Cars are more than machines (or mobile devices) built from metal, glass, plastics, and rubber. They’re a part of our being, an extension of our personalities. Lol – cars can simultaneously bring you peace & pain. They’re not just something to get you from Point A to Point B. Rather, cars are capable of taking you to another world… a different reality within real life. When you slide behind the wheel, you’re not just driving – you’re alive. There’s an energy transfer. Whether you’re in a project car held together by hope & zip-ties, or some insanely priced exotic. It’s that intoxicating blend of machinery, freedom, adventure, joy, and control… a chemical cocktail no pharmaceutical company could ever recreate.
We know it’s an irrational way of thinking…
Especially to non-car people. But it’s how we’re wired; it’s what we do. And it’s proven in the way we stare back at our cars every time we park, just to catch one more glimpse. The car is where we’ve celebrated victories, mourned losses, and solved life’s greatest dilemmas, usually with the radio off and the night air streaming through the windows. It’s not just transport – it’s therapy. In fact, it’s the only therapy I understand.
But loving a car isn’t just about the drive…
It’s about making it ours. Customization turns our vehicle into a rolling reflection of who we are, who we want to be, and what we dream of. A car is a blank canvas… our avatar waiting for us to bring it to life. Whether it’s bolting on fresh new parts, custom fabricating an idea, or just slapping-on a funny sticker that makes us laugh every time we walk past, the changes we make are a way of saying, “This is mine; this is me.”
Some of us chase perfection…
We polish & perfect every little detail. For others, it’s more about nostalgia – a dream car we’ve had since we were kids… or moments from our youth that shaped us. Some people make function the fashion… molding the car to fit our lifestyle, needs, and desires. Lift kits for the trails, lighter/stronger parts for increased performance, or maybe just roof racks for our recreational activities. Our cars tend to evolve with us, sometimes in unpredictable ways. And even when we swear we’re done… we’re never really done. It’s a never-ending story (you sang the song didn’t you).
A customized car is a display of art, expression, and personality…
It’s our stand against ordinary & invisibility. We’re creating the world we want to live in. It’s also where art, adrenaline, and mechanics collide. Think about that for a second. To be able to build, customize, and/or preserve a vehicle… then go out & see the world in it, pilot it, raise your heart rate in it, and make memories in it… that leaves me dumbfounded with intrigue. If it’s a vintage car, then you’ve added the ingredient of history to the recipe of art & experience. It becomes a rolling time machine… connecting us to visions, dreams, sensations, & energies of the past.
At the heart of it, customization is an extension of the bond between us and our cars…
It’s about giving the machine a personality – a soul. A labor of love, frustration, & pride. Achieving triumph, perseverance, & victory. We do it because it’s NOT easy… and that’s what makes it worth it. Every scuffed knuckle, busted bolt, and late-night wrench-session is worth it the moment we look back in that parking lot… and see what we created. Or when we get that nod at a stoplight. And the best part?
There’s no right way to do it…
Whether it’s a slammed import scraping the street, a muscle car growling at stoplights, or an off-roader with mud splattered from a good time. It’s about NOT conforming to normality… and convenience. It’s about that spark. Because at the end of the day, our cars aren’t just cars—they’re pieces of us, out on the open road for the world to see.
A car isn’t just a tool… it’s a relationship…
And like all relationships, it can break your heart lol. When it fails you… and the chill of the unexpected bill arrives. Or when the inevitable comes… and you have to part ways with a machine that’s seen more of your life than most people. It’s not just a loss – it’s grief. It’s why we all know someone who can’t let go of a car they love, the one that sits on blocks in a driveway, or rots in the backyard, waiting for a resurrection that may never come. And you know what? I get it. I want to save those same cars too, even if they just end up rotting away in my yard instead. And if they do, so be it – because that’s where they belong.
Cars are bookmarks in the story of our lives…
That first jalopy that carried you to freedom. The one you tried (and failed) to impress your high school crush with. Your granddad’s old truck. The smell of the car you grew up in. Or the late-night drives that cleared your mind. Cars aren’t just transport – they’re witnesses. They have a leading role in so many of our memories. And what’s absolutely crazy is: Randomly passing someone else’s car on the road… can instantaneously jog such vivid memories in your own life that you’d so long forgotten. Our highest highs, our lowest lows, and every mundane Tuesday in between.
Cars are companions…
On journeys both literal & metaphorical. We’ve sang in them… we’ve lost our cool & melted-down in them. At one point or another, the entire world has made perfect sense with the windows down & the scenery blurring by. We’ve gotten real in them… gotten to understand friends, sons, daughters, parents, and spouses/GFs/BFs in deeper ways. We’ve seen the world in them. They’ve carried us to weddings, funerals, spring breaks, 1st dates, graduations, interviews, honeymoons, deployment, vacations, new homes in new towns… fill in your own blanks. And they’re marked every mile with memories that cling tighter than a worn seatbelt.
And when the time comes to part ways, whether by choice or necessity…
It feels like a chapter closing. It’s not easy letting go of something that’s been there through so much. For many of us – a car is more than just metal & mechanics. It’s the guardian of our secrets, the silent partner in our adventures, and the constant in an ever-changing world.
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