1. Had like 300 matchbox cars and hot wheels.
2. Born into a GM car family
3. watch dukes of hazard
4. watch smokey and bandit re runs all the time
5. Loved racing games
6. family friend took me for a drive in his Chevy pick up with a Corvette motor in it and that was when the adrenline kicked in
7. loved go karts on the boardwalk
8. loved nascar races at pocono race way
9. when ever i was in a car i would always shout out what type of car was next to us.
10. Had a friend do a 100ft brakestand in his 87 Monte SS for me with me in it.
11. Getting my 1992 Firebird from my uncle /grandpa

:nod: same here...

I think some of us are born crazy about cars. I have been crazy about cars since I able to talk from what my parents told me. I have owned a sportscar since I have had my license. Like I said I think your born with it.

Man, what an awesome thread! I got into cars as a kid; always loved looking at them, drawing them, and building models. I got my first chance to help out an old gearhead neighbor of mine when I was about 10 years old. He just got a '58 Vette as a roller (no motor, trans, or interior) and needed help getting it off the trailer. So, he saw me riding my Mongoose down the street and asked if I could help him steer it into the garage while he pushed it. From that moment, I was hooked. I spent the next 5 years helping him get tools and watching him work on all of his cars - he had the '58, a custom '63 Vette, a '55 Nomad, and his daily driver was a '72 Chevelle 'vert. He moved when I was 15, otherwise I probably would have been wrenching on my own stuff sooner; I was 24 when I got my old '85 SS as a "fun car" and learned by working on that. My parents always thought I was crazy, but they supported me by letting me work on the car in the garage and not giving me a ton of crap about spending $$. In retrospect, I shouldn't have spent that much $$, but it did keep me outta trouble. :)

Like most guys ive always had a basic basic interest in cars but nothing special. Theres been a few things here and there but the number 1 thing that did it for me was the very car i drive today! Fiona (86 firebird) made me fall in love with f-bodies as well as all other cars and auto-mechanics from the first time i changed the oil on her......me getting this car has sparked a new future for me that seemed crazy roughly 3 years ago!

I <3 :tta:

None of my families were into cars. The closest thing my Dad had to A MUSCLE CAR was the plymouth 2 door Duster. I remember it did have some power and it was the color gold. Then after that we had old plymouth wagons. But I still loved all the cars I saw around. Always pointed them out and tell my dad what they were. I didnt have much growing up so I guess I am making up for it now lol. My 1st being an 86 350 Formula when I was 17 I wish I still had RIP. Since then I have owned an 87 TA, 87 Iroc Z, 87 Monte SS, 87 300 Z, 94 Suzuki Katana my 1st new bike, and a few more beater imports not worth mentioning. In 98 I had to get rid of everything due to being sent over seas for 3 yrs. When I came back in 2001 I bought my 1st new car yup my current 2001 Formula AKA Josephine. And I love that car I just wont part with it even with the constant offers I keep getting. I also picked up a 2006 Cobalt SS in blk, Just traded my 2000 trooper for a 2007 Blk Jeep. I also purchased my harley new in 2003 after returning from Iraq. Yes I was a Duke of Hazzard Fan, Knight Rider, Smokey and the bandit oh how I love those movies. I didnt really like the last one to much though. How about Cannon Ball RUN? Anyone remember those? the old one and the New ones made in the 80's and one in the 90's? Those were really good too. Teh scene with the Bouncing Lamborghini Countach on the river was a favorite seen. I need to go find those movies now lol

Allow me a slight thread derailment here.... Mongoose, PK Ripper, Spyder, man those names bring me back. Seemed like everyone just had to have one of those BMX style bikes to ride to grade / middle school.

Fast forward to high school and everyone I grew up around, in South Florida, just had to have a fox body Mustang. They mostly preferred the LX since it didn't have the weight of the GT rear hatch. Then my senior year I see a few kids roll in with late 3rd gen Trans Ams. Smokey and the Bandit had me hooked, but the image of the 3rd gen TA's stayed with me all these years. I still really like the 3rd gen TA styling.

Oh yeah like TPI monte ss said I built many models too. Mongoose bike ehh!! I bought one of those at a flea market when I was 16 lol. English town Flea market where my parents shopped for all my needs lol.

my dad.....

huge chevy guy that had (and wishes he never sold) enough sick chevys that he crys when he sees barret jackson on tv....

he also used to race anything and everything from front engine rail cars to off-shore speed boats to dirt bikes and dune buggies...

hes a mechanic and body man/painter and ive grown up in that enviornment my whole life and when i was 3 he bought the 68 camaro thats in my garage now.

he encouraged me to get into sports cars as i was getting ready to buy and the best thing he ever did was force me to settle on a v6 fourth gen as my first car, learned how to drive before i steped up to a 98 mustang gt, and then 6 months later got into my ls1.

now that i have a daily driver and a good paying job he encourages my racing and laughs when i break ****.

so, i owe my hobby and my financial debt to my dad.

Great Thread!
 

I, like may here, got it from dad & grand-dad. I was driven home from the hospital after being born in dad's '46 CJ-2a Jeep (It was a snowy night in January) At that time, had a '63 Corvette, a few years later, he had a 440Superbird, during the gas crunch he bought a Monza (with a 305 & stick, later bolted on a set of 327 heads...woke THAT car up) My older brother had a '73 340 Challenger when & was 7. sold that, bought an MGB, then in '78, ordered a '78 Silver Ann. Corvette (he still has it.) Grandad offered me my first chance to drive on the street (I was 14) A '70 340 Dart with a 4 sp & 4:56's is still etched in my mind! I've had some big trucks, a '78 Cutlass that we put a 383 in. Traded that car for a '79 Z28, traded that in for my '85 Mustang GT in '86 (I still have that car) Met my wife (Dar) in '90 she owned our current Z28. (It was cooler than the one I had).

So, what got me started? Like Hank Williams Jr...."It's a Family Tradition"

tell u what....if i have a boy someday then hes gonna be under the hood of a car from age 3

I was big into aircraft & the military until high school when a senior had a very well kept 96 or 97 Z28. It was black with an SS hood & Y2K Vette wheels. He was dating one of the hottest girls in our grade and I was envious of that at the time. To add to that one of my friends came from a big Ford family and loved mustangs so in order to defend my likings of the black Z28 I just learned as much as I could about the cars to have a better argument.

I should thank Kim B. for getting me into LT1 cars & debt :lol:

Ive always had match box cars, motor scooters, and a dirtbike, I owe my friend for getting me into fbodys.

just always been interested.. i want to go fast :twisted:

not only was i born into a car family.. i was born into a race track. i never had a chance :lol:

my dad woudl tell me stories of ho he used to be into cars... then once i got my license and got the camaro (neighbor's kid's girlfriend was selling it, right time place and price) then i got into it, and my dad kinda got back into it a little too

Born into a all GM family. My uncle had a 87 Monte Carlo SS when i was growing up (i was born in 84). I absolutely loved his car, he said he would sell it to me when i was 16, instead the bastage traded it in on his new truck for pennies when i was 15!!! I wound up getting an 88 SS when i was 17. Soon after my friend bought a 94 Z28 and i've been HOOKED to f-bodies ever since. I love Camaros and Trans Ams... 4th gens anyway.

lets see, the house next to me when i was growing up i would have been 9 they were all arround 17 -20 had, the blues brothers black and white dodge cop car [ even was an ex-cop car] 69 road runner, 66 gto, 69 charger, 65 lemans, as well as all ther friends cars
72 monte car witch i bought when i was 16, there were a couple chevelles, novas, my cousans had a 69 couger, 57 belvedere, and a 63 impala ss i bought this car when i was 21, at my houes my dad had that 56 ford victoria that i was given from my dad a few months back, i had one before that that my dad said was mine when i was 11 but i decided that the roof off the car was a good place to jump, also a good launch pad for making the match box cars fly, witch i had so many i enjoyed the street in breaking them apart to put the wheels on other cars, countless model kit cars still have some of them today, but the best menory i have is my dad drove a corvette and my mom drove a brown 70 buick convert we also had countless ford parts cars and the 59 impala witch was given to me 9years ago its a mess i have a pic of its former glory before she was stolen and destroyed, thats when it was given to me, so i guess i could say i was born into it,
i was into monte carlos if i was to guess i had over 30 70-72 monte carlos, all differend conditions from drivers to parts cars, still have 2 one 72 monte carlo big block and my dads yellow small block, then i moved into 86-88 monte carlo ss i bet i had arround 20 of them if not more, i made a custome awsome looking 88 monter carlo ss that i sold cheep due to the fact that there was an ex-fiance involved with the car,
i have had 2 elcaminos one was a parts car and i stll have the other one,
i found my first 3rd gen by accident, it was out front of a garage on fisher blvd, it was a black on black 89 formula t-top 5-speed with no plates, i bought it for $900 drove it for a month blew a head gasket, took the motor out to find out it had a 30 350 in it, thats when the whole third gen started, i have had only 5 4th gens, including the new grayis perple z-28 i have now, first one was a white 96 formula, 2nd one was a red 95 z-28 third one was a purple v6 camaro convert hit both sides, 4th one was a black 95 trans am and the 5th one is the camaro that i have now,
accually tryed to get out of car parts twice, i have started to stop buying cars, accually want to get out of it all but definatly slowing down for now, does anyone want a complete list of all the car i have now?

Born into it. The Camaro I own was my fathers first new car. He had 2 GTO'sbefore that. He knew what he wanted and went to the dealer and ordered it. After it came in he borrowed $100 from his Dad(1972) to replace the AM radio with an AM/FM 8 track(it still works!!). I can remember going to BenPilla on the weekend and walking around looking at all the parts while my Dad shot the breeze with the owner(they went to high school together). Went to a few car shows in the early to mid 80's with my Dad. I would walk around and look at all the different kinds of vehicles and compare the engines and bodies and wheels. 40 or 50 cars back then was a huge show, today that's a club meet or a cruise. I had tons of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars back when they had different wheels and rubber tires.Transformers. Got a HOT ROD 3 in 1 model kit for xmas in 85. It had a rustang, a 3rd gen Camaro and a 3rd gen T/A. Been building them ever since. Also my Dad used to work for Buick. I remember the day he brought home a Grand National as a demo car. He dusted a vette on his way home and had a grin on his face. And going to the Auto Show and seeing all the prototypes(Buick Wildcat,Pontiac Banshee,CERV,and others) Nature and nurture.

My Dad's old '66 GTO (mostly from the pictures and stories about it) and my Mom's old '68 Mustang are what initially got me interested in cars as a kid. I know it's become a cliché now for guys my age, but around the age of five I got into Firebirds from watching Knight Rider. It's been my favorite nameplate ever since.

i grew up with cars all around me. one neighbor used to have a big block vette with side pipes that jsut sounded evil, another neighbor had an old V12 jag, plus all the cool cars that have always been around my town.
got into f-bodies because i liked the styling and i coudl afford them. as a kid i was realy into vettes until i met some of the stereotypical "vette guys" that completely turned me off to being a part of that scene.

My high school buddies knew a very little bit of car knowledge... just enough to make them dangerous.

I watched and learned.

I bought a 72 chevelle.... learned some more

Got the bird.... learned tons...

Kept on working on families cars and trying to squeeze more MPG and HP and TQ out of them.

Then..... an ex convinced me to go to the race track.... and race.... it was down hill from there..... and I was hooked