What is the definition of a car enthusiast?

I have asked the question hundreds of times, "Why are you a car guy? What made you a car guy?" And it's funny how people have a hard time answering that. Usually it comes from some sort of influence - their dad, their mom, their older brother their uncle - somebody stimulated their interest in cars. And it usually happens in early age, but not always. Sometimes, someone says, "I was never into cars, but I watched your show or I went to a couple of car shows, and now I'm getting ready to buy a car and I love it." So it can happen at a later age, but generally it starts at an early age.

A car enthusiast is somebody who has an unusual preoccupation with their car, wants to spend time with that car, wants to bathe the car, wants to love it, wants to make it look as good as it can possibly look, and go as fast as it can go. The hobby breaks up into two directions: either they want to make the car exactly original, the way it was when it was brand new, or they want to customize it and personalize it in some fashion. In either case they spend a large amount of their discretionary time with their car.

They are fixated on their cars and love to be with car guys and share their stories - why they did this or that. They love to take the car and drive it either to a car show or just down the street and have people giving them the thumbs up signs and saying how cool their car is. It becomes a part of their personality.

A lot of times, their favorite car was their first car when they were teenagers and they have some wonderful memories associated with that car. My favorite car is a '57 Chevy, and it happens that was the first car I had when I was 16. I learned to drive in that car and all my first driving experience is in that car. When I get in a '57 Chevy all the memories come back and I feel 16 again.

So there are all kinds of reasons why people, girls and guys, become car enthusiasts. But the defining element is that cars get them so excited and they just can't spend enough time working on them and loving them. For instance, someone who is not a car enthusiast looks at waxing the car as work. For the car enthusiast, it's fun.

A car enthusiast is someone who when they get really strung out and really uptight they go their garage, they pull up a chair and sit down and just stare at the lines of one of their favorite cars. They just admire the styling of the car and it settles them down. It takes another car guy to understand that and that's why they like to hang out together.