Mine originated in Puyallup Washington at my next door neighbor's race car shop. I was about 14 and during the summer a friend and I went to his shop and offered to wash his truck one Friday. Of course our intent was to see what was behind the big garage door After we were done he mentioned something about if we wanted something to do to come back sometime. I was back there Monday morning. Worked there for about 4 years and couldn't help but become obsessed with cars. Not only did I learn a lot about cars, but a whole lot more about work.
What spawned this post was that today I saw an eGarage video of that very shop and was reminded of my roots
For me, it has just always been a part of who I am. I guess it must have started before I can remember, because I've always just been excited about cars. My dad is a muscle car kind of guy, and he'd take me to the drag strip and tell me all about the hemis and things of that sort. Interestingly enough, he was the one who encouraged me to like European cars. I was also "helping" drive our 23 ft 400 hp 70+ mph boat at speed from 2 years old as "the throttle man" while my dad would steer. Those kinds of things just really got me excited from as far back as I can remember.
A friend of mine and I would have competitions with each other to see who could name the most cars on the road whenever we were in the car or on the school bus. He loved cars like me, but he turned out not to be a car guy in the same way as I did. He still appreciates a nice car, and lusts after them, but it isn't in his blood to do mechanical work or go racing or anything like that. That sort of thing is just something that you either have or you don't I think. Going back to boats, I can remember being around 6 years old and one of the engines on the boat wouldn't start when we were out on it. We troubleshooted for a bit and I just said... hmm I think it is the fuse. And sure enough, it was. I think it was a lucky guess, but then again we are just making educated guesses when we troubleshoot most of the time anyway.
OK that is enough rambling. Cliffs notes: My dad was a major influence for my appreciation for cars and I love everything with an engine on it in general partially thanks to growing up with fast boats.
-Chris
'91 Audi 200 20v - Revver/BAT project '91 Audi 200 20v Avant '01 Anthracite M5 '90 M3 '85 Euro 635csi '12 X3 E34 530i (maybe rear-mount soon)
After we were done he mentioned something about if we wanted something to do to come back sometime. I was back there Monday morning. Worked there for about 4 years and couldn't help but become obsessed with cars. Not only did I learn a lot about cars, but a whole lot more about work.