Question of the Day: OK, Why Do You Love Cars?
If you're here, we'll just go and assume you love cars. Of course, there's that 0.5% of TTAC readers that hates cars. We know you hate Howard Stern, too. And your Sirius bill is late. But seriously, why? Why do over 20k of you come here every day to read the rantings and ravings of a bunch of OCD cases (sorry Robert) borderline personalities (sorry Justin) ripping the guts out of a handful of global corporations? Oh wait, that does sound like fun. But, you loved cars before TTAC, so why? Yesterday we learned that not only is the Vatican (essentially) calling driving a sin, but that scientists are telling us we have to reduce carbon output to zero. That's getting it from both ends as my old man used to say. And another thing: bio-deisel kills fish. Tadpoles, too. And why do we care about the middle east again? Oh yeah, oil. My point? There's a lot of negatives to this car thing. How do you justify your love? Or do you?
Cleanup driver for Team Black Metal V8olvo.
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I love cars because otherwise Deals Gap is a long, boring walk. BTW, QOTD needs its own link on the front page.
I've had the car bug since I was very small. My second memory is of riding in the car in my baby bassinet. I suspect that part of my love for cars--beyond the stuff I said above--comes from the fact that my parents worked a lot, and the times I got the most attention from them were the long drives--Seattle to LA and back when I was 3, Seattle to Menlo Park just before I turned 4, and then Menlo Park to Boston at the end of that summer, Boston back to Seattle when I was 7, Seattle back to Boston when I was 8, lots and lots and lots of trips in France and England when I was 12, followed by 3000 miles all over Europe for two months. I drive Boston to DC and back at least once a year, and despite the fact that it is definitely not the most inspiring ride, I'm always happy in the car. Like 97escort, those model year changes, for me beginning in the early '60s, were tremendously exciting. The '64 Chevies still feel new to me the way they did the first time I saw them. You can see more of why I love cars on my website, motorlegends.com
I have a picture of myself at 18 months behind the wheel of my dads '71 Volvo P1800 coupe manipulating the steering wheel and my obsession must have started then. It's only gotten worse since then and being a G-force addict only makes it worse. Smoking tires, taking corners at the limit, enjoying the amazing things cars do to your soul, the mechanics, simplicity(older cars), involvement in the motion, you name it I love it. Everything has negatives to go with the positives, not just cars. We just have to balance the good with the bad. Maybe if cars weren't appliances to so much of the population they would remember the great joys cars give that can out weigh the negatives. Life is more fun if your actually allowed to live it rather then pass through it as a spectator.
I don't know when I fall, I think it's in my blood. When I was a kid, one of my uncles was a drag racer, another was a rally racer, and the drag racer was also rebuilding a 72 Vette in the garage. I have been playing with cars since I was at least 2 years old... and continue :D Then I learned how to drive... and I couldn't go back... ever Cars are magic and complex machines. It's magic that every morning you turn a key and it comes to life, with all that termodinamic complexity. A diesel is even more magic, it ignites only with compression.