Miata Support Group (Don't let me do it)
 

So when I was in high school and got into cars, I used to talk to my friend's dad's and they'd tell me about how they had 68 Chevelle SS 396's and 340 Baracuda's and '73 Stingray 454's, but they sold their cool fast cars cause they had kids and bought houses and all that shit.
Today me and my soon to be father in law were installing laminate hardwood in one of my bedrooms that I converted into an office. He was like, "what are you up to tomorrow?" I said, "I'm goin to Delaware for a Miata event." He's like, "you and that car...pretty soon it'll be all over." So I'm kinda high strung. I hate when people try to tell me how to run my life. So I'm like, "What cool shit were you passionate about that you gave up when you got married and had kids?" He sorted studdered and jerked around, because I know he was never really passionate about cars or engine related stuff that way I am, so he goes, "It'll fade away."
Now since high school, I've been saying something similar to this. "You can drag me outta the car, but you'll never drag the car outta me." A bunch of my friends are the same way as me, I mean they have real world shit to deal with, but they always seem to find time to run a smokey burnout beat session.
Anybody else feel like this? I mean, I am almost 28, and I know sooner or later I'm gonna have a kid or 2 and then priorities change, but come on. Somebody can baby sit while I cruise down to a NE Dyno Event!

I bought my Miata 1 month after my son was born. Just because you have a family dosen't mean you can't have fun or hobbies. You'll just have to learn how to balance it all.
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Today at lunch I saw what appeared to be a riced out Acura pulling up next to me. Looked over to notice it was 60+ year old guy driving this car. So age and family has nothing to do with what you own or drive.

My father had a E-type and a XK140 when I was in diapers. Didn't stop my parents at all from dropping me with the grandparents and taking the cars for a scenic drive :D

My dad gave up fast cars, racing inboard hydroplanes, flying, and skydiving. He did this mostly due to an injury, but also due to pressure to be a “family man” I will not live with the regrets I have seen him burdened with. I will continue to drive fast, and tinker on my cars and do what ever brings joy to my live. I am 40, married with 2 step children. I work in a war zone, and am in the middle of earning my pilots license, and rebuilding an airplane. My family is not thrilled with my life choices, but all are supportive of them. They all realize I would be a miserable son of a bitch if I where to live as a “normal person”.

Bro, highschool is the best time of your life. Prom, bus rides, struggle for identity, people seeking validation by being loud and obnoxious.





Then you find out whoever said that never went to college. Some people are satisfied with so little out of life, don't be a pussy and keep the car.

Yeah I didn't learn much from high school, except that if you play football then you're a fucken asshole. I learned that if you drive a 1971 Nova with a 250 straight 6 in it, your buddies will need to lift up the back end to do a line lock in the school parking lot, but once they do, it'll smoke until the passengers side tire blows off the rim. Otherwise, I graduated with a 56.5% in government class, but I realized who my long term friends were about to be. So I pretty much learned the important stuff that life has to offer. Friends, family, and the car hobby is real life, put aside the bullshit.

I get the same shit from my dad who was never passionate about cars or whatnot. Always hearing, why dont yo just sell that headache, lol..

Truth is since I had my son alot of time goes to him, and between wife/son and other priorities, its very hard to find time to work on the car these days.

But I refuse to give up. I tinker when I can, and think to myself that once I get things settled a bit, I'll make time for it. Till then I do what I can when I can

my dad had sports cars then met mom got a house a pinto then me (he was somewhat into cars having a turbo T-bird and a few SHO's while i grew up.) he got back into real sports cars when i went to college by getting a boxster that he tracked the shit out of and converted into a PCA club racer, he just picked up a 2004 996 GT3. i dont know if i could give up a fun cars for that long but it turned out ok for him.

+1

This thread makes me want to go get a vasectomy.

Still have my Miata, despite being a dad. Kid seats are what the SRT4 is for.

I am in my 40s, have a wife, a daughter, a responsible job, and a big mortgage. But I also have the Miata with mad turboz, and I endurance road race motorcycles. My wife is not happy about this stuff sometimes, but like Milton said she knows I would be miserable without such hobbies, so she is supportive.

I like to build vehicles that go fast, and go fast in them. Once of the reasons I went to college is that some day I would have the means to do exactly the sort of thing I am doing now. So why give it up now when I have the means to do it?

So, personally, I do not subscribe to the getting old means giving up what you enjoy school of thought. Look at Paul Newman, he drove race cars well into his later years, and IMO is one of the finest examples of a well lived life there is.

Pick your hobbies, who cares if Daddy doesn't approve? I'll always have a hobby, being miserable doesn't appeal to me. I'll always have an affordable track car...I can't breathe without it.

Your passion for cars won't ever change. Most likely it will just be your taste for particular cars that will.

yeah man aside from the weightlifting i did highschool was pretty much a waste of time for me. At the end of the day i still have no freinds and didn't even finish college.

Well said.

I've always thought that as I get older, it will be easier to do this kind of stuff. Sure there might be a few years where it is hard, when I finally have a kid or two, or my job is taking up a lot of my time, but once in a while you can still set aside a little time for yourself so you stay sane. Plus kids grow up, and eventually you put in your time at work and things get a bit easier.

I've outlived most of the people that told me I was acting like a kid.

Also, most of the people who say these things either drive GM or Chrysler products, or they pay $700 per month to lease a 5-series for their wife to roll around in.

I'm a little younger than you, 24, but I think about this all the time since I plan on having kids in the next few years (I wanna hav'em sooner in life so I can be younger when their grown and outta my hair)...Before I bought my miata just a few months ago, I had planned on buying a "practical" car in efforts to prepare for the future, a 2004 or 2008 R32, so I could still have fun driving, but yet strap a car seat in if necessary and not worry about working on it. This was to replace my current 00' Solara. Then I said, you know what, eff that....I love working on cars, always have....if I get a project car that is mostly sorted out by the time I have kids, although I won't be able to take on huge projects with it, I can tinker with it here and there when I can to releave some stress (3am when everyone is sleeping ;) )....and I'll get that practical car to replace the solara when I get the 9 month heads up....Who said you can't have multiple "Fun" cars right?

This would be a balanced stable:
72' Nova (Drag Car)
91' F-150 (Work Truck)
92' Turbo Miata (Weekend Warrior)
04' R32 (Daily for Me)Only one missing!
08' Civic (Family Mobile)
(Plan on replacing that Civic with a S4 Avant)

On another note, at least during house hunting there are no objections from my main squeeze about garage size. She knows its either going to be a 3 car attached, or a two car attached and 2 car detached with a lift....no if's and's or but's about it!

:bowrofl:

I've never understood this school of thought.

Also, I see so many older dudes at autox events that are just trying to get away from the wife/kids for a day.

Now, I can understand if you have to quit dangerous ports (like racing motorcycles, skydiving etc). Its not really fair to your family putting your life in danger regularly.

i was hoping that you would chime in!

I'm 27, with wife and kid, and will always own a project car, and it will probably always be a fast car. I love working on stuff, and my wife has accepted that. Hell, my mechanical inclination is my motivation for going to school, so I can learn to do cooler shit.

Last fall one of my good friends was killed on his motorcycle. I have always ridden, but my wife asked me nicely to sell the Triumph. I did, and promised her I'd never ride again.

I regret this decision every friggin' day. At first I felt good making that sacrifice for my family, deciding to not put myself at unnecessary risk. I hate not riding. The Miata is the only thing keeping me sane. I would complain about it, but I promised her I wouldn't give her grief.

In reality you can make some good decisions if you are doing things that might cause you to miss out on a full life with your family. The main reason I stopped riding was probability. For the amount of miles I rode (1100/week), it was just too likely that the odds would eventually catch up to me. My little brother, who was very good friends with the guy that got killed(lived in the apartment across from him), still rides his ZX-6R, but he only rides <200mi/week.

Don't let go of the things you do that are a part of who you are.

It doesn't fade away, at least not for me. My daughter is going away to collage this fall so I am officially old. Still love fast cars and stuff that scares the crap out of me and don't see any end in sight. Next project is a body-off late forties, early fifties VW bug, would love a split window. Take it back to pristine showroom/museum quality. That would be loads of fun!!

I'm 56 and that hasn't stopped me.

Just don't let your father in law (or for that matter your wife to be:giggle:) dictate how's it going to be.

Tell him this is like an incurable disease.

A bit unique that I'm 42, married but we never had kids. Just didn't happen. Didn't bother me, though.

I generally have one expensive/time intensive "hobby" at a time. Mainly, my wife says, I con't care what you do, just pick one. I float from having airplanes to competitive pistol shooting to cars and back. On the car kick now at it looks like it's going to stick for a while, but I'd love to get another plane. My new "neighbor to be" on the acreage next to me is an aircraft mechaninc. He hasn't built his house yet but put up a 50x70 building with a 40' hangar door. He is putting in a runway. When it's done, we are going to split a plane. Good for him as it halves his costs, good for me because I get a plane 1/4 mile away, with a supplied heated hangar with my own private mechanic. It's gonna be great. The nice thing is, my wife loves to fly so she supports that hobby completely, which is a good thing because it is damn expensive.

Damn, life's been good to you....I can't imagine how much an airplane would set you back to purchase, maintain, and use.

It varies greatly depending on the type of aircraft. I have chosen the “dark side” of aviation, and have an experimental. The up side is price, I can perform work on it my self (just need to get A&P to sign off), including modifications. Certified aircraft are expensive, and you are limited to changing minor things e.g., spark plugs, oil, light bulbs. It is a royal pain in the ass to get authorization to make the slightest modification on a certified aircraft.

I picked this up for $1750.00 after a hard landing, I will have $3,000.00 in it by time it is airworthy again
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I have nothing against expericmentals. I actually built most of an RV6. I had the airframe done and had 20K in it. Unfortunately, thenext thing to do was engine, avionics, constant speed prop, paint. It was going to take another 40K minimum to finish. I decided that $60K was too much for a toy and sold it.

My wife told me that she was happy that I came to that decision on my own. She said she would have never told me not to finish it, but was glad that I decided to part ways with it.

We have always had less expensive planes, generally in the 20-30K range. I had a Grumman AA1 that I learned in, a Mooney, which was fast but boring to fly, and a Luscombe 8A. Taildragger, no electrical system, had to spin the prop by hand to start it, just like in the movies.

Any more, it isn't the cost of the plane, but the upkeep. My last one cost $600 a month just for fixed costs like hangar, insurance and inspections before you turn the key. Add to that 11 gallons of fuel an hour at $5.00 a gallon and it adds up quick, plus you have to pay for the plane.

I wouldn't get back into it if it wasn't the sweetheart deal with the new neighbor. It's too expensive on your own.

Sorry to hear your father-in-law suck.

My stepdads hobby and passion for cars has brought him, my brother in law and myself together in the garage so many times. He never gave up his hobby or sold any of the cars he considers to be the once with affection value which are 3 oldtimers, dispite having the house full of 4 kids and wife working full time. He even found time to take me to the GoKart track once a week for several summers. Sure, his time was never enough for what he wanted to do, but that is part of being a parent and having a hobby. And I bet he blowed of a lot of steam on those cars sometimes too... Today he has 8 cars and his DD is a 300HP SAAB.

I do not have as much wrenching time as I would like, having a fiancee and a dog. That doesn't mean I'll sell the Miata when I become a dad. But I might place a baby seat next to the dog-blanket in the garage.

I'm 41 with a 5 year old. For me, it's not the money, it's the time. That's why my damn LS6 conversion is taking so long. I told my wife long ago that there will always be a project type car. The only thing that has changed is I'm spending more money on my projects and the car is on a lift because I got sick of creeping.

My desire for stupid speeds on public roads has decreased though the capability of my cars to do them has increased. ;)

Frank

im 18 yrs old an i graduate i two weeks and i have the fastest car at my school, and im sure gonna miss high school but, my mom wants me to by a car and that invoves me selling my miata and i have thrown alot of money in it and have been to attched to it to let it go i have had it since i was 15 and no matter what i am not gonna sell it anytime soon cause i have to much pride in building it.

My grandfathers liked fast cars.

In 1967 my one grandfather bought the family ride with a big block 396 so he could roast the tires.
In 1965 he went to buy a new truck. Some guy had blew the motor in a new 1965 chevy custom. And some kid had ordered a Double hump head 327, and never picked it up.

My grandfather told them to throw the 300hp 327 in the truck and he would buy it.

There are ways to get around having a fast car with family.

My other grandfather always got cadillacs with the biggest big block motors you could get in them. He had one with a 502.

And his last Cadi's had the Northstar V8's.
At 81 years old he would light the tires up. If he was alive today, he would tell you the storys of the mustangs he out ran on the highway.

And he always said boy you drive the new car. Your the one paying for it. LOL

Although my dad always gave my mom the new car.