Our QOTDs tend to be about us and our cars. But what about the other person in your life (assuming there is one)? Do they share your enthusiasm for stopping the car to shoot your latest CC find or your interminable restoration project that’s kept the garage off limits for decades? Or do their reactions mirror that of the unfortunate passenger in this photo?
As CCers, we have a leg up on other auto enthusiasts in our tendency and obligation to tie historical and cultural context into our pieces. Cars are more than just engineering, they engage the senses and reflect the popular aspirations of their era. Those qualities are accessible to most, and even my non-carloving peers enjoy catching up on the website from time to time.
On the other hand, the auto bug hit most of us early, and if many of us can remember when, we can’t remember exactly why it happened. Our obsession with cars has long meant something entirely different to those in our lives who don’t share our hobby and gearheads have long used the internet as a refuge in which they could share their passion with like-minded individuals. But even within the enthusiast community at large, our unique love of obscure models is sometimes lost on others.
So in your personal life, where does your significant other stand; do they participate in your love of often-unglamorous models? Would they prefer your focus be directed toward universally accepted classics? Are they ambivalent? Do they hate cars? Or do you honestly need to take a step back from the garage and/or computer and indulge them with participation in their own interests?
When it was my old 300D, nope…now that she’s bought herself a ’98 Z3, it’s our major shared hobby. Something to do with it being her idea, I think–that and the greater number of admiring glances one gets in a cute roadster vs. a beater W123 sedan. (“It’s an old German* car, it will have problems,” I did tell her. As long as she’s fully aware…)
*South Carolina-built, admittedly.
Not one bit. I am on my own. For him as long as his car is safe, dependable and comfortable it makes no difference the brand. He will occasionally drive a special interest car of mine without having any interest:)
Although I am not against the possibility of meeting a nice lady sometime, I am rather set in my ways, with a number of automobilia adorning the walls and shelves of my condo, and with boxes of old magazines and brochures in my garage and closets.
On the other hand, it made the purchase of my Lincoln so damn easy! I wanted the car and I bought it. Done deal. Finest kind, Cap! I likes my freedom…
She loves riding in our Cobra. But lately she has demanded (and got) to drive it. It was not suppose to work this way…..
See what I mean?
My main squeeze of past year-and-a-half is more than tolerant of my car interest. We have plenty of other problems, but cars aren’t one. But then, she’s a lady of a certain age who somehow ended up driving a riced-out red Acura Integra with a big airdam on the front and even even bigger wing on the back — a jerkwad boy-racer more suitable to a 20ish male with a lot of speeding convictions on his record. Not sure what compelled her to buy this particular modded Acura but it’s an unsuitable DD for her and gets her pulled over by the cops a lot even when she’s not breaking any laws. It’s not even particularly fast. Just a problem car for a problem girlfriend.
The good part about all this, however, is that it puts her in no position to complain about the time/money I spend on my Camaro (which fortunately she likes and approves of) and other auto-related recreational activities.
BTW, if anyone here really wants to find a gearhead girlfriend, move to LA. SoCal has more women into cars than there are New York MEN who are into cars. For best results, buy a ’50s hot rod, adopt a Rockabilly lifestyle, and go find yourself one of the many, many Bettie Page-type gals in that subculture. But be aware she might have a better car than you.
I wouldn’t say my fiance (soon to be wife in September) doesn’t have an interest in cars. She likes going to the Chicago Auto Show and what she terms “pretty” cars. She even likes old cars that are “pretty” (restored). She doesn’t like beat up old cars, junk yard crawling, or working on cars. She leaves that to me. Cruise nights/car shows are not her thing either. I guess she goes like cars enough though. She drives a grabber blue 2012 Mustang. It shares the garage with my Thunderbird. My dd Focus has to sit outside because the “pretty Mustang” has to sit inside. She even likes it enough to let it sit over the winter like my Thunderbird (keep it out of the salt).
I think the key is that you don’t have to have every interest in common, just some. For instance she likes knitting. I don’t. I like to old cars/trains/air planes. She usually doesn’t care unless it’s “pretty”. We both however love cooking, camping, and going to concerts. Those things end up taking most of our free time vs the hobbies we enjoy alone.
Not yet…
/optimism
My wife’s DD has a stick – and a turbo. And she really likes it. But she has no real interest in cars in any socio-techno-cultural way. But we bond in many other ways and have for a quarter-century now. We met when you could still buy a new Alfa Milano in the US. But she has no idea what an Alfa Milano is.
No. She has had no interest in cars at all, except as an appliance.
No interest whatsoever. She thinks old cars are ugly, doesn’t understand my fascination with obscure vehicles and big old american cars, and has no interest going to shows/cruises/etc. In fact, she thought my Marauder looked like a “grandpa car with rims”. She won’t drive or ride in the Crown Vic unless she absolutely has to because it “ages her 20 years”. She has no interest in learning to drive a manual. And she generally tunes out the moment I start talking about anything car-related.
On the plus side, she doesn’t mind if I go to events, just so long as I don’t drag her along. And she’s become remarkably tolerant of me stopping to photograph interesting cars when we go for walks. I’ve even gotten her on board with setting aside some finds to fix up my old Malibu, once I have the space to do so that is.
We’ve got other shared interests; cars simply aren’t one of them.