It was October 10th, 2015 when I received my first car. It was a black Jeep Wrangler with a faded soft top and roll up windows. It was a seemingly normal situation until the fact that I was in the 8th grade. I practiced driving a fair amount in that vehicle yet I never grew attached to it nor did I grow to understand it’s characteristics or quirks. Only that putting the soft top’s windows back in a timely manner was as futile as trench warfare during the great war.

All things considered I found great enjoyment and had much pride in my first car. At the time I wouldn’t admit it but after several years of driving many different vehicles it’s handling was uninspiring to put it nicely. The steering was quite light and the suspension was fine for weekend drives around town. In retrospect how it drove or what we used it for doesn’t matter because the only reason it is significant to this day is because it was fertilizer on a stagnant plant. The seed of car culture was planted many years earlier by my father’s father. He was a car enthusiast since his youth and his son carried on the passion to me. Throughout the 90’s my grandfather owned some of the idols of modern car culture. An E30 BMW and a NA Miata. Since my early childhood I was told stories and shown pictures of these two cars. Most importantly my grandfather kept a collection of 1:18 scale model cars. The combination of the stories, model cars and a couple of Indy car races led to the car enthusiast that stands here today.

My first Jeep led me into a brave new world which I had never known before. All the sudden I was worried about tire widths, bumpers and wheels, speakers and all manner of Jeep parts. It was a gateway drug to car culture. I had that Jeep for over a year, and it was a good year full of firsts. I learned to drive on that Jeep and I learned to love cars in that Jeep. There will always be an emotional attachment to Jeeps. I will always be forever grateful to that utilitarian box on wheels because without it, the love of cars could have very skipped over yours truly.