> I heard that the cars we
> covet in our 40s are the cars we dreamed of as teens.
It does seem like many of our preferences are "impressed" upon us during
our growing up stages. And it does seem that for most people, music and
cars that impressed us in our teens and early 20's seem to be the ones
we fixate on.
Land Rovers got me a lot earlier than that though. I grew up with land
rovers in Mutuals of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and travel logs filmed by
people touring Africa in Land Rovers. So I love to travel and camp in
my 1960 Land Rover. But I think more than anything it represents
freedom and escape from the ordinary day to day. And I cherish the
memories I've built up over the years seeing extraordinary sights around
the continent. Waking up mornings in new exciting locations eager to
see what each new day brings, free of other people's expectations and
being fully alive in the moment.
As a teenager, the car guys all drove 55 through 57 Chevys set up for
street racing. While I appreciate muscle cars I don't lust to own one.
Probably the car I liked the most in high school was a silver split
window stingray 'Vette. But that was mostly because it was owned by the
school drama coach who had these incredible blue eyes under black hair.
I would have polished that car every day just to spend more time
around the drama coach.
It wasn't until my early 20's when I was living with a guy named Dennis
that I really got immersed in cars. Dennis drove a MG1100 (I was
driving a 1956 Ford) and Dennis had a passion for Sports racing cars.
So we went together to see any sports racing event around, the house was
full of Road & Track magazines and if a race was televised we watched it.
I don't think I fell in love with a car so much as I did with a style of
car. The late sixties sport racer curves. To this day I think the most
beautiful cars ever made included the Jaguar XK13, Alpha-Romeo GTZ,
Cobra Daytona coupe and Ferrari 250 GTO. Then there were their style
predecessors, the Aston Martin DB 2 & 3, R & S versions, The Jaguar
XK120 C type and Mercedes 300SLR. Dennis was an exotic Sports racing
enthusiast on a British production car budget, and I guess it rubbed off
on me.
When I reached my 40's I was bored and decided it was time to declare a
mid life crises and make some changes in my life. One thing I decided
is that life was too short not to drive a roadster. I looked at my bank
account decided a used XK140 Drophead was out of my budget and went
shopping for a more affordable roadster. and in 1986, this TR3A followed
me home to keep the Land Rover company. Funny thing is that until then
I had not really given much thought about Triumphs. I could just have
easily ended up with a Mercedes 190SL or MGA. Morgans were a little
over my budget and the XK's were way over my budget.
So I became a Triumph fan in my 40's by virtue of driving and
maintaining my TR3A.
TeriAnn
1960 Land Rover, owned since 1978
1961, TR3A, Owned since 1986, the new car
|