Ever since my oldest daughter was a little girl, she's been interested in dad's cars, more specifically, his RX-7's. We've spent countless hours in the garage together, me turning wrenches and her just doing her thing, picking up a thing or two along the way.

Well, now that she's 16 and driving, she wants to learn to drive the RX-7's. I agree, albeit somewhay reluctantly given that she wants to take the car to her homecoming dance with her boyfriend. So, being the good that that I try to be, we set off and she's learning how to drive the RX-7. With that I told her, comes learning how to maintain it. I told her that if she wants to drive it, she has to learn how to fix it. She agrees. I reflect on the last 16 years and wonder...where has time gone and why has it gone by so fast?

 

This is such a great post and the photos are priceless! Good for you guys.

And (maybe?) most important, she'll drive stick.

 

And embarrass 90+ % of the boys her age who "can't" drive a car with a manual transmission!
:-)

 

congratulations!

i love this post. i mean, you know better than i would (because mine's only 10 right now), but it's crazy how fast they grow. i can only imagine there is a tinge of fear that accompanies the pride you must feel.

​​​​​​​truer words ....

 

I know what you mean mate. When you're young, seems like the whole world's in front of you. Then the kids turn up, and nothing else is as important, and bang! They've grown up . And there's an old git starring back at you from the mirror.

 

It's funny that you guys talk about her embarrassing boys. Her boyfriend, who is a self proclaimed car guy, can't drive a car with a manual transmission. My daughter told me that he's jealous of the fact that she can drive a car with a manual transmission. She told him that she will be driving to homecoming. Makes a dad proud.

 

The kids do grow up so fast. I don't feel any different than I was the day she was born, but when I look in the mirror, the guy staring back is in fact a bit different. I've got some guy with gray in his beard and some wrinkles staring back at me. Its tough. The fear for me is that I've not done enough to prepare my kids for the real world. I try and prepare them as best as I can and I talk to them about everything. I even talk finances and budgeting and try and instill a strong work ethic in them. My oldest daughter has had a job since she was 14. My oldest son as well, as he's 14 and working. If they want money, I make them earn it. This way they can put a value on their time and money and not just go blow dad's money. I work too hard for mine. All in all, I am fearful, but in the same breath, I'm proud of all 8 of them, and I know my legacy will live on in them.

 

Man, that hits hard. Those words are so very true. Everything you said is spot on.

 

i get this! i feel it! i can relate to it. on one hand, i'm encouraged by the fact that you've been a father 6 years longer than i have and still feel the way you so beautifully described. on the other hand, it's even more scary because 6 years from now, i will, apparently, feel the same way.

regardless of all of that, i'm happy for you. enjoy this milestone to the fullest.

 

Dudes, my GRANDSON turned 20 earlier this year! My GRAND. SON.

Enjoy the time. These are the good old days,

 

I'll join in. This is my oldest. He has a '78 in Sonic Bronze. I think that's the color at least.

 

*feels old*

I have been rallycrossing with my friend Bill since forever. Well, since I started, anyway. Shortly after, he stopped rallycrossing because he was all "starting a family" and such. They growed up enough that he didn't need to be 24/7 Dad and he started rallycrossing again about ten years ago or so, this time in a Neon instead of a ZC-engined CRX.

I'll leave the story as of July of this year to his own words:
it's weird being in an environment where you are hanging out with people who you have been friends with their parents literally since before they were born, and not in a birthday cake and balloons kind of environment.

He also got her a SAAB 900 Turbo convertible that they took together to the GRM $2000 Challenge this year just for lulz.

(and the rallycross car has a SRT-4 engine making absurd amounts of power and torque, like 230/300+ at the wheels, in a hulled out first gen Neon... just perfect for a new driver to try to drive on dirt )

 

Didn't Iron Maiden write a song to that effect?

 

Dave it’s nice to see your daughter is still interested in cars. My granddaughter will be helping me pull the engine from my NB Miata this winter. She enjoys wrenching with me. I think she wants the car when she can drive.

 

Time marches on but one thing that doesn't change is our love of rotaries.

And the cars seem to be getting younger!

Here's a photo from an early OGTA meeting back in 2008.

Some of the high school kids in this picture now have rotary loving kids of their own.

And yes, their hair is getting gray.

 

Great post Dave, gonna bring a tear to my eye at work! So glad you were able to get the Ocean Blue running again when I stopped by a few years ago!

My daughter is coming up on 2 so I've got a little while still, but she already likes chasing me around the garage and knows the sound of my car when I pull in the driveway - hopefully I can keep her interested in these old things