The Passion is not gone

I think it's sad that on a car forum, especially a FERRARI car forum, a thread about the passion being gone has generated more posts (mostly "I get it" or "bravo!") than a thread about the passion NOT being gone.

That other thread is just a big c**** j***.

 

I didn't either. For my dad, cars are simply a means of transportation, though he keeps his cars in nice shape. It was my friend's dad that got me interested. He was a car guy, more of a budget hot rodder than anything - though he had a weak spot for British sports cars. He did all work himself - or at least everything that didn't require a machine shop. He taught us kids to weld, paint, rebuild engines, rebuild carbs, suspensions and brake work etc. I can remember going over my friend's house when I was 13 or 14 reading through all the stacks of his dad's old car magazines. I developed my own passion for sports cars, particularly Ferraris, while my friend developed his own for Porsches. I had to wait 30 yrs before I finally got my Ferrari.

 

I drove the Testarossa to the Rolls Royce owners club breakfast last Saturday, and one of the RR wives asked me where I thought I got the car passion.

I had to think about that - I cannot remember when I did not have it, even at four years old.

However, I think it came from one of my grandfathers. He loved the classic 50s and 60s American Iron...every year he had a new big Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, or something. My grandmother did not even drive, but he always had two cars - one for work, one for Sunday rides.

The very last time I took him riding in his last Oldsmobile (he was too old to drive, so I took him where he needed to go) - he insisted that I step down on it and show him that it would still do 100 mph. And, it did.

 

i am a car guy through and through - but my passions morphed, like jim said.
having done the targa florio and mm tribute, i discovered that i really like these kind of historic rallies. so now i need an even older car to participate in some of the ones i want to do. unfortunately vintage ferraris are just eye wateringly expensive, so i will have to go to another marque for an early 50's car.

 

Rob, I'm sure you realize that my tongue was planted firmly in cheek with my post. Just wanted to give those other guys a bit of a ribbing. Plus, Judge lives a few miles down the road from me.

I'm sure running this place is also like being a pro Ferrari mechanic. You have to REALLY love the marque to stay enthused after the day in and day out grind. (even more so for a mechanic I would think) I was a Magnum PI kid too and living in Plano in the early 80's, saw plenty of 308's around town at the time. Then standing at the velvet rope at the Starck Club in late 1988, an 88.5 (or 89?) rosso 328 GTS pulled up to the valet. That's the car I own today (except the better GTB version ). In the 90's Alfa Romeo's were my substitute for Ferrari's and regular trips out to Robert and Cindy's in Nevada, TX allowed me to learn all about many Italian makes. Good times.

 

Going and watching and hearing these cars on the track definitely puts a chill in your spine. If it doesn't, then no, you aren't a car guy...and possibly could be a eunuch.

My favorite track moment: watching and hearing the Ferrari Historic Challenge. 50's and 60's era Ferrari's and Maserati's...mmm, mmm, good. The pinnacle was the 250 GTO going around Road Atlanta in anger. Awesome!

 

Always great to see your replies in these kind of threads...

I also recently mixed hobby and work. I am building a car related webshop which means I am surrounded by magazines and car products all day long. Already now I am noticing that grabbing a car magazine in the evening while resting isn't the same anymore. But knowing myself, it will take a long time before I will park my passion and call it "gone".
On a positive note, if I get my car fix through work, I can focus more on family and friends when I have time off.

I don't think I'm a Ferrari guy. I absolutely love many of the models (especially F50 and 550 Maranello) because of what they are, but I enjoy all other kinds of brands as well, in all categories and subcultures. I hope to watch some historic event with old vintage Ferraris (and other marques) at least once, as they are extremely rare in my part of world and I really want to see them after hanging on this forum for the last few years. I hope my generation passes on the love for the elder models...

No joke, those race cars at Nürburgring 24 Hours sounded nuts... I will def. attend more motorsport events, I just love the noise and sight of racing prepared supercars.

I remember eating fries at the petrol station by the Nürburgring straight at night... Surrounded by thousands of enthusiast with lovely sports cars everywhere and in every class (everything from Renaults to Aston Martins)... with the racing cars flying by in 180+ mph across the road, only 30 yards or so from where we sat... Engines screaming, brakes squeeling. Biggest grins of my life.

 

i have been to a lot of races, but gotta say that hanging out with jim and his crew last june was one of the more memorable events of my car life. and the passion was as big as our smiles !

 

That's a really cool car!

 

My dad loved his Oldsmobiles as well! He always read all the car magazines, but was more about technology than sports cars.

As I get older, I guess I can relate, as I'm more about big GT cars than "sports" cars myself. I've always loved Ferraris, though.

Somebody commented above that you can be passionate about cars or a marque and not own one-- I think that's certainly true. The opposite can also be true-- I think we've probably all seen Ferrari owners who weren't passionate at all.

 

Very good points..!

I will probably never acquire a Pagani... But dear God, those cars are products of Italian passion!

 

I like this thread better than that other one about losing passion.

 

Thank you Mr. Glickenhaus for not only sharing your automotive adventures, but for stirring up the pot every now and then when Fchat seems like it needs it. This year I am going to read less about shows and races and attend and hear and smell like I used to!! Hopefully I can catch P4/5 somewhere on the east coast..

 

This made me chuckle for a variety of reasons. I've watched this site grow from when I was member 156 to what it is today. I remember talking to you about running it full time over beers. A few times. You still had a job then. Congrats on it's success by the way!

Jennie has verified for me, in person, that you really did say that!

You still aren't a car person, you're just more of a car person than you were before. Starting at 0, you had a long way to go! What the members of the board don't understand is that Rob can stand beside you at a car show while you're drooling on something, and he'll say "What is it?". He really has no idea. But he's better than he was. He's ALL Ferrari.

 

Still love cars, but much more into racing and tracking than the street cars of late. I have multiple race cars, most of which are nothing special, and none of which are Ferraris. Ferrari performance is probably a minimum of x2 in cost over the next most expensive option (e.g. 458 Challenge vs 997 GT3 Cup) and it gets worse when you start comparing dedicated track and race cars like Radicals, Norma, Juno, and many others.

Really thinking hard about a used Radical SR8, mcuh rather have that than a 458 right now.

 

My thoughts exactly. There are car guys with big collections, there are car guys with one interesting car, there are car guys with no cars.

What is important is the interest in things automotive, whether it be current road cars, race cars, oddball cars, old cars, racing history, whatever.

As the years have gone by the amount and intensity of my participation in interesting cars has gone up and down depending on family, career, money and other factors, but through all of the ups and downs, the car guy flame has always burned brightly.

They say that being a car guy is a sickness for which there is no cure. I sure hope so! I find that a good 45 minute drive to nowhere can be a hugely cathartic and restorative experience. When I pull the car back into the garage after a good drive in the country, I am refreshed, relaxed and ready for anything.

 

cars and driving fast is my passion and always will be, I can appreciate more natural things too but mu passion for driving never interferes with them.

I will continue to spend a great proportion of my income and wealth on cars most likely for the rest of my life, if the enjoyment of this vehicles makes me materialistic then so be it.

 

I'm passionate about modding my Saab. It's old, noisy and vibrates like heck (no balance chain, B204, 3" DP + Saabsport + MP performance intercooler , Stage 3) but I wouldn't trade it for half the new cars on the market. It is sort of beastly and lighting up second gear always makes me smile! Hit the rev limiter in first and babies cry. (And doing the work yourself adds a uniqueness that never gets old. )

 

Just wanted to see these in the
right order one time.............

 

It's the redistributionists who are materialists, as they have no problem both engaging in blatant injustice and ignoring the spiritual component of activities/behaviors like owning cars of note, building a business, what it takes to maintain political, inner and financial independence and self-esteem, etc., etc., etc., all in the name of the "right" to do what they please with other people's money. All that, of course, being separate from the fact that their methods defeat their alleged purposes longterm.

Enough from the peanut gallery . . .

 

My passion for Ferrari and ownership has never faded. It is the one thing that I have always wanted and personally proudest thing that I have achieved in my life-second only to my Wife and kids of course. This passion has fueled me thru high school, college, Med School, and Specialty training. I cannot see it die, as it has been a part of me for so long. I bless the day that I drive it spiritedly on the road or track just as much as I bless the day when I see the Ferrari sitting in my garage on a rainy wet day that is best set for watching championship NFL games on TV. It was MY dream 30 years ago and I have been living my dream thru ownership for the past 4 years.

Cheers, everybody.

 

a little info first:

I'm staying with my dad in a residence tower called Polat Tower Residence in Istanbul. Underneath is some exotics.

I always go and look at stare at the Gallardo Spyder, drool over the White 458 and almost wet myself when I look at the maseratis and the other Ferrari's there.

9/10 times everday I will go and take pictures of them... even though I've already took pictures. LOL