Exotic cars. Just the mere thought of them is enough to get pulses racing, blood pumping, and the hair on the back of most guys' (and some girls) necks standing up. Those sensuous machines from Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, and even the good old US of A can really get us worked up, particularly if you're a car person!
When I grew up I didn't really have any ability to see these cars in person as I was raised in a smaller town in eastern Washington state. Occasionally my mom would take me to Europe to visit relatives and, where most people were taking pictures of famous statues and monuments, I'd always make time to take pictures of exotic cars when I spotted them. It's actually pretty fun to look back in my family photos and find random Ferrari or Porsche pictures...it brings back terrific memories!
As we get older, we may find that the dream of owning an exotic car doesn't really materialize. Most of the time this is due to simple economic factors. Let's face it, how many of us can justify to purchase a car which costs more than homes in some areas? I remember, even after buying my first home, when driving along in my modified Toyota Supra I noticed a then-new Lamborghini Murcielago coming up behind me on the freeway. It was hard to take my eyes off the rear and side view mirrors as this orange spaceship of a car pulled up alongside me, then passed me and headed away on a different freeway ramp. And, the truly funny part of that memory, which no young child would feel, was the unbelievably odd sense of liability in case I happened to damage that persons Lamborghini while driving! I mean, here I was in my modified $30k car and a guy right next to me was driving a near $300k car! I'm sure my insurance company would drop me in a second if I caused serious damage to that car, and what car guy could sleep at night if they damaged a Lamborghini besides!
Now that I'm older yet, and have spent a good 10 years of my automotive life building up Toyota Supras into being more powerful than stock Lamborghini's, I seem to have found a new found respect for exotic cars. These days my fun-car is what I'd call a semi-exotic, a Porsche 911 Twin Turbo, used of course. I now find myself being able to attend and participate at car events where real exotic cars do come out to play. And, after a couple years of being able to attend these meets I can say that I have a very different appreciation of exotic cars than I used to.
You see, in my experience the car guy on a budget (like your fearless writer here) tends to prize some special quality in his or her cars. It's hard to have the total package but we may yearn for a car that stands out of the crowd, or a car that is really powerful, or a car that handles very well, or maybe just a car with a really nice sound system. That is the beauty of being a car person...you can strive towards whatever you want. I'd personally focused on cars which I could make extremely fast, hence the long-term fixation on modified Toyota Supras, a car that has only recently been eclipsed as the most modifiable and fastest tuner cars in all the land. However, one thing I was really missing all those years was the feeling of owning a car that really had presence. Not just presence for car guys who knew what it was, but real honest-to-goodness exotic presence, which a car either has or doesn't have. It's hard to build presence in the aftermarket, although not impossible...but roots are hard to hide.
I can tell you now from firsthand experience that there is nothing like the presence exuded by a high strung Italian car, whether you're a big fan of them or not. When you hear the sound of a glorious V8, V10, or V12 Italian engine fill the air, it's something extremely special about it. The wild colors, the sleek lines, the sometimes fiery temperaments, there is something really special about exotics. Many of us will not get the chance to call one our own, but all of us should have the chance to get out and view these exquisite creations. They are machines built of passion, not purpose, and that passion always comes out when you are among them and the owners who care for them. When you see a real exotic car you tend to think of them as being more than just a car, they are akin to rolling objects of art which look and sound incredible.
I encourage all of you to seek out a local exotic car meet. Go spend some time near these machines, meet the passionate (and often extremely friendly) people who own them. Although this thought will sound odd, when I think about the current state of the world and what we do to each other, with all the wars and corruption, famine and misfortune...it's really hard to take. However, when I see what beautiful things people are capable of creating it really boggles my mind and goes some way back to restoring my faith in people and the future. Don't believe me? Go check out some of these cars and get back to me! :)
When I grew up I didn't really have any ability to see these cars in person as I was raised in a smaller town in eastern Washington state. Occasionally my mom would take me to Europe to visit relatives and, where most people were taking pictures of famous statues and monuments, I'd always make time to take pictures of exotic cars when I spotted them. It's actually pretty fun to look back in my family photos and find random Ferrari or Porsche pictures...it brings back terrific memories!
As we get older, we may find that the dream of owning an exotic car doesn't really materialize. Most of the time this is due to simple economic factors. Let's face it, how many of us can justify to purchase a car which costs more than homes in some areas? I remember, even after buying my first home, when driving along in my modified Toyota Supra I noticed a then-new Lamborghini Murcielago coming up behind me on the freeway. It was hard to take my eyes off the rear and side view mirrors as this orange spaceship of a car pulled up alongside me, then passed me and headed away on a different freeway ramp. And, the truly funny part of that memory, which no young child would feel, was the unbelievably odd sense of liability in case I happened to damage that persons Lamborghini while driving! I mean, here I was in my modified $30k car and a guy right next to me was driving a near $300k car! I'm sure my insurance company would drop me in a second if I caused serious damage to that car, and what car guy could sleep at night if they damaged a Lamborghini besides!
Now that I'm older yet, and have spent a good 10 years of my automotive life building up Toyota Supras into being more powerful than stock Lamborghini's, I seem to have found a new found respect for exotic cars. These days my fun-car is what I'd call a semi-exotic, a Porsche 911 Twin Turbo, used of course. I now find myself being able to attend and participate at car events where real exotic cars do come out to play. And, after a couple years of being able to attend these meets I can say that I have a very different appreciation of exotic cars than I used to.
You see, in my experience the car guy on a budget (like your fearless writer here) tends to prize some special quality in his or her cars. It's hard to have the total package but we may yearn for a car that stands out of the crowd, or a car that is really powerful, or a car that handles very well, or maybe just a car with a really nice sound system. That is the beauty of being a car person...you can strive towards whatever you want. I'd personally focused on cars which I could make extremely fast, hence the long-term fixation on modified Toyota Supras, a car that has only recently been eclipsed as the most modifiable and fastest tuner cars in all the land. However, one thing I was really missing all those years was the feeling of owning a car that really had presence. Not just presence for car guys who knew what it was, but real honest-to-goodness exotic presence, which a car either has or doesn't have. It's hard to build presence in the aftermarket, although not impossible...but roots are hard to hide.
I can tell you now from firsthand experience that there is nothing like the presence exuded by a high strung Italian car, whether you're a big fan of them or not. When you hear the sound of a glorious V8, V10, or V12 Italian engine fill the air, it's something extremely special about it. The wild colors, the sleek lines, the sometimes fiery temperaments, there is something really special about exotics. Many of us will not get the chance to call one our own, but all of us should have the chance to get out and view these exquisite creations. They are machines built of passion, not purpose, and that passion always comes out when you are among them and the owners who care for them. When you see a real exotic car you tend to think of them as being more than just a car, they are akin to rolling objects of art which look and sound incredible.
I encourage all of you to seek out a local exotic car meet. Go spend some time near these machines, meet the passionate (and often extremely friendly) people who own them. Although this thought will sound odd, when I think about the current state of the world and what we do to each other, with all the wars and corruption, famine and misfortune...it's really hard to take. However, when I see what beautiful things people are capable of creating it really boggles my mind and goes some way back to restoring my faith in people and the future. Don't believe me? Go check out some of these cars and get back to me! :)
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