When did you become a car guy (or gal)?

[Noah930]

When did you become a car guy (or gal, for Dixie)?

This question was inspired by my 11-year-old just now. He's watching F1 clips on YouTube. We were talking about Suzuka (and Yuki) this weekend. So my little one (my son, not Yuki) just asked me at what age I realized I liked to watch auto racing. Which, I realize is a slightly different question from the one I posted: when you realized you were a car guy. He obviously realizes his interest is at least due to exposure from my interest. He realizes he plays with his toy cars whenever I turn on racing on the TV. So it got me thinking.

I've been a car guy from childhood. According to my parents, I've loved toy cars from the age of 2. As I got older, I could name all the different marques and models from the backseat as a kid. So my love for cars existed even before being able to drive.

But why? Why did I like cars from that early on? My parents obviously didn't share my interest. I didn't see cars as any representation of "freedom", such as when a 16-year-old gets a license. It wasn't the physical experience of driving, like we're always talking about regarding our 911s (and other cars, though usually to lesser degrees). Was it the look or styling? Even a blind person can discriminate that a 2nd generation Camaro is a prettier car than a Ford LTD or Dodge Diplomat. The sound? Not sure. Possibly. You've gotta make car noises when playing with toy cars, right?

Then, as I got older and was able to drive, there was the zoominess of driving. Driving just came easily. And it was fun. I can recall an article in Road & Track about racing. They interviewed various race car drivers about when they realized they "had it." I'm no Sam Posey, but I recall how he replied that when he was a kid, he wasn't the smartest kid in school or most athletic or best with the girls. But when he got into a car, it was suddenly he who was ahead of the pack, and everyone else who got left behind. In that same article, Paul Newman commented that he had tried other activities--skiing, ballroom dancing, tennis--but it was racing that made him feel graceful.

And so when/why did I come to like racing? I can remember watching Indy, when they didn't show the race live, but rather on tape delay on Sunday night. I can remember watching IMSA, NHRA, NASCAR, and even SCCA showroom stock on ESPN. Again, all before I knew how to drive. Was it the sport (competition) of it? The sounds? The look of the cars? The strategy of racing? I didn't have parents who liked any of this stuff or encouraged my interest. They thought it was all just a phase. And then of course, actually driving on a track (or even go karts) is ridiculously fun. OK, passing is fun. Getting passed, not as much. But cars and racing are things that have always quickened my pulse.

"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty." -P. Egan.

[thingmon]

Always have been. Probably due to Hot Wheels and Matchbox, then friends who treated Hot Rod and Car Craft mags like they were Playboys in the back of the bus (from an articles perspective, anyway).

[jhynesrockmtn]

1979, 16th birthday, 1st adult car book, 1st car

[Bill Douglas]

As a little boy we were a horse riding family. Just a good game plan to mix and mingle with the upper middle class boozing crowd.

Me, I was always into things made of steel. I made my own go-cart from bits in the shed at age 11 and had a motorbike, a car and a truck by 13.

Mom wasn't terribly happy at the time but it turned out to be a good thing to be a car guy. Thinking about it; my grandmother was a car person. She had all sorts of impressive cars, maybe the DNA came from her.


When I say car, this is what I meant by car.

[look 171]

Maybe 10? When I was old enough, I always sat up front with my father. Mon would do Ma things with my little sister in the back. I remember coming home from school one day. I turned dad's side view mirror to see the cars coming from behind so I can help him out on lane changes and call out the cars. This was a time where the right side mirror was just a simple mirror and not a fish eye mirror so he never used it. From that point on, I learned to read traffic and rules of the road. I couldn't wait to drive, even lie about my age in high school to get driver training, making it one step closer to getting my lic. The day I turned 16, dad and I drove to the DMV at 4pm waited in line to get my driving test. It was a different DMV back then. No real lines and much less people in LA compared to today. Driving and reading traffic came natural to me or maybe it was just paying close attention. Used cars came next and it was freedom only when they worked. Learned to fix what's broken and some upgrades to make them faster and or course handle better. From that point, it was all history and here we are today years later. Some of the guys I grew up with playing with cars and went racing had gown out of it year ago, gotten away from it and showed no interest in car whatsoever. I am the only one, got the 911 bug at 30.

[cantdrv55]

When I saw a 911T for the first time. I was 11 on my paper route in San Francisco. I thought it was a cool car and I hoped I’d own one someday. Took a little while and had several sports/sporty cars in the meantime. I started to wrench, had to wrench because I owned a Fiat X1/9. I was 18 then and broke. That thing was a blast but finicky as hell.

[cabmandone]

I was probably around 9 or 10. I used to love the 55/57 Chevy as a kid.

[NY65912]

At birth. Seriously, played with cars almost exclusively, except for the ballistic missile set I got at six.

[David]

I've always been mechanical. My mom bought me a broken vacuum as a toy when I was around 3. I just loved taking the pieces apart and putting them back together. Then came bicycles, then motorcycles and then cars. Unfortunately my father died when I was 5 so I didn't get the chance to grow up with a car guy to support my interests but my mom did pretty well with what she could. She took me to a motorcycle shop when I was around 5 and asked if they could ride me around the parking lot on a motorcycle. Mom was pretty hot so of course they were more than happy to put me on a motorcycle tank and ride me around . I have various other stories like that about mom, unfortunately she couldn't or wouldn't afford to buy me motorcycles and go karts and all the things I desired in my youth. I've made up it for tho!

[stevej37]

1972 (19 yo) My first car was a blue 66 Chevelle with a 283 and power-glide tranny. (tranny sucked)
Still have the book.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

That brings back a lot of memories.

My Dad and his brother were car guys in California in the '40's, 50's and 60's.

I would stay with my Uncle when we went to the Bay Area...his ride that I got to ride in:





They were into all things mechanical, boats, motorcycles, etc. They would build a car from other cars: Lamson Road, Castro Valley:





It was great.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by David

I've always been mechanical. My mom bought me a broken vacuum as a toy when I was around 3.

Moms are so insightful. As a young man, mine summed it up with "Put a piece of sandpaper in his hand and he's happy."

Buddies talked cars in the late 60's when I was 12/13. Just progressed from them the regular way back then. Then saw the doctor's 912 on my paper route in maybe 1969 and that seriously messed with my head. Seeing first Turbo Carrera in print in maybe 1976 set the hook permanently for Porsche.

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by Noah930

When did you become a car guy (or gal, for Dixie)?

I got into cars to define my teen identity. I started high school timid, rather homely, and feeling invisible. What I wanted to be was hot, desirable, and beautiful. I reakoned since NASCAR, drag racing, and car themed movies all featured big haired beauty queens in mini skirts, car culture could somehow transform me from Olive Oil into Linda Vaughn. So I started hanging around a guy down the street who had just gotten an old Mach 1. That eventually led to my getting folded into the car crowd, and things went from there.

I'm pretty sure cars really had nothing to do with my fleshing out, but even to this day driving certain cars make me feel sexy, cool, and sassy. I also learned a lot about cars through my journey. Not that it's of much use. I've learned guys respond best to my asking if their car, whatever it may be, has a hemi.

[GH85Carrera]

I started reading car magazines my older brother had bought. My parents saw cars as big expensive appliances that have to be parked outside at the curb. In 1966 my dad decided we needed a new family car. I immediately turned into a pest and begged him to look at getting a 911. He actually relented, and I squished myself in the back seat as he took it for a test drive with the salesman in the passenger seat. I thought it would be the perfect family car for a family with two teenage boys! I was in love.

To my great sadness he bought a 67 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with a 425 cubic inch engine. It had great AC and in hindsight I have to admit a better car for a family with teenage boys with legs.

When I turned 15 & 1/2 and foresaw the day I could get my license I asked dad what car he was going to buy for me. He laughed, and said I was going to pay for my own car, and 100% of all costs, except insurance. He did give me an interest free loan of $600.00. I found a 1960 VW bug with a ground pounding 36 HP when it was new 100,000 miles ago. I learned to work on my own cars, and really got into reading all the great car magazines of the day.

In 1974 I bought my first Porsche, a 1974 914 2.0. I started autocrossing and spent all my income on tires and gas and parts and had no money for bad habits. I wanted a 911, but they were just out of reach money wise.

[masraum]

My love for cars was inspired early on. Dad was a gear-head.

The earliest memories I have of cars include my dad having an MG Midget in '73 or so (in one of the photos). He also had a special Nova with a big block for a short period. I think that was about it for him and interesting cars until I was much older. Prior to that he'd had lots of interesting cars, from drag/muscle cars to sportscars. I remember him mentioning dreaming of owning a Maserati from time to time over the years. The car that he bought once I got a bit older was an '82 Corvette (Corvettes being another car he'd wanted since he was young). Before I was born, he'd make extra money buying cars, fixing them and then selling them. My first car when I was 16 (1986) was a 1965 Chevy Impala 2dr with a 350, 4spd.

Growing up, I had a huge collection of Matchbox and Hotwheels and plenty of other larger toy cars. I remember owning a remote control 935 and an RC Detomasa Pantera.


I was obviously a prodigy, helping at an early age.




You work with what you've got.


I don't remember these, but I had the coolest curtains ever, Grand Prix!

[IROC]

A lightly-wrecked Austin Healey 3000 followed my dad home one day around 1968-1969. My dad fixed it and it was our 'family car'. My sister and I rode in the rear jump seats. I was 4-5 at the time. I sort of became a "sports car" kid at that point.

Then we moved to Speedway, Indiana in 1973 and I became completely immersed in racing and cars in general. We lived about a mile from the track and I knew drivers of the day, went to school with kids who's dads raced (Bill Vukovic). We lived in an apartment briefly when we first moved there and Gordon Johncock was staying in the apartment next to ours for the month of May. He used to stand out in the parking lot and talk cars with my dad. Different world back then.

[Rtrorkt]

I clearly don't remember but legend from my dad is my first word was car, not mom, not dad, car

[A930Rocket]

Probably around 10 or 11 years old. I used to try and draw pictures of race cars, and I had a lot of hot wheels cars, that I still have and matchbox cars. Nobody else in my family was a car nut. I used to watch drag racing on wide world of sports. It was the only way to watch racing on TV back then. My parents bought a 74 beetle and I tinkered on that until I got a 69 GT6 in 1976. Couple years later, I bought a 69 TR6, followed by dozens of sports cars. Pretty much a Porsche guy, since 1995.

[wdfifteen]

I think I became a car guy when I was about 8. I built a cart out of wood and rode it down a hill next to our milk house. The hill was probably 12 feet from end to end, but it was steep. The two things I learned were that bailer twin isn't a good steering medium and when you make axles by driving lag bolts into 2x4s the axles and the 2x4s don't last long.
After that, there was a long period of fascination with lawn mowers because they had engines. I built a badass 20" push mower by bolting 6 or 8-inch wheels on it (it came with little 4 inch wheels).
I bought a go-cart with a REO lawnmower engine on it, which I immediately modified by drilling out the carburetor venturi from whatever it was originally to a size that only worked when the throttle was wide open. From there it was to a racing cart with a McCulloch chain saw engine that I managed to modify to the point of destruction.
I did own an actual car when I was about 10. A cow dropped a sick bull calf during planting season and, being a bull calf, it wasn't worth my dad's time to care for it. I raised the calf to about 500 pounds and dad traded it to our neighbor for a 1953 (or so) Henry J sedan. I drove the Henry J around the farm a little, but it didn't figure large in my quest toward being a Car Guy.

[RANDY P]

My whole family is likely regretting my Grandma buying me that electric green 75 El Camino hot rod toy - you know the one with the zipper thing you pull and it spins a wheel at the bottom so the car goes?

Then there was the late 70s' Road and Track subscription my uncle got me. Ruined- for life. I knew what a Bricklin SV was before I was 12. Money go bye-bye.

Moral of the story: If you see your kid playing with a toy car (or a boat) STOP THEM. If you don't, they will never, ever have money.


rjp