Stop light interlude.
Wiggle the steering wheel. Blip the throttle. Check the distance between it and the brake. Slot the lever from first gear to second to first. Observe the shift distance.
Light changes. Green means go.
Note the clutch take-up. Roll halfway into the throttle, then mat it. Slight giggle as the rear tires pay lip-service to the concept of traction. Slight giggle from the passenger as her seat tilts back with the force of acceleration, forward with the brakes.
Stop light interlude.
So…what are you looking for when you drive a car?
Despite being fully enveloped in the process, it was a few moments before I managed a response:
“Ehhhh. Everything?”
There is this concept of one’s “Forever Car” that my friends and I throw around. A car that the driver develops such a relationship with that it would seem there’s nothing else they would rather drive. Regardless of their financial ability or freedom from traffic infractions.
Keiichi Tsuchiya’s AE86, Magnus Walker’s air-cooled 911, or Mike Maier’s early Mustang are great examples of this Forever Car, and they all have wonderful stories to color their allegiances. The opening anecdote was experienced in a friend’s Forever Car, a C5 Corvette, which had been on his mind since seeing one in senior high when they first came out.
But even with the variation in cars I’ve been exposed to, that one for me has proven elusive. Those around me joke nowadays that this car doesn’t exist for me, that I’m incapable of keeping a car long enough anyways, or that I may not even like cars with how often I change out of them. But they’re wrong.
I think.
Because with each car I register in my name it feels as though I get a little closer. I fill in a few more blanks, I trim away superfluous criteria or rework those that are inexact. Even my propensity to buy the same cars over and over (I just sold E30 number…something) is a concerted attempt to figure out what I’m looking for.
So, what is everything?
I wish I could answer that question more efficiently. Nearly twenty cars owned and countless others driven and I’m still stuck describing it in analogies and the random noises I make when enjoying a drive over my favorite roads.
But perhaps those are the best answers. I’m looking for what the kids call The Feels. Elements that cannot be put into a couple sentences. Not acceleration or grip; you can make almost any car do any of those tricks with enough time or funds. Rather, what’ll go through my mind when I grab a gear or turn a wheel. Be it let’s go faster, goddamn this shifter feels great, or holy hell this engine sounds like ass.
The honeymoon phase of car ownership only last so long, and what you’re left with you’ll need to live with. A fast car is only fast until the next model comes out, and a slow one is only amusing until you drive a slower one. So what is it that will find you grabbing the keys in the middle of the night, over and over? What is it that will make you turn around after you’ve parked? Or inspire your millionth cell phone photo of it at the same vista point you visit every weekend?
Well? What is it you look for in a car?