  
I'd say it was a combination of that and all the Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars laying around the house. All of which were things introduced into my life by my dad. Every time we would go to the super market I would beg my mom for a new one, and typically she obliged (not through persuasion, but rather irritation.) I much preferred Matchbox over Hot Wheels for their realism. My father was also a major NASCAR fan, and Dale Earnhardt Sr's death at the Daytona 500 hit our family harder than 9/11 would months later. Not even joking, I remember more about the day Dale died (Feb 2001) than I do September 11th. Cars were always present in my life, even if as a child I didn't quite understand them.  
Speaking of lapses in car knowledge, to this day my understanding of the mechanics behind it all is still a bit...lacking (but I am getting better thanks to some friends educating me!) I am more of an enthusiast from a standpoint of design and cultural impact. It's the oddities like the Suzuki Samurai's strange niche between truck and convertible, or the `89 Buick Reatta's touchscreen CRT control center, that excites me more than engine size and horsepower. Flash forward to high school and I'm getting to the age (15 y/o) where I can get my learner's permit. For as much as I enjoyed cars in both media and as a static object, I was initially apprehensive about getting my license and driving. I was still a hardcore shut-in NEET back then, I didn't really want to go out and not having a car or a license seemed like the way to avoid that. Needless to say I was sleeping on the amount of freedom this gives you. Much like how I would "convince" (annoy) my parents to buy Hot Wheels at the store, my parents utilized the same strategy to get me working towards my license. Eventually I did some practice driving at the high school's lot in the summer, which was an exciting experience. The process of passing my exams and driver's test was fairly easy. I pretty much had picked up on all the rules of the road just through a combination of games and watching my parents. The only thing that really tripped me up on the exam was some bullshit question about towing a boat. I passed the driving portion on the first try, BUT that may not have been the case had I used the other family vehicle that lacked a rearview backup camera. To this day I still fucking hate parallel parking. 
Now it was time for my parents and I to find a car, and boy did we fuck up. Pretty much bought the first one we looked at off of Craigslist or facebook marketplace or some other bullshit like that. It was an early 2000's Saturn Ion Quad Coupe. Was it safe? Technically yes...had the owner we bought it from took it in for the factory recall on failed power steering. Reliable? Sometimes. But above all else, was it cheap? Hell yes.    There were so many red flags with this vehicle and yet for some reason this is the one we got and were stuck with for 4 or so years. I don't mean to come across sounding spoiled that I got a car and it was mid, rather I need you to understand that buying a car without a working AC in the state of Florida should be constituted as a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Often times on longer trips my phone would overheat and shutdown, leaving me stranded without navigation at the most inopportune moments. the only way to cool it off was to pull off to the side somewhere and stand OUTSIDE the car. Anywhere I went, I showed up sweaty. The mother fucker who sold this vehicle must've done every dirty used car salesman trick in the book to polish this fucking lemon. Within a week the AC stopped blowing cold and the notorious power steering failure occurred. 
But I do miss that car all things considered. Had the AC and radio worked, would've been a fun little econo-shitbox. Handled in such a way where trying to get up to 60MPH felt like a big fucking deal. It could hardly do +100MPH but the few times I achieved it, it was quite exhilarating. 
A relative ended up with the Saturn Ion while I was out at University, so I was mainly bumming rides up until junior year when I got a used 2011 Honda Accord. I was a bit apprehensive at first, it felt quite big compared to the compact Ion that I was so familiar with, but I was just happy to have a working AC and radio above all else.  
That Accord was a solid sedan, seldom did it ever let me down. It wasn't flashy, but it did exactly what it needed to. I loved that car in a way I had never felt for an inanimate object before. So many great memories came on account of, or within, that vehicle. I was genuinely sad to see it go when I sold it in July 2025. But what came next was a dream come true...    
Known also as the Nissan Skyline in Japan, the Infiniti G37 convertible is perfect car for me. Fast, stylish, comfortable...and NOTHING beats driving with the top down. A family member had this car for years, and the whole time I always joked about how it was time for them to upgrade and sell it off to me. That moment finally came in the summer of 2025, and I seized the opportunity as quickly as I could. Listed my Accord on marketplace and sold it to a good guy looking for a first car for his 16 y/o son. Cut him some slack on the price, and somewhat envied that the kid's first car was going to be substantially better than what I had...  
In the time leading up to getting and registering the G37 in my name, I spent a couple hours going through the state's license plate checker to try and come up with the perfect custom plate. Unfortunately, someone snagged ICUP just a few days before I was about to, but nonetheless I was able to obtain an absolutely WILD license plate message...still waiting for the new plate to arrive in the mail tho. (For anyone out there looking for their own custom plate in Florida, I can confirm that "CLANKER" is still available as of writing this.) This car is way too much fun...far too easy to hit 100MPH down the highway and not even notice it. We've made a new Saturday morning tradition in our home where I will drive my roommates to the Starbucks down the road with the top down blasting music. This car is my baby, and I'm looking forward to the journey it will take me on. 
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