Finally, some car culture
Added 2018-05-29 14:19:15 +0000 UTCHey Laowinners!
Every time I visit the USA, I realize how much I've missed cars. Sure, I have cars in China, but China's car culture is mostly show off/utilitarian.
Cars, to many people, are hunks of metal that get you from point A to point B, but for me and my friends, they've been part of our own special little family. The places they take you, and the stories they hold inside are rarely forgotten.
I'll never forget buying my dads manual 95 Geo Metro back in 2001 for $500 from him, and driving that thing into the ground. I burned out 1st and 2nd gear over the years.Try getting a car to start in 3rd gear when it only has 68 horsepower... now that is a task. I actually found a forum I posted in back in high school asking how to roll the odometer back so my parents wouldn't know I was sneaking every weekend to NYC to hang out with a girl. The internet holds way too much of my past!
Next I had a manual 97 Honda Accord. That was a nice car. Honda's shift so well. Snickety and notchy; clicking into gears was so satisfying.
After that I had a 1982 Toyota Supra, which was garage kept, and in mint condition. This was my favorite car. I spent years perfecting it. Turbo upgrade, exhaust, restoration when parts went rusty... I'll never forget when Mustang owners who got smoked at the stoplights would ask me, down the road, "what the hell is that thing?"
It was that car that got me into autocross, and my first taste of racing.
The girlfriends, the trips, the breakdowns, the freedom. All of those memories were the ones that stay with me today.
There is something special about the lack of public transportation in a good chunk of America. The open roads, and the way it forces you to explore had a huge impact on the way I continue to live my life today.
What was your first car? Best car? Best memories?
