This word is often sandwiched between the words sport and vehicle; which only describes one “class” of cars.
Yet, all cars have utility.
Some of us just need a car that gets us A to B and don’t cost much. If they break down then oh well just get the next A to B car. This car is just a fling. You don’t expect much from the car but basic needs, and you don’t plan to have it long term.
Maybe a minivan suits your needs. My family grew out of the small SUV we owned and with much initial reluctance we discovered a minivan had all the utility for our family. There was ample seating with the right amenities to allow us to travel locally or abroad with comfort and ease. The kids and our sanities survive long car rides with the aid of an onboard DVD player, and plenty of room to allow snacks to be within reach of the kiddos.
Some times the utility is a more basal desire. The car needs to fit the mold of everyday use sure, but it needs that something extra. Something that can only come with a foot clutch, 6 speeds, turbo induction, and growls and pops. I found my own personal utility in a car that fits everything I need without being too perfect. It plants me in my seat, grips around corners, and still allows me to utilize it for work.
As much as there needs to be utility I want more than that. I feel alive behind the wheel. I feel connected to the road. It becomes more than just my car, it is my partner on the road.
Metallic sounds and rattles spring to life as I push the start button. Cold seats bolster me as my handbrake is released. Clutch slowly out reverse whines down the drive way. I redirect the leather steering wheel as I engage first gear and ease out onto the quiet morning road. Small amount of rain, taps the glass as second gear locks in for the up hill chug as I follow my daily path to a larger road connecting the freeway to my destination. Interiors heat is starting to match the temp gauge, looks like both of us are warmed up. Last light before the gate way to noise and speed, a couple light grumbles from the exhaust for good measure. Humm as I travel past the green light slight right following through to third gear staying in it long enough to kiss redline and merge. Tunnel echoes my shift to fourth as the turbo throws some extra burn out my muffler. No screams this morning its all jazz as I plateau my freeway speed adjusting and gliding with traffic. Destination, at work waiting for the drive home.
My relationships with cars could seriously be dramatized in something like the O.C. I am not one to shy from my heart, which usually makes my brain take a back seat to my choices in these matters. Chubbs was a mix of the two, but a choice mostly made with my heart. Who wouldn’t want a beautiful Audi A6 4.2-liter V8 with a six-speed manual swap? While this car would ride flatbeds more than it would drive. It wasn’t entirely the cars fault. My pockets aren’t deep enough for a car of this caliber.
Chubbs started in my life as a daily bought from a good friend who builds and maintains Audis. He’s quite brilliant and when I was looking for my next car, he was there with Chubbs. A 2002 Audi A6 manual swap with an exhaust note that rivaled Freddy Mercury’s ability to sing. He had an ecu flash and a V8; and with the manual, rich leather interior, sunroof, and smooth ride I was pretty much the fastest thing around. If I was in traffic just the burl would have people hang out their windows and ask about the car. But over time, hiccup after hiccup, I needed to get a daily that just ran. So Chubbs went into our garage for a new purpose. I was going to learn with him and try some things out. I designed a wide body kit.
Next, I would reduce as much weight as possible, get a roll cage, racing seats, and finally, crazy wide Rotiform rims with aero discs. He would be beautiful with that wide body I would craft out of fiber glass. I picked a way to paint the car that allowed me to add or change parts over time and have everything match. Elephant indigo is what I called the blue paint I made at work. Industrial enamel fast dry that I would roll on two coats then wet sand for days. It gave the car a satin shine.
Next order was more weight reduction, I had a bad alternator poke up its head so I was like might as well take off the front end around the motor. Put new seals on the valve covers with love since it was also leaking oil all over the alternator. While the front was off, I had fun and painted everything red and made elephant logos for Chubbs on the timing covers. Chubbs Looked great and I was super proud of how much I was getting to see what I had envisioned coming to fruition.
I finally bolted it all back together and it was test drive time. I went out and it was epic, so light, so powerful and the racing bucket just held my ass in place. I got back home after about thirty minutes and put it in reverse and BAM the car died. I am not even kind of good at electrical work, which this car needed the most. The dashboard went out and all the windows stayed down. It would crank but wouldn’t catch. Damn… I had to push the car over to road parking since our garage is up hill (I hate slanted driveways!). I put a cover from my Plymouth on it and there it sat.
Months go by, we’ve got bills to pay, I can’t afford to put any mechanic time into my car. With no end to it sight we have a couple teenage boys needing to drive and park at our house. That parking spot was at a premium. I looked into selling Chubbs, and finally some one found me and was willing to take a stripped Audi A6 that didn’t run. He lives super far away and when I found out how much he was paying for shipping I just gave him the car for free. He told me he would finish building it. That is all I wanted. A future for this amazing car. The day he received it in Chicago he had it up and running. The problem happened to be a bad ignition. It’s now on its way to have a cage put in. To me that’s a happy ending, and I get updates on how Chubbs is doing.
Thank You Chubbs for the learning experience, and all those nutty memories. Fun fact my A6 with a manual swap topped out at 178mph because of redline, and it didn’t take long to get there. That was before it dropped 500lbs. What a cool entry level super car.
Let’s talk about this dumb ass badge pride, something car guys deal with or dish out on the regular. The arrogance of feeling like your better than your brother because you have that special badge. It’s a reoccurring event in all performance package brands. BMW, Mercedes, VW, Ford, Chevy, Chrysler-Dodge, and now even Hyundai.
Look I got lucky and I spent more money than I should for an N model Veloster. It’s a fantastic car, and I joined all the groups talk about and love my car. But it only took like all of two seconds before the groups I joined to start bad mouthing other Veloster models. When did getting something so great mean dumping on others? I absolutely love the whole line because they all have their benefit. In car groups or shows this should be shamed fast. It alienates other people that supposedly have the same passion as you, and silly enough shows how little you really care about joining a community. If you want to prick it up, then make a group for yourselves where you can just bash and be bashed by other assholes like yourselves. Not everyone likes what you have or think the dollar amount gives you more clout.
When my wife got her BMW, she was so excited to join a group, and little by little her enjoyment of the car community was spoiled by these same validation whores. When I got my Hyundai Veloster N my wife posted in her group how proud I was of my purchase. Is it funny that right after she posted I had to warn her people are going to be mean about it? I’m ok with it, but the look on her face as comments poured in just left her sad, angry, and humiliated. I remember her immediately leaving the group and feeling bad that she had to see these people are everywhere.
So how about try to remember your in a community people will tolerate you as long as you join in building the group if your tearing it down no ones gonna give a crap what you drive.
Doesn’t feel like that long ago but to get your car video fix you had to go to a location to buy and see cool videos. I remember going to Sun Coast Videos constantly, because they had smaller production videos and could bring in specialty DVDs. I used to buy Teckademics Mischief, and Best Motoring Hot Version when I could afford it and get blown away by the fun videos pre-YouTube. I look back now after being used to watching anything I want online. What a great time to watch car videos but more of a treat when you could see them. It’s so easy to post almost anyone can, and that means just massive content to sift through. I remember watching Motor Week on Sundays when I was still in middle school. I absolutely love that now I can get my fix when ever I want it. Before YouTube where did you find your special interest videos. This massive change makes me feel older than I am a lot has changed.
Memories are the core of who we are, and as we develop they help mold us. Defining our world and perception. It got me thinking about my earliest memories with cars, the ones you never talk about just the private things you see that stick with you. Dusty winds, burning sun, and frozen winters in a desert called Pasco Washington. The smell of rain touching down on fresh dry dirt is ingrained in my psych, and a certain line of cars stretching down the back of my grandparents farm. I spent the better part of my earliest memories exploring the ruins of old fat fenders, and a square back VW. Freedom to expand my horizons was mine at the ripe age of five. I could spend all day weaving in and out between these derelict behemoths, and admiring every line, every detail. Fighting off rattlesnakes to get a closer look inside. Most of them were missing an engine and transmission. Even if they were locked you could slide under them and go up through the trans tunnel. Then I’d dust off the seat and put my hands on the steering wheel and just get lost driving in my mind for hours. It was my Never Never Land, and even now as a grown man with kids reaching voting age I cuddle that memory in the back of my head. It was where my land of make believe, and reality met my gateway into a world I still find in my heart. I’ll leave this memory here the rest are mine to keep to myself.
Just imagine your eighteen and a trailer is out for a movie about the car scene. Its got amped up Limp Bizkit music, shows customized cars racing and dodging the cops, looks amazing. The trailer for the first Fast And The Furious might be farther from the material than it looks like at first. Being movie number one of a massive block buster series kind of takes away from what it was. Let’s forget all the other money printers made after this 2001 summer hit. Let’s forget about the ridiculousness it turned into and remember why the first movie was so good. It’s honestly because the car world was just a cover for one of the best modern westerns ever made. It’s an old western at heart, change the cars to horses, and the bustling city to a small pioneering town on the fringes of modern society. It’s about a law man joining a gang to take it down, then understanding what they were about before letting them get away. It’s quite an amazing piece of filming. Even the very first scene is a insane stage coach robbery going well before the law catches up with them. The black civics with green under glow were black horses in the night. The second scene catches up with Brian O’Connor practicing in his police provided tuner car. Respectable but not quite real deal. As the movie unfolds he looses his car and himself into their family gang, and builds a car with them culminating to him having a showdown with the leader Dom at the end. The movie covers all the aspects of an amazing fight, good guys vs. bad guys and the grey in between. A lot of westerns circle around this same issue. When you have heroes that blur the line between good guy and bad guy. After a spectacular crash (which by the way was unrealistic enough to be fun but no where near the hilarity of later movies) you watch as Brian hands over the keys to his own car and lets the bad guy get away. It shows how complicated honor can get. The movie covers so much more than it advertised, and its legacy is marred by fun but silly movies that’ll never really feel the same cause eventually it turned into a faster crazier series to impress. The first one wasn’t written or even directed by car guys and Having us car guys stay to the cars actually made the movie so so good. So when you get a chance watch it again but put those western glasses on, and take it in.
Your passion can be influenced, but this is about when your passion influences you. We all have things we like. Things we like to see, like to feel, like to taste, and like hear. It’s too easy to hide your passion in a secret place, a place of protection, and to put on a mask that fits societies norms. Try to remember those norms we see are an “accepted” mix of likes. There are things you can do that harm no one and encourage new norms.
You wear a white shirt to work but love the color blue. You can find ways to bring that color in, it feels good to set little things to your own preferences. Customize as much as you can to your passions. Surround yourself with what you want and beautify your world. I watched a lot of Casey Neistat on YouTube and absolutely love his way of just hammering things out to fit his own style. I have preferences and would watch him spray paint new shades and mess them up to fit him.
It’s Inspiring to see that and a breath of fresh air. It would remind me that I still had a way to go to open up to what I liked, even the small things could be adjusted cosmetic and simple, but still amazing. Just let that little bit of you slip out. I love to see different tastes in different items or clothes. Silly but even blog writing is a form of customizing and sharing your ideas.
Cars are all about this, as an extension of the driver personal steads are a great way to show your flair. From the Honda with the loud muffler to the classic hotrod with custom welding and paint. The sky is only limited by the capability. I don’t subscribe to hating on cars that have lesser mods. Each person has their own story, and not everyone has the same wealth, experience, or preference. The community should grow to love both.
I’d love to watch old hotrodders teach young kids how to weld their own intercooler piping and see the younger crowd show the older groups how to rewire, flash, and possibly understand the pull to hatch backs not just classic cars. There should be no reason car culture can’t be open to all. People should be more excited about seeing stuff that’s different. Broaden your horizons and don’t be scared to show what your about customize everything from your shirt to your car; it’s your life.
I’ve started to see a trend on car reviews that seems quite alarming. Things I definitely didn’t notice until I bought the car that I drive every day. When car reviewers complain about the tradeoff between performance vs luxury, I get frustrated because these are not treated with the grain of salt they should be.
If you’re like me, you want a driver’s car. Uncomfortable with unrelenting ass destructive interior, and brute force, it’s a trade of luxury items for pure unbridled performance. First generation Dodge Viper is one of those mythical beasts. Older cars fit the bill sometimes, but in 2019 I found the pepperoni to my cheese. A delicious combination to make the Veloster N this type of car.
The 2020 Hyundai Veloster N, with most of the base luxury items gone, in trade for locking dif, special Pirelli tires, racing brakes, racing suspension, and an active exhaust. I could’ve gotten a fully loaded model with 201hp, but the 276hp performance package with less weight is more my cup of coffee (I don’t drink tea). I watched reviews about this car religiously before I bought it, and every review starts and ends the same. They say it’s an amazing car, but it has cheap plastics on the dashboard. Nearly every time. I’ll hand it to a few reviewers that immediately discounted the plastic as an issue – understanding what a driver would be getting for the tradeoff. You can’t have both. If car reviewers and focus groups trick Hyundai into adding 3k to the price tag to “fix” this “issue” it would be sacrilege.
I bought this car to support the auto manufactures who are actually building their cars on a mission. I wanted to support Hyundai for ignoring all the lame ass people that want a cheap car to be expensive so it can be more comfortable. Its plenty comfy, and honestly its quite versatile, but asking a company to keep watering down their products is just wrong. Watering down something won’t make it stand out. It doesn’t let you know it’s meant for certain drivers.
If you want a watered-down lame ass piece of driving, most companies have an option for you. So please can we stop focusing on what a sports car can’t do. No ones buying them to be everything, but they are buying them for one reason – and Hyundai hit a homerun with this one. Complain for now, but someday this car will be a memory of a car built the right way, without the use of a focus group stripping away what makes it special.
I started to write about slow traffic in the fast lane – possibly a little more specific. One car in particular. I was full of anger and brimming with justice. Then I started to write about it, and you know what; this rant changed, it became about ME instead. I’m a fairly cool collected guy, you can ask anyone who knows me I can turn a cheek for almost anything but damn if that doesn’t fly out the window when I drive. I’m not condoning sitting in the left lane at all, but I’m also not condoning my side of it. If I am harmed or angered its because I am doing it to myself. Being behind another driver, while I have zero idea what their day was like, and feeling no compassion just isn’t me. Neither is letting someone get a rise out of me, it just isn’t how I roll. So why do I choose to validate myself through close driving and a flash of brights when I could just cool it and wait for that opening.
As soon as I tell my finger to flash that indicator stock, I’ve started an old battle that will go almost the same way every time. Their inaction isn’t my causality it’s my action that is, and by doing so I should expect what is coming. They are human too. Most likely their response is to drive slower or block my next chance to pass. I am feeding my own anger and that’s something to rant about. My own anger – playing a game that I’m starting. It’s giving into that most basic of validations. So, I am going to keep a sharper eye on myself, to be a stronger person. I must take grasp of my own actions. I had options and next time I will improve myself remind myself that giving in to this is weakness. Cause it is a weakness. Also don’t park in the fast lane not everyone wants to improve themselves. Also, shitty driver I crossed today sorry I lost my cool, but you still drive like shit.
TARMECCA 