A thread recently popped up on vwvortex that showed a whole host of old articles from European Car Magazine. The funny thing is, I remembered every issue that was posted, and I even remember what I thought about each car. There were a couple cars posted that I would say were instrumental in me becoming a European Car fanatic. I can remember being in eight grade and thinking these GTIs are the coolest thing ever.

Luckily I still have almost all of my old EC Magazines. They are in a storage unit so I hardly ever look at them, but I know one day I will proudly display them in an office or den and take them out every once in a while to annoy my kids with what I was into before everyone was flying around on jet packs or getting "beamed" from one place to another.

While some people say that music or movies defined certain times in their lives, for me it is cars. When I think back to certain times in my life, I think about what cars were new, what cars were hot and what people were doing to them. I think most car guys are like me, and that's why the muscle car scene has taken off again. People want to remember the good ole days. I know many non-car people just think it's a bunch guys trying to regain their youth or just buying the things they wanted but couldn't afford when they were young. Too a point they're right. While people may not actually be trying to recapture their youth, they are trying to recreate the same amount of enthusiasm they had for cars when they were younger. Maybe an older simpler car gives them perspective on how complicated their current lives have become.

I currently have tons of responsibilities and commitments; to go along with that, I have a car full of electronic gadgets, power everything even heated leather seats. I think a car with wind down windows, no traction control and skinny tires would be just the kind of therapy I need.