Had a convo with the wife last night

"Nibbles" (nibbles) 10/30/2013 at 17:16 • Filed to: Wifelopnik

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She never was any sort of car girl before we met. She knew Mustangs were neat, and she probably wanted one, but that was about it. For the longest time, she almost refused to learn much of anything until we started playing the "What's that car?" game:

Wife: "What's that car?"
Me: [tl;dr of year, make, model, engine, trans, weight, power figures, what it's good at, what it's bad at, why that color doesn't quite look right, nitpicks, loves, hates, etc.]

Apparently a lot of that soaked in even though her eyes were generally (always) mostly (completely) glossed over as tech-vomit spewed forth from my mouth. Last night I introduced her to the latest renders of the 2014.5 Mustang. We started pointing out little things we like, little things we dislike, and then it happened. She started debating with me. I was going over mainstream cues, trying to keep the tech-talk low when she starts going on about the lack of C-scoop, the awkward (to her) crease through the door and the fact that "the front end looks too much like a Fusion, or Focus even. I know the design is Ford's new language, and it's different enough from Aston's to not be completely aping, but to me - on this car - it just doesn't flow. It's not Mustang ."

The conversation paused. I had no retort. Just a single tear and a hug offered. That's my lady.

We then continued to debate the Mustang and compare it to rival vehicles, which she apparently knows a good deal about as well. Good convo.

Casper > Nibbles 10/30/2013 at 17:47

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My wife tries to learn about cars and bikes, but she really doesn't have any interest. She just knows I'm interested and so she tries to pay a little attention.

It's a double edged sword though, for instance when I said I was going to test ride a bike with my buddy she asked what it was. As soon as I said "Ducati..." I was cut off before I couldn't even get the model out. I was told I couldn't buy it because we didn't need an Italian bike eating money when my car is still a "project". I should have been telling her Ducati was a magic maintenance free bike made by monks in the mountains of Japan.

desertdog5051 > Nibbles 10/30/2013 at 17:51

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One thing to remember, all ye haters of change. (not directed at you Nibbles) Mustang made serious changes in '71, 74, 79 and o5. Some we loved, some we hated, depending on your take on things.

Change is inevitable. Wouldn't it look pretty strange if Henry had decided to keep the look of the Model T and just update driveline and interior?

mycarneverruns87 > Nibbles 10/30/2013 at 17:53

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That is great, she sounds like a keeper to me!

PatBateman > Nibbles 10/30/2013 at 18:17

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I spoke to my wife last night about cars, too. I got her to agree to let me participate in the Gumball 3000 someday.

SOMEDAY.

SOMEDAY.

biturboism, the cult > Nibbles 10/30/2013 at 18:23

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My girlfriend is not a car person. Whenever I talk about cars or make her quiet so that I can hear a distant straight-piped S8 or a STI@full throttle she is always finding it "cute".

I, however made her learn how to choose a race line in corners, how to reduce FWD understeer by applying throttle at the apex and how to prevent lift-off oversteer. Also, rev-matching on downshifts because I told her it's *so* much better for the transmission of our worthless 1.4 Peugeot.

willkinton247 > Nibbles 10/30/2013 at 19:22

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This sounds just like my girlfriend. She even drives a mustang.

Nibbles > desertdog5051 10/30/2013 at 19:39

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True dat, true dat. I personally like the looks of the new Mustang. Retro is SO 2005

Volvosaurus-Rex > Nibbles 10/30/2013 at 19:58

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Def:Keeper

fink stinger > Casper 10/31/2013 at 16:30

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I feel your pain. I owned the Ducati before we got married and it's fate is not much better, even though it's a lowly carbureted 900SS. Questions like "Those little tiny front brake pads cost HOW much? Didn't the entire brake job on my Tahoe cost less than that for all 4 corners?" and "I thought you just put tires on that thing a couple months ago..."

Casper > fink stinger 10/31/2013 at 16:34

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LOL! Yes! Tires are one of the reasons I had to ditch my extra bike which was a Kawi 636. Buying tires for one bike was getting me in trouble... buying tires for two was getting unacceptable. Went from 3 bikes to one and from 4 cars to 2.

It's hard to maintain a collection while married. At least I'm making progress again. I now have room for more, just have to save the money again.