Anthropomorphism

[Barry Wolk]

Why do people put cars above other things by assigning a soul to an inanimate object? I think animals have souls, but do rocks? Those are the basic ingredients of cars, the ore of the earth.

I assign great, and not so great, memories to cars, but I never once had a connection like I have to pets or other humans. What am I missing? I've lost critters that were dear to me and felt bad for weeks. My '42 Lincoln Zephyr was smashed to bits and burned to a crisp, but I never gave its "soul" a second thought. I never shed a tear, or curled up in a ball on the floor in anguish over a car.

From my first encounter with a Mark II at 12, I clearly had an embrace with the marque, but I don't love the car in the same way I love my wife, our friends, our relatives, and our critters.

What am I missing? And, why are people so adamant that I "don't get it."

[Dominick Toscano]

Your not missing anything Barry,What you wrote is clearly from a normal person. Lots of folks get carried away and put many inadimate objects before everything else. I wrecked my 66 dodge charger when I was a teen,dont miss it took a bus for a while,sold my Jag, i adored ,but sold it when i was a teen,sold my mint 68 toronado 38 years ago ,so My wife and all the bridesmaids could have bouquets of flowers ,and our wedding bands and stuff,and walked too work, Have all my dads cars after he passed away 2016,have many fond memorys going bnack too 1974 with the MKII,& Alfa,have all my orhers things on wheels ,sure I fix and clean,what ever it takes,and Im passionate about all of it..But let me tell you,My family,my pets and such are beloved and have priority over everything,& I do get it,and Im missing nothing ,because with them ,I have it all& in Spades!!!!!!!

[rlafash]

Amen! So very well said!

[Milsteads Garage]

Ok, so I’m going to put myself out there as a tin-foil hat conspiracy theorist, but take it as a grain of salt. I’ve noticed that most everyone who gets a hold of one of these cars, tends to live a lot longer and have a better life than most people. Now I can’t blame it on anything in particular, it’s honestly what I’ve noticed. That leads me to believe this also, is there something about us we actually need to look at? Why are we drawn to these cars? Why isn’t a basic vehicle not good enough for us? This is not the only vehicle in my stable that makes me think this. I own an Airstream also. I get the best nights sleep ever in this thing. It’s not only that I love it, WE love it. I named it the “wang hut” I own a 2010 Indian Chief Roadmaster. It’s the only motorcycle I’ve ever done 140 miles an hour on and get this, it likes going that fast. The guy had the head of secretariat painted on the fender in a silver ghost paint style motif. He called it the big red horse. I kept the name. It’s been a blessing to Sarah and I. And then there is my 2020 Ram 2500. This is the only truck I’ve ever owned that gets angry when you don’t pull something with it. The DPF filter will start to build up after a month of just regular driving but if you hook the Airstream to it and actually go somewhere, it clears out and actually runs better. And then, there is the boat, a 1997 Maxum 2000 scl cuddy cabin. I take this to various lakes in AZ. Just yesterday we were at Canyon lake. We get out into open water, drop the anchor and swim. It started off with one Duck �� that stayed and hung out with us for 2 hours. We then went and checked out other places and were gone for 4 hours. We went back to the same spot and the same duck “which my brother in law named Ralph” came back with two other of his buddies just to party with us. Then, a couple of Bighorn Sheep perched up on top of the hills just to hang out and watch all of us. In another instance, I have been bitten and messed with by fish as I swim in the water when I drive this boat. You guys can think what you want about me but take this piece of advice if you would. Don’t write off everything as just static noise and nonsense. Sometimes things definitely need a second look. A second hard look to actually figure out what is going on. My actual take on owning all these vehicles is this: they are “adventure vehicles” that Sarah and I are going to make memories in. They are to be driven and used, not some coveted holy grail golden nugget that you squirrel away in your garage and if you use these cars and learn how to fix them, you are going to make your life a whole lot better.