Who turned you on

[Sarge]

....to the car hobby?
We always did our own work on all thing mechanical at home. My Dad taught me how to weld, cut,cuss and wrench.

But when I was about 7 or 8 my Uncle took me to my first drag race. I was totally blown away. I did not know those cars even existed. I was hooked from that moment on.

[1MileCrash]

my dad always made me work on the cars or trucks with him. when i got my first car he told me that if i wanted it i had to do the majority of the repair and maintenance on it...so i did.

after that it came down to myself and my friends. if i was working on my car they would usually lend a hand just as i would with them working on their cars.

[ls1camino]

No one in my immediate family is a car person...I kind of discovered it myself. I have a cousin who is a mechanic, and my uncle has a '71 Barracuda

[FasstChevys]

My Grandfather was a mechanic at the local Chevy dealership for over 40 years. I was always down at the shop with him before I started Kindergarten.

My first drag race involved me riding home with my Grandfather from the convenience store when I was about 5 or 6 - we raced a Nova - and won as Sarge would say, I was hooked from then on.

[Spaz]

i seen a 74 corvette for sale and had to buy it... been hooked ever since...

[korndawg]

My parents. My dad is a mechanic and got me a 71 Chevelle for my first car. Hooked ever since.

[JwMonE99]

Fast and Furious

[jiveass]

when i was 10, my dad had a early 70s ford van....the engine blew... he left to go hang out with his brother for the day, but before he left, he told me to completely disconnect everything that was necessary to get the motor out before he got back. i had no idea wtf i was doing, but i got everything done except the mounts and drive shaft. since then, he has MADE me work on cars with him, and trust me, that was a LOT of the time. he had a 75 oldsmobile omega, i swear we musta swapped 8 different engines in that thing...same with the 68 impala....but he never bought me a car, everything i wanted i had to buy myself. these ls1 cars are a whole different animal compared to the old school stuff...just the little i have done to the bird so far has made me sick of working on cars.

[Tobynine9]

Always worked on Dad's projects with him.

Didn't really get into it until I bought the '68 Cadillac I drove in college.

[Zinergy]

My dad did sort of. He has had a couple nice classic cars and took me to cars shows but he has never been a car nut or really worked on cars. Which is strange as he is a welder/ head of prototype at his factory. He can basically make anything out of metal, aluminium, plastic, he also has to wire up many things they make like signs and electric motors. He can blow and form glass and make fiber glass molds. But he never worked on cars past changing the oil or a light bulb. As far as getting me into working on cars that would be high school and my friends. My high school had just built a new shop when i started and i was in the shop every year, sometimes for multiple classes a day.

[jrbonds]

My Dad; bought a brand new 81 Trans Am when I was 2, had tons of pics of me hanging on the walls with me sitting on the hood or playing behind the steering wheel. Then he got a 57 Bel Air when I was 8, it was his drag car.

My Dad is still into it with his 66 Galaxie XL500 with a 428 Cobra Jet.

[Y2KArcticSS]

I didn't have much experience with cars growing up. Didn't live with my dad, my stepdad at the time was an idiot and only knew how to break them. First car I drove was his. A 70's model Cordoba I believe, had the shit beat out of it, no power steering (not manual steering...broken power steering....), no key you had to use a screwdriver and still had a chance to shock the piss out of yourself even then. Had a very tired v8. Hated it. Mom left that piss-ant, I got a job at 16 and saved up and bought an 87 S-10 2.4L 4cyl 4spd salvage title 60k orig. miles, drove that for two years, sold it to my grandpa. Took out my first auto loan, wanted this orange Honda Civic that was all F&F'd out, so glad the bank said no. Ended up with an 88 Supra Turbo, drove the piss out of it, broke in less than a year, took it to a mechanic who pulled the motor and tranny completely, then disappeared....dumped all the nuts and bolts into my passenger seat. From that moment I decided whatever car I get, I will learn to work on 99% of it myself. Fast forward through college and a few very cheap cars, got my first real job. One month later, saw this very nice looking car off the highway for sale. Did my research, found that it was a very good deal for a 2000 Camaro SS, bought it that day for $9950. The only thing I haven't done myself with Wifey or with my Dad (with whom I have an excellent relationship with now, and he has a large shop with a swing lift ) was the clutch and hydraulics. I guess you could say hard times got me into working on cars, my Camaro got me into loving them

[ibanez7]

grew up with my father racing corvettes at road america and road alanta. he also raced dirt bikes in hair scrambles.

I grew up with so it natural to drive and race fast cars and bikes.

[KMdef9]

Grandfather got me hooked on my speed addiction with speed boats/motorcycles/ four wheelers when I was tall enough to reach the pedals.

Dad worked for GM, so I got the GM branded on me early as well.

Those are the only influences I have, everything else I came into myself. I didn't have any car guys growing up, but it's namely the speed addiction that keeps me hooked.

[pajeff02]

Growing up, our neighbor had a '40 Chevy with dual quads and let me help him work on it. I handed him tools and asked lots of questions. I was always wrenching on bicycles and as I got older graduated to motorcycles and snowmobiles. My first car was an '81 Plymouth Reliant that needed almost constant attention. It ended up being my first engine rebuild so I learned a lot on that. School slowed me down for a while, but when I was in college I dragged home a '66 LeSabre convertible which became my first real project car.

[WICKEDLS1]

my dad had a 77 SWB c-10 with a 454 BBC that we were always working on from the time i could turn a wrench. that and we were always in the jet boat scene so that helped too

[0rion]

being broke as a kid and owning a 75 cutlass.......couldn't afford to have other people work on it so I learned to do it myself.

[67CamaroRSSS]

I always had a thing for hot cars (especially muscle cars) back in the 60's. Hung out at the dealership and made $2 per car (under the table - I was 12 at the time) for helping with the "new car prep" (I washed them as they came off the truck) at the local Chevy dealership.

Racing cars started when my older cousin bought a (then new) 69 Camaro RS/SS 350. I was taking auto shop in HS at the time and was learning how to wrench on them. Between the 2 of us we turned it from a mid 15 second snail into a mid 12 second screamer. He raced it at Lions DragStrip. That was my Baptism into racing. Then he let a pro shop have at it. They turned it into a low 11 high 10 second ride.

As has been said, I've been hooked ever since.

[LeadFarmer]

I didn't really care for cars much since I was brought up around a bunch of pos econo boxes. My dad owned/owns a collision repair company so he brought cars home every once in awhile but nothing special. This all changed when I was 14. My dad brought home a supercharged 98-02 green WS6 with a T-56. The car was completely built. he said it made somewhere along the lines of 600hp reliably. It had been totaled, but they completely rebuilt it. The sound of that thing idling........I had my first real boner that day. He even let me drive it on a back road. Ever since I went WOT in that monster I've been hooked

[wheeliE-maxx]

Dad and my grandpa on mom's side