For the love of cars.

*Opinion piece

With the beginning of a new year, each of us has some resolutions and goals we want to achieve until the next one. Some are big, some are not and that’s alright. We all get through life with a different pace.

I recently read Ed Bolian’s book “For the record”, which I highly recommend. Just go buy it. What really struck me was his remarks on the future of the car culture. My generation (everyone in their 20s and 30s) is likely the last one to experience cars as we know them. Last one to be true petrolheads. Just think about it - Tesla has the highest valuation of all car manufacturers. This shows the direction of the car industry for the next few decades. And they succeeded by presenting their cars as premium and luxurious, too. Tell that to the AMG S63 and it’ll laugh at you. But then again - having the meme king as your CEO does help. Whether the lithium-ion or LFP batteries are “greener” is a topic for another discussion.

It’s a mind-blowing viewpoint that many of you haven't thought about. It’s in the human nature to take things for granted once we become familiar with them. It’s sad many of us don’t realise how little time we got to enjoy some of the greatest cars ever built. I believe there will be some sort of fines and fees, if you want to continue driving a car with an internal combustion engine in the future. Of course, the wealthy owners will be able to pay the fees and fines to drive them on public roads, but wealthy people don’t drive this type of cars now, not to mention in like 10 years. And the value of these cars will continue to appreciate and we all know what that means.

All of this made me think about all the stuff I want to do with cars.

I’ve always been influenced by the American culture by choice. I find it closest to my own views and lifestyle. I can totally see myself moving to the US within the next decade. I’m mentioning it, because what I want to do with cars has a lot to do with the US. I always had this picture in my head - open road, never ending horizon, ever-changing landscape, in a rumbling muscle car, while listening to rock and roll classics like Elvis Presley’s Blue Suede Shoes. Route 66 basically. It’s time to take my Mustang GT to the US and put some miles on it in its native land, where it truly belongs. My other association when I think about US and cars is the Cannonball run. It’s one of the few instances left, when a human and a car can leave a legacy for the next generations. As a car person, who belongs to the drivers rather than the mechanics, I can’t think of a better challenge. It is something worth pursuing, something to dream about, something worth the risks and the legal challenges. It’s like conquering America once again in a car while driving with 200+km/h. One of the few cases, in which car tuning makes sense and is useful and a must, rather than annoying and a “trying too hard” circus. Car tuning culture is very far away from my car person’s beliefs (the cars I like are better appreciated stock) and potentially preparing a car for a run will benefit my mechanical knowledge. So, it’s a win-win. I hope after reading this you’ll also have some resolutions. It doesn't have to be big or spectacular. It can be anything, as long as it’s yours, but you might want to hurry, because we don’t have much time left to conquer the roads in the greatest cars ever built.