Audi RS3 - Second Chances

This is my takeaway from Mauricio Martinez’s Audi RS3. How many of us tell ourselves ‘we can always buy another one’… but we never do. Truth is: as a car enthusiast, when you sell a car, you’re at a very vulnerable point. And it’s not just emotional either lol. Because whether you realize it or not, when you sell a beloved car, you’re at a crossroads. The whole world is steadily trying to pull you away from car culture. And for a second… it’s won.

Car culture requires a lot of resources…

A lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of energy, a lot of discipline, and a lot of mental preoccupation. The older you get, usually the harder it gets to find (at least most) of those resources. But – when you stay in a hobby for life, it all tends to become muscle memory. What’s that saying… an object in motion stays in motion?? That’s why we call it a lifestyle.

But when you sell a car, there’s a break in the motions.

And the muscles can fade quickly. If you don’t stay sharp & adamant, it can be real hard not to get swallowed up by sensibility & compromise. Weeks turn into months, months turn into seasons, and season turn into years. How many people fall out of the lifestyle altogether because they sold a car that they had every intention of replacing with something else… but then life got in the way & they never did.

Mauricio Martinez has owned an Audi RS3 before…

It was a nice tuned-up street car, a recreational trackday car, and he had no real intention of selling it. But then a guy came along & wanted it more, so he sold it. Mauricio told himself he could always get another one. And you know what, he freaking did! The man stuck to the damn plan, never slacked-up, and didn’t let sensibility or compromise come creeping in. He went & scouted-out another blue RS3 right away, except this one had the black optics package, which had always been his first choice.

The 2nd time around with an RS3…

Mauricio knew exactly how he wanted to build it. A fresh slate! You know how it is: At some point in any journey with a car, you can’t help but think, “If I could do it all over over again what would I do differently?” Well this was Mauricio’s opportunity to do just that. And from previous ownership experience, he now had a better real-world sense of which mods played well together. Viola!