What Car Made You A Car Guy?

As you can see, the car above is the car that first made my infantile senses tune into something and take the time out to think, “Cool, that’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

In the early to mid-eighties, The Dukes Of Hazzard aired every Sunday afternoon here in the UK. My Grandad, snoozing from the Sunday roast, would be awoken to the sounds of a four-year-old me running around the house, up and down the stairs, holding an invisible steering wheel and pretending I was driving The General Lee. I had all of the toys and the show remains the most vivid memories of I have during that era.

Films like Cannonball Run and Smokey And The Bandit also made an impression, as when it came to owning a real car I wanted something different to all the generic modern 1.0-L cars nearly all teens end up driving. After my MGB-GT I ended up with a 1983 2.3-L Turbo Ford Mustang, a car most definitely chosen thanks to the influences of my childhood TV viewing.

Three decades on and I’m still tuning in to all of the car shows, even writing a blog and contributing to car magazines, and it’s all thanks to The General Lee. Although shows like Street Outlaws is partly set up, I still get pumped up for the drag races featuring the Murder Nova. I love watching YouTube channels such as DRIVE, The Smoking Tire and Mighty Car Mods – there’s literally nothing that slips the net when it comes to automotive viewing.

So what’s the car that had a significant enough effect on you to call yourself a car guy?

 

 

14 thoughts on “What Car Made You A Car Guy?

  1. Strictly speaking they made me a truck guy as two trucks stood out to me as I was young and they were the pickup truck in ‘The fall guy’, nothing special about it really and I’m not sure why I remember it so vividly but probably the opening sequences of the TV series.

    The other was a fleeting glimpse of a stunning modified black Toyota pickup in the closing seconds of the first ‘Back to the future’ film.

    Of course I also loved the Dukes General Lee and the A teams van too ?

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  2. Leonard warren says:

    1957 347 Tri Power Pontiac bought in 1965. Never beat on the street, except one time the Hydro did not downshift and the first night I had it and did not know the front and rear carbs were not hooked up. Once that was fixed I embarrassed a LOT of guys with bigger engines, etc. Torque rules.

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  3. Dan says:

    1968 Charger R/T. Belonged to my girlfriends family. Nothing but complaints about the car and the expense of keeping it running…. with plans to trade it off ASAP. My girlfriend and I were recruited to go pick it up from the repair shop where they had spent another $145 in tune up costs. To my suprise after I dropped her off she pulled out smokin the tires and grinnin from ear to ear. I couldn’t keep up in my 6 cylinder 69 Chev. P/U so when we got to the house she asked if we could take it for a spin… and boy did we have fun. Long story short I traded my pickup for the car and loved it till it died. I now own a ’70 Charger R/T SE that will be with me till the day I die. Wow what a car! Thank you Dodge.

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  4. Kevin McBride says:

    First car was a 67 Nova 2dr Hardtop. I paid $425 for it in 1971 drove it Hot Rodded it and drag raced it. Wish I still had it. I’ve played with cars ever since. Have an 87 S10 Blazer with a small block 400 that I drag race. But as Billy Joel sings “saving his pennies for someday” We now own a C6 ZR1 and love driving it.

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  5. I wasn’t THE Car Guy in the family. My Dad had a working Love relationship with cars since he was a Teen and he owned over 250 of them in his lifetime. It helped that for a good portion of those years he owned and operated his own service station. Later after he sold the station (and the 80+ hours a week to maintain it) he rebuilt and flipped cars out of our single car garage and narrow driveway, to bring in additional income for the family.
    BUT, all along he dragged me to Auto Shows and Auctions all of the time. I remember seeing a Studebaker Avanti and being floored how beautiful and futuristic it looked. THAT was a defining moment and happily I grew up in the Pony Car era and saw created for my own eyes the Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang, Plymouth Barracuda, Chevy Camaro and throw in a TR6, Dino and 911 and wham was, is and will forever be a Car Guy!

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  6. Ricky Strickland says:

    My first muscle car was a 1972 340-Plumouth Duster. From that day, I’ve been a gear head.
    I now have a 1976 TransAm and a 1968 SS Chevelle.

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  7. Helen Craig says:

    My first car was a 64 1/2 prairie bronze mustang that out ran every car I raced! I now have a 55 t bird that we are redoing. Belong to Early Iron car club going on 20 years. Love those cars

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