Grateful for Classic Cars and Bonding, Less so for Pokemon

Photography by Afshin Behnia, Jonathan Mills, and Luke Wooden

As the year ended most of us took a moment to pause and reflect; looking backwards at expectations met… and missed. This is a function of being human, of course, and as a species we tend to look at time through a very unique and not particularly long lens. However, the end of the calendar provided a moment to think and I couldn’t help but look back on what I consider the most significant aspect of my automotive year: my son’s budding interest in the hobby.

Many of us with a life-long passion for ‘things that go’ want to share it with our friends and family. My own father is a pilot as his father was before him. Had aviation existed before the turn of the last century, no doubt my great-Grandfather would have enjoyed soaring around in airplanes as well. My father wanted me to love airplanes too, and I do have a healthy appreciation for them. After all, I grew up flying them at an early age and even got about half-way through private pilot training before I realized with some chagrin I would never truly enjoy aviation the way my own father does. I found the whole experience…stressful. In the end I prefer to go fast with rubber firmly planted on terra firma.

Therefore when my own son, now ten, began to show some interest in my work and world here at Petrolicious I was cautious in my enthusiasm. I didn’t want to blow it. I knew that this interest would need to be cultivated in just the right way. This was not going to be done through trips to car-shows or static museums…I knew that the way to light a fire in my son’s vague interest in classic cars was going to come from driving in them. And it just so happened that our own Drive Tastfully vintage car rallies were the perfect venue. I asked him, “Hey, so this cool car rally is coming up, do you want to be my co-pilot?’ and he enthusiastically said yes.

One substantial problem remained… I am currently, ‘between’ classics. Which meant that in order to get a car to drive I needed to be both creative and enterprising. However, I was also a little lucky. I found an outfit here in Los Angeles that rents classic cars and was kind enough to provide me with a 1970 Boss Mustang for the occasion. I’ve written about renting a car previously but can say that given the circumstances it remained the ideal scenario to get us on the rally and in the car together.

And it worked! We had a great time! Not only did my son appreciate the open air motoring experience he also seemed to discover a love of car photography. (Some of his photos can be seen on this very site as a matter of fact) From my own perspective I just felt deeply grateful that I was in a position to share my hobby with my son and see his interest grow! He asked lots of great questions, sparked to the excitement in the early morning air, and proved to be a capable navigator. I couldn’t ask for more.

So allow me to offer some parting advice to parents and future parents alike, take it slow. Your own passion is manifest and contagious. Don’t worry too much if your son or daughter doesn’t take to it initially, maybe they will. If they don’t, that’s okay too, the world is a big place and maybe they will find a hobby that they can introduce YOU too (I tried pokemon and found it…difficult). However, if they do follow in your footsteps, consider yourself lucky, cherish and nurture the passion because enjoying classic cars is a fantastic hobby and one I’m lucky and grateful to be able to share.