The so called "Dream car" - by Jeremy Hampson

Here’s the thing,
Let’s talk about what is in the mind of every single person reading this, every single enthusiast, every single person that never even thought about picking up a wrench, the ever elusive dream car. Why should we talk about this? Because, when you really think about a dream car, what it is, what it means, what it represents, it deserves more thought and discussion then simply, “my dream car is a 308 Ferrari!” or something to that tune.

Slowly getting older, not growing up mind you, I’ve noticed that my tastes in cars has changed. Not for the better, or for the worse, it has just simply, changed. Now of course having a young daughter and a wife does change your priorities, but my tastes in vehicles always remains the same. Or so I thought. Stay with me here.
When I was growing up, my dad bought me a 1989 Honda Civic DX, a nice little 3 door hatchback. It looked something like this but with a nice fade to the red.

It had power nothing in it, yet was a joy to drive in. Before I got my car, what I wanted was either a lifted truck of some sort, like an older Tacoma, or like what my friend had at the time, an 1988 Chevy Camaro with the 5.0L V8 in it. It was fast, mean, and quite an enjoying experience to drive. But I got my car, with it’s little 1.5L inline 4, didn’t have quite the punch. However, after a while I didn’t mind, I began to like the little thing more and more. This is where I got my first lesson in power to weight. As in, even though it’s not as powerful, it’s also lighter then a third generation Camaro, it won’t beat it in a drag race, but it won’t feel as slow in the Civic as opposed to another car the same size/weight as the Camaro, but with just not as much power. This was my thinking at the time anyways, it’s not like I was doing freaking physics calculations in my head or anything.


 (Pictured, freaking physics)

So, even though I had this car, I still wanted my “dream car”, which was something along the lines of a Tacoma that I could build up, I wanted something that I would show off my personality, which, in high school was that of an overly aggressive asshole. And I tried multiple times to get a truck, it never worked out, because I slowly realized that, at the time, my dream car wasn’t some stupid truck that I kind of wanted, it was the very car I was driving. The car did what I wanted it to do, it represented my personality, it was fun, I enjoyed it, and most importantly, it was a car that I could handle, because so often, you’ll get way ahead of yourself, jump into a car you don’t properly understand, and something bad happens.

And then I went and picked up my 300, my wife picked it out because it was going to be her car after I got a car for myself. Even just a few years ago when I bought it, I still wanted a truck or a certain type of suv. After I drove the 300 for a while, keeping In mind it was my first RWD sedan, I started liking it more. And also realized that if I don't have a reason for owning a specialized type of vehicle like a truck there is no point to owning one. My commute usually averages a good 30 miles one way. Yeah I could have had a truck but a buddy of mine made the same commute and had a Ram 1500, he filled up twice a week, that's painful.
So when I bought my 944, I thought,  you know I finally accomplished one of my car dreams, get a RWD sports car that I can wrench on. Well that was before I realized if you own a 944 you really own two cars, the 944 and the car you drive daily while you work on the 944.

So, the search began, in the meantime I drove my roommates 89 corolla GT-S, it was a decent car. The gearbox had that very satisfying 'click' every time you put it into gear. So when I found a car I immediately jumped on it, it was my 86 Honda Accord LX-i. For a while I just used it as as car I drove, and then I realized that I really liked the car, it was was a fun ride, had a decent amount of horsepower, and didn't quit on me until the parts literally broke in half.

However the car had over 200,000 miles on it and it wasn't maintained nor did it have it’s 200,000 mile interval servicing, it was having so much repairs that it was like having a car payment. Again, the search began. I didn't really know what I was looking for, my wife and I would have liked a new car, but we wanted to pay off the 300 first. So I decided I was going to try and get a car off craigslist for 5,000 or less, a decent starting position for an early 2000's that runs well.

I must have run through a hundred listings for cars that I replied to. One had a good seller, and that's the number one thing I look for. So I started talking to him, the car? A 2001 Volvo S80 T6. Had the color I wanted, had a turbo. Just one problem, the 99 to 2004 Volvo S80's, among others had a fatal flaw. The transmissions were GM sourced transmissions, and failed very early, but this guy had a rebuilt transmission put in. He had it done by his mechanic who used to be a Volvo tech, but not in a Volvo dealership shop. Anyone who's owned a Volvo you need their computers to program stuff from the tip tronic to the window buttons.

So I go check it out, turns out had a massive problem with the transmission, it would get stuck in gears and not shift right, I was going 5 mph through an intersection.  Next!

Over the next few months nothing really came about, until one morning I decided to look on carmax but with a caveat, for no reason at all I put the price range up to 23,000 dollars. And within a few pages I found a vehicle that I now own, my 2014 Ford Fiesta ST. The strange thing with it is, as soon as I saw it online, I immediately called and made an appointment for later that day to go check it out and ended up buying it - I knew the second I saw it that I was going to be buying it.

That is just the thing, when you find a car you know you like, or love, it can come in all forms, it can be love at first sight, or it can creep up on you. You know you love your car, when you are about to get in and look at the seats and say, “I love this car, I can’t wait to sit in it.” And then say it again as you’re getting out of it. There is no problem with lusting after that one car that seems so far away, but never forget there is a perfectly good car out there right now for you, just waiting to be driven. I don’t like the phrase “Dream car”, because just in those words it insinuates that this car only exists in your head. So get your head out of the clouds, and under that hood, because especially with today’s cars, there are so many to choose from, that finding that perfect one to fit you perfectly is even easier, and that in essence is really a dream car, one that seems built for you.

And that, that’s the thing about having your head in the clouds

- Jeremey

Restrictions of the Factory

So here’s the thing,

Something I have noticed with my car, and it goes for a LOT of other cars as well, is that some cars don’t come out of the factory as good as they could be. Like this:

Take a good hard look at that. That is when I put in my K&N filter in my Fiesta. To the right is the gargantuan stock air filter, and to the left, the less restrictive K&N filter. Sometimes it just boggles my mind as to why they do this. I know in some cases, especially with cars like my Fiesta, which is a performance version of a economy car, they have to meet a certain price point. However, here is the thing with that as well: I have lights in my freaking cup holders. Yup, lights in the cup holders! Yes, it is pretty awesome because I can use my peripheral vision to put a cup down in it rather than taking my eyes off of the road. But I would much rather not have those lights in there, and instead have something like a less restrictive filter in my car, or a better rear engine mount that helps cut down wheel hop and vibration. The biggest thing that boggles my mind, is there is no belly pan, or skid plate if you will, underneath my engine! A belly pan is on the low end of 100 bucks, yet they didn’t put one on it, so I’m forced to go out and get an aftermarket one. Either way, it presents a unique opportunity, an opportunity to help support third party vendors, doing what they do best. That is to make our cars better, and to have a legitimate excuse to wrench on your vehicle. With everything in the auto industry changing, and things seeming to become more restrictive in regards to wrenching on your own vehicle, you always have to remember that you just shouldn’t settle for what is there. For every factory restriction put on something, there is a vendor out there who knows a way around it. Just putting in that air filter made the take off much cleaner, and it’s just an air filter. We shouldn't be content in just leaving vehicles how someone else thought we would like them. We should make them how we want them to be. Unfortunately a lot of times people that want to do this are left out in the cold because of the very high cost of workshop maintenance books, a lack of a Haynes manual, what have you. I mean the workshop manual for my car costs over 1,000 dollars, and there is no Haynes manual planned for it. When it comes to a situation like that, all you have is your experience, and vendor support. But all it comes down to is taking a chance and trying to change something up, and knowing what you are working with. Companies like Ford make cars like the ST lineup specifically for people that like to go to the track, like to modify their car, like to just change up the status-quo. Not all cars are like that, most are not, but all cars can be changed to suit what you need, or want. When it comes to doing things like modifying cars, and having cars that are easy to modify out of the factory, it is quite a case of use it or lose it. If manufacturers lose those niche market for cars built for car people, then they aren’t going to be making cars for car people anymore, and they will focus more on those beige mobiles. Just because it looks like a complicated design doesn’t really mean it is. In that way it's hard to learn but easy to do. Don’t let some factory restrictions on this or that hold you back. There is always a way to get past it, and make it better. Besides, you’ve got bigger things to worry about, like what happens after you pop off that plastic engine cover...

And that, well that’s the thing about dealing with restrictions -Jeremy

Introducing: Garrett Davis

My first real interest in cars began in 1999 when I was 10 years old and was told to pick out a magazine off the rack for a long road trip we were about to embark on. Motor Trend's 50th Anniversary issue caught my eye immediately with a bright red 911, a gorgeous Jag, and a black Lamborghini Diablo -- my favorite car of all time, in the most menacing color available. After that I was hooked on anything car related. I would memorize different models and brands and have my mom quiz me on every car we saw on the road. If there was a car out there, I had to know everything about it. The number one item on my Christmas list that year was a Motor Trend subscription, and I read every issue cover to cover multiple times, though none as many as that original 50th anniversary issue.

Pictured: 17 year old me with my truck after a thorough test of 4WD. I was hooked. Still wear that shirt too.

Fast forward to my 16th birthday and my mom is handing me the keys to a 1994 Ford Ranger. It was a 4.0L V6, 5-speed manual (skull shifter of course), and four wheel drive. I was in love. Not just with my lovely new-to-me truck, but with driving in general. I would always volunteer to drive places, or just to get out and hit some back roads for no other reason than to just enjoy the open road. After high school I was infected with the Jeep bug, leaving my best friend and I to dump every minimum wage dollar we earned into our not so shiny Jeeps. We became the only members of our Jeep club under 20 years old, and joined them for as many trails as we could. We swapped axles, did deep engine and suspension work, and any other repair we could reasonably scrape our knuckles on in our own Jeeps. I also helped my family swap engines and transmissions, and do some body work on stock cars. This is where I learned how to work on cars. 

But, after getting stuck, lost, and breaking down a few too many times, we finally decided that this was not a hobby college kids could reasonably afford, and hung up the towel. Since, I've had a few intermediate vehicles, ranging from Japanese trucks to German hatchbacks. I have finally settled into a 2014 Focus ST, and couldn't be happier. It's the first car I've ever bought new, and also the first car I've owned that was newer than the 1990's. Nearly 10 years of driving and I still can't help but take back roads home when ever possible, or volunteering to drive anywhere. I just seem to belong in the driver's seat. The 2,000+ miles and 60 hours of drive time that I've put into my car since buying it seems to confirm that. For reference that's barely even a month ago.

Today I work as an RF Test Engineer for a major tech corporation, and writing about the very cars I've lusted over for so many years is my new hobby. Let's hope this one sticks.

~ Garrett