I guess you could say we are mainly a Honda / Acura business but my passion for cars in general goes far beyond that. I am an eclectic car guy. I like strange things sometimes but in general as long as it has wheels and an engine I am interested in it. Been reading a bunch of car related blogs lately on a huge array of types of cars and the history of these cars is a strong root of my interest in them. Not necessarily just the cars but the parts that make up the cars as well.
This past weekend I read a great article on Momo. I have a more complete understanding of the company now and I will always look at the Momo steering wheels differently now. The company comes directly from a racing background. Originally building steering wheels solely for race cars and one-off customer requests that turned into a mass production main stream item. You can still buy the original designs that were were created in the mid '60s. Naturally the Honda / Acura platforms are a big drag to me.
Having owned many, many Honda's I tend to stick with the 1990's models it seems. I guess that is just what I grew up liking and have kind of stuck in that direction. But any Honda / Acura that has a good story interests me. The original CRX Si's, '92-93 Integra GSR's, JDM/EDM Type R models and of course the Integra Type R are some that hold a spot dear to me. The one that has gotten away twice that I need to acquire again is a 1994-1995 White Honda Civic Si Hatchback. My original one was a 1995 model purchased as a high school graduation present by my parents. That is the car that turned my interest in cars into an obsession. I unfortunately got rid of that car way too soon but I do know who owns it so maybe one day I can have it again. The 2nd White Si was a 1994 Model car. Bought it around 2002 and enjoyed it for a year or so but that was sold off to a new owner as well, bringing along a great story with it as it was sold to purchase an engagement ring for my wife.
The elusive White Civic Si Hatchbacks have passed through my fingertips and I am on the hunt for the long term keeper car still. Porsches are a huge passion of mine. I have owned a couple, long to own more and maybe one day even race them. Lately the Early 911’s are what gets me. 1965-1973 Porsche 911’s are the quintessential sports car. Lightweight, decent power and incredible styling that still has influences in today’s sports cars. And who wouldn't want a direct from the factory Porsche GT3 Cup Car. The heritage of the company is legendary and will continue creating history for years to come.
It interests me when there is a great back story to a car or part. For instance the Integra Type R SPEED World Challenge car that I recently acquired is fascinating. The more we get into it the more we learn. The amount of work it took to build the car originally and the amount of money that it cost to build the car is mind blowing. It is great to find old photo’s and more history about it and I am very excited to get it back up and running and hit up some track days with it in the near future. Other odd ball cars that are on the list of interests or you could even go as far as the list of cars that I would like to own one day includes: 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback, been a fan of that styling for the longest time. Mazda 323 GTX, that is a car that is unassuming from the outside but once you hear about the history of the car, why it was built and the performance possibilities of it makes you yearn to have one. 1st and 2nd generation Taurus SHO’s, have owned 2 of those over the years as well. Yamaha produced engine, FWD, manual transmission option in early 90’s 4 door sedans. Ford was ahead of the time on that creation. 1991 GMC Syclone – Been hot and heavy over these for about the last year. This is the first sport pickup truck to be mass produced into the market and to this day the performance that they offer is up there with any of the current sport pickups on the market and this is 20 years later. Replica Porsche 356 Speedster – for $20k you can get a basically brand new car with close to modern performance in a package that screams cool. The look like they are going 100 mph just sitting still. Anything Race Car – Gut it, cage it and race it and I will like it, something very cool about any race car. And it doesn't even matter what kind of racing it is for - -Drag Racing, Road Racing, Circle Track, Hill Climbs, Rally – They all show great initiative, creativity and the strive to be the best. Each one has a great history if you can uncover it and they will last through time. Anything with Authentic Patina – This trend has gotten huge over the last couple of years and here is why I love it. As I usually say when we come across a perfectly patina’ed car, you can’t build it like that you can only hope to be lucky enough to find it. Years and years of weather and just the right amount of surface rust and the perfect stance on a 40+ year old car is something to behold. The stories those vehicles could tell…. ….this list can go on for days but you get an idea on the eclectic nature of my car passion.
Not sure what the moral of this blog post is but hopefully you get something out of it. Car guys are just that, car guys. It doesn't matter what type or car, year of car, purpose of car, etc you can always find something that is interesting about it, some idea you can use on another project, or something you can improve on, that is what makes it fun. The motivation for this post is based solely on awesome blogs I have been reading, great car stories, awesome car video’s and in general the love for the automobile. Motivates me to continue to push on with the projects we have and the desire for future projects.