Where did your love of cars come from?
Where did your love of cars come from?
Author
Discussion

Josemartinez

Original Poster:

129 posts

11 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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Apologies if this has been asked before.

I've just been watching the Schumacher documentary on Netflix and it made me realise growing up with my Dad watching Schumacher battle Hakinnen and then win his 5 World titles with Ferrari made me get into cars and why my favourite cars are red Ferrari's.

So I was wondering where did your love of cars or motorbikes come from?

MitchT

17,067 posts

230 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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Hard to say. As a kid I was always drawn to TV shows in which cars featured... C.H.I.P.S., The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, The A Team, so it's like I was instinctively drawn to cars as a subject of interest. As a socially awkward introvert I've always related more easily to things that people so maybe cars and motor racing over football, etc. is a reflection of that.

Resolutionary

1,457 posts

192 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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Hot Wheels and the like.

As a proper nipper, pre-talking, just about walking, an older cousin would always try to occupy me with various toys but it was always the wheeled ones that I went for. Then as my folks climbed the work ladder and company cars became a thing, the notable upgrade from Renault 5 to 328i left a more intrinsic impression.

Terminator X

18,994 posts

225 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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Not a clue. My Dad has not the slightest interest in cars.

I was always interested but the tipping point I think was seeing a black Sierra Cosworth in Slough late 80's, leather interior too love

TX.

bristolracer

5,849 posts

170 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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Matchbox,Corgi and Dinky.

Mr Tidy

28,586 posts

148 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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My Dad was often tinkering when I was a nipper in the 60s, rotating wheels for even tyre wear and picking stones out of the tread and I would go out and "help"!

He also had a motorbike to commute on so that got some fettling too for replacement clutch and throttle cables, puncture repairs, etc. and I was always in the garage watching and passing tools.

We always watched F1 on TV too. Being a Scot he was a big Jim Clarke fan and I remember him being really upset when he heard about Jim's fatal accident.

I got a pedal car one Christmas and a Scalextric set as a birthday present when I was 6 or 7 so it was pretty inevitable I'd have a love of cars and motorbikes.

ETA he also took me to stock car races at Wimbledon a few times, as well as Newton Abbott and Cowdenbeath on family holidays!

Edited by Mr Tidy on Wednesday 1st October 23:40

Robertb

3,134 posts

259 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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Trips to Shelsley Walsh and of course Knight Rider!

Standing behind a 911 3.2 supersport as the owner accelerated hard away from standstill made a big impression on me as a young man.

Sofa

560 posts

113 months

Wednesday 1st October 2025
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I've no clue, I've loved cars as long as I can remember- I think it was just ingrained in me somehow. My parents, and quite a good chunk of my extended family like cars, and have owned some pretty nice stuff by most people's standards, but I wouldn't say they're obsessed with them in quite the same way most of us lot are.

Watching the new Top Gear with my Dad on a Sunday night then chatting about it the next morning with my mates in school, or all of those hours spent on Gran Turismo, Need For Speed, and whatever other racing games I could get my hands on probably helped- but I don't think any of it really mattered in the end. I was always going to be a car bore. laugh

shirt

24,924 posts

222 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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My dad and my uncle.

Dad was a metallurgist by training and cast the first jag v12 blocks at West Yorkshire Foundry.

He was always spannering and I d help by passing the tools etc. He created a spark of interest he then fed by letting me learn to fix things that were already beyond repair. He built a soapbox car and would take me to the local park and push it as fast as he could down the steepest hill and let go. No brakes.

My uncle is an ace machinist who would make steam engines in his shed from scratch. He has a serious corgi collection which expanded into gifts to me and stacks of car / truck magazines I would read and borrow. I still have the original Tamiya hilux he d built before I was even born and gifted me after I broke my radio shack buggy.

The two of them would take me to classic car meets, steam rallies, rally stages, air shows, power boat meets, truck races. Anything with an engine really.

Apart from bikes. Mum s apocryphal tales of danger out paid to any 2 wheeled antics. I past my bike test aged 38 and didn t tell her until several years later.

I spy car books, Lego technics, plastic kit models, top gear, Fred Dibnah, f1 on a Sunday and the revelation that was Eurosport on which we d watch the Paris Dakar, Le Mans and the Andros Trophy.

Football and the like never got a look in. It never had a chance.

Mad Maximus

762 posts

24 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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Josemartinez said:
Apologies if this has been asked before.

I've just been watching the Schumacher documentary on Netflix and it made me realise growing up with my Dad watching Schumacher battle Hakinnen and then win his 5 World titles with Ferrari made me get into cars and why my favourite cars are red Ferrari's.

So I was wondering where did your love of cars or motorbikes come from?
Grew over time. I was pretty confident and could drive relatively well from 17. Used to mess around with my friend with his car until we had to grow up. After that it was my value for money focus that drew me to more interesting cars, executive saloons and the like. Eventually I started to work on my own cars and that’s when I turned into a full geek.

otolith

64,287 posts

225 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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Wasn’t really into them until I started learning to drive and discovered that I loved it.

GravelBen

16,286 posts

251 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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Born with it I think! Lots of good memories as a kid of family days out watching rallies and race meetings, but even before that I loved cars.

Found an old school book from when I was 5 and even at that age I was drawing pictures and writing stories about Group B rally cars!

Purosangue

1,663 posts

34 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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as a kid growing up 1976 was a memorable year

Hot Summer holiday ,swarms of Ladybirds ..& ...Dad coming home with a Scalextric set for us to race with ...which lead to Sundays watching grand prix with an enthusiastic Murray Walker and these pair battling it out




that was it , never missed a F1 race since ,

biggbn

29,278 posts

241 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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When I was a baby and wouldn't settle, putting me in the car and turning on the engine would soothe me instantly, so my mum and dad tell me. Dad loved cars and driving, still does and we had a lot of unusual cars growing up.

Juan B

630 posts

25 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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I don't really know, think it started with just Land Rover as a kid and then when I learnt to drive etc become a lot more obsessed with all cars.

Maybe some of the Fast and Furious movies had a slight influence too.


Josemartinez

Original Poster:

129 posts

11 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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Interesting to read everyone's replies and reminded me of things I'd forgotten like the hours spent playing Gran Turismo and Scalextric.

I noticed a few people said football never got a look in that's probably a good thing. I'm a Utd fan so over the last few years my weekends have been doubly disappointing with Utd being rubbish on the Saturday, and Ferrari being rubbish on the Sunday.

Quite a few people said it started with the Dad or Uncle so I think it shows any Dads or Uncles on here need to pass that love of cars on, otherwise our roads will be full of boring cars in 20 years.

I heard the phrase once teach your kids to be interested in cars so they have no money for drink or drugs.

james6546

1,466 posts

72 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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I think my grandad, he always had Lotus Esprit’s as his company cars!

He apparently even wanted to leave the E Type to me in his will, but sadly got Alzheimer’s before it actually got put in and I had to sell it frown

My dad has also always been a car guy and still has his first car- an MGB. Glad I didn’t inherit his love of football instead!

Gary29

4,742 posts

120 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
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I've always liked anything with wheels, grew up around farming very early on, so tractors and lorries etc, but I can pin point to the day when my love for cars bloomed.

BTCC 1992 at Oulton Park, I was 10, my best mate's dad took us, my first motorsport experience, stood near the start/finish line, and watching them hammer out of deers leap and down towards old hall, the sound and the speed blew my little mind. A memory and love that has never left me.

Spent the rest of that decade obsessed with BTCC and all other motorsport, until I was old enough to drive myself.

the-norseman

14,888 posts

192 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
quotequote all
Watching F1 as a kid with my unlces/granddad and toy cars.

Terminator X

18,994 posts

225 months

Thursday 2nd October 2025
quotequote all
Josemartinez said:
Interesting to read everyone's replies and reminded me of things I'd forgotten like the hours spent playing Gran Turismo and Scalextric.

I noticed a few people said football never got a look in that's probably a good thing. I'm a Utd fan so over the last few years my weekends have been doubly disappointing with Utd being rubbish on the Saturday, and Ferrari being rubbish on the Sunday.

Quite a few people said it started with the Dad or Uncle so I think it shows any Dads or Uncles on here need to pass that love of cars on, otherwise our roads will be full of boring cars in 20 years.

I heard the phrase once teach your kids to be interested in cars so they have no money for drink or drugs.
You've reminded me, my uncle had some great cars. XR4i etc.

TX.