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how my dad became a car enthusiast - ScottyB - 12-17-2004
this is a story about how one car changed the way my dad looks at the automotive world. now that i'm home, i've come to realize how much i've missed since i've been at school. my dad is becoming more and more mired in the thick quicksand that is automotive enthusiasm, and it's awesome.
my dad has always been the responsible guy. the practical family man. the frugal father. he has an engineering degree, so he has a fair amount of mechanical skill, but he's never been "into" cars or working on them. sure, he changes his own oil, knows how a distributor works, and has his opinions about cars. Hes even taken me to a monster truck event and a few car shows. but he's never done anything remotely sporty in/with a car, and about the most exotic modification he's ever made to any car he's owned has been a different brand of oil filter. Whenever Id talk to him about sports cars, or racing, or anything that has to do with enthusiastic driving, hed look at me as if I was being typically juvenile and say something to the effect of what do you need that for?, or why would you want something that does that? He understood what I meant, but to him, a car was transportationand thats about it. To give you an idea of where he's come from, here are some of his past choices in vehicles:
70ÔÇÖs something el camino
original chevy blazer, then an '87 S10
'83 buick century t-type
'90 maxima
all cars were automatic except the orig. blazer, and all of them were slow, bland and utilitarian. no heart, drama, or character in any, except maybe the el camino, but then again any car with a mexican name meaning "the road" should get character points just for having such a crappy name.
after moving to Roanoke, VA, my dad got a good job and was making a comfortable living. since the maxima was going to be driven by me since i needed to get to high school, and my mom was driving the mini van daily, he needed a car of his own. ThatÔÇÖs when he started researching, reading and dissecting articles on every car in the sports sedan segment. sports sedans, yes! he finally decided he was tired of cars that were no fun. after working hard all his life he felt it was time to get into a car that would make him smile, and the technology was now to the point that cars like this were practical and reliable. He delved deep into various magazines late at night, and watched all the automotive journalism shows he could on tv. He even scoured the internet in his search (which at the time was a pretty brave thing for my technologically prehistoric parents).
After a year long search and many trips to local dealers for test drives, it was down to two cars...the suby legacy 2.5 GT and the audi A4 1.8T. after some price haggling and repeated test drives, the order was placed on a 1999.5 A4 1.8T 5 speed quattro sport. He actually bought a car with a sport package! At the time that was the equivalent to him coming home with a 15 inch subwoofer in the back of the van. My father would order the Super Intelligent 3 speed airbags with pine scent a million times before the sport package. This was really a turning point. i was ecstatic. i read alot about cars, so i was aware that this bavarian beaut was a fairly nimble little machine, and turbocharged! and it was actually going to be owned by my family. we'd actually own a sporty car! and it was my dad's choice to do so!
i remember the day we went to the local Precision Audi dealership and my father proudly drove his new tan A4 off the showroom floor, where it had been silently waiting for him. he was gleaming as much as the car was. he went on for days to me, my sister, and my mother about how smooth it was, and what the quattro system could do, and how the turbo worked....everything. it almost got annoying. the car was really transforming him! It was quite an adjustment for the whole family; we just werent used to this sort of talk at all. Naturally theyd heard it from me all their lives since Ive always been into cars, but my dad.that was very new.
The car led to more and more. My father soon became (and still is) fiercely loyal to Audi (so much so we ended up getting another not long after the first). He signed up with the Quattro Club, and soon we had Audi Magazine and The Quattro Quarterly littering the coffee table in the living room. He really came to love the car, washing it much more than any car weÔÇÖve ever owned, and generally treating it with a lot of affection. It gets all the best, and to this day still has dibs on any available stalls in the garage in the winter. I knew he really trusted me when he took me to a parking lot one day so I could learn stick for the first time of my life on his precious A4. He even went so far to actually boost the horsepower of the car with a chip, which he researched unendingly, to ÔÇ£merge a little easier on the way to workÔÇØ. Pshaw, thatÔÇÖs boost rot, dad! In addition to the chip was an upgraded diverter valve and a K&N filter. To this day he still likes to wind it out with my mom in the car just to see her reach for the door handle and get real quiet :lol:
Every 3 weeks or so he sneaks down to the dealership, where they know him on a first name basis, to ÔÇ£get oil filters / just see what they haveÔÇØ, which is code language for ÔÇ£lets see whatÔÇÖs there for me to test drive.ÔÇØ As soon as the newest audi models are out, heÔÇÖs there to look them over. My dad actually convinced my mom last year that it would be fun to take vacation over at Ingolstadt, Germany, where Audi does a 3 day winter driving school, some of which takes place in Austria. Unfortunately the trip never happened due to my sisterÔÇÖs wedding.....bah. When we go to car shows, he actually wants to sit in the Golf R32, and actually holds meaningful conversations with the guys standing in front of the G35 coupe. HeÔÇÖs genuinely enthusiastic about cars, including sporty ones. Sometimes I even feel like how my dad must have felt dealing with my car obsession for the last few years.
Nowadays its not weird to see car magazines totally covering the once bare coffee table. My dad actually got an earful the other week for buying the December editions of 4 different car magainzines! Lunch is a rush on Sundays in order to catch Car and Driver TV on TNN. In fact the car shows on Speed Channel are actually taped sometimes when my dad canÔÇÖt be home some nights. The family cars went from being all automatic to dominated by manuals, and it looks like that ratio will continue to improve. He still hasnÔÇÖt really been interested in racing, but IÔÇÖm hoping an autocross and an HPDE isnÔÇÖt too far off in the future.
Its amazing how a single vehicle in a lifetime of car ownership has changed one persons view on car enthusiasm. I have a feeling I had some influence on him, but ultimately his choice of automobile opened his eyes to a new facet of driving enjoyment that will continue for many years. It sure is refreshing to talk to my dad about cars and meet eye to eye with him on so many subjects. I still give him grief about how bad I know he secretly wants an S4, but he keeps looking away and mumbling something about how its not practical, and I dont need something that fast.Which is his usual response around my mother. I have a feeling, though, that this is only the beginning.
Disclaimer ÔÇô I know audiÔÇÖs arenÔÇÖt the greatest cars ever, and that there are plenty of other cars that cost less that are better in however many ways. But thatÔÇÖs not my point here.
- .RJ - 12-17-2004
b00st rots the brain......
- MSPxavier - 12-17-2004
Thanks Dizzler for giving me something entertaining to read at work, because its friday - and who does work on friday?
I have actually met your dad and he is definately hooked. I am happy to see that you can now talk to your dad about cars and he will have good insight and know what you are talking about. Maybe your dad should talk to mine because i am sure my dad would try to convince him to get something faster. I can't wait until my sister is done with school because then the car salary for my dad will start to get interesting. He is already talking.
And if i were a betting man, i'd put money on your dad getting that S4 after you graduate.
- JohnC - 12-17-2004
Awesome.... I keep trying to convince my parents to spend some money on a nice car, but they just stick to the small SUVs - Mom just got an '04 Rodeo. Boooo!!!!!
- Andy - 12-17-2004
My family might be worse. We have three Camrys, a corolla, two Accords, and a Altima. All autos, all have the full airbag stuff, abs. My sis/bro in law are getting a new Odyssey w/ displacement on demand thing. Woo Hoo.
My brother drives a 03 Altima w/ a four cylinder cause who needs that much power :x Since he's an executive at his company, he's given a Benz SL500 to drive clients around in and that bastard leaves the car in the company garage. Doesn't like it cause it's too flashy. :x
My dad is retired now, lives in Vietnam for about 1/2 the year but when he was still working and undergoing a mid-life crisis, he had a plymouth prowler. That has been the only excitement in our family, period.
- navin - 12-17-2004
thats awesome... my old man is my tool monkey
- Sijray21 - 12-17-2004
Quote:to ÔÇ£merge a little easier on the way to workÔÇØ
that's awesome, lol
Quote:And if i were a betting man...
you are
Dizzler you are always up for an excellent article to read, great material. You're dad is awesome and i can definitely see him getting the S4 after you graduate. That's so cool that your dad is also an automotive enthusiast, along with all of you guys with dads that are also into it (wilson's dad for instance).
- MSPxavier - 12-17-2004
I just need to get my dad out to autox the s2000 next season - how can you buy a s2000 and not race it in some form?
It's just going to take me signing him up and telling him to show up on this date and this time, but he'll do it.
- Ryan T - 12-17-2004
mom drives the corvette. auto
but convertable 
. Well, she drives it most of the time, during the winter she is rockin the jeep wrangler. We have my dads 1994 Dodge Ram 1500 v-6 slow mofo but it holds lots of sentimental value.all my sisters drive wussie cars but my twin has the SS and my older brother has a modded 92 turbo supra.
- Kaan - 12-17-2004
my dad likes bikes... ever since he got rid of the fairlane he's been a shell of the man i used to know. he used to be young and impractical... but now age is killing him... <tear>
- Feersty - 12-17-2004
<Feersty yells>Hey dad come read this!!!!!</Feersty yells>
- ScottyB - 12-17-2004
Kaan Wrote:ever since he got rid of the fairlane he's been a shell of the man i used to know
haha as painful as that sounded, that was really funny
- ScottyB - 12-17-2004
MSPxavier Wrote:Maybe your dad should talk to mine because i am sure my dad would try to convince him to get something faster.
glad to see you're holding it down at work wilson, haha
yeah man our dads would make a good team. if only i was still living in lancaster...
- Sijray21 - 12-17-2004
MSPxavier Wrote:I just need to get my dad out to autox the s2000 next season - how can you buy a s2000 and not race it in some form?
It's just going to take me signing him up and telling him to show up on this date and this time, but he'll do it.
that would be hot, i know it's a drive for him, but i doubt that would hinder his appearance.
- MSPxavier - 12-17-2004
ScottyB Wrote:glad to see you're holding it down at work wilson, haha
you have no idea...
been playing a lot of nintendo and super nintendo - you know, working hard :lol:
Problem is, if i am not playing video games - i just look for shit to buy online. Saw a radar gun today that was like 65% off or something rediculous - almost bought it...why - no reason at all.
- bassmangrammy - 12-18-2004
that's awesome...I wish my dad was an enthuseist...he's looking into buying a Z4 or C5 vette...I think it will change his life.
- Chris - 12-18-2004
nice write up Scotty!
my dad has always had "The German Car Disease"
- Dave - 12-18-2004
Nice write-up Scotty. Boost rot ownz!
- bluhayz - 12-19-2004
very nice write-up... a lot of fun to read. I don't think my dad will ever become a car guy, he's too stingy but it's nice to know there may still be hope out there.
He did drive my 240sx once and said it was a lot of fun... then turned around and said "son, if you ever get a speeding ticket, that car is mine".
sigh.
- Feersty - 12-19-2004
My dad is currently thinking about a 2003 3.2TL Type S for what it is worth.