Where Did Your Automotive Life Start?

[misterp]

How did you get involved in an automotive/motorcycle hobby, passion, or career? How did you start? Were you a kid? Older? From a wrenching family? Looking at car magazines? Because you bought your truck and found your way to the forum?!

 

For me - high school auto shop; the teacher was one of the greatest guys I've known, it came easy and I was hooked on day #1 about the geeky stuff, I'm very detail oriented and like puzzles I guess. I really got off on the troubleshooting and the moment I got my first vehicle it wasn't long before it was being torn apart, kinda like a 5-year old with a Swiss watch. I do not have an automotive upbringing, my father in fact is very disapproving of my hobby, even today at the age of 40 he makes it very clear that spending any more on a car outside of gas, tires, and oil is just wasting my life. So the decision for me to enjoy an automotive passion has always been a very personal and concious one.

 

Mr. P.

Edited December 27, 2008 by Mr. P. (see edit history)

[ssspringer]

I think it started when i was 3 years old...Dad traded his 1962 Impala SS for a brand new 64 GTO ,

he read about them in a Hot Rod Magazine and put his name on the order list before they hit the showrooms....he was one of the 1st owners and i was one of the 1st passengers!!

Been HOOKED ever since!!

[scooter3]

Mine started when I was 16. My first car was a 1973 Cougar XR7 which I immediately pulled out the 351W and rebuilt. Every car or truck since then was modified in one way shape or form. It has been an obsession ever since.

[mcmahan]

mine started in the woumb lol. my dad has allways had a shop customizing cars. my dad had a 69 boss 429 mustang when i was born and ect... amount of muscle cars. i remember when he went to japan when this whole import scene started and he came back with a right side drive twin turbo rx7 it was sweet. well my first car was a 71 mach 1 mustang with a 429 scj with a 4 speed. it was a sweet car. then for graduation my dad got me a kenny bell edition 93 cobra. i soon after bought my first car to get my credit going and my first purchase was a 97 ss camaro. i bought my first vette when i returned from iraq in 04 i drove it off the assembly line and yes it was a z06. a short run down of my history.

[rojo_143]

My intrest started when i was about 10 years old wrenching on my dirt bike and that carried over in to my cars. Also taking a auto collision course in high school probably helped. My first vehicle was a POS ford ranger that i spent more time fixing then driving Sold that when i joined the navy. Then I bought my s-10 that is when i got serious about working on my own vehicles I put a lowering kit, headers, intake, rebuilt the tranny and put the stero system in by myself. Then when i got my SSS everything that has needed to be done including the mods i have done by my self my truck has yet to see a dealership. I evern turn wrenches on planes in the navy.

[ssspringer]

I think it started when i was 3 years old...Dad traded his 1962 Impala SS for a brand new 64 GTO ,

he read about them in a Hot Rod Magazine and put his name on the order list before they hit the showrooms....he was one of the 1st owners and i was one of the 1st passengers!!

Been HOOKED ever since!!

 

 

My 1st car was a 72 Firebird,350 ..would do 140 mph,2ed a 73 Z/28 solid lifter off road cam Muncie M22,3:73,3 400 h.p, my 3 rd.. a rare 75 vette convert, 1 of 4629,then a 79 Z/28 then a 86 IROC Z,couple of S-1O'S and Extreme Blazer in Victory Red and finally my SSS!!

[04CHASE]

my dad had a 55 chevy he bought when i was a kid and had plates 55 Chase. he was a die hard bowtie guy. he later got a blue 85 iroc-z . i loved to ride in that thing when i was really young( i was born in 84) . thats about all i remember he dies when i was 11 years old and ever since then i have been fascinated with cars esp gm's. i collected hot wheels as a youngster and just developed a passion for gm cars. i got my first job at a local chevy dealer @ 17 and worked as a porter until i got the chance to move to be a technician and take some gm classes. from there i got my gm cars i have now and moved to a company that paid better doing strictly diesel trucks .

[Joe Roknic]

Mine started at 16, my first car 71 Chevelle SS. I took auto shop in high school just so I could start the mods. I ended up wrecking it in a race on the freeway. I wanted to replace it with another one a couple of years ago but could not afford 40 grand. But that's how I ended up with my SSS. Love my truck and this site....you guy's are great

[FireRescueSS]

All since I can remember, I've had the bug. Family tradition. Actually got a so called "deal" with my girlfriend... I'll buy her an engagement ring, when she buys me a brand new vette... though, we only met in the first place, cause she fell in love with the SSS.

 

As far back as I can remember, I had an '85 Honda FourTrax fourwheeler (first 4x4 atv model, still have it), then when I was 12, got an '87 Chevette... then at 18 I got the '00 Malibu, 19 got the Camaro RS, then 20 got the 2005 Honda Rincon ATV, then at 21 got the SSS, then at 22 got the Polaris RZR.

 

23 now, still looking, lol.

[ssspringer]

my dad had a 55 chevy he bought when i was a kid and had plates 55 Chase. he was a die hard bowtie guy. he later got a blue 85 iroc-z . i loved to ride in that thing when i was really young( i was born in 84) . thats about all i remember he dies when i was 11 years old and ever since then i have been fascinated with cars esp gm's. i collected hot wheels as a youngster and just developed a passion for gm cars. i got my first job at a local chevy dealer @ 17 and worked as a porter until i got the chance to move to be a technician and take some gm classes. from there i got my gm cars i have now and moved to a company that paid better doing strictly diesel trucks .

 

 

Hey Chase..even though i've been a member since 06 , and have just recently got able to post i ve been lurking around here since May of 05 and have seen the progression of your truck here ..I've been a fan of your truck and saw the article way back in Trucking

mag ..or at least i think that was the mag...anyway SWEET ASS SS MAN!!

[Fireman31]

Mine started from the time I was a youngster.....believe it or not, my first word was "CAR".

 

There is a long automotive history in my family, my Grandpa Ralph was a heavy equipment and diesel mechanic by trade. My other Grandpa Arthur had many GM vehicles back in the day including a few Impalas and a Monte Carlo. My Dad had a Mustang 428 Cobra Jet when he got out of Vietnam, and my Uncle Artie had an Olds 442 W30 back in the 70's....currently he drives an '06 Mustang GT.

 

As far back as I can remember, i've always loved cars. Like I said earlier, my first word was "CAR", and my passion showed way back when I had my first Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars....which totalled well over 250 as the years went on. I used to watch my Dad work on our cars, and by the time I was 10 I actually started working on the lawn mower with him during the springtime(tune-ups). I enjoyed getting my hands dirty. By the time I was 13, detailing cars started to interest me, and I also became an avid NASCAR and NHRA fan. I began collecting Die Casts around this time too.

 

High School auto shop really set me off, we used to work on the teacher's car and truck, oil changes, spark plugs, brakes, etc. I got my first car at the age of 18, a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GT, and the mod bug bit me. Aside from doing normal light maintenance myself on the car, I installed a CAI and cat-back. Once I started college, I started detailing cars for friends on the side for extra cash too.

 

The GP wasn't fast enough for me, so I traded it in in 2004 for a brand new '04 Grand Prix GTP, which I also modded. Again, along with routine maintenance, I installed a CAI, cat-back, and 3.5" pulley.....all short lived. While that car was a blast to drive, it was still an ordinary car, I wanted something different, something unique, and I always loved trucks.

 

I bought my SSS brand new right after graduating college, and immediately starting modding it. I joined SSS.com later that year where the mod bug stuck to me like a leach. This forum helped me realize the potential my truck has. I enjoy the fact that I have done most of the mods to my truck myself with the help of some friends. I find working on the truck to be therapeudic. Even with all the money I have spent, parts I have broken, I have learned a ton and will never look back. I hope to keep on modding long into the future, and I hope to pass this passion on to my kids someday...........

 

 

[Hrtbeat1]

Mine started when I was 1 yr old ... really. Its my dad's fault. Well actually my mom's. They were driving thru town one Sunday, went by the dealership (which was closed) and they had this Rally Green '68 Camaro which was in the window. Mom said "That's a pretty car." Dad went the next day and bought it. When I started driving it was mine. Bought my first Vette in 2001 a simple 1990 model. My current Vette is pretty rare 1 of 18 made with the options mine has. Its a '96 LT4 6 speed with the Z51 suspension. Its the Collector Edition with the red interior. Bought the SS in Sept of last year.

 

Here's me on the '68 Camaro just after dad brought it home.

[saytagf]

I was 16 years old and just got my license when my dad gave me the keys to a '64 Thunderbird and told me "all it needs is a motor", so basically I didn't have a choice, If i wanted to drive I had to learn. I guess that's where it started

[Hankg42]

I was into cars from the time I was big enough to slide behind the wheel and pretend I was driving. My dad was a bus driver, and I'd love to go to work with him. I started building model cars (mostly AMT) when I was about 7. My dad also had a friend who owned a service station, and I started hanging out there, and helping whenever I could, when I was around 12. I was probably a pain in the ass, but they never treated me like that. They taught me everything they could. They actually started paying me for helping out, and I got my first (junk) car to tinker with when I was 13. I also drove for the first time around then, and was allowed to jockey cars in and out of the bays for service. At 16 I got the car I wanted to drive when I got my license, a '56 Chevy. By the time I got my license, I had my 3rd engine in it, an almost new 283. In it we put a nice Corvette cam, big 4 barrel, and a few other small goodies. I was hooked for life. I've owned close to 40 different vehicles now (some of them only for a few months), and made many of my friends through my "hobby", the latest being this bunch here.

[CoolBlueSS]

It's in my blood. My dad did all the maintainece/repairs on all our cars no matter what it needed, and I loved to help as a kid. His dad, my grandfather, ran a shop in the mid 20s. He got out of it in the early 30s, because they were getting to complicated. When I got my first car I was told, it breaks, you fix it. You tear it up, you fix it, and you're walking/riding bike. It has evolved from there. I got into it proffesionally after I graduated HS in 1985, and been here ever since.

 

I thought it was funny how I would have my dad help me, and a few yaers later he was needing me to help him. I hope one or both of my children will take an interest in the hobby.