---
title: "Who Got You Into Cars?"
date: "2024-02-13"
modified: "2024-02-13"
authors:
  - name: "Andrew P. Collins"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/andrew-p-collins"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/who-got-you-into-cars"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
  - "QOTD"
---

# Who Got You Into Cars?

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/13/who-got-you-into-cars.jpg>)
*\<em\>Collins family archive\</em\>*

It's origin-story hour, amigos. Adopting "cars as a hobby" can happen in all kinds of ways, but I bet a lot of us can trace our automotive interests to an individual who first shared the [joy of driving](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/honda-shogo-brings-joy-of-driving-to-childrens-hospitals-across-america>) with us. So who got *you* into cars?

I have a lot of casual gearheads in my family, more so now that I'm married. And growing up, my close friends and I certainly encouraged each others' early automotive obsession. But if I had to point to one person as the primary instigator of my fascination with cars, I'd have to call out my dad.

When I was really small, he had a Pavlovian way of training me to look forward to his return from work. He'd often snag a [Hot Wheels](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/this-abandoned-hot-wheels-escaped-the-landfill-so-now-it-lives-on-my-desk>) car on his way home, pocket it, and present it to me as he came through the door. To be honest, I don't remember it vividly, but I trust my parents' account, and have heaps of collected Hot Wheels to back up the story.

Later, my pops bought a 1979 Fiat Spider 2000, rough but running, which would become a huge character in my childhood. He still has it—it's one of the most reliable cars our family's had, shockingly. Getting picked up from school in that thing was always a source of elation, and we even took it to a few shows. That matching-shirts picture you just scrolled by was taken right before my first visit to the Larz Anderson museum, which still hosts its annual Italian Car Day.

Fast-forward to the present and cars are still a major bonding catalyst for my dad and I. He just turned 60, and [we celebrated with some hot laps](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/why-high-performance-drivers-ed-is-a-perfect-father-son-weekend>) at Palmer Motorsports Park in Massachusetts. Here's hoping we're still driving together far into the future.

## Author
As Executive Editor, Andrew touches everything on the site from daily news coverage to feature stories, sponsored content, product reviews, road testing vehicles, ecommerce, and more. He's held pretty much every role there is to have at an automotive news site and has been with The Drive's publisher Recurrent since 2020. Andrew's a lifetime gearhead and longtime writer with a particularly strong penchant for road trips, off-road adventures, and archaic vehicles. His passions outside of the automotive world include skiing, obsolete video games, and his dog Bramble who occationally helps review cars.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/andrewatlarge>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetercollins/>)