When did it hit you? - Repost for the day crowd

"roflcopter" (roflroflroflcopter) 01/17/2014 at 12:30 • Filed to: None

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16

As we were fabricating a bracket for a friends car, I looked around my good friends house I was at and realized just how into cars we had gotten in the last 2 years or so. The only seats in the living room are 3 racing seats up against a wall. There's a billiards table with porting templates, a turbo, and boxes of parts for our Lemons car scattered about. Three quick-fill fuel jugs ready to get assembled on the floor in the same room, right next to a pile of firesuits and other racing gear. A garage with enough tools that we aren't afraid to tackle anything anymore, two engines fully disassembled(a spare for the Lemons car and the rotary out of one of his cars). It's just weird thinking back to when I first got seriously interested in cars and took the initiative to work on them and learn as much as I can.

So oppo, what was the moment that you realized you'd crossed the line into a true enthusiast?

MtrRider Just Wants Doritos > roflcopter 01/16/2014 at 23:48

6

I drove myself home from the hospital, that's how long I've been a car enthusiast.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > roflcopter 01/16/2014 at 23:56

1

My first true autocross weekend when I came home smelling like burnt rubber, rusty cars, and unspent gas. I spent about 6 hours on saturday cleaning and prepping mine and my friends' cars together while grilling food and swapping stories. Then come sunday, we got up at the buttcrack of dawn to show up for tech inspection and the course walk and then went and spent about 10 hours in the beautiful May weather while driving crapcans and racecars alike on the same course. Even when I was hocking cones and working the flags, it was a blast. I think that was the autocross where I thought I saw a "dirt line" in one of the turns that my car could do thanks to its high ride height for a coupe. My first attempts were good and helped me see that it would make me faster by helping me turn since I had so little grip to begin with. But on my third or fourth run, I went way too deep and my "exit" was much steeper than anticipated. I may or may not have popped my left front tire about 6 inches in the air on exit. The track organizers made sure no more "dirt lines" were possible after that one. Good times.

Bandit > roflcopter 01/16/2014 at 23:58

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Because of my father I'd been into cars my entire life but it hit me full on when I bought my first car. It wasn't just my first car, it was my dream car. I figured I'd never own one either because of parents saying I couldn't buy it or because of life.

Agrajag > roflcopter 01/16/2014 at 23:58

1

They've always been in my life, but I've gone through different stages. My dad had a car encyclopedia from the 70's I think with every car ever made in it(I need to find this). That in conjunction with photo albums of cars he took from attending auto shows in his youth, listening to his vinyls of engine sounds, and our ever rotating inventory of cars piqued my interest. Starting in my teenage years, continuing for a period of about 10 years, I had subscriptions to the major magazines, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of current cars. When I could finally drive, things started to spiral from there. The discovery of Jalopnik and Top Gear really opened my eyes to a whole different level of car culture though. Where I live, you either like muscle cars/bro trucks or ricers. There just weren't people who appreciated a wide range of vehicles like I do, and this community does.

Decay buys too many beaters > roflcopter 01/17/2014 at 00:03

1

When I raised the engine in my 86 to install exhaust components. I remember thinking as I placed the jack under the block "am I really about to do this? This is essentially a new car, I must be crazy."

That's about the point where I crossed the line

Dsscats > roflcopter 01/17/2014 at 00:21

1

When a 6 foot Ikea bookshelf with 6 shelves had 5 filled fully with car magazines and books

Formula4speed > roflcopter 01/17/2014 at 01:13

2

When I realized I had a combined 2000+ horsepower in my garage.

FlimFlamMan > roflcopter 01/17/2014 at 02:16

0

I knew back in '89 when I installed ladder bars on my '68 Malibu. Then kids happened and I didn't get back into it until 2007 when I bought an '07 WRX, which I started modifying at about 5k miles.

JACU - I've got bonifides. > MtrRider Just Wants Doritos 01/17/2014 at 07:27

0

Manual transmission?

Mathias Rios > roflcopter 01/17/2014 at 13:37

1

When I started dreaming about tools I needed for a specific job that I didn't have at the time.

Robert > roflcopter 01/17/2014 at 14:50

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When I saw Initial D. True story..Initial D turned me into a car person. That was maybe 7-8 years ago or somethin? I was still in high school and driving the lemon of a hand-me-down Dodge Dynasty from my father. I hit college with my mom's Pontiac Firebird and the young, wide-eyed idealism that even though it was automatic maybe it could become fun. Dad ends up messing up the plastic panel underneath the steering rack, claims it's "unsafe", then buys a 2001 Mustang from his credit union and gives me the keys (No, I didn't want the car, and no I didn't ask. Up until he had me drive it home and then threw me the keys, he said he wanted it for himself. :/ ) A Bachelor's degree later, a year and a half of graduate school and a drive from Ohio down to my home state of Tennessee in a $500 Volvo 740 sedan I purchased ( the first car in my name) from my college professor, and I have a Craftsman toolset and the urge to detail the hell out of it. I was happy that the gauge cluster lights went out so I can open it up...

Saf1 > Formula4speed 01/24/2014 at 23:03

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List?

Saf1 > roflcopter 01/24/2014 at 23:09

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Hard to say because I've always been so massively into cars! I played them, read them, loved riding in them. When we first got internet at home, whenever my mum didn't need the phone I'd be googling cars especially images. Even as over time, other things appeared/I discovered (flash games, Last.fm, porn, wikipedia, YouTube) I still ended up spending all day just learning and dreaming about cars, now in new ways. So not really a massive difference that it hit me but a non-stop evolution :)

Formula4speed > Saf1 01/24/2014 at 23:38

1

78 firebird w/500 hp LSx, 993, ctsv wagon, g35, nc miata, c5 zo6 at the time. C5z was sadly rearended/totaled, replaced with e39 m5. So, like, what, right at 2200 hp? I need to take up heroin for my wallet's sake.

Saf1 > Formula4speed 01/25/2014 at 12:19

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How about me and you go blow some of the wallet on blow? :)

Formula4speed > Saf1 01/25/2014 at 15:38

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I see no way this could possibly be a poor decision! Ahaha