"Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S." (calebms)
10/09/2015 at 00:22 • Filed to: None
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"Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S." (calebms)
10/09/2015 at 00:22 • Filed to: None | 16
| 7 |
Cars. Cars are what brought all of us here and unite us. Some of us are fans of German luxury, some prefer a good American V8, others love the Italian exotics, and still others find immense pleasure in Japanese models. I have been thinking quite a bit about why this obsession. The rest of my siblings are into music and sports, and they have no idea why I act like I do when I hear the exhaust of an Audi V8, or why it is I flip out when I see a Nissan Murano Cross-Cabriolet. So for the next few hundred words, I am going to try to verbalize to the best of my ability why I feel the way I do about what I do.
My affair with automobiles began at age seven when my Grandpa Jack said, “Get behind the wheel, I need you to pull ahead.” And pull ahead I did, right into a barbed wire fence. Oops. Since that first experience, I was infatuated. The feeling of controlling something thirty times larger than myself was intoxicating. I flexed my foot, and a one-and-a-half ton vehicle lurched forward, I shifted my foot and depressed a different pedal, and this time the truck came to a stop. In all my seven years, I had never felt this in control of a situation.
After this incident, I drove whenever I worked for Grandpa Jack. On Saturdays, we would pick up sticks and leaves in his backyard, he would drive to the leaf-dump, and then would let me throw the company truck around the small gravel track for the next twenty minutes.
To that point in my life, the most exotic car I could identify would’ve been my Grandpa Ver’s Audi. Thanks to him, Audi is now my single favorite make on this Earth. Surprisingly, no one around me growing up was really “in” to cars. I recently asked my Grandpa Ver what he looked for when he was purchasing his cars. His answer? “Two things. Black, and Audi.” As far as I can remember this is his car lineup: 2013 Audi A6, 2010 Audi A6, 2009 Buick Regal, 2008 Chevy Malibu, 2005 Audi A6.
At age 14 is when I started to really become interested in cars. I had obtained my learner’s permit, and was now a licensed driver. I learned to drive in my dad’s (now my) 2008 Chevy Malibu LTZ. By this point, I had spent plenty of time behind the wheel, and I began to experiment with the car. How could I make my turns sharper? What could I do to decrease distance on a curve? What was the best method of acceleration? When is best to shift with the flappy paddles?
At that time, age 14, my favorite car by far was the new Dodge Charger, and it has a place in my heart still today. I loved the styling of the indents on the sides, how the taillights were connected by that LED bar, and of course the HEMI V8 in a sedan.
The summer between my 8th grade and freshman year, just before I turned 15, I took Driver’s Ed. For those of you that took Driver’s Ed quite a while ago, don’t worry, nothing has changed. For two weeks I sat in a classroom in the public high school watching videos from the 70’s about drinking and driving, texting and driving, rail roads, and for some reason STDs. I guess they don’t want you to smash it in the same place where you drive. Whatever. But the best part of D-Ed was the driving. And the car we got to drive? A 2014 Dodge Charger. hehehe. The instructor I drove with was an absolute petrolhead, and he encouraged me to hoon the Dodge. In the three weeks of driving, I found the 0-60 time (5.2), performed a few handbrake turns on the many gravel roads surrounding my little hometown, and of course, I executed two or three burnouts.
Enter my obsession. It started small. I read a few R&T magazines, I discovered Top Gear, and I began to research my favorite cars. High school came, and with it, my MacBook Air. This new tool opened the door to infinite information, and my interest in cars grew exponentially. I meticulously researched information pertaining to automotive. How engines worked, the history of car producers, and the various types of cars on the road. It was at this time that I came across Jalopnik, and you bastards turned me into what I am today.
So what causes us to gravitate towards cars? I firmly believe that it is because when we are behind the wheel, something special happens. Man and Machine come together as one, neither functioning properly without the other. Automotives are the pinnacle of human ingenuity. We took lumps of metal and bent them to our will, created a work of art that uses explosions to fling us along! And then we loaded it with leather, carbon fiber, and chrome. Think on this huge accomplishment!
So, brothers and sisters, the love of control, the love of achievement, the love of art, is what brings us here. Long live the car.
V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches
> Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S.
10/09/2015 at 00:33 |
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Awesome article. My drivers Ed guy was a dink. But I believe that no matter what kind of car you drive, be it a spec Miata or a S600, as long as you love it and drive it like you mean it, you are an enthusiast.
PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
> Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S.
10/09/2015 at 01:08 |
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Very well written man! Sums us all up well!
Enjoy this thing I saw tonight btw...
HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
> Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S.
10/09/2015 at 02:08 |
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My love of cars started with racing games like Gran Turismo 2, and Fast and Furious. I was 11 when the original came out. Then there was games like NFS Undergound, man did I waste a lot of hours playing that game. Those movies and games peaked my interest and that drove me to learn how cars worked, how engines work. About the same time my brother got his first car, and we would go out at night a cruise around in his car. There was something freeing about just driving around town, and exploring the back road, even in the passenger seat. I couldn’t wait to have my hands on the wheel. I’d say it’s been at the obsession level since I was 12. That’s when I started drawing cars. I wanted to be an automotive designer, but then I remembered I hate school.
I love cars in general, the experience of driving a car, whether it be a 20 hour freeway roadtrip, or a quick blast down a dirt road. Then there is just appreciation for the work that goes into designing a car. From the art of sculpting the exterior design, to a well executed interior, and the engineering of an engine and suspension. And don’t forget the ability to express yourself by customizing your car, and just choosing the car that suits you.
I used to be very single minded. I LOVED Hondas especially Civics, My brother had a 1991 hatch, and I loved the under dog appeal. I wanted nothing more than a 1993 Civic coupe that could “eat Stangs for breakfast.” when I was in middle school. Now I’ve come to love all cars, with some exceptions. Every car is designed with a purpose, and it should be judged on how well it executes it’s untended goal.
TractorPillow
> Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S.
10/09/2015 at 07:10 |
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I like cars because they are fun and pretty!
vondon302
> Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S.
10/09/2015 at 12:47 |
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Wow best post I read all week. Those last 2 paragraphs are perfect! Long live the car my friends long live the car indeed! Cheers
Scott
> Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S.
10/09/2015 at 14:50 |
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My love of cars came from 2 places. first was probably my early childhood best friends father. He was a partner in a local law firm and had many interesting cars. At the time when most my friends parents were trading in their LTD wagons for a Honda or Toyota, he was trading in his Ferrari for a corvette. Bad move in retrospect as it was a Ferrari GTO, but who knew. He eventually traded in the Corvette for a Jenson Interceptor, followed by the original VW Rabbit/Golf GTI. Only person I know to go that direction in car ownership.
My Friends mom drove a Citroen DS, his oldest brother drove a Triumph Spitfire, his other older brother drove a Corvair. In local parades I remember watching my friends dad drive some of his 1950’s American cars. Buicks, Fords I think other than during parades and rare special occasion they stayed locked up in the garage at the law firm.
I remember spending hours with my best friend in the Morgan, pretending to be James Bond. My friend had put his own labels on the switches, Machine guns, bullet proof shield, Smoke... you get the idea.
While everyone else talked about cars or trucks, they were all cars I had seen countless times. However my Friends dad had cars that I never saw anywhere but movies or magazines.
My Dad owned a Renault R16, it was the first car I “drove”. If by driving you count taking it out of gear and rolling it out into the street. The First car I really drove was a Subaru wagon, when I was 12yo. It had a Manual transmission, and my Dad was impressed that my first time driving I managed to let the clutch out smoothly and shift gears without the usual first timers issues. Oddly enough not the situation when I actually went to get my Drivers license a couple years later.
My friends Dad had saved years of Car and Driver, and Road & Track magazines. I can remember spending hours in their basement looking at magazines older than I was.
My Brother has always liked older cars. Always American cars, but rarely the cars that the crowd flocks to. The closest thing to an import car he has ever had was his Ford Capri. My brother taught me to not be afraid to work on cars. I’m not as brave as he is, well really I’m not as willing to be without running wheels as he is. He’s been known to sell his only running car, so he can get more parts for a car that has not run in years.
But I can remember coming home from school to find parts of the engine or transmission scattered across the driveway because he had saved up the money for a lightweight flywheel or some other internal part.
ViperGuy21
> Caleb "If a rally car can do it, so can my Malibu" M. S.
10/12/2015 at 20:17 |
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Great write man!