You and cars- how did it begin?

So, what's your story?

I was sitting here wondering how everyone got involved in cars. I am one of only a few of my friends that is a car enthusiast, so I thought I would pose the question to the rest of you - how did it begin? How did you become interested in cars? I am not specifically a Subaru fenatic but I really enjoy mine, so how did this path lead you to purchase a Subaru?

I am the guy in my group of friends that gets asked to diagnose a problem that someone is having - "My car is doing this, or not doing that. Can you drive it and tell me what's wrong?" It is pretty rare that I can hear or feel something wrong with a car and not know what to look for (like the clunk in my front end now :laugh. I am usually asked how I learned what I know, so here is my story.

When I was growing up, my dad was a pastor. Pastors don't make a lot of money, so whenever anything went wrong with the car, we fixed it ourselves. Sometimes we had to call friends to drive us to the auto parts store because the only car that we owned was the one that needed fixing. By the time I was old enough to drive I had developed a pretty solid understanding of how to turn a wrench and how things were taken apart and put back together. At the time it was pretty frustrating (mostly for my dad) that WE had to do the work but as I look back it was a really great experience. By the time I was old enough to drive, I had replaced just about every moving part of a car except for engine and transmission internals. Growing up I drove absolute junk. My first three cars were GIVEN to our famly - so there were countless repairs.

Eventually, I bought my own cars which were also junk and fixed those - mostly by tearing it apart and figuring out how to put it back together. Eventually I met a friend who wanted to start a rally team and we started working on a Volkswagen Golf GTI. He was a mechanical engineer and I was the "grease monkey" and we were a great team who had a lot of fun. At my first rally cross I was awe struck by Mark Utecht's blue 02 Group N WRX. I took video and drooled over it. I still remember that day. I couldn't believe I actually got to SEE a stage rally prepared WRX. I knew that I would eventually own one.

True story: When I met my wife, she had bought a new used car. It needed an oil change, plugs and a air filter right away. I told her that I would do the work for a case of beer and gave her my number. I called her the next day (I'm a stalker) and set up the date. She asked "How long will all that take?" I replied "Four hours." "Four Hours! You said it would only take an hour!" "The CAR WORK will only take an hour. The dinner afterward will take at least three." I'm so smooth... It worked. :laugh:

Last year, my first "nice" aka not hand-me-down car was running out of life, and my wife was pregnant. All of my buddies told me to buy my toys before I had a kid. Needing a car and always wanting a WRX, I searched CarSoup, Cars.com, the paper and Criagslist. Eventually I found the car that I have now and sometimes still go out to the garage and look at it and smile. I know that it's not the nicest car in the world and I know that it's been absolutely thrashed by previous owners but I love it. Most of you know a LOT more about Subaru's than I do and I can't tell you how much I value and envy your knowledge.

Thank you to everyone who has answered my stupid questions and helped me learn!!! This car is quite a bit different than anyhthing I have owned or worked on before and I can't wait to know as much as most of you do. If you want to know anything about a Mk2 Volkswagen, I'm your guy. ha.

That's my story in a nutshell. What's yours?

 

first car was an f150, got interested in working on it, realized it was slow. got a 94 accord coupe (f22b1) it was slow so I dropped an h22a into it after I had saved up enough money (end of my senior year in hs). well the car was still slow with an h22 so I started looking for a better project. found an 89 240sx with a blown engine. I proceded to drop over 15k into over the next 2 years. this car was actually fast and a lot of fun to drive.

at this point I still had the accord but i was sick of fwd so it went bye bye after I found a 92 galant vr4 for sale. the awd kicked ass but I wanted another 240sx to build as a dedicated drift car so I sold the gvr4 and picked up another s13 which I turbo'd. Then the turbo seals blew and I got really sick of working on 2 old cars so I sold them both and got an STI (after much STI vs Evo debate). eventually i bought another gvr4 so I could turn the sti into a dedicated rally car and that's where I'm at today lol

 

Got my License 4 days b4 I graduate back in June of 04 wanting a car SOO bad. Unexpectedly got a job when I took my mom & auntie in for an job interview. Got hired permanent right away(stil under 18). Dad bought me a 95 Honda Delsol (DOHC Vtec model)(I pay 100% everything, he just took out the loan). Two days b4 I made my 2nd payment, my delsol was Jacked(totaled). Got a 94 Accord lx sedan AT. 6months later got another 93 DelSol (dx) then sold my accord to my uncle. Few months later, bought my 97 Honda Odyssey(for my mom). Sold my 93 DelSol and drove my van(can't belieave I did this for 2-3mos.)

(Now the fun story)
I wanted a sports car(Its December). I wanted my bro-in-law's 99Integra GSR. Dad said NO b/c its a "Gone in 60Sec" car. I was pissed off. One cold Saturday morning I decided to to calm myself down going out looking at cars "for fun". I landed on a 00 Civic Si. Love it soo much but the tag was $14.9. Nah, forget that. 2cars down there was a 02 WRx (Silver). I felt kinda weird looking at that Subie like its waiting for someone special. I though in my mind its gotta be more expensive that the Si so I didn't boughter to look inside and the price tag. Soon enought as I was about to turn back into my car, one of the sales man came out. We were talking a little so then I asked him how much is the Subie. He said a price and GOT me right there. I test drove it and fell in love with my WRx. Next day, took my dad in for a test drive, next thing I know its my Babie.

auhh, its like "Love at first sight". If its meant for you, you'll feel it.

 

My story is short. My dad owns a Chevy dealership. (We'll see how long that lasts now)

I was there constantly growing up, talking to the techs, helping where I could, all that crap. I've always loved cars, but never been able to find a front wheel drive or a half wheel drive car that I liked. Then I got my Subaru.

 

Grew up playing with Legos and Erector sets. I was interested in cars since I was a tot and wanted to understand how they worked and drove. Everything progressed with time. I do as much work as my tools allow and can drive like the wind. :biggrin: I just wish I had money to support my wants. Maybe in a few years, I'll be able to buy and build up a dedicated track slut.

 

grew up on a farm in the Australian outback... learnt to drive a car around 6-7yrs old... enough said...

actually my Grandfather used to race open wheelers, and all my uncles and dad were into motorcycles... my first personal motorcycle when I was 7 was a 400cc dual sport... yep snapped my leg pretty good on that one... (learnt to ride 2 mths before that on an Ossa 250 trials bike)...

my uncle and (now my bro-inlaw) build Bmw's and Ducatis...

I guess its in the blood...

 

ted, you are a great storyteller.

not only did we get some background on you but we got a great "How I Met your Mother" story too. damn you are smooth.

i got into cars from my hotwheel days and going to every carshow within an hours drive of rochester every summer with my dad. so i have always loved cars.

i never really wrenched on cars untill i started hanging out with the mechanic from the subaru dealership about 8-10 years ago. however, i really only have knowledge of subaru maintenance and repairs.

 

yes I chuckled at that

 

I had an uncle who was really into expensive and fast cars. He used to tell me about all the cars in his magazines and posters. I saw one with a big spoiler and decided one day I was going to get a car with a big spoiler.
My first two cars were big turds. So I learned how to rig and fix things the cheap way. My cars always got vandolized so I got to go to the junk yard and dig around for parts. By the time I was out of high school I decided to take out a car loan and get a new car. After having it for a year I grew to hate the thing.
Aric and I were dating and I had told him my love for big spoilers and speed! So he suggested I get a wrx. When he showed me videos I decided I had to have one. After all sorts of searching I found my wrx up in Hopkins. It was like it was waiting for me to take it home.
When we got it the car was completely stock except that somebody had put some sort of magnaflow axel back and an Injen intake in the thing. I loved everything about the car except that it was wingless. So after a few months I bought a sti spoiler through our dealership here in town.
Around this time I was directed to mnsubaru from prezawagon over on Nasioc. He told me about the club. I was really intimidated to join so I just lerked for a few months and read and researched a ton of things about my car. I didn't want to be a "newb" and ask a million questions. The first person Aric and I met from the club was Somethingswrong.
I enjoy working on my car because I get to spend quality time with Aric. I love that he teaches me everything he knows about cars. I have alot of down time at work so I constantly research wrx parts and pieces. I love knowing what my car is made of and what it can do! I always knew what I liked looks wise but Aric is really the one who got me addicted to cars and what their made of. I take pride in working on my car (the things I can do) and helping Aric with it.
I like to spend money to make my car better. And I like high quality parts. And after meeting some of the Rochester guys I decided I had to keep up and make sure their cars weren't too much faster then mine! I like that I can hang with them and my car is just as cool as theirs. ... Plus it has a big spoiler!
I can say I have always loved driving fast and like looking at nice cars but Aric is really the one who got me addicted to cars and everything that comes with owning and modding a car.

 

My story is probably not quite as heartwarming, but truth never hurt anyone.
I started getting interested in cars when I was a boy. My favorite car then (and one of my favorites still) was the Porsche 911. I collected all the Matchboxes I could (In fact, I recall having a Matchbox that had the word "Turbo" on the hood. That was the start.). I used to love the movies Cannonball run and Smokey and the Bandit. I watched Knight Rider as much as I could. I still remember how badly I wanted a power wheel or a go kart, and always lamented the fact that I couldn't have one.
My dad used to have me watch him work on various things on his trucks or motorcycles. However, aside from being a "tool-fetch" boy, I had little to do with wrenching. I found it awfully boring. After quite a while, I realized that he rarely did much anything beyond changing fluids, and I always wondered why he didn't do more. I was more of a tinkerer and a "reverse-engineer" than he was. So, once I had my own ride (a 1987 Mazda 626 that I still love, wherever she is), it was time to look into doing some work.
Once I had my own machine, I finally got to use tools instead of handing them off, and got into basic maintenance. It wasn't enough. Also, around this time, F&F came out.
I wanted an RX-7.
I had always loved the RX-7 and did quite a bit of research on rotaries, but once that movie came out I had a new idea of what kind of potential could be unleashed from a base model car. Follow my graduation, I bought a brand new Saturn SL.
After high school I decided to pursue the hobby further and went to college for an Auto Technician degree. After graduating with my degree, the SL got traded in for a new Ion Coupe. To this day, I still loved that car.
After having the Ion for a little while, some other medical issues arose in life and I was forced to sell it. Following this I bought a 1994 del Sol.
That Honda taught me more about maintenance and modification than any other car I've had. The car was a nickel and dimer, and I loved it for it. By the time I sold it, I had invested as much in parts as I had in the car and I still miss it on nice days. Things must change though, and I really wanted to get a better car. One that I had wanted for years, but could never afford.

I wanted to get my bugeye.

I started doing the pricing research and looking around, but without someone to buy my del Sol from me it wasn't going to get very far.
Through a grapevine, it was brought to my attention that the ex-girlfriend of a friend of a friend was looking into buying a car. She wanted a Honda.
I had offered that if she wanted mine, it was available for sale so we arranged a meeting and I had her go out for a test drive.
Bear in mind, this would be her second car ever. The car had a full polyurethane chassis bushing kit, coilovers, and a 4-puck sprung clutch. Aside from feeling ever grain of sand on the road, it had a toggle switch of a clutch. When we went out for the test drive, she didn't kill it. Not once.
Aside from being impressed, we then took it out for a test drive for about 45 minutes. She didn't really say much, and I told her everything I could about the car. After the test drive, we parted ways with each other's numbers.
2-3 months passed and I heard nothing back, so just assumed I would be with the del Sol for longer, even though I found an awesome WRX in Chicago that I really wanted. One day at work, I was told someone was there to see me. It was the test driver who simply asked "how much do you want for it?"
"Give me $3000 and 2 weeks to get another car"
Within that time, I had a new car loan and was taking a trip to Chicago. Not only that, but the seller of my WRX dropped the price by $1000 because I was making the trip and because I was the first real buyer with the money.

To this day, I dare anyone to tell me that fate isn't real.

 

When I was 7 years old me, my mom, my dad, and my sister went to look at a car like my dad had when he was 16. A 1970 AMC AMX when we got there my dad took it for a test drive and my mom let me go with my dad for it. That day we brought it home for 7k it had 23k original miles on it. Shortly after that he bought a 1968 AMC rebel convertable, which is when I really started to get into cars. Dont get me wrong I like the AMX way better as it was built for speed where rebel was for cruising. And thats what we did. every summer at least once we went on a long weekend to AMC car shows. We would spend all day saturday wondering around the show field looking at all the other cars ranging from show room quailty to built for dragracing. Well as I got closer to the age of being albe to drive my dad and I started looking for a vehicle for me. we dicided a s-10 would be good since we lived out of town the four wheel drive would be nice. So thats what I got and that poor s-10 was not ready for a 16yr old that loved mud and going fast. lol After that I wanted something with more peopel room so I sold that and got a gmc jimmy 4 door. that thing was a beast. I only had one problem with it in the 75k miles I had it. As that was on its last leg I did the worst thing every, sold it and bought a 94 ford exlorer. oops is all I am saying. The only good thing about owning that is it broke a lot and one time I was driving my dads 97 legacy since my explorer was broke. on my way home I decided to sell that and buy a subaru. I bought my first subaru which was a 97 legacy auto. my dad hurt his foot so we traded cars since he could not drive his 5spd anymore.

Well the clutch started to go on the legacy so instead of researching how much to replace that I researched a new car. and low and behold I could afford a wrx, which I had wanted for 4 years at this point. So after talking to my new fience(thanks god beth said YES not NO) we decided to combine incomes so I could afford the new car I bought it completly on my own and it was my baby that I drove with pride and modded with the help of all you guys.

I love my subarus, exspecially for a dd, but someday I will own a muscle car to build up.

 

I really had no interest in cars until pretty much my senior year in high school. I got my license at 17, and was driving a nissan pathfinder that used to be my uncles. It gave me tons of problems. the O2 sensor kept going out and giving me 8mpgs, there were electrical quarks of all kinds, and so forth. It lasted less than a year before it broke in half. The frame rusted through. I was kind of put off on cars at that point.

I wanted something reliable that also got good gas mileage (AWD was a must as for our driveway is was a rally stage as Chux knows). My parents had religiously owned Subarus, for the past 16 years or so, with the occasional Toyota pickup. I kinda figured well if my parents like these so much I should look into them, as they seems to be super reliable, have AWD standard, and this fabled hill holder system my mom loves. So I started looking for a Subaru in the fall of 03. Of course my searches brought me to love the GC style 2.5 RS, which was sadly out of my price range.

After many months of searching (and driving a nissan with a broken frame) I found a '95 LX coupe in the paper. I went out to look at it with my parents and decided it was a good car. 96k miles on the clock, has some minor damage (front bumper beam tweaked, still is today lol), dent in the trunk lid, hole in the rear deck cover. but the car was relaible (or so my dad said) and had lots of life left in it. It was an auto which was kind of a plus for me at the time, as I did not know how to drive a stick. So I got the car for a sweet deal (2.5k out the door).

I had a ton of fun driving my new little car. It was 10000x more fun to drive than the nissan as it was a "sports coupe". When Chux found out that I got a Subaru he referred me to MNSubaru, which I was reluctant to join, and didnt for several months. By which time I had already roasted the new set of tires that came with the car. I started to learn more about modifying cars through MNSubaru, and by helping some friends work on their cars. So I started in on my own car by making a DIY intake, which was a horrible idea and has caused my check engine light to be on ever since. But I caught the bug, I picked up some R1 Racing Coils from Yang (back when Red and White is Tight) and Chux helped me put them in. From that point on I was hooked.

I always did my own maintainance on my Subaru, as my dad could teach me how. But it was really only after I started in the big project of doing the timing belt, oil pump, water pump that I really started to understand the boxer engine and its potential. This is when I started researching, turbo charging an NA motor...

 

I never like what i buy, i only buy what is close to what i like.

My car was no different - bought it, didn't like things, changed it.

 

Ha, The "my first loan car" was a Saturn Ion! It was a good car, had beautiful interior and the cool doors but it was plastic. It explodes when hit during the winter time! (I got hit in the winter and my rear bumber/back end shattered)

 

Hah, good stories guys.

I'm pretty typical. I've always been a car nut, but it was more of the "I want this, and this, and this, and this," while being a kid and having no money. I always had beater cars, including a '93 VW Fox throughout college.

When I graduated in '06, I planned to get myself a present for graduating and finding a job (I had a couple offers lined up, all that would require a working car to commute). I had wanted a WRX since the bugeye first came to the states, and started doing some searching and test drives. It only took one test drive of the '06 for me to set my sights high and decide I wanted to purchase new. The 2.5L and additional amenities just put me over the top.

After purchasing the car in spring '06, I did some traveling for a couple weeks after graduation, and found that I missed driving my new car about more then anything else . This was the start to a long and successful relationship, she hasn't broken my heart yet. :laugh:

People will probably ask about tuning, so I'll toss a blurb in here about that. In the fall of '06, I (like pretty much 100% of new WRX owners) was looking at cheap and affordable modifications. At this time, the open-source tuning movement was really gaining speed, and the '06 WRX was still a "question-mark," as a few of the ECU tables were still un-known. After some reading, I decided to take a chance and purchased a tactrix cable. I began playing with my car in the fall and winter, and was amazed at the wealth of information available on many of the Subaru tuning forums. By spring (and after countless hours of reading, testing, etc) I was knowledgeable enough to tune my own car and felt confident in posting answers to people's questions on said forums.

I can't remember who the first was, but I had one of you guys on here ask if I was interested in tuning his car, so after some thinking, I decided to give it a shot. I think this was mid-spring of '07. I had always been a "how does this work?!" type of person, and ECU tuning fell right into my lap with melding two things I know and love (computers and cars).

The rest, as they say, is history.

Sorry Ted, no good pick-up line in my story. :laugh:

 

That would I believe be me. Down at FS. We got pulled over right after flashing your map onto my car. :laugh:

 

I was always into cars as a little kid. I slept with my hotwheels and matchbox cars. LOL It wasn't untill 1997 when I really wanted a Honda Civic. Thats when the whole racing scene started here in MN for me. I started to hang out with my older cousins who would go to University Ave and hang out at Midway. (before foodsmart, Mervins)
Started to work on Honda's after having a couple of friends work on my car and doing a crap job. I was determind to fix it myself. Then it went from Honda to Nissan to Toyota to Subaru and now back to Honda. LOL Also switching from tech work to sales has gotten me to become a lot more lazy and I haven't worked on cars for a couple of years now. My friends still call and ask "hey my car is doing this or that." I tell them to call a mechanic now. :laugh:

 

to you or the car... ha a a

 

First off, hats off to Gridlicked for an excellent thread. I have enjoyed reading these stories and may even understand a few people better because of it. Thanks to everyone who shares their story as well.

And now mine.....

I have always like cars as far back as I can remember. My favorite things growing up were Transformers, Hot Wheels, Knight Rider (I still want a Firebird TA deep down inside) and MicroMachines. Don't know why, just liked toy cars and had to have a new one everytime we went to the store. Growing up I always had posters of Lambos, Ferraris, and Porshes and usually preferred movies and tv shows that had cool cars. My family doesnt have alot of money and we usually had crap cars that my dad would buy and we would drive them until they weren't worth fixing anymore.

When I was 16 My mother was kind enough to buy me my first car, a $500 1982 Chevy Citation which lasted a whole 2 months after I started driving then fried the mtor I was upped to a 1980 Monte Carlo (V6), this is when I learned that I absolutely LOVE to drive, I would drive anywhere for any reason at any time just for the drive which also led to my love of car audio. I owned a few fun american cars, had the 1980 Monte, and 87 Dodge Shadow (2.2 turbo model), a 78 monte carlo landau with a strong 5.0 aluminum slots and pirelli tires.

After a few years of being broke and driving crap I eventually found a decent job and ended up buying a newish 04 SRT-4, thats is when I actually started paying attention to more of the car than just the appearance and driving and started learning more about the technical details of a cars drivetrain. Well after a year of driving the SRT-4 I decided to try and take a corner faster than the machine would allow, and wrecked it. I drove a friends (heavily modded) 89 CRX for about a month while I waited for the insurance stuff to go through and developed a fondness for hondas, ones that drive like go-karts such as the CRX I borrowed. I was shopping around for something with AWD after the SRT and kind of stumbled onto the WRX I have now online. After weeks of looking for an EVO, Audi, or other AWD vehicles and not finding any inside my price range I decided to look at the WRX which I test drove, went back to the dealer and fixed a MASSIVE turbo>DP leak and re-test drove and bought.

One night here in Rochester I bumped into Rob (rskm1) while driving around and he pointed me here. Two years later I get to say I have met many great people, made some damn good friends and have alot of fun here on MNSUBARU.

Next I will most likely stick with Subaru and go for an STI hatch until I start making enough $ to get into BMWs Porsches and Ferraris.

Thanks for reading.
-Josh

 

YES!!!

also great thread teddy bear

 

Cars began for me when I was a wee little girl. My pops was a car nut, and has owned almost one of everything. We would sit outside on our front steps and I would point out the make and model of every car that drove by and he would tell me stories about things he has owned and worked on. Most of my parents friends new me as the girl who pointed out cars.
My dads hobby was also to buy and sell and fix up old cars. We always had at LEAST 7 cars at our house and they were never under 10 ears old. He would take me to car shows and I would dream that someday I would have a sweet looking classic car. The first car I ever wanted was a vw karmanghia that was kermit the frog green with black interior.
I also enjoyed going to my uncles who has a 4+ car heated and cooled garage with one of every kind of toy you need, a drag car, chopped/custom, classic stock car, and a fully rebuilt corvette convertible he built from the ground up. Then as I got older I began to appreciate the newer cars, which got me to start saving all my pennies for 5 years working a crappy paying job. I was tired of hand be down cars so then decided it was time to spend my pennies. I really wanted a grand am gt ( yes go ahead make fun of me). I started looking and test driving but didn't really like the way they drove and looked on the inside felt very cheap. After about a year of looking and getting stressed out and dpressed not having something nice and fun to drive. So thats brings us to the stratus rt ..my dad found it on craigslist and I loved the way it looked, went for a test drive and scoped it up ( I got a good deal). Soon after joined car forums to learn, (wish I would have joined while I was looking for cars to begin with) and alot I did learn lol. I modded it some and enjoyed it...then after about a year realized it was slow and didn't fulfill my need for speed, practicality, and the the resale value was quickly dropping (being a 2 door, it was time to sell sell sell) I started looking for a scooby bugeye wagon, seeing as it fit everything I wanted and needed..found my wagon made it stage 2, and enjoy it for everything it is. I will drive this car into the ground and love every minuet of it..cars are in my blood and always will be.

 

After being in 3 accidents I didn't get my license till I was 19.

My first car was a nissan maxima that was in horrible condition. The trunk was flooded with water, that I did not know till I opened it to put shopping bags in one day. It had two bad cylinders, and was in dire need of an alignment. The steering wheel took muscles to hand from shaking so much:laugh: Either way a car was a car, and it got me to the mall it was the car that just sat in our yard for 2 years till I decided I would put it to use if no one else did. After cleaning it out and fixing it as much as I could or knew, my parents sold it. :emo: It only lasted a good month.

Then I purchased a 1996 honda EX for 800 from an ex. And I paid 284on insurance to cover it every month. He had tore out the carpet because the windows were down in a storm one night and it smelt pretty evil. We changed the rotors, brake pads, and oil. I had it for half a year. Almost killed myself in it coming home from Spirit Mountian one weekend when some guy didn't do a good job securing his fish house, I almost hit it going 70 when it fell off his truck. I swerved into the right lane, almost got run over by a truck and went onto the shoulder, damn near close to the ditch.

At this time my parents felt like I was driving around an unsafe car. To them it's only unsafe because it was cheap. They think the more money something is the better. They wanted to buy a car that was safe for me. We made a deal that I was to give my lil honda to my oldest brother and they would buy me a new car. A brand new free car sounded like a deal to me! At this time I had spent two summers down at porky's not knowing a single thing about cars, just the ones that looked sexy to me.

Then one of the best days of my life was March 13, a simple Monday in 2006. two days after being cheated on by a douche bag I decided that day was going to be the day. I had three choices. One guy wanted 15,000 for a srt-4 with 45,000 miles. There was a GSR in bloomington, he wanted 17,000. The Honda dealership in brooklyn park wanted 14,500 for a wrx. I went and looked at the wrx first be cause it was the closest. I was expecting a sedan but it was a wagon, I was a little dissapointed but I decided to give it a try anyway, I started her up and killed it, lol. Drove it around and it was the best feeling ever. I fell in love and forgot all about anyone that ever cheated on me, from there on it was just me and the car. We talked it down to 13,500, it had 75,000 on it.

I joined mnsubaru after I showed up at the FS lot one night, I was kinda bummin and this very nice boy (Fobia) asked me if I wanted to paint my headlights. I said I was broke, and he said he would do it for free. So we arranged to meet and now we make a pretty odd couple but in a good way.

October 13th, 2007 most of you know I drove my precious into the ditch a coupl of months after my grandma had passed. We don't need to go there :emo: Some of you got parts from her.

My parents were pretty pissed, which I completly understood and took complete responsiblity for. They said I could use whatever we got back for a down payment on my next car and they would help for insurance which I didn't even think they would offer to help after dissapointing them so much.. But they are my parents and they wanted me to learn from it, since then I've moved out and we've gotten along better. They just want me to be financially stable. And I love them for being such wonderful parents.

I'm absolutely lucky they did that, because I then purchased my Sti December 13 of 2007. I owe my brother 2000 for a down payment and won't be done paying the car off for another 4 years. It's kinda freaky to me that everything happened on the 13... But ever since it's been an awesome ride, it's got a few quirky things going on but I don't mind. Things have been going up since so, she's my very large and expensive good luck charm.

 

My grandfather owned an auto parts & maintenance store, and my father's family lived in the apartment above the store. So my dad literally grew up surrounded by cars, and has a real love for them. But my dad was also a schoolteacher (see Gridlocked's reference to finances), so we spent a lot of time fixing our cars.

When I was to little to reach the pedals, but big enough to turn the steering wheel, my dad would sit me on his lap and let me steer around empty parking lots. When I got big enough to reach the pedals too, he'd let me drive it myself. I'll never forget the first time we went to the lot after a snow fall. He basically told me to drive, turn, and hit the gas hard (RWD car). As the car was sliding out of control, he told me to get it back. And then we did it over until I had it figured out.

I remember rebuilding the carb on the family car before I had my permit. I knew how to do all basic maintenance (including a lot of stuff that modern cars never need done) long before I could legally drive a car.

I literally was never a passenger in a car from the point where I got my permit until I got my license. My dad was strongly of the opinion that the more seat time I got, the safer (or at least better, which is sorta the same thing) driver I'd be. I learned to drive in the heart of a MN winter out int he country, and to this day having a lot of traction just doesn't feel right :laugh:

Not shocking I ended up a rally guy, is it?

 

Dukes of Hazzard - the original RWD, USDM rally ninjas.

 

this my dad did the same thing.

 

I hope to get a 98-01 2.5Rs in the future for a ej25 swap and keep my WRx for daily driving, maybe.

(sigh, starting to work 2 jobs now)

 

I got started awfully young... my dad does auto glass, my mom works with the DOT (both ND and MN) on a lot of things.

Being in fargo... well, ahem. It's a farm town still, at least in mentality, if not economy - I haven't looked it up, it may still be primarily a farm economy. Family went to the monster truck show every year while I was young, dad still watches NASCAR every weekend and the NHRA drags / swampbuggies when they're on.

The parents never really had any exciting cars while I was growing up, but both of them had muscle cars back in high school (dad had a chevelle, mom had a nova). Consequently, I grew up with my nose buried in old Hot Rod and Car Craft magazines, dreaming about restoring some old muscle.

I also spent a lot of time with my grandparents as I was growing up, and my grandfather was ... one of -those- guys. He had this 1970's Dodge Ram that was always in need of fixing, so rather than buy a five dollar part he would use duct tape, bailing wire, and some gum. I got to help him patch the truck up in the places where his hands were too big to reach into. He also did the "sit on my lap and steer the truck" thing with me, when I'd go with him to his part time bartending job outside of town.

Throw in watching a LOT of Knight Rider, Viper, Dukes of Hazzard, and the Smokey and the Bandits too.

As for Subarus, that happened during high school. I was taking auto shop, and a rep from UTI was there telling stories about the WRC mechanics and how fast they are. Then he busted out the projector, and showed us this clip: I was like... ok, I'd like to get one of those. :laugh:

As far as what I've owned... I started out in a hand me down 91 grand caravan. Three transmissions and a motor later, from normal use, the parents sold it and handed me the keys to a 91 explorer, when my dad replaced it with something else. That car chewed through starter motors like no one's business, often leaving me crawling under it with a hammer in the rain and snow.

So I figured.. I've done FWD, I've done RWD (and occasionally, 4WD. that push button deal on the explorer), and both were automatics. Why not try AWD and a manual? So, here I am, about a year and a half into this AWD/manual experiment(or experience).

 

this is a VERY exciting read guys!!! great stories and thanks Gridlock for making the thread!

I'll keep mine short and simple.

Always loved cars, grew up with match cars, micro machines, etc... Loved Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazard and all those cars shows. Then i moved to Japan for a couple yrs, and of course, seeing all those Lambos, Ferraris, Benzs, etc..loved it even more!!! by that time i was coming into 8th grade and we moved back to the states. Read all the magazines, reading stats and what not. always went to the auto show and dragged my dad to take me. No one in my family was into cars but i think subliminally my dad was, as he had a SS Nova back in the day, which later my mom totaled.

So, 1998, i turn 16, need a car to drive to school. Dad gives me the family hand me down, 1985 Nissan Maxima Station wagon. the old machine kept had stupid lil failures, i got tired of giving it to the shop, so i started fixing stuff myself.

Now its 2000, my dad takes another job overseas and leaves us at home. my nissan was wrecked due to a speeder and iwas knocked into a pond. car sunk and was totaled. I basically got my dad 96 Suburban. The modding began, slowly with an intake, exhaust, stereo... Then it became a supercharged heavily build and customized "FBI" lookin truck! It was my first car i could mod and be proud of... still have her today, chugging along strong!

Dad got into bikes then, ordered a HArley and forced me to start riding so we could spend quality time together... got my first bike from him, 81 yamaha 850 special... rode for two yrs, then got a 01 gsxr 750. loved this bike, rode for 5 yrs, then just last yr, 07', i sold my 750 and bought a 06' gsxr 1000. and that what i have today.

Since 1998, i had been working and investing my money, now it was feb 2005, the yrs and market had been good to me. decided, i want my "affordable" dream car, now! hoped on Corvette forums and just browsing...found my baby. guy was in chicago, had a TON of mods, something that was way out of my league at the time. i said, i gotta start somewhere! March05', drive to Chicago, bought me a Vette. it was heavily built, made upper 400s whp. I've had it now for 3 yrs, replaced and built it even bigger and am making 535rwhp. Taken me 3 yrs to build this machine, lots of time and money...

In fall 06', as i finished college and my 2nd degree, got a great paying job, went out and bought the Mercedes E55 as a daily driver type car.

And now today, i have a awesome young black lab who is rambunctious as all hell. Couldn't transport the lil guy in the truck everywhere as gas was getting pricey as all hell. NEVER would take him in the benz either. My pops is back in town now, so he loves to drive the benz, so i pretty much gave him the car so he can enjoy it. He took the burb back as well since he doesn't want to mess with snow and a high performance sedan. LEaves me with nothing, and hence i bought a WRX from 02blubru. Always have loved the subies, especially in blue!!! wanted an STI, but budget did not allow for it...

So..here i am today...bike, and four cars. i think im done for a lil bit. next purchase, is the RING!!! :biggrin:

thanks for reading my "lil" story...

 

For the longest time I hated cars. I thought the whole thing was stupid and a total waste of time/money. I also hated driving when I was a teenager. When I took Drivers Ed @ 14 and 9 months I did the minimum I could, then until I was 16 1/2 I put on maybe 10 hours of time. (Then got sent to a boarding school. no car there anyway)

I got my first Forester (2003 x) when I got out @ age 19 and got my license by the skin of my teeth. I took the test with a grand total of less than 20 hours drive time ever and passed somehow...? I still didn't like driving that much. I started building my first carputer in late 2003 early 2004 and began to get real interested in that hobby.

Fast forward to May 2005 when I got the '05 Forester XT. I kinda fell in love and discovered how much fun it was. At that point I knew nothing more than "i push the right pedal, the car moves." I'm not sure why, but I decided that I wanted to begin learning how the things actually worked. I joined NASIOC and started reading and reading and reading. Then I moved up here in October 2005. I'd found this forum before I moved and again started to read and read. Also asked (and still do) a lot of stupid questions trying to get up to speed with people who had been around cars their whole lives.

It's been downhill from there I wanted to really figure out how things worked, so after breaking the Forester fiddling I decided to get myself a project car that could be a straight learning car. Thus the SVX was brought into my family. It's been an amazing learning tool along with all the people on MNSubaru, Subaru-SVX, Subaruforester.org, NASIOC, and scoobymods.

 

^^^ speaking of carputer I am wanting to do this int he future...

 

I grew up in a war torn country in Central America, as kids me and my brother saw a lot thing a person should never see. To take our minds away from things my dad imported a 71 Camaro RS, at the time it was 1 of 2 Camaros in the whole country. We were little but my dad would let us clean it and help him work on it. We didn't do much we just watched him work and listened as he explained how to change the plugs, change oil etc. It was great to rumble through the streets in that thing, every one would stop and watch. My brother turned into a total motor head as we grew up, being around it so much got me into customizing cars and whatnot.

When we fled the country my parents owned 2 Subarus, my dad had a sweet silver Brat and my mom had a Suby Micro Bus. I'll see if I can find some pics, both of the cars got destroyed in military/rebel shoot out on our street. Subaru ownership goes way back for me lol

 

My father got me really into cars when he got his 69 camaro when I was about 9, but Ive always been a motor-head, dirtbikes, snowmobiles, whatever.