my first car, a 1969 318 Charger in 1975 & there has only been a short period of time in the early 90's where I was actually "carless".

 

[ZR9B]

I have had mopars since I was 16 (1982) and have loved all of them...I think why I love them is because I have 4 older brothers that had hot rods/ muscle cars and I watched them build them up from nothing to be what they were. I can remember going to church in a 66 mustang 390 4sp. out of my 4 brothers only 1 has a hobby car 58 vette that hasn't moved in 20 + years so it looks like I still have the bug.

 

[69roadr]

its not just cars, i love anything with wheels and a motor. thanks to my dad for introducing hotwheels, matchbox, model kits and go-karts when i was a tike. i think it is the mechanics of it all put together.

 

[Moparsmitty]

Years ago I thought that the ultimate thing would be to own a half-million dollar, 100 point, Hemi Challenger, Charger or watever. I don't think that so much anymore. I don't have any problem with guys that own or want to own a car like that, it's just not for me. I have a lot more fun driving and wrenching on my old Belvedere that's probably worth south of 15K. There are lots of reasons that I love that old Bel but it's probably mostly nostalgia. These were the kind of cars I drove in my youth. They weren't new cars and they weren't perfect cars but I loved them.

 

[pabster]

Great question. I'm on the side of appreciating cars for their feel, their look, their sound, their SOUL. I've never restored a car, so I don't have the perspective of pouring blood, sweat and tears into my ride, but I can't get enough of everything about vehicles. For me, the number one thing is driving. I've loved to drive ever since I tore around rural Wisconsin in a beater Volare at 13 with no license, up to driving transit buses for 4 years, to owning my Charger and everything in between. I think driving is one of the most complex and challenging sides of modern life, and to do it well and focus on always doing it better is a great part of living in these times. Add to the driving experience a car that feels right- no matter what reviews or other people say, that's pretty amazing too. I can't get over that of the 4 cars I own now, my Charger handles the worst on the road. And yet I enjoy driving it the most by far. That means to me that a car is more than how it performs, how fast it goes, and more about the feel, the sound, that indescribable joy we all get when everything clicks and all is right with the world when you're in the driver's seat. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.

See y'all on the road!

 

[Durandal25]

....for me, the car represents America and the passage of time. I get in the car, shut the door and go back in time. The view from the drivers seat is like looking through Ray-Ban's....all the time, knowing the car is always going to be cooler than the guy's next to you....always.

 

[fla 66 cuda]

I came from a family that had no mechanics or car buffs, my father was hooked on NASCAR but other than that nobody. I was always interested in mechanical stuff since I was young I suppose it was the neighbors who moved in next door that built and raced 55/57 Chevys at the local circle track that got me infected with the automotive bug, after they moved the neighbors at the other end of the block started building Mini Stocks out of Anglias [harry potter ones] and Cortinas both types of cars I learned to drive in and I was on the pit crew. My first car was a 68 Roadrunner 383/4 speed car and a 72 Grand Torino Sport 429/auto, I have had my share of cars since. I'm not a numbers matching full museum restoration type guy, I build my cars to my liking and to be driven [working man builds], my thought is we are all caretakers of pieces of history to be shared with others, it is a shame that our hobby is slowly passing away due to some of our younger generation is not interested in these amazing pieces of American car history or their preservation. After my family this is the most important thing in my life, I live every week for the Friday, Saturday night car cruise ins and shows!!!!!!

 

[shorty64]

What a group of insightful, well said tributes to why we do what we do!
Don't think I can add much to what has been said except for in my case, I was never the artsy creative type. So working on cars was very satisfying given you did something and made the car better, faster, mellower, functional, YOURS, etc.

Plus, the absolute freedom of having wheels in the early years says it all!

 

[Budnicks]

agreed...we all love cars at the root of it...some people agree on how to express their love, and some don't and that's okay...some think they should be museum pieces down to the nut/bolt (this is my uncle) who is a GM guy, and has trailer queen Top Flight cars: 1962 Imala SS409 convertible 4spd; 1954 Vette NCRS Top Flight; 1967 Stingray convertible NCRS Top Flight; 1969 Camaro Z28 396 car; Porsche 930 Turbo convertible...BUT He never drives any of them...they are on lifts in his garage, and has recently caught the "boat" bug (39ft Sutphen w/ twin 500 hp motors) so they're forgotten...it kills me that they are not out in the public to be appreciated...but that's his idea of love. Mine is to drive them, smoke the tires, turn up the music, stare back at it as I walk away from it...etc.

what a shame to own all those great cars & not even drive them... I too love the 100pt concourse type cars too, but if I actually ever had one, I would do like Jay Leno says, "restore it to a 100 pt-er & drive it back to a 70 pt-er, then start the process all over again"...

 

[99ss]

what a shame to own all those great cars & not even drive them... I too love the 100pt concourse type cars too, but if I actually ever had one, I would do like Jay Leno says, "restore it to a 100 pt-er & drive it back to a 70 pt-er, then start the process all over again"...

x2

 

[djais1801]

believe me...i OFFER to stretch their legs all the time!

x2

 

[Pops1967GTX]

My earliest memoirs of my love for cars started when my dad let me sit on his lap, trying to drive a Buick wildcat.. I couldn’t even reach the pedals or steer really good....But that feeling started.... Then with a few good movies about cars I was hooked.....I been driving fast & fixing my car ever since........

A car is more than transport to me....I don’t mind admitting that I used to just sit & look at her for a couple minutes before getting in. My first car, 1971 Dodge charger R/T440 magnum 4speed....I had a car I could be proud to drive around in. The best time of my life was driving in my teens with a bunch of my friends cruising the street for no reason....

 

[76 Doba]

Don't give up. I'd like to have a bunch of pristine show cars of my choosing, but just having something to drive is nice.