Mile 0.0 - the start of the blog

These blog pages are a way for me to capture some of my experiences and memories that come from years of an automotive passion. Should anyone come across these writings -please note My kids call me chatty daddy and I've never been known to be short on words (written or verbally) so don't expect any of these stories to be concise or proofread.

I wasn't one of those kids that was born loving cars. My father, Brad (check out the VW Jesus blog), was a classic gearhead and was always working on something in the garage. My older brother was always out there working with him and when he started driving I thought his powder blue Diesel VW Rabbit with 12" subs in the hatch was the best thing ever. I have a memory of getting dropped off to middle school listening to Danzig, license plate rattling, and feeling like the coolest kid in town. 

My first car was a 1981 beige on beige automatic 1.7L VW Rabbit with close to 300K miles on it. If I remember it was a 1 or 2 owner car and was in incredible shape inside and out. My father paid $1 for it at the dealership where he worked and I considered it the best car ever. The day I got the car was the day I became a car guy. I couldn't turn a wrench and some will say I still can't, but I spent hours cleaning the car and making sure it looked great for when i got my license. I found a set of gold BBS wheels and changed my first tire. I ran some speaker wires to a box with 2x10" subs and had my brother help with wiring the amp and aftermarket radio. I had a few jobs so that all of my money could be dumped into my pride and joy, and like most "new" car guys I focused on the looks. I wasn't worried about the fact it broke down every 7 days for the first 5 weeks I drove it. 

Since that 81 Rabbit I've owned over 40 cars and feel I have learned a lot, but most importantly I have made some incredible memories with the car community and some of the folks I've met along the way have become my best friends.