For me, it is the 200+ Hotwheels and Matchbox cars that lined the top of me and my brother's dresser, in perfect rows and columns . 1/43 models gave me some of my earliest memories of car designs and an appreciation for them. Of course we had magazines too, and the obligatory Countach poster , but having so many cars to look at everyday is probably when it all started.

 

I think most American boys had hot wheels.

For me, I specifically remember going to races when I was around 6 years old. I was big into the color yellow then so I would always pick a yellow car and root for it.

The other time I remember clearly was being 10 years old. I would go into my closet and look through car brochures. I was already picking out what car/cars I wanted in the future.

 

early memories...
-spending time with one of my uncles who was/is a huge 'vette guy, road motorcycles...
-seeing my grandfather work on his '72 cutless (the interior was mint even when the car was 30 yrs old...and it was his DD) and seeing how my grandfather also babied his '85 cutless (even at almost 20 yrs old...it had less than 20k mi, garage queen, it was a time capsule inside and out). i'm not sure what happened to these cars, but he always had people asking him how much he wanted to sell them for. he politely said, "not for sale".
-my brother's influence...hanging out with him and my dad when i was little while they were working on the cars...
-it all didn't fall into place until i was shopping (this was a long process 1-2 yrs) for my first new car (my TL) paid for with my hard earned money. it was then i grew to fully appreciate what engineers and car designers build. amazing machines that can be rolling pieces of art (i always appreciated exotics).

 

I had a lot of Hot Wheels too, when I got into real cars I was probably 10 or 11.

 

i used to beg my dad to let me 'drive' his car from the time i was a toddler. i distinctly remember sitting in his lap and thinking i was actually turning the steering wheel on short jaunts haha

 

I distinctly remember watching my dad operate an MT 2nd-gen Accord when I was really young and thinking it was cool. Then it just never stopped.

Oh, and Matchbox > Hot Wheels

 

ofcourse it started with the hotwheels type cars when I was very young. Dont even remember how young. I'll post a picture of them, still have every single one.
my dad would bring them from US to Pakistan when ever he would come visit us.

And then I remember when I was about 8-10, back in mid 90's, I was still in Pakistan, I saw a MKIV Supra in an Indian movie and was drooling all over it!
MKIV Supra has been my first favorite car since I was a kid.

 

My grandparents use to visit us back in Pakistan as well and my fondest/earliest memory would have to be getting a RC yellow '73 vette I remember just ogling over the shape every time I'd look at it, as it was nothing like I had seen before.

 

That's crazy talk.

Please do.

Isn't it amazing that 1/43rds are still a dollar, after all this time?

 

my brother added a few more through out the last few years. Now, I kinda gave up on everything unless its a 1:18 scale.

 

I think it was Hot Wheels for me. My mom always kept a spare red GTI Hot Wheels in her purse for me.

maybe thats why ive always wanted a GTI

 

I had the coolest Hot Wheels collection and I almost died when I came home from camp when I was 8 and my parents donated my collection and re-did my room

My interest progressed over the years through car shows and such and I loved car shopping with my parents. I actually saved my parents $2500 on our TL in 2007 when they bought it because I looked at CarMax's website and it was listed for $28k instead of the $30,500 we payed at the dealer. They bought me a bike to thank me

 

I've loved cars for as long as I can remember.

When I first started talking, I would yell S-T-O-P STOP whenever I saw a school bus with the sign out

Because of that, my parents bought me a yellow diecast school bus and it just progressed from there. I haven't counted in years but I think I have about 500 Hot Wheels cars and at one point I had 40 1:18 cars.

I've been subscribing to Car and Driver since I was 8 or 9 as well.

I went to my first auto show when I was 10 or 11 with my dad and my love for cars just exploded from there.

 

I could name makes/models as long as I can remember. I would look out the window of our 16th floor Manhattan apartment and do it when I was less than 4.

 

I didn't get into cars until I was in college. (Well prior to that (i.e.: grade school), I was more into being a rail buff with aspirations of becoming a locomotive engineer. )

But while in high school, I do recall being surrounded by car buffs and recall how much they were into rides like the GNX, fox body 5.0 and F-bodies (IROC-Z / TA specifically). It wasn't until after I got into cars that a lot of their verbiage began to make sense. I suppose it's possible that I was slowly forming an interest in cars during high school.

Sidenote: My 21 y/o was heavily into cars when he was a toddler, but my other son (now a 2 y/o toddler himself)) has pretty much eclipsed my older son with his fixation on cars at this stage. He's able to identify a number of different marques already AND can differentiate which specific model types on the roads that are owned by relatives. (i.e.: "Mama's car" when seeing an 11-12 Accord sedan -- wife drive's our 12 Accord -- but stating my older daughter's name when seeing an 08-10 Accord -- she drives an 08 Accord sedan.)

....I won't even go into him shouting 'ACURA DADA' when passing an Acura dealership OR seeing another 2G MDX.

 

That's pretty remarkable, not only because of your age but because you were raised in NYC (particularly Manhattan) where cars are generally seen as a less than desirable alternative to the subway, bus, cab, foot, etc....

 

Cool stories.

In addition to what I started off with, I remember going to car shows when I was 9(?) and not missing a year afterward. My friends and I would not leave the show until we collected every single brochure. Nowadays you couldn't pay me to grab one.

 

High school, when getting my license -- pony & muscle cars FTW!

 

I could do that as well but not at that young of an age, probably 7 or 8. Doing that on the school bus was a great way to make the commute feel shorter

Now my girlfriend and try to name cars by their headlights and taillights at night and sometimes put money on it

 

HA! I thought I was the only one who did that.

 

Nope!

I just hate when people put HIDs in regular halogen housings

 

I do that sometimes too.

My friends like to yell "What's that car!?" and point at something in onocoming traffic, and I'd try to guess it before passing.

 

Driving around in our neighbors 67 GTO convertible. I was 7 or 8 and it was freakin amazing. Little did I know the impact that would have on my love of cars.

Fortunately my love of cars has turned to a love of family and children and cars have been put on the back burner for now.

 

Ive grown more and more into a car guy as the years pass.

But hot wheels of course (still have them in boxes at my parents, havent seen or opened them since I was a child)

When I lived in Germany, my father custom ordered a 5 series when I was 9 and we took a trip to the factory to pick it up. We did the whole factory tour and I was SO excited about the car, and it was a stick. And of course out of weird coincidence my own first car ended up being a 5 series.

Looking for my first car...I was ALL over the map. I wanted a fiero, a fox body, an F body camaro/trans am (my FAVORITE hot wheels), a prelude (which became my 3rd car)

 

My uncle took me into his garage and told me to feel his Viper...............jk



I've had an interest in cars for as long as I can remember.

 

You can have love for your family and "love" cars as a hobby too. I too have a family that is the center of my universe, and I still have a passion for cars. Actually, I think one's hobbies is what makes them interesting (but that's a whole different thread).

 

I still remember the first time my dad wouldn't let me use a stroller at a car show...was livid

 

I was referring to my lack of car purchasing (my TL is now 13.5 years old).
I still love cars and my wife and kids comment how I'm always pointing out the multitude of high-end cars in our town just that my spending habits have switched to 529s, home projects, and spending on the kids vs. spending on me.

It's all good.

 

Got ya.

 

Dad's 69 mustang grande that he swapped a 351 Cleveland into. It sat in the side yard oxidizing in the Arizona sun most of the time and as a kid I would polish it constantly. It smelled of cigarrettes and gas, which I'm sure is a good combination.

 

I'm pretty much the same as most on here, I remember naming makes/models probably around 7 and memorizing every little difference between all of the similar models (ford/mercury, etc). I also remember always playing with matchbox/hot wheels, my brother's radio controlled Ferrari Testarossa, and my Die Cast Ferrari 288 GTO (among others). We had a ton of Micro Machines as well and a bunch of the play sets to go with them. Of course, the best was when my dad took my brother and me to FC Kerbeck where we saw our first Lamborghini Countach in person.

 

I was probably five and watching the 79 or 80 daytona 500.

 

My cousin gave me my first plastic toy car when I was 2...obsession ever since. Have thousands of Hotwheels & Matchbox at my parents house that just fed the obsession.

First car I loved was the 4th Gen. Accord and the W140 S-Class. Still love both as much now as I did then.

First Acura I ever loved was the CL Type-S when I saw it in Gran Turismo 4.