Car Dads and Their Sons

My dad was driving a red V8 Camaro in his 80s before he died. He flew B-17s in WWII & gave me the gift & need for speed. Ah, the Force is strong in me.

 

My story is rather interesting. My mother was the car person which turned my dad into a car guy. Before they met he was driving a Ford Pinto then after they got married he always wanted Mustangs from that point on and Camaros to. I never knew my father to well though since he was in the army traveled quite a bit.

My Grandfather was a huge car guy though back in the day which sort of rub off on everybody in the family. He had a few ferraris, marsertis and various muscle cars.\

Ill probably end up a car dad someday soon letting the kids rev up the ferrari when I finally get one.

 

My father was the one who turned me on to sports cars in general, and Ferraris in particular. He hung around with the great Northwest sports car racers in the 1950s and 1960s. He was buddies with legends like Pete Lovely. His roomates and friends drove great sports cars. My father couldn't afford to drive a Ferrari, but he did own a Fiat 1200 Spider. He was a motorsports journalist/editor for Northwest Sports Car News, and traveled to great races including Sebring (drove a Fiat Abarth 750 Record Monza from Seattle to FLA and got to break-in the race bits on the track before the race), and Pebble Beach Road Races.

Growing up, he told me all the stories. He talked about the cars. For his 50th Birthday he got a Packard Patrician, which got me hooked on classic cars. Then he bought a '29 Franklin. We started going to many shows, as well as SOVREN Vintage races.

When I could afford to start buying my own cars, I gravitated towards sports cars.

My father is one of my best friends, so it seemed natural that when he turned 70, my brother and I bought him a 1964 Lotus Elan, which many of the NW F-car people have seen out at the Saturday morning gatherings. It was cheaper than paying him back for all that private school tuition, but also showed how much I appreciate his love, support and sports car influence!

We're going to Pebble Beach/Concorso Italiano/Monterey Historics together this summer. I can't wait!!!

 

I have a 355, a 575, and a 17 year old son. Son is straight A, never a problem, responsible and smart. He makes wise choices beyond his age. He drives the 355 on occasion. He took it out yesterday to take his girlfriend out to lunch. The Ferrari's are something we can do together. He takes the 355, I take the 575 and go for a drive on the weekends. He has driven the 575 with me at shot-gun or in the car in front of him, but never alone. The 575 is too dangerous for a 17 year old. He knows the rules with the 355. We live in a small town where this car really sticks out, if I get one report from somebody that he was going 1 mile an hour over the speed limit.........his Ferrari days are over. I want him to have fun, but I could not live with myself if he made a poor choice got hurt, hurt somebody, or worse. These cars are fun, but they can be dangerous and cause us to think we are better drivers than we really are. He can enjoy the cars while obeying all speed limits. After all, how many other kids his age even get to ride in one of these, much less drive them!

Ironically, I also had the chance to drive a Ferrari when I was a teenager. I detailed cars in High School and had client with a 308 and BB512. He would let me "rent" his 308 for $10 per hour. Took my girlfriend (now wife) out to dinner, senior prom, and left our wedding in that 308. Awesome memories which I get to re-live with my son.

 

definitely a car dad. and so was my dad. couple pictures of me and my son.
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I just wish I was as fortunate as some of you and your children. For never having a father in my life, seeing these pictures bring a smile to my face and one thing I do look forward to sharing with my son (or daughter, who knows). Fortunately my mother, did understand and now shares the sports car passion as she has helped me into a car a little out of my league when I was younger, and now owns a C6(manual of course). I hope your kids understand how good they really have it.

 

I am a car Dad (with my three daughters) as well as a car uncle with my nephew. I recently took him to a place around me called "The Stable"...most in the NJ area will know about it..they've been around forever. He is 11 and we drove out there in the 430. He was in absolute heaven. It's amazing how much they retain when really interested...the kid asked great questions and regurgitated everything when he got home. I like to think I could be that spark that gets him into cars for the rest of his life...very much like my Dad did with me.

By the way...they have an gorgeous Miura S at The Stable right now...worth the trip!

 

when I bought my first Fcar (348) my son was only 2. Then I bought a TR and a 512 and he still was only 6. When I sold them due to the wife (I guess some of you can relate to that problem), he recently asked me earlier this year (he is 10 now) why I didn't buy the Ferrari's when he was older so he can ride and enjoy them with me. I have owned 2 Porsches in between, but as most of you know a Porsche is not an exotic. Long story short, I am searching for a 360 but have not told him, so it will be a surprise. The wife is of course not happy, but accepts it. Heck, I just bought her a Audi Q7 (awesome car btw), so she has nothing to complain about.

Here is a pic of my son last year in Italy at the museum in Maranello

We will have a great time with the 360

Ulf
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I'm going to guarantee that I'll be a car dad.... But other than that, my father really was never into cars. There was a time where his business was very profitable that a Ferrari wasn't out of the question, however my mother and him decided against it in the end.

All his life in Canada, he's been driving cargo vans and minivans for his business, only recently were we able to get him into an Acura....he wouldn't get into a BMW no matter how hard we tried (Mercedes he was willing, but still, couldn't do it) but the Acura is one step up from a Caravan. One of my friend's dad is a really big car guy, and into American Muscle, which is pretty cool. Other than that, my friends and I will probably be car dads, but our dads certainly aren't.

 

Weekend drives with my dad during which 'd learn what was inside a gearbox and why to double clutch, match shaft speeds etc. All before my tenth birthday.

 

Same with me, except my dad was into stocks and didn't have his own business. All gone now. (the money from stocks)

I like this thread.
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I was the car son, having used money I made from working on a TV movie in my late teens to underwrite my interest in cars. So it was my father who asked me for the keys to the Lusso and, later, the GTO which he enjoyed and put to good use, if rumor has it correctly.

My own son now has a very good understanding of breaking points, apexes and the proper way to address law enforcement on the occasions that theory becomes overly practical.

 

Try B17chat. They like pictures there!

 

Great pics! What could be better than a cool car with your son!!!

 

50 year old car son here. My Dad managed to get his hands on some really great cars when I was a boy and I caught the fever from him. He seemed to find great cars at great prices, usually because they didn't run, but he couldn't afford great cars that ran!

Car 1. In the early 1960s, my grandfather gave my Dad his beautiful Chrysler New Yorker, which my father promptly sold for a 1954 Morgan Plus 4 that was a basket case. My grandfather was livid. My father was a school teacher at a school that had a auto shop class/facility and he brought the car there to use the lift and the occasional guidance of the shop teacher. Over the year or more that it was there, it sort of became a school mascot. My father still remembers very clearly the day they pushed the car out to the school parking lot and with a crowd of kids and other teachers he nervously turned the key and pulled the starter and to his delight and amazement, the car roared to life. He had accomplished what no English teacher in the district had ever done before.

Car 2. A late 50s or early 60s Fiat Abarth Zagato. It was a copper colored car with a double bubble roof (to allow the occupants to sit without bending their necks!) It was built with a Fiat chassis and 600cc engine that Abarth punched out to a whopping 750ccs, and balanced, ported and polished, and put in a tuned exhaust. And Zagato designed and built the body. It was another unusual car that never failed to catch people's eyes. I remember riding with him in that car, with my younger brother somehow stuffed into the rear deck. He kept that car until it just was falling apart at the seams. I remember that we had carpets on the floor because the holes were big enough to lose a foot to the pavement!

Car 3. 50s vintage Ferrari 212 Vignale Coupe Another car that didn't run and needed extensive repairs, but the body and paint were in very nice shape as was the interior. It was all white with a fat blue stripe that ran lengthwise over the hood, roof, and trunk. Oddly, my father was a bit disappointed with this car. It apparently was a homologated "street car" in order to qualify for racing. His car was clearly set up for racing and was nothing like what he was used to. He was accustomed to nimble underpowered cars that were a delight to ride on the winding mountain roads he took back and forth to work. The Ferrari, he would say, drove like a Mack Truck, until you got to 90 or 95 mph, at which point it became a delight. Unfortunately, he had little opportunity to drive the car under those conditions and his delightful mountain ride to work was a chore in that car.

Epilogue....

Car 1. The Morgan. When my father moved on to the Fiat, he sold the Morgan to the teen aged son of his best friend, who promply cut a hole in the bonnet and stuck a ridiculous air cleaner through it. My Dad couldn't bear to look at it. Fast forward 40 or so years. I'm looking at photos of old Morgans on the internet and asking my father which one was like his old girl. Every photo I find of a '54 Plus Four has something about it that doesn't look right, especially the radiator treatment. Well, it turns out that in 1954 Peter Morgan decided it was time to modernize their look to keep up with the changing styles and the classic "flat rad" cars with flat squared radiators was replaced with a newer "cowl" shaped curved front radiator design. That was apparently just about the only change to Morgans then and since.... In any event, before the cowl design was adopted, I found a web site that discussed Morgan having designed another prototype design which wound up being dismissed for the cowl. There were 20 of these radiators made, and only 19 were actually put on cars. 2 are known to exist today.............when I found a photo to show my Dad, he said, "That's it!"

Car 2. Well that one was like the cartoons. Driven until springs, nuts and bolts were just falling off and it was completely beyond restoration.

Car 3. My father more than doubled his money when he sold the 212 Vignale for $3500 not too long after he bought it, and felt very smug and shrewd.

I'll say this much, the old man knew what to buy, but not what to sell.

He touched off my passion for sports cars. My very first car was a Fiat X1/9. A really pretty little 2 seater with a targa top. I saved up to buy one that was only 2 years old and my grandfather loaned me $1500 to be able to close the deal, with my father reminding my grandfather more so than me, that this was a loan and that it was to be repaid. I sent my grandfather $100 a month for 14 months and he refused to take the last check and made me promise not to tell my father. My Dad and I had fun with that car, and I kept it for quite a few years until I got married and started a family and the impracticality and unreliability of the aging car made keeping it imprudent.

Many years passed until I was ready for my next foray into sports cars. One of my all time faves was the Jaguar XK-E and I began to hunt for one. After going to look at what seemed like an unending series of disappointing cars, I finally decided to consider a different car and found a really lovely 1967 Austin Healey 3000 in "Healey Blue". Just as I had it sorted out in my first year of ownership, I came across an ad for an E-Type which I drove out to see and I was enchanted by it. It was exactly what I was looking for. I left a deposit with the seller and ran home to sell the Healey. The Jag was a 1966 Series 1 OTS (open two seater or convertible). It had undergone a complete frame up restoration and was stunning. Covered headlights, wire wheels with knock off hubs, tiny bumpers and that sexy design. And to top it all off, it was an original RHD car. Series 1 OTS cars with original RHD were made in very limited quantities, and this numbers matching correct car is just fabulous.

Now my Dad had a very long hiatus from sports cars since the Ferrari in the 60s, but the car he always lusted after was the Porsche 911 Targa. He had a friend who was a doctor who had one in the 70s and my father thought it was about the coolest thing on wheels. On Father's Day in about 1995, I bought a used 911 Targa, in silver with black trim, just like the one Dr. Katz used to drive, and drove it to my parents' home. My Dad was outside doing yard work and when he saw a 911 pull into the driveway, he stood there with an understandably perplexed expression. When he saw me get out of it, he assumed I had succumbed to another one of my self-indulgent impulses. When I handed him the keys and said, "Happy Father's Day", he stood there dumbfounded. He managed to say, "I'm overwhelmed." as a few tears streaked down his cheeks, which was a sight I'd only seen once before at his mother's funeral.

Well, since then we've been busy. In 2003 I bought a 365 GTC/4 which turned out to be a great move. I enjoyed that car until just last week when it had appreciated in value enough for me to parlay it into a 550 Maranello with a nice pocketfull of money left over. Dad came up to drive the Maranello last weekend and we had a blast. Now I still have the E-Type, but very much enjoy the charms of both the older and the newer sports cars in my garage, and have been blessed with a father who introduced me to this wonderful interest and continues to share and enjoy it with me to this day.

 

Well my son has 4 more months in the oven but I plan on giving him my 308 for a high school graduation gift

the 512TR for college graduation

 

My dad's the one who got me into cars, but it was my mother who gave me the taste for speed. Still to this day, they get a kick out of all the automotive adventures and racing that I do.

My son, however, doesn't share the same interest. Perhaps a few more runs in some racing karts might do the trick.

 

My son is even worse then I ever was.
My wife already feels sorry for his future spouse...
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Very good read.

 

My dad was never really a "car guy" by definition. But he does like cars. Growing up his dream car was 1956 Chevy Bel-Air, which he never bought (i'd like to surprise him with one if I am every able to). He did have a Triumph TR-6 which to this day was the best (and worst) car he ever owned.

I dont think my parents know where my sickness came from. I just amassed a hot wheels collection as a kid and still collect them.

I was visiting a friend over the weekend and he has a 6 month old son. I told he and his wife they're going to hate me eventually. Once he hits 2 or 3 yrs old I'm going to bring him Hot Wheels every time I see him. I won't bring him just one or two though. I'll bring him at least 10 (mostly exotics of course) .

 

My Dad is a great guy and he is responsible for my car craziness.... He was into F-1 way back in the 50's and was friends with Carel de Beaufort who raced a F-1 Porsche back in the early 60's, but was killed at the Nurburgring... he encoraged my Father to race his Porsche, but he stopped when Carel was killed.

Anyway, we were regulars at the F-1 races at Watkins Glen, and that fed the car lust on my side... at the age of 3 my favorite car was a Matra, and then Ferrari... when Matra left racing, Ferrari took over... the rest is history. I grew up with my Dad's Porsche 356, Lotus Europa, then Esprit and then 930 turbo... but I was always a Ferrari fan... some of my fondest memories are when as a little kid we used to go up in our attic where my Dad had a 60'ft slot car set... fully modeled, and we would race cars all afternoon... it was such fun....on the other side was a library full of car books... so I would read and race slot cars ... and in the summer go out to the garage and look at the cars.... great memories.

My Dad was also active with Zoom photography in the 80's so got to go to a bunch of F-1 races with him... again what fun!

He is the best guy I know. today he can still beat me in Grand Tourismo!

 

I just got word this evening it was loaded up and on the way! It's always been a dream for my Papa first and also my brother and I. Our first Ferrari is on it's way. My dad came from Italy in '67 and his first car in '68 was Alfa Romeo Giulia(my first ride from hospital day 1) Annual F1 races and 6hrs endurance at the Glen began in '74 & continued for years....maybe that's why I'm the "pazzo figlio" for Ferrari, F1 and all forms of motoracing....It's all his fault, I tell him all the time... THE BEST PART!!! He has NO IDEA that I bought the car and they're coming to visit next week!!! It was a dream of his to have a Ferrari but he always made sure his family came first and always said someday.....It's my thank you to him and has always been my goal for as long as I can remember to show him that he DID MAKE IT!! He deserves it for without his hard work I may not be here today. It's OUR DREAM and I can't explain how excited I am to see his smile when he sees it coming off the truck!

BTW, '75 GT4 red/tan