What spiked your passion for cars?

[oc-boxster]

Back in 1980 my dads best friend bought a brand new 1979 Ferrari 308 gts-I got to ride in that car on a regular basis and I fell in love with that car. From the sound of the engine, to the smell of the leather interior, and especially the stares from other cars. I was 8 then and promised myself I would have a "fast car" when I grew up. The best part about it, as of 3 weeks ago I am now the owner of that 1979 308 gts..that car will always be priceless to me

[dbear61]

Great topic and great posts from everyone. Looking at Johnny Danger's nanny, I think we all now understand why he is so enamored with speed yellow.

Special props to husker for his post. I loved my Dad, but he was no car guy. Oil changes and DIYers were to save money, not because he liked cars. In my memory growing up until I moved out, he owned a '58 Studebaker, '65 Chevy Bel Aire wagon, '72 Olds Townsman wagon, '72 Mercury Colony Park wagon (with a 460 cid engine, that's the closest he came to a "car" guy); a '78 Renault Le Car(my first stick) and an '82 Dodge Aries. I don't remember very many of his cars after I moved out, but none would stir any passion about cars.

What sparked me was when my neighbor's dad bought a new 1970 Mustang fastback (they were also the first in the neighborhood with a snow-thrower, so doubly cool). He (the kid, not the dad) and I started trekking to the auto dealer strip 2 miles away and grabbing brochures from all of them. We'd go to the loft in our garage and pore through the photos and dream about which ones we'd like to own ourselves. Fords, Mercurys, Chevys, Olds, Pontiacs, Dodges, Plymouths. There was an German import dealer in the strip, but they didn't have any cool cars in 1970.

In 1974, I stumbled on "Car and Driver" in the school library, and that really set the hook.

DBear

[Porsche Chick]

I think it's genetic. My grandfather invented/filed a of couple of patents for Opal, and loved his American Cadillacs dearly. I'm pretty sure he moved the whole family to this country to avoid paying the tariff to import them into Europe. My father used to drag his hotrod Chevy in the '60's, and is a driving instructor for a big European brand to this day. Both uncles also into cars. But nobody ever talked to me about cars, because, well . . . I'm a girl. So I listened and learned, without anyone noticing.

My high school friends included a group of boys that autoX'ed, and they were into cars. One boy had a gorgeous little Alpine Sunbeam (actually he had 2, one was for parts), another had a modified '65 Mustang, there were a bunch of big block Chevies in the group, too. I loved the sound of the V8's, and that sporty little roadster. Sadly, my boyfriend had a Bug. In those days, it wasn't really fashionable for girls to like cars, but I learned a lot listening to those guys.

Fast forward a few years and hubby bought me a brand new Celica for Christmas, a complete surprise. It was an awesome car, manual, with great torque and very reliable. I got so many speeding tickets in that car. But then kids and carpools came along and I was relegated to "practical" cars for too many years.

Now that the kids are driving themselves, I realized I could finally drive something fun again. The 6-month car search (FRS? Jag? Miata? Mustang?) is for another thread, but hubby repeatedly pushed me toward the Boxster, and I'm glad he did. Hubby has had a few Porsches over the years, but it's different now that it's my own. I enjoy driving it, posting about it, reading about it, and FINALLY talking about it.

[HAUSIDMT]

Back in the 70's, and early 80's, I grew up goin to my Uncle's PCar repair shop, watching my dad and cousin and other wrenches having fun working on Porsche's/VWs/BMWs/Mercs. Every now and again my dad or one of the other guys would say, "want to go for a test drive?" In which I would jump to the shotgun position and go for a spirited drive around the Asilomar in Monterey. I also remember sitting next to a 356 racer they had in the shop with dreams of racing at Laguna Seca.

Fast forward a few years and I remember my dad throwing and old VW motor at my brother and I. He said he needed it completely tore down. Our eyes got as big as the moon. We took any tool we could get our hands on and took that thing down as far as a 10 and 8 year old could. Summers after that involved my working at the shop with my dad and my brother with our cousin at his body shop. So in a way we were trained into loving cars and the mechanics behind them.

I also remember sitting in the truck with my brother. We were spouting off the makes of cars before we were even in school, as we drove around town with Dad.

Great memories!!!

[Porsche Chick]

I enjoyed reading all these posts, great topic RoadsideStig!

[RoadsideStig]

Thanks Porsche Chick, I didn't think it would get this many replies!

Thanks guys, really enjoyed reading the stories!