Does Your Love for Cars Have an Origin Story?

"Reed Arvin" (farfignewman) 07/28/2015 at 17:16 • Filed to: Mercedes Benz, origin story, Cadillac, late 60s cars, 1972 280SE 4.5, Bauhaus, Form follows function

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All of us here love cars. Many of us can point to a moment when it all began - when, as of that moment, we were car guys (and gals). For me, it’s 1973, and I’m a senior in high school. My dad shows up after work with a pristine, light blue, low-mileage 1972 Mercedes 280SE 4.5. I didn’t even know he was looking for a new car. Naturally, he parked it in the driveway, for maximum neighborhood impact. Hey, that Arvin guy got himself something German.

My dad had been a Cadillac guy, with all the size, glitz, and ersatz luxury that came with those monsters. That was my point of reference, and I hadn’t questioned it. But there was nothing - not a single damn thing - extraneous about the 280 SE, which was the top of the Mercedes range at the time. I’d never seen anything like it. Everything was beautifully made, designed to do a single thing, and looked like it was made to last forever. I sat in the car alone for 20 minutes, not even starting the engine, and during that time the entire Bauhaus philosophy penetrated my mind. Not that I knew that word, or had even considered the idea of design as a thing unto itself. Still, I can only compare examining that car to reading a finely-wrought novel for the 1st time. Wow. I’ve been reading crap until now and I didn’t know it. From that point forward, you’re different. At the beginning of a new journey with new standards, new definitions.

Most interesting? That the change happened before I drove the car. 2 weeks later, on an arrow straight road in Kansas, I touched 125 mph in Dad’s car. Woo-hoo! 18 years old, driving on my own personal autobahn, wheat fields and windmills flashing by. Been a car guy ever since.

How about you guys? What’s your origin story?

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BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 17:24

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My dad and granddad are very into cars. My first toys were Hot Wheels cars and Legos. I guess that explains why I’m studying mechanical engineering then, right?

Your boy, BJR > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 17:29

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I’d still rather have the Caddy.

TheHondaBro > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 17:32

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When I was little, my dad drove a Celica just like this. I loved looking at it every day.

Reed Arvin > BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE 07/28/2015 at 17:39

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3rd generation petrol head. Pretty great.

Montalvo > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 17:41

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1996 on a hot summers day in the back of a triple black Lincoln LSC. My father took the liberty to absolutely stomp on it down a long exit ramp. At the age of 3 I was too young to comprehend the miracle that is combustion but old enough to realize that speed and loud noise is quite an intoxicating thing. Succumbed to the gearhead bug and loved cars ever since and drove me to become an engineer.

traderQAMobileTestAutomationMobileBoostOn > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 17:42

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The free roam games Mafia II, Saints row II and III sparked my interest around early 2012. Then it became primary interest around early 2013.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 17:51

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I was passively into cars from a young age. That interest grew significantly when I was maybe 12 or 13, and I saw a green 1970 ‘Cuda going down the street. The V8 rumble, the color, the whole thing just awakened me. Then, when my stepdad came into the picture in 2006, he’s a huge car guy, and helped me along with getting into cars even more. (He has a 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible!)

The first time I drove my mom’s 1965 Bonneville convertible, that my stepdad had bought her, I was maybe 19, and it was just a parking lot, but the feeling of driving something so classic, it was incredible.

I am a classic American car guy at heart, but I have appreciation for just about every type of vehicle. It’s just something that fuels my soul.

Reed Arvin > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 07/28/2015 at 17:55

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That’s a pretty high-powered duo - Bonnie convertible and 71 Challenger. Lucky guy!

El Rivinado > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 17:56

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When I was a kid, I had a lot of matchbox and hot wheels, and always dreamed about owning a Mercedes-Benz because I thought they were cool. But over time, I grew out and sold all my toy cars cause I didn’t think I was interested in cars anymore.

Then I bought Forza 4 early last year, and when I came across that 1965 Pontiac GTO, I got bit yet again. I now regret selling my toy cars, and I wish for the 65 GTO in my garage as my ultimate dream car.

Not a bad car to get you back to being a gear head.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 18:03

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Yessir! The Challenger is unrestored right now and non-running, but she will certainly be something when she’s done. They also have a boatload more vehicles, some running, some not.

The list includes, including the ones mentioned as well, a 1999 Jaguar XJ8 Vanden Plas, a 1999 Dodge Durango, 2000 Dodge Ram 1500, 1999 Miata, 2012 Dodge Ram 3500 Dually Cummins Diesel, 1964 Rambler American, and I think that covers it for them. That doesn’t include the three vehicles my fiancee and I own. (2000 Infiniti I30, 2000 and 2002 Durango)

So, it’s a pretty good mix of all types of vehicles. And the Miata is a manual, of course!

RallyWrench > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 18:09

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My dad’s blue ‘72 BMW Bavaria and grandpa’s blue ‘74 2002 were the car catalysts for me.

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 18:12

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That's about as far back as you can go!

Reed Arvin > RallyWrench 07/28/2015 at 18:13

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Yes! - the 2002 is the “junior” with all the great qualities of the era. Still want one.

RallyWrench > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 18:15

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That’s why I have a ‘68 to this day, and bought my first rusty project ‘02 for cheap when I was 15. It’s the one car I think I’ll never be without.

Reed Arvin > RallyWrench 07/28/2015 at 18:27

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15! Hardcore.

TractorPillow > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 18:32

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Summary: Dad, Motor Trend, seeing an Elise at a Chinese buffet, getting to sit in a Viper at a Mopar weekend drag race, sister’s MB 300TD, dad’s manual trans protege5, Charlize Theron’s scene in the classic mini in the new Italian Job. Most are cool stories that I’ve thought about writing, but definitely will get accused of humblebrag :)

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 19:03

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My first son was coming up on his 3rd birthday, and I started buying Hot Wheels. A lot of Hot Wheels. I discovered that they could be had for less than a dollar each at the grocery store, not more than a few short aisles over from where I was picking up milk or whatnot.

I had never disliked cars per se, but I had a period of my life in college when I went car-less and I had adopted a contented ambivalence about them. Sure, cars may be nice, but I couldn’t be bothered to own one, much less aspire to a truly desirable one. That kind of stuff was for “other” people. I will also admit that with the stifling college political atmosphere had come those all-too-common airs of smug superiority over those “others:” gearhead greasers with their patently wasteful muscle-maros and bro-trucks and so on. But really, from a very young age I had been an avid visual taxonomist of cars, taking long, neck-turning stares at every vehicle on the street to mentally catalog the make, model, and generation; making notes of profound similarities I would later come to know were called “badge engineering.”

But something happened along the way during this parental Hot Wheels acquisition phase. I was buying the almost daily die-cast (for my son, of course) from the grocery store, when I saw it:

This 1971 Plymouth GTX . Something about it just punched me square in the soul, and I didn’t know what.

I bought two, so I could keep one in the package on my desk and stare at it. Some weeks later, my dad was visiting and recognized it. He said that it was “like his old Plymouth.”

Now, I must have given that cocked head, furrowed brow confused puppy look or something, because he said, “not a GTX, of course, but it’s just like our old Satellite.” And then I remembered: indeed it was.

(Photo not of the actual car)

All those old family Kodachromes of us playing in the front yard while this majestic beast sat in our driveway. I was barely in elementary school when he sold it, and to me it was just our blue car, though I had done my fair share of tracing my finger over the chrome script of the name badge and saying the name to myself.

Little by little, the memories rose from the level of that initial blindsiding soul-punch to full visualization. The chrome loop bumper, the long, low creased hood, the cavernous engine bay, designed for the venerable Hemi, though in our case occupied with a far more pedestrian V-8, the 318. The triple cluster side marker lights, the squared wheel arches, the absolutely gorgeous form and curve of the c-pillar as it lands almost architecturally on top of the rear axle line, a triumph of proportion unmatched on any car to this day. The dash with “rally” gauges, stitched vinyl buckets in front and a bench in back with an unusable middle seat distorted by a small mountain of sheet metal to make room for a drag-friendly differential case underneath.

I started obsessing. I read and re-read everything I could find about Plymouth B-bodies. I realized that I had, at one point in my life, been in proximity to automotive greatness. Such greatness suddenly became more real to me. It wasn’t just something for “other” people. Beautiful cars were real; owning them was possible.

An idea began to form at that point that I would someday own a 1971 Plymouth B-body. That dream persists, but the love it kindled overflowed into a love for the much broader and more diverse automotive vision that I have today.

No Prius Needed > Reed Arvin 07/28/2015 at 19:03

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It started when a grey Evo 7 did a fly by past my mom’s Accord back when I was 4. It looked like this but had some stickers on the door.

TechGoddess > Reed Arvin 01/08/2017 at 08:44

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I am a female 5' 8" former Al American basketball player from Memphis (come get some BBQ ) and I can fit in most cars :-)

I grew up with the urban experience, so lots of big flashy cars that reminded me of small boats or airplanes by some of the designs. I never considered myself an enthusiast, just an admirer and aware of designs that tintillated my senses somehow. I realized that I felt “some type of way” every time I saw a Mercedes,Porsche,BMW, convertible of any kind, vintage car, or 2 seater.

It wasn’t surprising when I started my professional career in Dallas, that my first gem was a Toyota Mr2 fast 2 seater, then came the convertible red Saab. I’m back in Memphis now and my mid-career car I just bought myself for Christmas is a 2003 convertible Ford Thunderbird! Life is good.

I love your wit and just by chance saw your comment on another page regarding demographics of high end car clubs since I was seeking to join one.