My brother had been begging me all summer to drive my car. I had been hesitant for a while. I'd ridden with him a few times earlier in the summer, and I could tell that he needed some work. Like most manual rookies, being smooth with the clutch and gas still needed some time to progress. By the end of the summer though, he finally got most of the kinks worked out. And, with college just about a week away, the time had come for him to finally take my little sports car for a drive.
I was still a little apprehensive, and so my mom volunteered to go with him around the neighborhood. I waited on the porch. With the top down, excitement on his face, my brother eased the little sports car down the street, exhaust burbling and popping along. With apprehension, also came some pleasure. I don't get to watch my car get driven around all that much since I'm in the driver seat 95% of the time, so it was good to hear it and see it in motion. For car enthusiasts that haven't done this, give it a try sometime.
As my brother turned the corner, I was left with near silence except for birds, crickets, and the occasional muffled snarl in the distance as my brother prodded the gas. After about five minutes, the little green sports car appeared around the corner of the block. As it cruised back into its spot on the street, my brother stepped out and looked up at me on the porch. I don't remember ever seeing him grin so widely. The only times I can think of would be his first U2 concert, and meeting The Edge.
He was grinning all the way up the driveway and when he reached me, he started gushing about the shifting, the responsive throttle, the precise and quick steering, basically everything I and so many other Miata owners love about the car. He was so enamored with the car, he wanted to take it out for a couple more spins (which I obliged) and he was wanting a Miata himself.
I was overjoyed to see him realize how special driving, and driving stick. After a few drives in a fun car like mine, he would never be satisfied with a dull, uninspired, automatic automobile, and certainly not a Prius. It made me realize just how powerful a good driving car is, and it left me thinking, what would happen if more people drove a fun car?
(Picture from How Stuff Works.com)
Today's typical car buyer is looking for something reliable, economical, and practical. That's why the best selling car of last year was the Toyota Camry, just behind the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado. It's actually kind of sad. The best selling car in the country, is the one that most people refer to as the pinnacle of boring, soulless automobile. As a result of the high sales, and Toyota's desire to be the largest, best-selling auto maker in the world, they've become dedicated to creating boring, does all the "right things" right kind of car that the majority of America wants, that they've let their fun cars fall to the wayside. Remember the MR-2, Celica, and Supra!
However, after what I saw from my brother after he drove my car left me wondering, how many people don't look for fun or interesting cars, let alone care about them, because they've never actually driven one? And driving is the important word. My brother had ridden in my car plenty of times in the past, and while he enjoyed it, it wasn't until he actually got behind the wheel that he understood what a fun car is all about. If more Americans had a chance to drive a fun car, maybe they would start to demand more interesting and fun cars. Maybe they would even start to buy more sporty cars. Maybe more companies would revive their retired sports cars or release new ones. Maybe Toyota would hurry up with that FT-86 concept!
Come on Toyota, let's hurry up with this thing
(Photo: Autoblog.com)
In fact, there's a part of me that wonders if more people could drive a car they cared about driving, maybe it would make them care more about driving in general. It doesn't take anyone long to see that people clearly don't care all that much about driving. People are always texting, talking on cell phones, or doing any number of activities behind the wheel besides driving. I would speculate that a lot of it has to do with the fact that many people really don't care about driving. To most people, it's just a chore that keeps them from getting to what they really want to do. While I understand that most people aren't diehard car and driving enthusiasts, if the driving experience were more fun, maybe people would dedicate a little more focus to it.
Of course, there's still a good chance that even if more people had a chance to drive a fun car, things still wouldn't really change. However, if people reacted like my brother after taking a good drive, I could see a much greater number of more enthusiast geared cars and better drivers on the road.
Oh, one last thing, I do apologize to readers for the lull in posts. College has been keeping me busy, and I've been a little short on ideas. Hopefully I'll be able to post a little more frequently in the future, but I don't want to promise anything and disappoint followers. However, I have no plans to abandon this blog, and with luck, you may see another post in about a week about some more fun driving...
