How Do You Define Being An Enthusiast?

[Cory Wolfe]

What is your definition of a car enthusiast? What do you think makes someone a car enthusiast?

I was just wondering how everyone interprets that.

[mustang84]

I think it's a pretty broad category...you have gearheads, design enthusiasts, people that are more into the future tech / trend side of things, etc. Anybody that oogles over any aspect of the car is considered an enthusiast in my book.

[Nick]

There are many aspects, one of which I feel is someone who has actually worked on their own car aside from an oil change.

[SuperSport623]

i see two distinct groups.. a person could be one, the other or both...

the first are those who are more into new cars, study the auto rags, and read all the reviews

the other are the grease monkey gear heads.. id like to say im both (but more towards the gear head)

[GMTruckGuy74]

There are many aspects, one of which I feel is someone who has actually worked on their own car aside from an oil change.

Well, as long as changing an air filter, jacking up & removing a flat tire, and checking/topping off fluids count, then I'm an enthusiast!

I'm definitely not a gearhead. When I read car/truck mags, I generally skip over the parts about engine & transmissions just because I don't understand all the technical parts. I'm not "mechanically inclined" but can tell certain things about engines (as long as I've been reading up on the particualr models).

In my book, a car enthusiast is someone that enjoys the hobby in some way and doesn't look at vehicles as appliances & a method of getting from Point A to Point B. If you have passion for one car or multiple, then to me your an enthusiast. Just because I use the dealership to change my oil or can't get into deep discussions about an engine rebuild doesn't make me less of an enthusiast... it's just not the stuff that excites me about this hobby. And choosing to drive an automatic over a manual transmission or front-wheel drive over rear-wheel drive shouldn't matter too.

[Northstar]

I agree that you can be considered an enthusiast in many different ways. Someone who really likes to look at cars, study them, etc., can be considered an enthusiast, as well as someone who loves to work on their own car. Someone who loves to spiritedly drive their car, as well, could be considered a car enthusiast.

[Z-06]

Masturbating while fantasizing of having sex with Scarlett Johansson on the beach, when she is sitting naked by you on the beach.

That is called Masturbating Enthusiast.

On a similar tone, can be a car enthusiast.

Edited November 24, 2007 by smallchevy

[ocnblu]

Don't do that too much, or you'll get a scarlet johnson. Ouch.

I like performance and driving feel, but I am less mechanically inclined than some enthusiasts. I have, at some point, changed oil (used to do it all the time), changed serpentine belts, rebuilt a couple of one-barrel carburetors for my Corvair, and I've done a couple of tune-ups on my own vehicles. Nothing internal to an engine, transmission or differential. I've seen those things being done lots of times. Of course I've torn down vehicles to write collision estimates at work.

I like to keep up, by reading everything I can, on the latest stuff coming. I try to keep current. I hope I have pretty good taste. I am very interested in design, and tend to gravitate toward car companies that build on a design heritage, rather than throwing everything out with each successive generation of a given model.

My lifelong love, or enthusiastic interest, has been for GM. I try not to be blindly biased against other manufacturers... except Toyota. I am proud to be blindly biased against them because of their products and their corporate attitude.

[Sixty8panther]

There are many aspects, one of which I feel is someone who has actually worked on their own car aside from an oil change.

Yup... that's a big one. A TRUE enthusiast opens his hood just to

stare @ his motor and tinker, not just once a month to check his

oil & refill the windshield washer fluid.

[CARBIZ]

To me, an auto enthusiast is someone who simply acknowledges vehicles around him or her. When I was a car jockey in a major hotel years ago, it was shocking the number of people who couldn't even remember the model of the car they were driving: "It's blue..." they would offer.

An enthusiast can have a favorite make, but they would be generally aware of other makes as well. I would argue that to be an enthusiast you would have to have a working knowledge of the mechanical principles of a vehicle, but don't necessarily work on them. Too many people live in apartments or condos these days (guilty!) and don't have the means (or the time) to work on their vehicles any more. I can't even wash my own car any more!

I am a Mopar freak when it comes to old cars (50s-60s), but GM fan when it comes to more recent vehicles.

[SuperSport623]

for me, working on my car is thereputic... thats how i come down... i still have a lot to learn, but its alot of fun...

mike--- (who should be outside finishing his motor swap)

[Camino LS6]

Obsession.

[Ravenfreak13]

Anyone who can keep their car clean and not have to go through a car wash everytime is an enthusiast.

I was looking at cars on the highway on thursday...NO ONE WASHES THEIR CAR ANYMORE!!! no matter how expensive, they are all dirty.

[CARBIZ]

Anyone who can keep their car clean and not have to go through a car wash everytime is an enthusiast.

I was looking at cars on the highway on thursday...NO ONE WASHES THEIR CAR ANYMORE!!! no matter how expensive, they are all dirty.

but depending on where you drive, more and more urban dwellers don't have access to their own driveways. Hell, some municipalities are banning car washing in your own driveway!

I used to wash my '87 Shadow ES all the time by hand - and wax it two or three times a year. Now, the building I live in has no wash bay and no water tap (I used to sneak downstairs in the last building I lived in and hook up my own hose to their tap). I hate spending $10 for a wash, then having it snow the next friggin' day!

[Ravenfreak13]

well this is Long Island. Everyone is able to wash their own cars.

[CMG]

What is your definition of a car enthusiast? What do you think makes someone a car enthusiast?

I was just wondering how everyone interprets that.

I find there are many different LEVELS of "car enthusiasts".

Guys who read magazines and floor their cars on open roads *might* be considered "car enthusiasts" to some.

Guy's who rebuild their own engines *might* be considered "car enthusiasts" to some.

It depends what you are looking for I guess. "Enthusiast" is a realllllly broad term.

A TRUE car enthusiast should be interested in all aspects of their automotive interests IMO. Which means tossing emblems and brand names aside and focusing on the actual automobiles.

That's MY prerequisite for a TRUE "automobile enthusiast".

It's about the machine, not blind brand allegiance.

:AH-HA_wink:

[Cory Wolfe]

I find there are many different LEVELS of "car enthusiasts".

Guys who read magazines and floor their cars on open roads *might* be considered "car enthusiasts" to some.

Guy's who rebuild their own engines *might* be considered "car enthusiasts" to some.

It depends what you are looking for I guess. "Enthusiast" is a realllllly broad term.

A TRUE car enthusiast should be interested in all aspects of their automotive interests IMO. Which means tossing emblems and brand names aside and focusing on the actual automobiles.

That's MY prerequisite for a TRUE "automobile enthusiast".

It's about the machine, not blind brand allegiance.

:AH-HA_wink:

I like that answer.

[SuperSport623]

well this is Long Island. Everyone is able to wash their own cars.

driving on the Expressway, anytime of day... every car is filthy...people

[Intrepidation]

I think it's a pretty broad category...you have gearheads, design enthusiasts, people that are more into the future tech / trend side of things, etc. Anybody that oogles over any aspect of the car is considered an enthusiast in my book.

I find there are many different LEVELS of "car enthusiasts".

Guys who read magazines and floor their cars on open roads *might* be considered "car enthusiasts" to some.

Guy's who rebuild their own engines *might* be considered "car enthusiasts" to some.

It depends what you are looking for I guess. "Enthusiast" is a realllllly broad term.

A TRUE car enthusiast should be interested in all aspects of their automotive interests IMO. Which means tossing emblems and brand names aside and focusing on the actual automobiles.

That's MY prerequisite for a TRUE "automobile enthusiast".

It's about the machine, not blind brand allegiance.

:AH-HA_wink:

Those two answers are about as perfect as it gets for defining an enthusiast.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Dodgefan

[AxelTheRed]

Defining an enthusiast? Well, I mainly just look at my grandfather, my father and me when I need any definition on the subject. I've inherited my family's fierce streak for auto-enthusiasm.

[2005 EquinoxLS]

I inhereted my love for the B-bodies from my late father. Though I dont really do a lot of my own work on them I still think I am an enthusiest. I get excited to drive either of my 2 when I can.

[Delta Force79]

An enthusiast? Someone like me, who has been obsessed with cars since as far back as I can remember. My parents both recount tales of driving me around as a toddler and being able to name almost any car on the road (before I knew how to read) dont ask me how, I couldnt tell you how I did it. An enthusiast is someone who learns how to drive at 5 years old because he wont stop begging his dad to let him until his father finally caves in....thus learning how to drive in a 1985 Pontiac Sunbird and 1985 Mustang...lol. And enthusiast is someone who waits at the mailbox every month for his new Motor Trend, VW Trends, Car and Driver and Hot Rod (as a child). An enthusiast is someone who has written off NASCAR as a result of it being a lie. Non stock cars competing does not interest me. Seeing real Monte Carlo, a real Charger etc doing the Daytona 500, like they would have in the old days? now thats fun to watch. An enthusiast is someone who cuts school to work on his first car, but wont cut his autobody class in the mornings. An enthusiast is someone who will drive over an hour once or twice a week to wash his car at a particular self service wash he likes. An enthusiast is someone who cant go more than a couple hours without thinking about a car or a car brand. An enthusiast is someone that goes online and joins a site like C&G and sticks around, because at the end of the day....he's an enthusiast :AH-HA_wink:

Edit: I could go on and on about myself and what makes me an enthusiast, but I think we all have our own "little" things that make us one, it's not something that can be classified with a simple answer ( as others have stated)

Edited November 25, 2007 by Delta Force79

[Ravenfreak13]

driving on the Expressway, anytime of day... every car is filthy...people

our car did not get dirty...lazy people who dont wash their cars

[BatmanGTO]

Obsession.

[BatmanGTO]

Anyone that would get their car up the tail pipe?

[ocnblu]

Have your cell phone in the other hand so you can call 911 when something gets stuck in that pipe. Not an embarrassing predickament atall, eh? :AH-HA_wink:

Yeah, I'm one of those people who were born loving cars. I could name just about every car on the road at age 2, so I'm told. I used to drag my uncle to all the car dealerships starting when I was about 10 every autumn to get a handful of brochures to study. I was, and am, a total nut.

[Camino LS6]

An enthusiast? Someone like me, who has been obsessed with cars since as far back as I can remember. My parents both recount tales of driving me around as a toddler and being able to name almost any car on the road (before I knew how to read) dont ask me how, I couldnt tell you how I did it. An enthusiast is someone who learns how to drive at 5 years old because he wont stop begging his dad to let him until his father finally caves in....thus learning how to drive in a 1985 Pontiac Sunbird and 1985 Mustang...lol. And enthusiast is someone who waits at the mailbox every month for his new Motor Trend, VW Trends, Car and Driver and Hot Rod (as a child). An enthusiast is someone who has written off NASCAR as a result of it being a lie. Non stock cars competing does not interest me. Seeing real Monte Carlo, a real Charger etc doing the Daytona 500, like they would have in the old days? now thats fun to watch. An enthusiast is someone who cuts school to work on his first car, but wont cut his autobody class in the mornings. An enthusiast is someone who will drive over an hour once or twice a week to wash his car at a particular self service wash he likes. An enthusiast is someone who cant go more than a couple hours without thinking about a car or a car brand. An enthusiast is someone that goes online and joins a site like C&G and sticks around, because at the end of the day....he's an enthusiast :AH-HA_wink:

Edit: I could go on and on about myself and what makes me an enthusiast, but I think we all have our own "little" things that make us one, it's not something that can be classified with a simple answer ( as others have stated)

F'ing fantastic post!

Well done!

[ZL-1]

You know you're a car enthusiast when you start drooling over cute little Isettas

Edited November 30, 2007 by ZL-1

[C.H.U.D.]

Someone (like me) who always starts their surf session at C&G. Delta nailed it with the car naming from a young age. I once told a kid that it was my superpower. I've always leaned towards design, as I've designed cars as long as I can remember.

Sadly, I'm not too enthusiastic about my current car, though I'm not afraid to try to fix it myself.

Edited November 29, 2007 by C.H.U.D.

[DetroitNut90]

CMG and Delta make excellent points.

My own addition: When you learn that your car just failed state inspection and has an oil leak, you pat the dashboard and whisper "It'll be ok, I'll get you fixed" while driving home from the service station.

[Sixty8panther]

I remember getting excited as a 1st grader when I would stand at the bus stop, early in

the morning back in 1984, if I saw an exciting car approaching. Yellow amber foglights

almost always meant a Mercedes 123 or a very rare (in communist Slovakia) big-body

MB. I also remember thinking that there was never going to be a sexier four door car

than that silver 1984? BMW 5-series I saw as a kid. It even had shoulder belts for the

back seat! And those quad-headlights that were set into that nose that angled forward

like the bow of a boat.... very cool. And the few times that a Porsche 911 would

drive by with a German tourist inside I would just about become paralized. The sexy

lines, purposefull and sleek, would make my heart skip beats. Even a five-year-old

can tell that a (now-classic) Porsche 911 in motion is like witnessing the smile of God.

I remember discussing at age seven things like the benefit of manual trans. & arguing

the pros. & cons. of certain styling trends in Europen cars.

I also remmeber having my dad start up his 318-powered Dodge Diplomat at Logan

Airport on Oct. 20th, 1987 when my mother & I finnally were reunited with him in the

USA after the Communists let us leave. That Dodge's throaty V8's exhaust note, and

my dad's insistance that the Caprice Classic was an even better vehicle, and all those

car's huge proportions (to a kid from Europe) made me fall in love with American

cars instantly.

I remember the EXACT moment, when I saw a 4th gen. Camaro for the first time. It

was in Cambridge, MA and my dad was about to cross over the Charles River when a

blood-red Z28 pulled up next to us. It looked like the Banchee had jumped off the

pages of Motor Trend and come to life. I just KNEW it was a Camaro though... it had

the look of the 3rd gen. Camaro but a thousand times more modern.

High School for me was one big blur... what I remmeber the most is reading MT in

History class, drawing cars in Math class, drawig cars in English class... drawing cars

in Study Hall WHILE reading MT/C&D/R&T/HR/PHR/SC...

Then years later I won the 2nd place in the Amateur category of MT's first automotive

design contest, in 2000. My car was a four-door Mitsu-Eclipse lookalike with hybrid

propulsion... back then I still beleived in that garbage somewhat.

Years later (the highlight of my life up till then) I dropped down $5000 cash. That's

250 $20 bills, on a '68 Camaro that was capable acceleration & performance that I

had only dreamed of a few years earlier.

And now years later still it's not the Camaro's power, thunderous exhaust note &

neck snapping acceleration that has become an addiction, it's the realization that

the further back you go, even past WWII then more style, longevity, practicality &

durrability was built into cars. My '87 Mercury Cougar's 302 V8 gave me a taste of

'60s cars, My '68 Camaro's awsome lines gave me a taste of '50s cars, and now

gorgeous '59 Buick's sexy lines & rock solid mechanicals make me lust after a

pre-war car... How I dream on a daily basis of my '59 Buick sharing garage space

with an early 1930's Pontiac, Buick, Plymouth or whatever. Stock drivetrain, no

stupid hot-rodder hackjob that cuts up the car and leaves it forever damaged in the

prusuit of speed, just a clean, elegant American Pre-WWII car with a proud patina

of original lead-based lacquer.

Nothing that does not need repairing or replacing would be messsed with, short of

maybe radial tires being installed & perhaps an MP3/CD player hidden away under

the dash, not visible to the casual observer.

Then for a daily driver I've been thinking I want a '61 Cadillac two-door hardtop

with a tired 390.... I'll donate the caddy motor to XP in exchange for some time

at his dad's shop where I'd dropp in a Duramax Turbo Diesel and do a veggie

conversion. Then I'd get to have my cake (big, bof, RWD, Cadillac hardtop) and

eat it too... (almost free fuel without sacrificing much needed torque)

That's my defenition of being an enthusiast. Cars always on the brain.

-

Edited November 29, 2007 by Sixty8panther

[Cory Wolfe]

It was an open question... The thing on my mind was actually closest to what CMG said about taking the manufacturer out of the equation.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Growing up in Germany as I did, the 1st cars that I remember seeing were BMW's. Growing up as a American diplomat's kid I was use to seeing the big Cadillacs and Lincolns, but to me at that time they were just work cars. A perk for diplomats was you could have your personal cars shipped to where you were stationed at the embassy. One day I was getting dressed for school when I heard and felt the embassy compound shake with a loud engine noise. I looked out the window and there was a navy blue car I couldn't identify, it wasn't a Cadillac or Lincoln. It had a sinister look about it, it had stacked headlights it's meshed grille came to a point with a emblem I had never seen before. As I left for school I slowly walked past that car, it had three little letters on the right side of the grille, they said GTO. The new guy at the embassy got out of the car and said "How do you like her kid?", I said what kind of car is that, to which he responded "That's a 1967 Pontiac GTO!". It was love at 1st sight for me and that car, I couldn't get enough of that car, I would use any excuse to get close to it. I went to the library to read about it, Pontiac and GM (This is like 1978, I was like 9 years old, no internet in those days). Before long I knew all the makes and models of GM, which made me appreciate the embassy Cadilliac fleet even more knowing they were GM cars too.

The guy that owned the GTO saw how much I loved it and suggested that maybe I should write to GM in Detroit, Michigan. That seemed like a million miles away to me, but write I did. About 3 months (it took about a month for regular mail to go to the USA) went by and a package arrived for me at the embassy. When I looked at the return address I saw one thing and one thing only, stamped on the front was "PONTIAC MOTOR DIVISION". It was a huge box, loaded with the current model of Pontiac car brochures and every old Pontiac brochure that they must have had laying around back to 1965. Not only that, they also sent brochures from other GM divisions too. There was a very nice letter from the current general manager at that time. I still have the box, letter an the brochures locked away in storage.

I wasn't even ten years old yet and I knew I was going to work for GM someday, all because of that 1967 Pontiac GTO.

I have to say it's great having a job you actually love to do, but to do it with a company you love too, it's beyond words.

Enthusiast you say? Not at all!

Edited November 30, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[ZL-1]

Growing up in Germany as I did, the 1st cars that I remember seeing were BMW's. Growing up as a American diplomat's kid I was use to seeing the big Cadillacs and Lincolns, but to me at that time they were just work cars. A perk for diplomats was you could have your personal cars shipped to where you were stationed at the embassy. One day I was getting dressed for school when I heard and felt the embassy compound shake with a loud engine noise. I looked out the window and there was a navy blue car I couldn't identify, it wasn't a Cadillac or Lincoln. It had a sinister look about it, it had stacked headlights it's meshed grille came to a point with a emblem I had never seen before. As I left for school I slowly walked past that car, it had three little letters on the right side of the grille, they said GTO. The new guy at the embassy got out of the car and said "How do you like her kid?", I said what kind of car is that, to which he responded "That's a 1967 Pontiac GTO!". It was love at 1st sight for me and that car, I couldn't get enough of that car, I would use any excuse to get close to it. I went to the library to read about it, Pontiac and GM (This is like 1978, I was like 9 years old, no internet in those days). Before long I knew all the makes and models of GM, which made me appreciate the embassy Cadilliac fleet even more knowing they were GM cars too.

The guy that owned the GTO saw how much I loved it and suggested that maybe I should write to GM in Detroit, Michigan. That seemed like a million miles away to me, but write I did. About 3 months (it took about a month for regular mail to go to the USA) went by and a package arrived for me at the embassy. When I looked at the return address I saw one thing and one thing only, stamped on the front was "PONTIAC MOTOR DIVISION". It was a huge box, loaded with the current model of Pontiac car brochures and every old Pontiac brochure that they must have had laying around back to 1965. Not only that, they also sent brochures from other GM divisions too. There was a very nice letter from the current general manager at that time. I still have the box, letter an the brochures locked away in storage.

I wasn't even ten years old yet and I knew I was going to work for GM someday, all because of that 1967 Pontiac GTO.

I have to say it's great having a job you actually love to do, but to do it with a company you love too, it's beyond words.

Enthusiast you say? Not at all!

I really liked reading that!

EDIT: Special thanks for reminding me of something I had almost forgotten about: having fun with/at work! :AH-HA_wink:

Edited November 30, 2007 by ZL-1