As gear heads, we’re often referred to by friends and family as “car crazy.” The gear head evolves as his or her skills and budget allows, stepping through a number of stages, each with varying degrees of complication. What begins as an interest in cars evolves into a full-on, right foot down, vehicular lunacy. Most of us can easily admit to being a gear head. Some of us have no trouble tracing our gear head roots, but I’ve never seen it put into words, so this is my story. Maybe yours is similar?
Stage I – The Dreamer
Being completely car crazy starts with an interest in cars. Perhaps this stems from parents brilliant enough to provide their wee tots with toy cars from Matchbox, Hot Wheels, and Tonka. In any case, the transformation into gear head usually begins during adolescence, when the car presents freedom and independence.
The Dreamer finds himself sitting on the sidelines, watching the motorized world pass him by in an endless parade of unobtainable machines. This desire for personal mobility and difficulty in obtaining it results in a sort of passive obsession wherein the onlooker develops essential gear head qualities such as being able to spot exotics a mile away and relating features and benefits to anyone who will listen. As the dreamer approaches that glorious first day of vehicle ownership, he begins to narrow his search for a machine which will fit his budget on some level and his first steps down the path to insanity are taken.
My Dreamer Stage
Riding around in mom’s Plymouth Sundance (rebadged Dodge Shadow) and seeing all the other cars out there that were cool, but that I didn’t think would be too expensive for my first car. Yeah, I wanted the BMW or the Porsche, but I knew there was no way in hell I would be getting one while I was in high school. The deal was that my parents would buy my first car, but it had to be under $5000.
Once I had that dollar figure in my head, the hunt was on. This was back in the early years of the internet, when we had some now defunct brand of computer with a 25Mhz Intel chip in it and a Zenith 1200 baud external modem. In those days (God, I sound like an old man, don’t I?) there was no car shopping online. If there was, I didn’t know about it yet. I picked up Autotrader magazines at the gas station and trolled smaller used car lots looking for an awesome first car.
My first car was a 1988 Pontiac Grand Prix.
1988 was the first year of the front wheel drive Grand Prix and, although I was head over heels in love with the sleek, red coupe, the first lesson I learned about cars was never buy the first year of any major platform change, especially if you’re considering a GM product. My first car was more awful than awesome. (But I always appreciated my parents for getting it for me!)
I called it the “GeeP,” after the original Army Jeep, which was designated “GP” for general purpose and it was a turd. A transverse mounted 2.8L V6 that made 130bhp? C’mon. There were bizarre ignition problems, endless brake problems, and the thrill was gone. One day, I called the bank to get the payout so I could figure payments on a BMW 3-series I’d found in town and learned it was paid off.
The Beemer ended up being a mess, but inside of a couple months, I would walk into a Jeep dealership (on the list of Chrysler locations getting the boot recently, I might add) to order a new Wrangler. This was the place where I would come face to face with the car that would change my life forever.
So what about you?
What was your first car? Was it everything you hoped for? Was it the vehicle that got you into cars?
on May 19th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Awesome Driggsy!
I had 93 Eclipse, and it was ok, but I sold it for a 95 Neon base coupe. From the first time I put my right foot down, I was in love.
And as you know, it never really went away
2gnt still the best though
on May 19th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
my first car came to me at age 14. I was attending my uncle's wedding reception and I saw this shape sitting under a tree. I was in love immediately with a 1974 Datsun 610. $400 changed hands and I had my first car, a rusty non running old Datsun. Over the next two years I rebuilt teh car repairing the rust and changing the interior. it was a great car and lead to my Datsun disease.
on May 19th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Great article. I had to buy my first car myself, but that makes it all the more special. I've wanted a Miata since my senior year of high school, and so far its been everything I've hoped for.
on May 20th, 2009 at 6:06 am
It was my first go-kart, April 1974. Age 9. Hundreds of laps in the driveway. Learned all of the important mechanical skills on that one, such as “Is there fuel in the tank?” and the old “Hold this while I pull the cord, tell me if you feel anything” trick. The wind, the noise, the speed, the freedom. Years later, it was that same exact feeling storming the downhill at Lime Rock in my Reynard Formula Continental. Never gets old.
on May 20th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Thanks for the replies to Gear Head I, fellas. I really appreciate it!
We gear heads can always remember that first car – loved or hated – and if you look back at your past, you can see how that first infatuation would help to form the foundations of what you like – and don't like – in vehicles.
Tim started out in the cold, mechanical world of DSMs, but found a friend in the friendliest little car sold in the nineties, the Dodge Neon. Perhaps the Neon said, “Hi” to Tim and that was all it took to get him in the driver's seat.
Phil noticed a classic Datsun “resting” under a tree and was immediately smitten, learning early on to appreciate the vehicle, as he had to do the work to get it running again.
Derek had a long term attraction to the Miata. Some, myself included, might scoff at a guy being interested in a Miata, but when you combine the spirit of small, British ragtop motoring with Japanese reliability, what's not to love? (Maybe just the fact that I'm too big for one.)
Finally, Rob was exposed to open wheel racing at an early age. Without body panels and interior bits adding unnecessary weight to the machine, the little pull-start kart brought with it a taste of raw speed and power which is the stuff of which you never grow tired.
Each of us has different preferences. We've got reasons why we “play” with the cars we do, but we can recognize the similarities between us at the core. Somewhere, back in the day, there was that one machine that drew us in and we've been hooked ever since. From the sheer insanity of the Neon community, to the new classics from the pre-Nissan era, to the wildly popular roadster that started a renaissance worldwide, to literally being presented with the green flag from day one, there is commonality.
I think that's pretty cool.
on May 20th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
It was my first go-kart, April 1974. Age 9. Hundreds of laps in the driveway. Learned all of the important mechanical skills on that one, such as “Is there fuel in the tank?” and the old “Hold this while I pull the cord, tell me if you feel anything” trick. The wind, the noise, the speed, the freedom. Years later, it was that same exact feeling storming the downhill at Lime Rock in my Reynard Formula Continental. Never gets old.
on May 20th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Thanks for the replies to Gear Head I, fellas. I really appreciate it!
We gear heads can always remember that first car – loved or hated – and if you look back at your past, you can see how that first infatuation would help to form the foundations of what you like – and don't like – in vehicles.
Tim started out in the cold, mechanical world of DSMs, but found a friend in the friendliest little car sold in the nineties, the Dodge Neon. Perhaps the Neon said, “Hi” to Tim and that was all it took to get him in the driver's seat.
Phil noticed a classic Datsun “resting” under a tree and was immediately smitten, learning early on to appreciate the vehicle, as he had to do the work to get it running again.
Derek had a long term attraction to the Miata. Some, myself included, might scoff at a guy being interested in a Miata, but when you combine the spirit of small, British ragtop motoring with Japanese reliability, what's not to love? (Maybe just the fact that I'm too big for one.)
Finally, Rob was exposed to open wheel racing at an early age. Without body panels and interior bits adding unnecessary weight to the machine, the little pull-start kart brought with it a taste of raw speed and power which is the stuff of which you never grow tired.
Each of us has different preferences. We've got reasons why we “play” with the cars we do, but we can recognize the similarities between us at the core. Somewhere, back in the day, there was that one machine that drew us in and we've been hooked ever since. From the sheer insanity of the Neon community, to the new classics from the pre-Nissan era, to the wildly popular roadster that started a renaissance worldwide, to literally being presented with the green flag from day one, there is commonality.
I think that's pretty cool.