Time to be honest

MCarp22 wrote: I was 1997, and I decided I wanted a racing game for the playstation. It's been all downhill from there.

dude, you totally need to be at the right hand of the track setting up for the S up ahead...

but I digress...I always loved cars as a kid...vettes and mustangs and the usual domestic sports cars in the 80s (my folks were a bazillion percent anti japanese cars ). But I never really caught the bug until I was a bout 19 or so. I spent most of my pre and teen years on a BMX bike ( I still get to it a bit even at nearly 30).

I knew enough from my engineer father what the 4 strokes of the combustion cycle were all about, but that was it. I was naive enough to let the auto transmission in my 89 cougar (badass car actually with the v6 and digital dash and such) slip for 6 MONTHS before I thought "hey maybe I should look into this slipping thing...

too little too late - burned up torque converter = $1800 for a rebuilt trans. That was a no go for a $250 car. but I still really got into cars about that time - when I learned about turning wrenches on your own vehicle was as therapeutic as it is fun and an excuse to hang out with friends.

So... hi, my name id 4cf and Its been 2 years since my last snap decision car purchase

...oh yeah...pg 2 pwnage

What I remember is that when I was about 11, I read ~The Red Car~.

I was already a sports car fan, but that was sort of a defining moment.

47 years later, I'm still consumed by MGs.

I was born in the UK, and also live in Ireland and Canada as a kid, so I saw a lot of British cars in my childhood. I remember seeing a new, bright turquoise MGA when I was about 8 years old in Toronto. Even then, I was smitten by the looks. I bought a ratty '56 A when I was 16. Never been without a British sports car since.

My father owned an auto repair shop and dealer ship. They did everything in that shop. From rebuild engines to body work. I grew up in that environment, So I learned a lot from osmosis. For christmas I got things like erector sets and chemistry sets. I think my dad telling me how he rode around Indy in a Stutz at 90mph sort of stuck. My dad was always the inquisitive type, took his hydromatic transmission apart to see how it worked. I guess I just inherited it all.

I have always been into cars, as far back as I can remember I have always read every bit of literature I could find. To this day I will even sit and read a random Chilton...don't even try to say that you don't do it too! We lived in the country when I was young so I began driving our '82 Chevette 4 speed when I was 8 years old and wrenching soon thereafter. My first BIG repair was actually a tandem event; my brother (who is older by three years, but has always been at least 30 pounds lighter somehow) and I replaced the TH350 in our father's 79 Chevy truck...with no transmission jack. I was 14 at the time. The very next year I replaced the timing chain and gears in an '85 diplomat that my father had inherited. It took me six hours and I left the timing tab off. We didn't have a timing light anyway, I just advanced the distributor until it detonated under load then backed it off until it stopped;redneck timing 101. When I was around 13 I had taken two dirt bikes that should have been scrapped and turned them into a hill climbing beast; a '77 175 Yamaha enduro engine with a tiny drive sprocket on a '79 Yamaha YZ 125 frame with an enormous driven sprocket. The kick starter was stripped so I had to roll start it using 2nd or 3rd as 1st gear was useless. You could be sitting on that bike with it idling in first and let go of the clutch without giving it any throttle and it would just creep along, ding dading dading da dingdingding da ding...that thing was UGLY too.

P71 wrote: Really, *really* young. I'm told I played with Hot Wheels by 2 and raced slot cars by 5. I built my first car model at 7 and helped assemble my first engine at 13. I had *no* chance...

similar. when i was in kindergarten, someone down the street got evicted and i found some hot rod magazines in their trash pile. april '71 issue stands out in my mind, i'm pretty sure it had a red white and blue funny car on the cover but that was 38 years ago so i might be off on the month. started asking my dad about the words i didn't understand. helped rebuild an ACVW engine when i was 6. helped put a clutch in dad's '66 caprice when i was 11. swapped engine in corvair van when i was 13. so yeah, i also had no chance....

There picture of me polishing up the race car at Hallett at age 5.

Well growing up my dad had a Ford Prefect, my brother and I were typically assigned the job of using the hand crank to start it. But, I think the seeds were sown before that.

Growing up we didn't have a telly, parents had us join every single possible library they could find. So we spent a lot of time pouring over automotive books and magazines, one of the libraries was at the British Embassy so we got a sweet selection of things to read.

My brother and I used to horde the Autocar magazines, pouring through every single line and as a wee kid I could recite 0-60, 1/4 mile, price, blah for every car found in their road tests. This one dude named James May stuck out as a witty writer.

So I think the madness started long before I even had a license. I credit my brother, he credits dad. My brother spent a lot of time in the back seat of my parents old Valiant since he never seemed to go to sleep unless it was in the back seat of the Valiant. This was back in the early 70s when gas was cheaper, parents drove 100s of miles just for fun while my brother slept.

I was born this way. One granfather was an ultimate old-school shade-tree mechanic, and a bat-E36 M3 crazy driver. The other, from what I'm told was just a great driver, esp. in terms of car control.

I would go into detail about my father and my self, but I dont feel like writing a short novel.

I don't remember when it started but I've been facinated by machines for as long as I can remember. My parents took me to watch my father race at Freeport Speedway since I was about a year old. Once I was walking I would go with my dad or grandfather to work and wander around the yards they kept their trucks in. By the time I was about eight my dad and his friends took me with them to the Nascar races at Dover, and the Nascar, Cart and Big Rig Races at Pocono. It just got worse from there.

Dad was a die hard do-it-yourselfer. We didn't have race cars, motorcycles, or anything cool at home. Just learned by taking care of the DD and lawn mower. He does like old cars and taught me a lot going to shows on occasion. TV is what sparked my interest to drive fast. Not just races, but car chase scenes and so on.

I don't remember a time before I had a slot car track at home. At some point, I would just sit around and take apart the old broken cars (apparently hand-me-downs from my father or such) and figuring out what made them work and what made them not work.

RC Cars and Airplanes caught my fancy at an early age. I figured out 2 stroke and 4 stroke stuff by taking apart cox .049's and briggs lawn mower engines, respectively.

Dad brought home a dirt bike when I was in 7th or 8th grade...that rocked.

Our family vacations were typically centered around where ever the NSRA Nationals would be held on a given year from the time I was about 12 on. Lots of cutaway engine displays at the vendors in those sorts of things.

I got to pilot the 20hp outboard fishing boat around the lake of the ozarks from the time I was 14 (and I don't think I did anything BUT that on the weekends we went to the lake). I was pulling the younger kids around on skis and tubes and the like by 15 or 16.

Cars came and I did the typical engine swap stuff. Mostly out of necessity (gotta make this free car run, you know...).

Did the FSAE thing in college...that was neat.

Graduated college and went to work for a TransAm team.

I give my Father all the credit.

Clem

My dad is a car nut, but of the "that's a 1958 Oldsmobile, you can tell by the door handles" type. I grew up a little more mechanical, trying to work out how differentials and 4WD systems and gearboxes worked with Lego before I was in my teens. I was pretty good at spotting cars, but better at knowing how they worked.

I started working on bicycles, bought my first car when I was 22 (I'm Canadian, we don't all get cars at 15 like Murricans do!) and it all went downhill from there.

I slept with a HotWheels under my pillow when I was little and while growing up I used to draw cars a lot. I remember riding in the car with my mom and making engine noises while she's driving around (manual Chevette). I have always been curious about how things work, sometimes to the detriment of the item itself, but I love finding out how and why stuff works.

Just prior to age 2 I was naming all the cars on the road, at least as well as I could pronounce them. Somehow I knew what they were. Every time a car with a tri-star hood ornament passed by I'd shout out "Memercedes!" My folks even recall me joyously screaming out "Feflari!" when we encountered one of Modena's children.

After the obligatory Hotwheels phase, I dropped out of caring about cars. I was more into Legos and didn't get interested in cars again until I was 15 and driving was on my horizon.

Spent my 16th Summer rebuilding a notchback mustang with my grandfather. exhaust leaks, leaking master cylinder, leaking radiator, etc etc all forced a quick education on me. Ahh, the joys of being 16 and broke

I forgot to add, my dad raced cars since I was little, from a Datsun 240, Spec Renault Racer (before they changed to ford), and finally in a horrible Formula 440 that tried to kill him. Then he got into some dirt track stuff, racing a Kenyon Car for awhile, before finally hanging it up. I got to meet a lot of racers, like Mel Kenyon, Dick Trickle, and more who's names escape me.

I've also been the Indy 500 thirteen times, and the Brickyard 400 eight. Grandparents lived right behind the track, used to go there during the summer and listen to them qualify.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Dad was a die hard do-it-yourselfer. We didn't have race cars, motorcycles, or anything cool at home. Just learned by taking care of the DD and lawn mower. He does like old cars and taught m a lot going to shows on occasion. TV is what sparked my interest to drive fast. Not just races, but car chase scenes and so on.

I have to admit, I admire stunt drivers' car control.

"..the Harlem Globetrotters never won an NBA Championship, but you don't see a lot of people saying they can't play basketball.." -Patrick Bedard, C&D column in the 80s..

its gotta be my brother, we always took apart our stuff, legos taught us to put things together. Eventually you get good enough that stuff starts going back together the way they came apart.

He started to get into cars when I was pretty young, RC cars eventually became mopeds which become rotting international scouts (read: no floors)... he found me a 1975 volvo 164 for a DD in high school, that really kicked off my interest (kept the P1800 ES for himself). since then Ive been hooked

my brother started with vws then stuck with volvos for the most part, some british stuff as well... now I have a 944/ls1 in the garage and a jag in the driveway.. with no floors.. guess it runs in the family.

My dad was a race car driver before I was born. As my older sister, and older brother were born, his involvement in racing was curtailed. By the time I was born, his only involvement was taking be to the races on occasion. Though he had plenty of knowledge, he never shared any car maint stuff(and he never worked on his own car). I always loved cars and driving. As soon as I was out of college and on my own, I found my first car event. I quickly realized if I was to afford the hobby I need to work on the cars myself. I didn't know how to change my own oil until I was 22-23. I've learned most of what I know through trial and error, the internet, and a mechanic that has become a friend. The whole racing thing almost seemed like a birth right. As soon as I had my license at 16, I was the wheel man for all my buddies in high school. They wanted to go boozing, I was quite happy to stay sober and do the driving. If you were to poll my friends in high school, "who is most likely drive a race car?". I guarantee I'd get 100% of the vote.

P71 wrote: Really, *really* young. I'm told I played with Hot Wheels by 2 and raced slot cars by 5. I built my first car model at 7 and helped assemble my first engine at 13. I had *no* chance...

What he said Mt uncle was a Ford mechanic in the 60's. One of my first memories was sliding back and forth on a 66 gt350's "package shelf" holding on to the rollbar as my cousin went through some fast esses.