For most of the general public, it’s safe to assume that in their lifetime they will own a total of 5 cars max per person, this is based on the very scientific method of talking to my non-car friends and asking them about their car buying history. For example, my fiancee’ has owned a total of 3 cars since she was 16 years old, not including the family hauler she drove while in high school. But for me, and I suspect for the rest of you, as a “Car Guy” I have a very different number indeed (my car number is indeed 21, btw, spread out among autos and motorcycles).
***Cranking up the soundtrack for this article, Don McLean – American Pie***
As a Car Guy, a Petrolhead, an Enthusiast; I love cars. And because I love cars, I want to experience cars. I want to experience more than one car, I want to experience them all. I can’t be happy just driving around in the same car for 10 years, bored out of my mind. No, I want to drive the fast cars, the fancy cars, the trucks, the off-roaders, the motorcycles. I want to experience the thrill of running a big V8 muscle car down the quarter-mile. I want to take a Jeep to it’s limits off-road and see just how far I can go before civilization is just a distant memory. I want to drive a Subaru STi down a dirt road at speeds that many would consider “reserved for a closed race course by a professional driver only”. I want to drive on a real race track at the limit and experience the thrill of taking a curve at greater than 55mph. And I want to ride a Suzuki Hayabusa to it’s near limits on a deserted highway at 2:00am (and immediately turn around and sell it because that was the stupidest thing in the world to do).
Granted, some of the vehicles I have owned have been pure impulse buys, which is a very dangerous and expensive proposition. But for the most part each one served a purpose for that time in my life and I am thankful to have owned them all, if only for a short time.
For Example: Left to Right (above):
1996 Ford SVT Cobra, 1997 Ducati 748, 2008 Yamaha Raider S,
1998 Jeep Wrangler, 1998 Camaro SS (bought from member Andrew M.), 2007 Subarbu STi
The experiences I had with each of those vehicles are things that I will remember for the rest of my life and they are experiences I might not have ever had if I didn’t buy #allthecars. Where a non-car person sees them as a mode of transportation, a way to get from point A to point B, car people don’t. Car people see them as extensions of ourselves and our personalities. Owning a car means freedom, it means being able to sneak out at night to go visit your girlfriend when you’re grounded (as long as you push it halfway down the block before you start it). It means being able to get out and enjoy a snow storm with your friends while all those unprepared non-car people shrink into the fetal position. It means I can do whatever I want as long as there’s fuel in the tank. A car means happiness, and I am glad that I have had so much happiness in my life.
I guess it would be unfair to mention my 21, without listing them… <thump thump thump> it just keeps going, and going and going…
What are some of the more memorable cars on YOUR list?
Leave your comments below. We’d love to hear about them.
#merrymotoring
