I came to the realization today that I did close to nothing this year with my bmw. The other vehicles are fun and what not, but they never replaced the car that I poured my heart and soul into.
I started thinking of all things that I DIDN’T do to the car this year that I have been doing one way or another for the past 13 years. I owned my first car (my Monte Carlo) when I was just 15years old… ever since, the years have been FULL of some sort of vehicular passion. I think this was the first year that seemed to show no signs of that passion.
The list of lost passion:
Pulled from storage:
August!.. yes… AUGUST!
No. of miles driven this year:
700 (vs. about 8-10,000 previous years)
Gas Fill-ups
only 2! (nothing to do with gas prices)
Hand Washes
2 (vs. 2/week)
Waxes
0 (vs. about 4/year)
Interior Cleaning
1, w/ no vacuum (vs. about 2/month)
No. of DIY’s
ZERO!
No. of Car shows entered
ZERO! (vs. about 3-5/year)
No. of pictures taken
Only 1 and that was w/ the t-rex (vs. 100’s/year)
No. of Projects planned for the winter
Maybe fix my bumper, otherwise ZERO
I still have no intent on ever selling the bmw, but my priorities have definitely shifted. The love is still there, I’m just more motivated by other things in my life now. These changes are good…but I miss the passion I once had.
I have a feeling other’s are in the same boat as I am, and the attributing factor is likely age.
i can kinda relate, even though i’ve had the 240 on the road all summer, i rarely drive it! i think part of it is that the car scene isn’t what it used to be, people that we know are growing up and spending less time just cruising around aimlessly. dont get me wrong i still enjoy cars, just not as much as a priority as it used to be
Yeah Jim1234664 and I have a had a few conversations about this… Seems like all you old folk are starting to follow the circle of life and step aside. Not exactly leaving the scene, but being less crazy with spending and builds ect(and that makes sense obviously as other priorities increase). Us youngins (18 - 24ish) seem to be carrying more of the torch now.
Sigh…I used to spend entire paychecks in an effort to keep my cars going or finish projects.
I have had the Z back at the house for a few months now and to be honest…I dont even notice it when I pull in the driveway
I think we are all a bit older. The people you grew up with in the scene have also had priority shifts and I could write a book on my thoughts about how your enviroment impacts your life and how that factors into your priorities.
Plus the biggest thing is that these young kids and noobs on here crush every sense of wanting to take part in shows and trips for me. I mean I am sure people near 30 thought we were silly for what we did but good god do these younger kids suck at life.
They suck so bad at life they have sucked all of the passion out of cars for me and while I have no intention to sell the Z ever again and I still love cars til the end, I am in no rush because for the first time I will enjoy my hobby for myself and not to be part of the crowd.
I am in a similar situation: I attended one track day and the Watkins Glen showcase, only put on 2600 miles (many of which were by Jason and Chuck), didn’t do any of the work I planned on doing and my car sat alone in a big steel box by itself all summer
Most all hobbies are a net loss. His car specficially is prolly less of a depreciable asset then yours, or many others on this site. Still, its a hobby, which is generally a money/time sink.
Would you arther build ships in a bottle? Thats a depreciating asset too.
I never once looked at this hobby to be a financial investment or to get any sort of financial reward, but an invaluable experience.
Back to the first days, when i was tearing apart engines to the latest years of fabricating things out of nothing but an idea and a passion. I learned a lot about myself and what i was capable of.
Understatement of the year… Despite anyone’s commitment level to this hobby, you can never look at it from the “bad investment” point of view because if you cant cope with the expense, you’re tainting your mindset to begin with.
