[jwasbury]

Matchbox and Hotwheels.

From as far back as I can remember I was car crazy. When I was young, I was able to identify almost any car from the rear at night by the tail lights with very high accuracy.

My Aunt would trade in for a new Cadillac every 2-3 years. I always loved visiting and checking out the new ride. This was during 70's full luxo boat era. Power everything, and ashtrays/cig lighters in every corner. My Uncle (other side of the family) had a 280Z when I was pretty young (later into BMW). Family folklore story is that I told my Uncle straight up I wanted the Z when he died...though I have no memory of saying it. Uncle still lives, but the Z is long gone (he drives a pick up these days)

There weren't any cool cars at my house growing up:

Dad is a total cheap@$$ and he buys cars and runs them a long time. I was 11 years old by the time we shopped for the first new car (that I could remember). Dad had absolutely no emotion about it. It was a "consumer reports" shopping process. Dad even drew up a decision matrix to help compare and contrast the various vehicles being considered.

I guess one cool thing is that there were no automatics in the garage when I was learning to drive.