Is it aesthetics? Performance? Engineering? Sentimental value? Nostalgia? Weirdness?..
I could go on, there’s as many ways to enjoy a car as there are car owners and I find it very interesting what people value in what is ultimately a tool of conveyance that is elevated by social and personal values.
I always love cars that are just a little weird, they have features that don’t quite make sense, they have styling that just doesn’t fit in with other modern cars, and they certainly don’t blend in at the grocery parking lot. They emanate a certain incongruence with the world around them.
I’ve got a 1972 VW Super Beetle that I’ll never get rid of. It’s not really a desirable version or year of the Beetle, but my dad, grandpa, and I restored it when I was 9. My grandpa died in 2020 and he worked on cars his whole life. It’s cool to have a physical thing that he made possible using a lifetime of skills. Plus, my kid is getting old enough to work on it with me, and I think it’s awesome to have 4 generations of my family wrenching on it.
That’s awesome, my father was never a big gearhead but I have a lot of good memories helping him maintain the family cars. It saves you a lot of money to be able to do ultimately relatively simple jobs like brakes and belts. Definitely helped fuel my fascination with cars growing up. I know we did it because we were broke, but it’s special all the same.
I don’t think I particularly wanted to inherit the Plymouth van with a rebuilt title and only 70% of its white paint remaining. As a kid I though it was the coolest thing that you could take the seats out though.
