There are sometimes moments in a car enthusiast’s life where everything changes. Maybe you try a car that’s outside of your norm, and it opens your entire world. Perhaps you’ve become a parent and you sold your fun cars for a minivan or crossover. Maybe, you did something with a car that put you on a totally different path. Cars are powerful in how they can change the trajectory of your life. What car changed everything for you?
The car that changed my life the most is the Smart Fortwo. My love for Smarts is such a huge part of me that I intentionally named myself after Smart’s parent brand, or, I suppose most correctly, the woman the brand is named after. However, that won’t be the car that I’m talking about here. I have a personal story that I want to tell at a later date!
Winter 2019 brought the car that changed me for another time. Earlier in the year, I bought my first truck, and first car paid for with my own money that wasn’t a Smart, a 1999 Ford Ranger. This $800 truck made me fall in love with Rangers, but I ultimately disliked my tired 4.0-V6 model due to its lousy 13 mpg and wiring short that took out the TCM. Then, I had a Ford Festiva that I tortured myself with.
Sadly, as winter fell, my 2012 Smart was parked and down due to a seized alternator, bad engine mounts, and what I thought was a bad starter. I worked a low-paying job, and local mechanics wanted to charge a small fortune. But I did have $900 on me, and I put the money into something I was interested in since I was a kid: diesel power.
My first diesel car was a 2005 Volkswagen Passat TDI wagon. Sure, it had a ginormous turbo boost leak that reduced 60 mph acceleration to 43 seconds (I’m not exaggerating there), but it was a whole new experience. For the first time in my life, I had a car with leather seats, room for five, and a trunk so huge that I was able to fit an entire Honda scooter in it. Oh, and it got 33 mpg, which wasn’t far off from what my tiny Smarts got. I saved the image from the Craigslist ad:
I found out that kid me was onto something. Diesel power is great! But this Passat was more than just a car. It got me through one of my roughest financial periods, never giving up on me even when I could barely afford to put diesel in the tank. It also got me through one of my worst heartbreaks.
But, I think, most importantly, it taught me that cars outside of my norm were actually really fun. I had never seen a Passat as a car I’d own, and yet, I loved mine. The Passat opened me up further. I always had a dream vehicle list, but I never thought that I’d be capable of owning dream cars like a Saturn Sky Red Line, Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, or a Buell Lightning. Now, I also wanted to experience all kinds of cars. If that Passat was so nice, what else was I missing?
The Passat was Genesis. I sold it and embarked on an adventure that has led me to today, where I’m still shocked to say that I own a decent number of my childhood dream cars. I’m also so happy that I’ve been able to experience so much, from the Acura NSX to a gosh-darned diesel-electric locomotive.
I don’t want to own another Passat TDI again, but I thank it for being an important milestone. How about you? What car changed everything for you?
Top graphic image: Mercedes Streeter
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