I was at an Autocross yesterday with my son, I had not been to this venue in 5 years so it was sort of a homecoming to me lots of old friends to say hello to etc...

Some guy walks up to me, he asks me what I did for a living. I told him I was a land surveyor. He tells me he remembers me from 20 years ago, I had come aboard a company where its partners were splitting way, he went with one me the other, we maybe overlapped as co workers for 1 week.

Then he said he remembered me from a college C.A.D. class we were both in. He continued to bad mouth my old boss pretty bad, and then bragged about how he is constantly cleaning up after the old firm now. He owns his own company now, like I do.

The crazy thing is I cannot for the life of me remember this guy. He doesn't even look familiar.

He seemed really cocky. He mentions he usually only does track days but a driving instructor recommended he try Autocrossing.

So there he was, he mentioned he has a Cobra Kit car (the funny thing is I had just told my son the day before I might look into one next year) but that he left it home on the lift.......

He was waiting for me to ask the question.

So I did.

So what did you bring to day, he points over my shoulder, A 2003 Ford GT. He never asked what I was driving just went on to tell me how he was on the waiting list 6 months before the car released etc....

I had to chuckle when I checked the results at the end of the day and he was almost 5 seconds behind me.


I walked away kind of bummed out, how could he afford such a car, he said his company was huge, but I have found the bigger the company the more expenses there are and the profit margin isn't all that great.

I muttered something out loud to my son, "man I must have done something wrong, I cannot afford a 300K car."

My son at 15 is wiser than most grown men. He says to me "How so? You debt free, I bet he is in debt up to his eyeballs".

That put a smile on my face.

But it still bothered me, I wish I had a Ford GT. I'll just keep pretending in my RX7.. ;)

You were 5 sec faster. Sounds like he was pretending in his 300k Ford.................

Does he have kids, a family, all those sorts of things?

Whenever I am with my dad and we see something really cool and super expensive (boat, house, car) he is always quick to remind me that if he didn't have kids he could have all that stuff. It really helps me to put into perspective how much my parents have given me and how much they must love me and how much I owe them. I can't even fathom the amount of money they have spent on me in the last few years, let alone the entire 20 I've been around. Hell, they've dropped $60k in the last two years on my tuition.

Just try and think about that Jim. However, if he does have the family and everything, well, you only have to get it right once to hit it big.

Why would it bother you that your son has more on the ball than a guy rolling in a quarter million dollar car?


Which would prefer to have, a Ford, or for that matter a Carrera GT that you don't have, or the son that you do?

Bigger is not always better. However, a wise man once told me that success was achievable by repetition of service. This guy had a commercial property management business and a huge number of small to medium sized units to look after. As we all should know, the turn over of such is pretty fast. Hence, the need for his constant service.

He has his own plane.

Maybe your guy has large accounts and they never ask the competition for a bid. That would explain his toys.

Let's go further: I don't think this kind of guy builds his own kit cars. When I go to any track or show with any car I own, I can say I built it from the first bolt (as far as improvements go). Knowing that, I don't give a second glance to kit Cobras, much less GT's.

Never measure the success of a man by the size of his wallet.

Far too often, wealth is perceived by possessions. Your son may have been spot on. Even if not, this braggart should reconsider his values system. He won't, but he should.

This is all that really matters!SmileWavy

If your 15 year old son is able to understand the difference between OWNING something and being able to AFFORD it, than you have done all the important things right. Hats off, he's better off than 90% of the population.

My wife and I have had many talks about our "friends" or "work friends" who almost always talk about themselves and never ask how you're doing. In the car world, I know too many people who have never asked about me or my cars. It's all about them. It's why I keep a very small group of people as close friends.

Maybe he sleeps in the Ford GT also ;)

This guy wasn't worth remembering 20 years ago and apparently still isn't.

Jim, that 1 statement SHOUTED volumes! I'll bet his DE instructor did not want this tool anywhere near another track event until he learned how to actually drive his car...poseur.;)

...must have really scared the poo out of the instructor.

I had TTOD until a National Champ ran in this:

http://automobiles.honda.com/s2000/

He got me almost 0.3 seconds too!!

I gave another S2000 driver that I was friends with and had not seen in a while a ride in my RX7 and that 180lbs of ballast for some reason made the car rotate better, and that run got me my best time.

Jake I agree, I taught him that. Cars in my opinion are wastes of money, I would never buy a "toy" unless I could afford to own it outright. No exceptions.

My 911, I paid cash for, I also sold it 2 years later for just about the same amount I paid for it.

My RX7 same deal I have owned it for 8 years now and its my go to toy for when I want to play car.

If I decide to pull the trigger on a Cobra kit, it will be cash, if I do not have the cash I will not do it.

I cannot put my finger on why this bothered me, maybe it was how cocky he came across, maybe he was proud of all he achieved, we all are to an extent I can accept that. I have to admit I was green with envy, I am a motorhead that is a car I love, it blew me away to see a peer in one.

He obviously plays the game better than I do, (maybe not) he claimed to be the go to sub for all the local municipalities. That takes a LOT of politicking, something I do not care to do, ever.

I still cannot figure out how he remembered me. I am a really quiet private person in day to day life. That kind of freaked me out a little.

Funny, I thought the same thing. I told him Autocrossing is awesome for learning car control, he balked at me, saying something about track DE's are where the real cars run or something along those lines and that any car good at this AX stuff would never keep up on a track.

At that point I thought the same as you.

I can't look into a crystal ball to say what kind of life I'll have in 15-20 years. Just the same, I'll offer you this:

If I have a Ford GT, I'll be proud. But if I have a 15 year old son who thinks like yours, I'll be way more proud.

Anyway, I understand where you're coming from, there's nothing worse than seeing a prick with something you'd like to have.

Maybe he's been raiding his business for personal gain?

we have one "big dollar" customer which always comes in our shop......has a loaded escalade for his gf (baby mama), another for his wife, has a viper, and who knows what else......he constantly brags about what he's got and could care less about anyone who can't do something for him.
he is a total tool and got where he is by working shady deals and scamming who knows how many people, people like that are the scum of this country imo.
morals? these people are selfish and don't know the meaning of the word.

jim it sounds like you and your son have it figured out and in all actuality are WAY happier than "mister needs to do an autocross before he gets back on track" guy :D

Guy sounds like a douche-bag.

Now, go get a pad of paper and a pen and write down all the things you are grateful for. You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel.