Why we love driving

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

I loved cars ever since I was a kid. I got in and out of them in phases, but now it's here to stay in a more steady and subtle manner. I started loving muscle cars ever since I remember getting a little model kit for a yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda at a K-Mart during a road trip in the mid 90's. It stuck out from all the other cars. Now I love the new Camaro.

Driving offers a freedom most other things cannot. If I have my music playing, I can drive my life away - sometimes I fantasize just escaping and driving out of state. It's really a feeling only certain people like us can appreciate. I'm in the same boat as a lot of you guys, most of the people around me can care less - except, ironically, my mother who I am able to share the passion with a lot of the time.

[diddiyo]

Originally Posted by TheMadHatter99

They see it as nothing more than moving from point A to point B

same for me. before i moved to the US i didn't even own a car. but over here you can't do crap without a car so i had to get one. i might be moving to NYC soon, if so, i will prolly get rid of my car and not buy a camaro. saves me a lot of money and nerves. and i'm not buying a car just to do weekend-trips every once in a while.

i might put the money i save into a savings account so i can buy a car whenever i have to move out of NYC and need a car again but we'll see, right now i'm still in MIA.

if i don't have to have a car, that's great. but if i have to have a car, then at least i'd like to have a nice car. and no, not a 95 z24, lol.

[odie23]

Good question, hard to answer. But a few have touched on it, control and choosing your environment.
When I drive my Honda, it's like driving a dependable refrigerator. It does what it supposed to do, nothing more, nothing less .
When I drive something I enjoy the experience changes. What normally is drudgery… turns into something fun. Is it the vehicle, or your attitude, , but driving is just more fun .

[camaro&T/A]

Originally Posted by Jiu Jitsu Jon

If people have never driven a fun, high power car they won't see driving as something other than a means to get from A to B.

I disagree. I've never really driven a fast car but I love them. I have for a long time. long as I can remember in fact.

[Camaro Lives On]

Originally Posted by Jiu Jitsu Jon

If people have never driven a fun, high power car they won't see driving as something other than a means to get from A to B.

The only cars I've ever driven have been a Honda Civic sedan, a GMC Envoy, and my Sunfire, none of which are fast by any means, but everyone of them, too me, is fun as can be. I'm 16, that might be part of the reason. But every since I was youger I have loved being in a car (whether it be driving or riding along) I've always loved hearing the sweet sound of an accelerating motor, and humming tired at cruising speeds. I have never thought of it as just a way to get from A to B, it's a way to get out, a way to get away from everything, and most of all, a way to have fun, no matter what you are driving. That is why I love driving.

[Beelzebubba]

Some people view cars like appliances.

A way to get from A-Z...nothing more.

I do not drive a toaster. My car is more to me than an appliance.

[Xanthos]

My grandpa had a 1965 corvette, hard top convertible, that he used to drive around everywhere. I never got to see it, though, because he had to sell it when his third kid was born. But, he always loved cars and he always bought my brother and I car calenders and magazines and whatnot. When I turned 16 I bought my first car - a 1990 buick century. It wasn't the fastest car on the planet, but it was pretty zippy. I used to love to drive it fast (doesn't the saying go "its more fun to drive slow cars fast than fast cars slow") and when it passed 150,xxx and started giving me problems, I sold it and started looking for a replacement. A friend of my stepdad's just happened to have two cars sitting in his driveway that he had intended to flip for some extra cash but never got around to - a 1984 Z28 auto and a 1986 IROC-Z 5-speed. Needless to say, both needed a bit of work. I bought the 86, my stepdad and I fixed it up (new ignition system, new fuel system (carb, lines, pump, filter, even gas tank), etc.) and I drove it until gas got too pricey for me to afford it anymore. But I loved that car, and I know that from now on I'm always going to love going fast.
- Xanthos

[TheMadHatter99]

Wow good answers everyone, keep em coming.

I'm in the control and exhilaration crowd personally.

I drive to have control. I love being able to direct several thousand pounds of metal with the slightest touch of my fingers. When everything else in my life goes to hell I can at least know that I have complete control over that little bit.

I drive for the rush. I love being at a standstill at midnight with the windows down and the cool sea breeze blowing through my car as I listen to some song that matches my mood and then revving her, popping the clutch, and rowing through the gears as I race next to the beach until I'm flying by at 80+. It's the strangest combination of pure exhilaration and inner peace that I think anyone can feel.

I love the camaraderie of fellow car enthusiasts and the feeling of exclusivity you get when acknowledging a fellow muscle car driver; knowing that you share a passion with that person even if you don't know their name.

I also enjoy the feeling of rebelling against the mundane. You might have a boring job or boring classes all day, but when you leave in the evening you have something bright and fun waiting for you in the parking lot rather than another rehash of the exact same car everyone else drives. At least that much of your individuality is sacrosanct.

[greenrail]

To me there are two ways to look at this. First is the daily tedium of the "commute" to work. Dealing with the traffic, other drivers, and non-attentive drivers can wear me out. That is why I elect to use a reasonably economical, while somewhat comfortable automobile for my dialy driver. Not only to get to work, but to get there safely and in decent state of mind. (2005 Pontiac GTP)

Second, pure pleasure driving. That is something very personal to me. I love being out on the open road, whether freeway or twisties. Enjoying the world in which we live. Having a relaxing time to enjoy my vehicle's performance. Taking those opportunities to get out with my friends from our Camaro CLub and socializing with each other.

To me it ends up being a celebration of what has made (and continues to make) our Country as great as it is. We may not be perfect, we may not be the most powerful, but by golly, we have been given freedoms by our forefathers to enjoy.

I would do my very utmost to make sure we can pass that along to our future generations.

That's what driving means to me.

[smike07]

Originally Posted by MisterCamaro69

Maybe it's inherited. I was raised by a bodyman and avid car guy. Nothing like the smell of fresh laquer first thing in the morning ahhhh

^+1 to that! I've been turning wrenches and grinding quarter panels off in my old man's shop since I was twelve. Our difference is that I prefer the smell of bondo dust to lacquer! JK

[ckellyme3]

Originally Posted by XanthosV6

My grandpa has a 1965 corvette, hard top convertible, that he used to drive around everywhere. I never got to see it, though, because he had to sell it when his third kid was born. But, he always loved cars and he always bought my brother and I car calenders and magazines and whatnot. When I turned 16 I bought my first car - a 1990 buick century. It wasn't the fastest car on the planet, but it was pretty zippy. I used to love to drive it fast (doesn't the saying go "its more fun to drive slow cars fast than fast cars slow") and when it passed 150,xxx and started giving me problems, I sold it and started looking for a replacement. A friend of my stepdad's just happened to have two cars sitting in his driveway that he had intended to flip for some extra cash but never got around to - a 1984 Z28 auto and a 1986 IROC-Z 5-speed. Needless to say, both needed a bit of work. I bought the 86, my stepdad and I fixed it up (new ignition system, new fuel system (carb, lines, pump, filter, even gas tank), etc.) and I drove it until gas got too pricey for me to afford it anymore. But I loved that car, and I know that from now on I'm always going to love going fast.
- Xanthos

Thats a great story. I love my 86 IROC Z but there is no way i could use it as a DD. But theres also no way in hell i could sell it no matter what. Its like a member of my family lol.

[Emher]

For me it's partly inherited. My dad loved, and still does love car, perticularly American with big rumbling V8s. I've had a latent car intrest for a long time and it was awoken last summer when I saw the new Camaro in Transformers.

But for the longest of time driving was just a way of transportation for me. I actually got my license kinda late at the age of 20 and didn't really start to appreciate the car I drive until I'd gotten my license and felt comfortable on the road. Ever since my car intrest got way more serious last summer I and I realised I wanted a car with double the amount of cylinders and more then double the amount of horsepower then I currently have, not to mention RWD as opposed to my current FWD, I decided it was time that I learnt now to handle my ride properly. I already knew exactly where it was on the road so I just needed to practice advanced driving. And I'm pretty confident in saying that I know now the handling of my beloved Saab in and out and will probably miss it when I trade it in for a Volt to have as a winter car after I've gotten the Camaro.

[Shadowsong]

I'm honestly not sure what started it really... I'm sure part of it was growing up playing need for speed games, another part of it came from seeing smokey and the bandit, gone in sixty seconds and...the fast and the furious

Anther part of it probably came from washing my dad's vette in the driveway every other weekend (it was black....)

But the love of driving really came to life when I got my license and went out on my own for the first time, I got a feeling of freedom, a rush of adrenaline, cruising with the windows down, radio off, just listening to the car, the road. Listening to freedom.

[shank0668]

i loved cars as a kid to and my dad had a vette and a few trans ams and i just liked cars and now we have another vette