What Defines a True Love for Automobiles?

I have been around automobiles for my entire life. Everyone in my family has an interest in automobiles whether it is new or old. Whether it is the restoration of an old beat up pile of junk "in some people's eyes" that you can always make beautiful again or just the pure love of cars. A love for automobiles has always been near and dear to my heart.

From the time that I was little and just handing my father a wrench or screwdriver as I marveled over the way that he would make something beautiful out of something that would not run and looked like it never would. To now where I am an ASE Master certified technician working at a Chevrolet dealership and fixing cars for a living. I may not have the time or the money to restore an old car or truck but the desire and the love will always be there.

I remember helping my father restore my first truck just like it was yesterday. It was a 1969 Chevrolet C10 short wide P/U that we picked up from some persons field. I had to cut all of the weeds around it in order to get it out of there, my mom was not very happy, and from that point on I could only imagine what it would look like when we were done. A lot of my friends thought that I was crazy when I showed them my new truck in pieces, thinking it would never run. After many long nights and lots of hard work we were finally done and it came out better than I could have ever imagined. The part of the whole experience that I remember and most treasure is how it brought my father and me together.

Now that I am older and realize how much work that it takes to bring a car back from the dead it makes me appreciate all of the hard work that my father, who is no longer with us, used to go through to keep my old 69 Chevrolet Truck running with a teenage boy driving it. I can't wait to do the same for both of my now very young boys so we could share late nights in the garage that I grew to love so much and my mother would hate. Those were the rare bonding moments between my father and I that truly gave me my love for automobiles that I would not trade for anything and nobody could ever take away.

That I think is what defines a true love for automobiles. It is not the vehicles themselves that create the love but the bond that they have the ability to create between a father and a son or anyone at that matter. It's those sleepless nights in the garage to make something old and beat up beautiful again, or to make something fast even faster. A love for automobiles will always be near and dear to my heart and with a little luck sharing this will give someone the drive to feel the same.