While I was born in New Mexico, I spent all of my formative years in the Detroit metropolitan area. Cars, trucks, engines, and things that go fast are part of normal life when you grow up in the motor city.
In the years before I was physically large enough to drive, I attended more car shows than I can even remember. When I finally reached the age of 12, I learned to drive, a manual transmission of course. By 15 I was helping my brother work on classic cars, and I bought my first car (nothing special) a week after I turned 16. Old cars that a high school can afford needed plenty of work, so I did it.
While I only drove old beaters during these years, the experience taught me so much.
How to wrench.
How the mechanics work.
How to spot an unreliable ride.
So. Much. More.
Fast forward to 1997, when I'm a young airman for the USAF, still driving an old beater. Then the blizzard happened. Then another.
From 1997 until 2022, all I owned were trucks & SUVs. My wife's 2007 Mustang being the only exception. If it wasn't 4WD, it wasn't for us. It worked out OK though, we started a very successful online magazine.
Toyota Cruisers & Trucks.
Now 24 years after I went all 4WD, we ended up in Florida. The land of never ending summer. Guess what else is plentiful in the Sunshine state?
Cars.
We still have a 4WD, and likely always will. How we once our Tundra was sold in Colorado - a deal was made to find something "fun".
We found it, well, at least the first "it". It's a 2019 Dodge Challenger SXT blacktop. Nothing overly fancy, or crazy fast, but a great first entry into the Florida car culture.
The "race car" as my daughter calls is will definitely get us into the fun car game. We've already hit 3 car shows in 2 months, and have some fun plans in store for the Challenger.
What is even more exciting is the opportunity to learn about what car culture looks like in 2022. Certainly different than the 80s and 90s, but with so much more opportunity to discover really cool things.
So when you see the random car article included in our normal international, mountain, snow, beach, and travel adventures. Now you know why.
This is going to be fun!
