What cars made you passionate about them

[maxburn]

Hey guys just thought it might be fun to show my dads old car. He used to work on it pretty much every weekend and taught me about engines and how to maintain them. Without this car and my dad's passion for cars I'd be a lot different. I know a lot of people have similar stories and I'd like to know what cars got you into them.

 

[IJ.]

For me it was anything with an engine I could make faster

 

[maxburn]

That's a really good point haha

 

[IJ.]

Been playing cars for 37+ years now, before that it was motorbikes and toys

 

[MkIII FTW]

I grew up the son of a master mechanic. We own a race shop and my dad has been building cars for the last 40 or so years. That's where I got started. The light bulb moment was when I got my 1964 Impala SS. I think I was 8...I haven't looked back since.

 

[aixgelo78]

Back in the early 90's, I wanted to drop a 3000gt TT drivetrain into a bubble back civic, ended up with a bubble back civic b18c back in the mid to late 90s...

 

[suprarx7nut]

I grew up in the fast and furious generation, but I'd say gran turismo helped get me obsessed.

Never had a family member persuade me, but my dad taught me how to change oil and basic stuff. He also bought the majority of my basic tools.

I loved supras, rx7s, vipers, etc as a kid. Just anything fast or sexy. I'm a tinkerer so I think it was inevitable that I end up a car guy.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[Dirgle]

My grandfather raised me, and he was a mechanic for the county. So the last thing he wanted to do was wrench on his own stuff after work. So I was conscripted to do the oil changes and tune ups as soon as I could put enough torque on the oil pan bolt. Everything in my little town, in the middle of nowhere Colorado, was V8, carbureted, and domestic. Fuel injection was witchcraft. Then my grandfather brought home a 1984 Mustang SVO. A turbocharged, intercooled, fuel injected 4cyl. My head was spinning trying to figure the ins and outs. That little jewel, even though it was a mustang, was what got me passionate about cars. They went from being a weekly chore to something more.

 

[Silver MK3]

My grandfather raised me, and he was a mechanic for the county. So the last thing he wanted to do was wrench on his own stuff after work. So I was conscripted to do the oil changes and tune ups as soon as I could put enough torque on the oil pan bolt. Everything in my little town, in the middle of nowhere Colorado, was V8, carbureted, and domestic. Fuel injection was witchcraft. Then my grandfather brought home a 1984 Mustang SVO. A turbocharged, intercooled, fuel injected 4cyl. My head was spinning trying to figure the ins and outs. That little jewel, even though it was a mustang, was what got me passionate about cars. They went from being a weekly chore to something more.

Nice, I liked the "Fuel injection was witchcraft."

For me it was probably my Dad's cars he had when I was real little, an MGB I believe, a Datsun 280z, and then a 69 Ford Torino GT that he still has today. I barely remember working on the first two with him a little bit, and definitively remember the Torino since he still owns that one. Then I got my Supra and have been a car guy ever since.

 

[suprarx7nut]

My grandfather raised me, and he was a mechanic for the county. So the last thing he wanted to do was wrench on his own stuff after work. So I was conscripted to do the oil changes and tune ups as soon as I could put enough torque on the oil pan bolt. Everything in my little town, in the middle of nowhere Colorado, was V8, carbureted, and domestic. Fuel injection was witchcraft. Then my grandfather brought home a 1984 Mustang SVO. A turbocharged, intercooled, fuel injected 4cyl. My head was spinning trying to figure the ins and outs. That little jewel, even though it was a mustang, was what got me passionate about cars. They went from being a weekly chore to something more.

Where in Colorado?

 

[Midwest_Mudder]

my dad raced dirt oval stock cars back when i was little, he raced the friday/saturday night before my brother was born (sunday round noon), moms got pictures all over of my dad and i in the race care, around the race car, at the track, but she still says she "hates racing".

 

[Dirgle]

Where in Colorado?

Little town called Craig. Very northwest corner of the state. West of Steamboat Springs.

 

[te72]

Little town called Craig. Very northwest corner of the state. West of Steamboat Springs.

No kidding... I'm up here in Rock Springs (WY), might have to meet up one of these days man. Not the best of times for road tripping due to the weather at the moment, but this summer I'd love to head down to Moab and through Douglas pass again...

As for me on the original subject, I loved racing games as a kid, at least once the PS1 era arrived. Ridge Racer... doubt many people could have touched me on that one. Destruction Derby, Wipeout, Cruisin' USA, Gran Turismo, Midnight Club, etc, etc... However, it wasn't until a buddy of mine took me for a ride in his Z31 Turbo that I ever caught the bug. I had raced him before (in my old crapbox Cavalier), but I never really understood WHY it was so much faster than mine.

Then there was the old guy who came into our Blockbuster all the time, had an old E-Type, and took me for a ride in his shiny new WS6 Trans-Am... that thing was nuts. Set off my F-body fascination actually...

And then... my buddy Andrew with his 90 Turbo Targa. 7m, had the RS*R exhaust, a Mitsu T6-20g turbo (at least I think that was the spec??? it's been 10 years now..), quite possibly the most fun I've ever had in someone else's car.

From there, a buddy of mine picked up a T2 FC Rx7. I loved that car...

But you know... I think it might have been the C5 Corvette that set off a dream, and NA Miata that set off a reality, of owning cool cars. Almost bought a C5, but financials weren't in order enough (for the best I think), and I'm on my third Miata now, sooo yeah. You could say I'm addicted.

 

[gtsfirefighter]

My dad owned and operated his own bodyshop so I was around different cars a lot growing up. The car that really got the juices flowing was, believe it or not, was my sisters 1978 Oldsmobile Omega. Red with a half white vinyl top and a 307 4bbl V8. This was 1982 when she had that. Became a big fan of Olds after that, especially the Cutlass, later the Toronado. My sister later had an 82 L-Type Supra. Now that's when I fell in love with Toyota.

 

[Grandavi]

My first car was a 1972 Toyota Corolla (well.. officially it was a 1969 Chev Belaire that I got running properly and totaled off before 3 months with my new driving license.. so I don't really count it).

I had no idea that the Corolla was a tiny 1200 cc motorbike with a car frame so I didn't understand any limitations. This was in 1979 so things were different and traffic was far far less than today. I raced everything I could find with that little car and everyone thought I had something special in it. All I had was oversized BF Goodrich Radial T/A's (my dad used to harp on me about putting tires that cost more than the car on it, but... "wheels make the car") and a good clutch. Even raced a 73 vette with it (took him off the line.. but that was it... lol). Rebuilt the engine to find that I "ice cream coned" the pistons, so bored it out, got new pistons, bearings, seals, etc.. and did all the work myself (no training and I wasn't smart enough to know I was stupid.. lol). So... first day out after breaking in the engine (about a week later) I take it out and up to its top speed of 92 miles per hour (no way it could ever go faster.. ) and then I hear a funny noise. After a week of searching, I pulled the engine, flipped it over and voila! reversed thrust bearings. Then it dawned on me that I had the bearings laid out and when I turned from the bench to the engine I forgot that I had the right-left and left-right... so the bearing surface was against the block instead of the crank. Popped a 1200.00 crate engine into it and I was back in business (thanks, Dad for understanding.. lol). I then did the entire interior myself (forced myself on an upholstery shop and learned the trade to do this) and had a guy do a Monarch wing paint design on the car. It glowed.

I dumped 14,000.00 into that car in total and it was a gorgeous little car. Drank a lot in it, sped a lot in it, had more tickets than you would ever believe for both (but no .08's.. and the "don't drink and drive" back then meant "... cause you might spill".) In the end I sold it to a friend for 4500.00 and he enjoyed it to death.

I learned that cars are not investments at that point and although I continued with Toyotas (2 more Corollas, 5 Celicas) I never had the guts to go back and do mechanical builds (still don't). When the 1985.5 Supra came out, I fell in love with the car but at that point was a single dad with 2 daughters to take care of, so I opted for something more practical.. a 1980 Celica (which I totaled off in the end at high speeds on rain slick roads... and should have died.. but didn't). In the end, I remarried and ended up with 6 kids to raise so gave up my dreams of a Supra until a few years back. I decided that we have 2 boys left at home and I could get myself my Supra I passed up on. Hunted for 2 years and could not find a proper MKII. Happened upon the 1988 MK3 with the targa top (bonus!) and turbo (more bonus!) and haven't looked back. Now... Im a lot older, wiser and have watched friends build muscle cars up to glorious ground thumping potential so the car gave me 2 things I wanted. Freedom and power. Plus I again have a unique beast to throw onto the road again.

I could never go MKIV because that would be more towards what someone as old as I am "should drive" as a sports car. The MK3 is more anti-earth keeper, more unique, less euro and the long front end is so damn nice!

Its funny that I used to think of my Corolla as I do my Supra. I miss that car, but its always been Toyotas that have impressed me. Ignoring all the market press about "this is unsafe" and "this is going to fail" and "how could Toyota do this"... all of their cars have been well thought out and built tremendously well. I now have 2- 2000 Toyota Tundras (my 2 boys drive them until they can buy them off me), a 2005 Sienna (Chrysler minivans have nothing on this.. drives like it did new) and 2 MK3's. (and a 1977 Ford E300 26' motorhome.. lol).

I don't know if Im just "Toyota stupid" but I cant think of a nicer car than the MK3. It may just be my brain telling me that is so damn pretty, but I can just stare at it and be satisfied. Driving is just a bonus.

 

[honeydew]

My brother wanted to go to the AutoShow every year and our dad would take us. Dad wasn't much of a car guy but had an affinity for the E-type. I liked to put the family Taurus and Topaz sideways in the rain and snow. My Husband owned a 1991 TSI AWD Talon, with a few mods**. I was hooked after that. Since then it's been a B18-20 EG Civic, GTI, MA71 Supra and an E46 M3. It won't stop, it's worse than heroin.

 

[te72]

I don't know if Im just "Toyota stupid" but I cant think of a nicer car than the MK3. It may just be my brain telling me that is so damn pretty, but I can just stare at it and be satisfied. Driving is just a bonus.

Heh, couldn't have said it better myself Grant. Thanks for sharing the story man, I had a 1980 Corolla that I was rather fond of, even if it was a bit of a clunker.

I have to say I agree. As far as a mix of luxury and sport, the Mk3 is probably the best overall that I've ever been in. I've been in nicer cars, I've been in faster cars, but never were those the same car.

It won't stop, it's worse than heroin.

Heh, if some of the builds I've seen around here are any indication, I'd say it's probably cheaper, at least in the short term.

Hate to even add up what I've put into the current project... keep telling myself it will be worth it, but I suspect I'm deep into "I could have bought a used Ferarri by now" territory... :nono:

 

[DeMoN2318]

My father was always into cars. While I was growing up, together we built a 1976 chevy 4X4, 20 inch lift, 46'' tires, 468ci, hydraulic bed, etc...I think this experience is really what gave me the bug. We later built a 77 blazer with air suspension, 350TPI 700R4, 4-wheel disks, which was the first project I really had some input on what we did to it

I too grew up in the Fast and the Furious era, the original F&F is what got me into the import scene.

To me, working on cars and making them unique is a release from reality...nothing else matters, I can get lost in the work