Vaded Mob - Josh Freeman's RX-7

Commit to the cause! Whatever your cause is, whatever gets your blood pumping… immerse yourself in it… and good things will follow. Really live it. Make it such a part of your life that it’s like… the first thing people think of when they think of you. Make it impossible for anyone to mentally detach you from that thing.

And live your passion selflessly.

Dollars don’t matter. Clout doesn’t matter. Image doesn’t matter. Find the deeper meaning. The real soul-feeding stuff. Help others. Teach them selflessly. Give them your time & your perspective. It’s the best, most rewarding gift you can give. Invest into your passion, by investing into others. If you do that & you really keep it selfless… you will become magnetic.

Cars themselves are superficial & materialistic…

But there are much deeper rewards behind them. Friendships, dedication, perseverance, grit, character, depth, etc. All that stuff is earned. It’s bigger than cars. And it makes you a better version of yourself.

In other words, we’re not just talking cars here; we’re talking passion. You could pretty much replace the word CAR, and fill in the blank with anything else… and if you commit to the cause, the story is the same.

To make it personal…

I woke up to a text today from an old friend that said, “Happy belated birthday Wooley. I am very proud of you and your success man.” My natural reflex was to text him back and say, “Bro THANK YOU… but S3 has got a foot & a half in the grave these days.” Most days… it doesn’t FEEL like success these days to be honest.

But then I stopped… because… I realized that’s not what he was talking about at all. The success he was talking about had nothing to do with revenue or ad deals. It’s the success of not losing yourself. The success of growing up to be exactly who we said we were gonna be. And of having a beautiful family that builds you up. Never letting sensibility or laziness or comfort creep in. The success that’s found in putting passion first & practicality second… or 10th. And then a rush came over me, because that’s like literally THE BEST COMPLIMENT. And I truly appreciate it! Trust me, nothing’s easy & there will always be self-doubt. But I’m pretty sure at the end of your rope… that’s what’s gonna matter, right?

This is Josh Freeman’s Mazda RX-7.

And when I wrote all that crap above… I had Josh Freeman in mind. Josh has immersed himself into car culture to the point where… it’s come back around & defined him. Like waves in the ocean continuously pushing him forward. You do actually get to a point where it gives back. I have never heard anyone say anything but the best things about Josh. He gives his time to this community, he gives his friendship, and his creativity… and he always keeps an aura of positivity & possibility around him. And that’s not easy! It’s also something you have to work for. You have to CHOOSE it.

Because of Josh’s commitment to car culture & the cause in general…

This FD RX-7 kind of found its way home to him. See – the car belonged to a classmate’s parents when Josh was in middle school & high school. And it was like… the ultimate to Josh. A dream car if ever there was one. He’d see it around town & at school. It just stood out. And had a vibrance to it that was more than a car needed to be. It spoke to Josh, and totally reenforced his need to have one someday. Then the car broke & went off the road… collecting dust in a garage.

Throughout the rest of high school & intermittently during Josh’s college years… Josh would periodically jokingly nudge his friend about getting her parents to sell him the car. But you know – they wanted to hang on to it. The car had been in the family for a long time, and they planned to fix it someday. Totally understandable.

But as time went by, they saw how car culture had become such a commitment & driving force in Josh’s life. They saw the passion he had for it, and the community around him. And when the time was right, they reached out… knowing that Josh would give the RX-7 the second chance it deserved.

Text by Wooley Photos by Taylor Galster