I blame my father.

I'm only a couple of weeks into grad school, and last night my computer's power supply decided life wasn't worth living anymore and refused to supply power. I don't want to get into the specs but this had made me realise that obviously this computer needs more than an 800 watt power supply. I called up my dad, and his response was "just buy a 5000 watt and get this crap over with" (this is the 3rd in a line of increasingly larger power supplies that i have burned up over 2 computers). I had to mention that they don't really make 5000 watt power supplies yet, but it made me think of why I must like cars. Fast cars.

My dad, despite being old, (*ducks flying bottles) has only owned 2 types of cars over the past 10 years. a bunch of V8's, and a lone turbo I6 supra (which is actually my mother's car, and he always thought it was a bit gutless). Now he has added another turbo 6 (this time an ecoboost flex) and a V10 for his new work truck, because, according to him, there's no point in a buying a vehicle that doesn't have the most powerful engine available. So, I love fast cars, and I blame my father. Just curious if anyone else had a similar story.

when i was a kid (late 70's/early 80's), i rode around in my dad's 1930 Model A 5 window street rod that was powered by an old Buick nailhead and had no fenders or hood and had side pipes.. when he got out of the army in '69, he bought a brand new Z/28 and blew up three engines under warranty before GM took it back as a lemon... my grandpa (his dad) liked to do smoky burnouts in his 74 Olds Delta 88 and in his rusty but trusty Chev 1/2 ton pickup- we even "raced" a Porsche down a divided highway in that truck when i was about 11.. so, uh, yeah, i think i got my car guy side from them..

yea, my father used to race in SCCA with a 59 bugeye sprite, 948cc "protofied" as he called it making 56rwhp back in the 60s. i've got a picture of them at daytona and he wrote all sorts of cool info on the back that i never would have remembered. said it even did 128mph on the front straight!

he also had a 65 or 66 mustang that he used to tow the sprite, that is until he decided he needed cars that couldnt go fast so he wouldnt go fast... like the beater he had when he met my mother, had lost his license for 3 months for going 140 in his brother's corvette (with her in the car no less) and she had to drive him to work in this car that had a broken throttle pedal and a wire tied next to your knee that you pressed it against...

unfortunately he passed away when i was 14 but i sure absorbed all the automotive DNA i ever needed along with a whole crapload of cool stories. oooh the cars we would have built together...

WilberM3 wrote: yea, my father used to race in SCCA with a 59 bugeye sprite, 948cc "protofied" as he called it making 56rwhp back in the 60s. i've got a picture of them at daytona and he wrote all sorts of cool info on the back that i never would have remembered. said it even did 128mph on the front straight! he also had a 65 or 66 mustang that he used to tow the sprite, that is until he decided he needed cars that couldnt go fast so he wouldnt go fast... like the beater he had when he met my mother, had lost his license for 3 months for going 140 in his brother's corvette (with her in the car no less) and she had to drive him to work in this car that had a broken throttle pedal and a wire tied next to your knee that you pressed it against... unfortunately he passed away when i was 14 but i sure absorbed all the automotive DNA i ever needed along with a whole crapload of cool stories. oooh the cars we would have built together...

And some to pass on to the next generation, if I'm not very much mistaken...

I "grew up" in the back of an Opel Kadette Rallye (yes, THAT opel Kadette Rallye, the homogulation special) that my father bought new when we were in spain and shipped over to the states when his time overseas in the navy was over.

Working with the Harbor Sports Car Club here in South Jersey, with a couple of semi-well known race drivers, he used to set up TSD rallys in the area and even used to autocross his opel at the "atlantic city speedway" in pleasantville NJ

Mikey52_1 wrote:

WilberM3 wrote: yea, my father used to race in SCCA with a 59 bugeye sprite, 948cc "protofied" as he called it making 56rwhp back in the 60s. i've got a picture of them at daytona and he wrote all sorts of cool info on the back that i never would have remembered. said it even did 128mph on the front straight! he also had a 65 or 66 mustang that he used to tow the sprite, that is until he decided he needed cars that couldnt go fast so he wouldnt go fast... like the beater he had when he met my mother, had lost his license for 3 months for going 140 in his brother's corvette (with her in the car no less) and she had to drive him to work in this car that had a broken throttle pedal and a wire tied next to your knee that you pressed it against... unfortunately he passed away when i was 14 but i sure absorbed all the automotive DNA i ever needed along with a whole crapload of cool stories. oooh the cars we would have built together...

And some to pass on to the next generation, if I'm not very much mistaken...

that sure is the plan, i'm hoping to indoctrinate early on when that day comes

I blame my father too. This is what I got driven to school in;