In December of 2014, my E46 project came to an end with a fatigued head bolt hole. A E30 318i in questionable shape came up for trade and my quest down the vintage path began.

I found it to be in a perfect state of disrepair, sitting in the corner of a local shop’s lot, lackadaisically cared for with windows grimed to foggy grey and an ever-present oil slick darkening the pavement beneath the engine. I creaked open the driver’s door and settled into 30 years of German vinyl and old foam, cracking the lid of an ancient treasure chest. Despite three decades of use and abuse, everything inside just felt right. It was an immediate and powerful bond, such a curious thing to experience in real time. I traded off my minty, but very broken 323i and off I went in my brand new, 30 year old car.

I found it to be more challenging than I expected. You don’t drive a vintage car, the vintage car drives you. I very quickly became accustomed to the little quirks and the terrible brakes and sloppy suspension and non-functioning gauges and floppy shifter and doors in unknown, semi-working order. Jeremy Clarkson sums it up well in the film Love the Beast –

“…it’s what non-car people don’t get. They see all cars as just a ton and a half, two tons of wires, glass, metal, and rubber, and that’s all they see. People like you or I know we have an unshakable belief that cars are living entities… You can develop a relationship with a car and that’s what non-car people don’t get… When something has foibles and won’t handle properly, that gives it a particularly human quality because it makes mistakes, and that’s how you can build a relationship with a car that other people won’t get.”

Those of you who have owned a beater or simply have that gearhead gene know exactly what I mean. It’s the flaws, the messed up bits, the blown speakers, the weird gear shift, the vague steering, broken seats, smelly exhaust. The non-functioning windows and broken sunroof somehow become assets in your mind, excuses. A project car is like a problem child, the issues sap your energy but try as you might you cannot help but love it – and you begin to make excuses. You begin to make excuses as to why every spare penny goes into the car, as to why 90 horsepower is suddenly adequate for merging into modern traffic. It’s an all-consuming affliction masquerading as an innocent hobby.

You say to people “oh, I’m into cars” but such a phrase is wholly inadequate to communicate the depth of your passion. It’s a passion you hope that everyone would find. It’s almost frustrating to encounter those whose souls know nothing close to the primal excitement and endorphin release of harnessing explosions and forcing mechanical beast to human will. It’s the hobby to end all hobbies simply due to depth of field – and though not everyone is a car enthusiast, I firmly believe that everyone is a “something” enthusiast. Find that passion, harness it, grow into it. Let it shape you. Life here is short and time is precious…spend it doing what you love.

Photo credit: Sam Cafferty