Today, May 25, is Car Day in Japan. It was established by Yanase, one of the largest importers and dealer chains in Japan, in 2015 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the company’s founding on May 25, 1915. One of its special edition exclusives was the Isuzu Piazza Nero, an all-black version of what we know as the Impulse (in case you were wondering how we chose the lead image). Car Day was created to get people to “cherish their cars” and reflect on the “richness of life with cars”. In honor of this day we came up with a very simple question. It’s somewhat surprising that, in all these years of doing QotW, we haven’t asked the one very basic question of why we are all here.
Why do you like cars?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite car museum?“.
It’s no surprise that several comments mentioned the Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi, Japan, a favorite of Alan and Land Ark. Other must-see museums owned by Japanese carmakers include the Honda Collection Hall in Tochigi and, as picked by Daniel, the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima as well as the Frey Mazda Museum in Germany.
For institutions that house a diverse collection of cars from all over the world, Jim Klein‘s choice of the Lane Museum in Nashville is hard to top. We’ve never been, but we hope to visit StreetSpirit‘s pick of the Louwman Museum in the Netherlands someday.
For decidedly non-Japanese collections there’s Taylor C.‘s recommendation of the Mercedes-Benz Museum Stuttgart, and while you’re there you might as well see the incredible Porsche Museum as well. KMMinLaPlata‘s suggestion of the Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo is quite intriguing too. And Kyuusha Corner‘s testimonial for the Blackhawk Museum has convinced us to visit.
A decent list of vacation spots emerged from the comments, so we might as well include these honorable mentions: In the UK, the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu and Coventry Museum. In Germany, the Audi Forum, VW Autostadt Museum, and Technik Museum Sinsheim. In Belgium, Autoworld Brussels. And in the US, the Aubuurn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Indiana, Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, Brumos Collection in Florida, and Palace Collection in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately there can be only one champion, and the winner this week was Toyotageek:
I’ve only been to a handful of automotive museums. Some of those I’ve visited include our local fixture, the Petersen Automotive Museum which is world-class, and then there was the eclectic collection of the Malamut Automotive Museum in Thousand Oaks. In Japan I enjoyed the Honda Collection Hall in Tochigi, the small private collection of some friends at the Maehara 20th Collection in Kiryu, and of course I was ‘Wowed” by the Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi, which would have to be my favorite if it wasn’t for another eclectic collection, the funky and odd Yokota Collection at the Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum in Gunma. This place is a Showa lovers paradise. There are close to 100 Showa era vehicles on display, from Kei cars and “family” cars to the “coveted” sports cars of Japan. There’s even a recreation of the Fujiwara Tofu Shop from Initial D, as well as the various other Showa themed exhibits make this place my all time favorite car museum to date. Can’t wait to go visit again.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I like cars because they’re the place where three things i find very important come together.
Self expression: a custom car can express your personality and thoughts in a way less obstructed by societal norms than fashion. after all, you can still park a kaido racer on your corporate jobs parking lot but rocking up to a meeting looking like ‘the accountant formerly known as Prince’ is a bit harder to pull off.
Community: nothing forges friendships like working together or going on 6am adventures cross country to pick up a FB marketplace find, fearing for your life as the trailer blows a tire and sipping gas station coffee while you wait for your heartrate to drop to reasonable levels.
Heroic competence: just like in sports, driving a car, especially spiritedly takes skill, has an element of danger to it, same goes to building them, it takes dedication, contains risks and is a heroes journey in and of itself.
other than that cars are just fun and pretty.
Freedom and expression of personal style. I started driving in the 70s and at that time there were no video games, internet, or cable tv. Driving was the one thing I could do that took me wherever I wanted to go, and at a time when there were no cell phones (although I did have a CB radio for awhile) I could not be bothered by anyone. It was therapy to spend my weekends driving. Destination did not matter half the time, it was just the enjoyment of the solitude, scenery, and feeling of the cars handling. I still drive every weekend in my RX-8 for the same reasons. I will often be about ten miles into my drive and realize I never turned on the radio. I just drove listening to the engine spool up and down and felt the chassis rise and fall. Still my therapy to this day.
I truly do not know, but I guess it is in my blood.
From what I am told, I was already liking cars as a baby, played more with cars than anything else as a toddler, and then as a kid obviously I grew more and more interested by them. Fast forward to adulthood and while my relation to cars changed, and cars changed too, I still am firmly fond of cars.
And bikes.
And boats.
Trains too.
And planes, oh boy planes!
And electric scooters.
Rollerblades.
Et al.
But in the end, I always come back to cars. Man are these things neat!
Design. Period.I love beautiful things. Sometimes a little too much over functionality but nothing like a tastefully designed car. Especially designers who can creat an understated masterpiece.
Car’s are art! And where art that I could hang on a wall I have little to no value for, cars add engineering. Although engineering is math the results can also be a beautiful form of art. Like a beautiful H-beam connecting rod engineered for strength, light weight, and machined to perfection.
Art is in the eye of the beholder. Like a beautiful woman most can agree she is beautiful although there are may different looks. A car is similar, there are many different types and most will agree that there are specific looks of cars that most like. Where a beautiful woman may be unapproachable to most of us, and the option of a ride is not an option.The beauty of a car is more approachable. The car you can take out for a ride anytime you want. Though there may be head aches with a Art Car, they are not the same type of head aches a beautiful woman can bring.
In the words of Marge Simpson, I just think they’re neat
In a nutshell: engineering, design, style, sound, tactility, skills mastery, personal expression, culture, freedom.
Because these little collections of metal, glass, plastic, rubber, and sometimes wood give my brain all sorts of tingles. Be it a Daihatsu Midget hauling a steamer full of manju or a TR010 getting loose after bottoming out at the apex of Eau Rouge, all of them give my inner 4-year old a fuzzy smile in some way.
What I have been saying since the word became slang, “I like cars because ‘I think cars are so cool.'”
I was thinking some more on this, and I guess the reason I like cars so much is because,
“It just feels right.”
“Zoom Zoom.”
“I love what you do for me.”
They want you to “Enjoy the Ride.”
They are “Precision Crafted Performance.”
They showcase “The Power of Dreams.”
car go vroom
I like the noise of the engines and nice exhausts, something resonates in me hearing a car crank up. I like the body lines, the color options and paint jobs, the stories that owners have with their cars, I like the ability to modify cars into custom rides, I like well-placed chrome trim, I like feeling the road rushing under my wheels like Jackson Browne, I love a backroad cruise with the windows rolled down on a sunny day about 70-75*F listening to music (classic country is a good pairing).
They can look amazing, you can explore the country, they can be fun to drive, and they can be dirt cheap or multi millions. Other things which are pretty sweet when you really break it down and think about it: they have their own climate control, entertainment systems, cup holders, generate electric power to charge things, and shelter from weather. I mean no other invention that you can own personally can do all of those things!
Why do I like cars?
Because they give me an opportunity to waste all my time and money trying to fix them up 🙂