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GURSS: Is Your First Car Still Your Favorite?
It is said the songs that were most influential when you were 16 will retain the same emotion the rest of your life... and wondered if the same held true for cars?...
Jade Gurss  |  Posted January 27, 2009   Mooresville, NC
Faster. Louder. The weekly column on SPEEDtv.com by Jade Gurss. (Harold Hinson Photo)

If you’re passionate about music, it is often suggested the songs and artists that were most influential and important when you were 16 years old will retain the same power and emotion for the rest of your life. I agree with that theory, and wondered if the same held true for cars?

The age of 16 seems to be roughly when most folks get their first car – so could the two things be related? You always remember your first – but is it also still your favorite car? Did your parents buy one for you – or did you have to scrimp and save to buy your own? If you had to buy your own, does that make your first car more special?

Mine was a white 1965 Chevrolet – a beautiful piece from my father’s used car dealership, at least until someone nicknamed “Cheesy” slammed into it in the high school parking lot. I loved it at the time, but my favorite came a year or so later when I drove a gorgeous deep maroon 1968 Camaro Z28. Sigh – I’d sure love to have that one back now….

Does the same theory hold true for your favorite race cars? Mine were mostly pre-teen faves like the sprint cars and supermodifieds that raced at the local dirt track or the sleek machines I’d watch in wonder each year at the Indy 500.

Now it’s your turn. What is you favorite car (or race car) and was it your first? Use the “comments” section below. Have at it… I’m anxious to read the responses.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jade Gurss is the owner of fingerprint, inc., a sports publicity company. He has written two New York Times Best Sellers, including what is believed to be the biggest-selling motorsports book in American publishing history (Driver #8 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.). His two decades of publicity and marketing experience involves nearly every category of motorsports, including nine innovative seasons as NASCAR publicist for the Budweiser brand and Earnhardt Jr. His blog can be seen at: http://fingerprint.typepad.com

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