Old people and hot hatches
Discussion
ash reynolds said:
48 this year and never enjoyed a car so much as my Mk5 Pirelli. Modified and owned for longer than I have ever owned a car. 
Good shout Siri've got an ed30 and had it ages - it's part of the family and does anything and everything. Especially with the apr remap it's still able to give modern hatches something to think about too. Im 43 soon and still love razzing around in it.
I didn't realise there was an age qualification for car ownership! I am now 60 - will come back to that in a minute.
In my teens and twenties I had Jap bikes, moving on to Sprites, Midgets and Bs as everyday transport.
Then in my mid twenties company cars came along, and since my 30s these have included XR4x4, Cavelier GSi 4x4, Corrado VR6, 328i and 530d M-Sport.
As my career progressed and my financial situation improved, with a tolerant wife, toys became possible. I started my mid-life crisis in my mid 30s and 3 Harleys followed, interspersed with 2 Westfields, 964 C2 Cab, 986 Boxster S, 996 C2, 996 Turbo, X100 XKR coupe and X150 XKR. Somewhere in there was a CB750KZ as well. Right now there is a Gen2 997 in the garage, an XF company car and the wife's old Mk1 TT 3.2 on the drive.
I am 60 and presumably geriatric by some folks' standards. However I've had interesting cars and bikes all my life, when I could afford them, I have petrol in my veins and still get grease under my fingernails occasionally. I'm doing all right but I've worked hard for it and there have been lots of crap cars among the cream!
I drive 20k miles a year including a serious European Roadtrip with a group of like-minded mates and partners, most of whom are 50+ and can take a car around a track quicker than most people I know.
I don't put myself in that class but I try to drive quickly, courteously and with alertness and anticipation - and so hopefully safely. And when I can no longer make that statement I sincerely hope I will be man enough to admit it.
I am no longer young, but...
Nigel Mansell is 62...
Walter Rohrl is 69...
Jackie Stewart is 77...
Stirling Moss is 86...
So, to come back to the opening statement, I would like to suggest that age is immaterial, within reason. To mis-quote an old biker T shirt, it's not what you drive, it's the way you drive it (Sonny!).
I don't really care what others think about what I drive, but I do care about how my driving is perceived, and I do care about how others use the road and how considerate they are of other road users. Perhaps that is something that improves with age?
Live and let live, eh?
In my teens and twenties I had Jap bikes, moving on to Sprites, Midgets and Bs as everyday transport.
Then in my mid twenties company cars came along, and since my 30s these have included XR4x4, Cavelier GSi 4x4, Corrado VR6, 328i and 530d M-Sport.
As my career progressed and my financial situation improved, with a tolerant wife, toys became possible. I started my mid-life crisis in my mid 30s and 3 Harleys followed, interspersed with 2 Westfields, 964 C2 Cab, 986 Boxster S, 996 C2, 996 Turbo, X100 XKR coupe and X150 XKR. Somewhere in there was a CB750KZ as well. Right now there is a Gen2 997 in the garage, an XF company car and the wife's old Mk1 TT 3.2 on the drive.
I am 60 and presumably geriatric by some folks' standards. However I've had interesting cars and bikes all my life, when I could afford them, I have petrol in my veins and still get grease under my fingernails occasionally. I'm doing all right but I've worked hard for it and there have been lots of crap cars among the cream!
I drive 20k miles a year including a serious European Roadtrip with a group of like-minded mates and partners, most of whom are 50+ and can take a car around a track quicker than most people I know.
I don't put myself in that class but I try to drive quickly, courteously and with alertness and anticipation - and so hopefully safely. And when I can no longer make that statement I sincerely hope I will be man enough to admit it.
I am no longer young, but...
Nigel Mansell is 62...
Walter Rohrl is 69...
Jackie Stewart is 77...
Stirling Moss is 86...
So, to come back to the opening statement, I would like to suggest that age is immaterial, within reason. To mis-quote an old biker T shirt, it's not what you drive, it's the way you drive it (Sonny!).
I don't really care what others think about what I drive, but I do care about how my driving is perceived, and I do care about how others use the road and how considerate they are of other road users. Perhaps that is something that improves with age?
Live and let live, eh?
t anyway.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff