I was 13 in November 1980..... My older brother bought this R&T magazine for me to read while I was sick in bed. I read the TR8 Rally/GTO road test, about the R5 Turbo 2, Peter Egan...... I loved everything. Eventually, I would get a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I met my wife building Formula SAE race cars. I worked at Ford as a Product Engineer for over 30 years. My family always knows where to find me....in the garage.
I still have the issue.
In reply to bOttOmfeeder :
Very cool. And just want to make sure that you saw this from our archives: How the TR8 marked the end of the mass-produced British sports car.
I was in grade 10 in high school and one of my favourite teachers bought a new MGB/GT in British Racing Green with wire wheels. Oddly enough the teacher's name was Mr. Green. What a beautiful car and what an impression it made. When I became of age and could afford a car I bought a '69 MGB roadster in BRG with wire wheels. It was a couple of years old at that point and getting a bit long in the tooth, but I loved it. Sold it on, big mistake. Made it right soon after by buying a '74 MGB roadster which I still have 50 years later. In my garage I also have a '67 MGB/GT in BRG with wire wheels, just like the one Mr. Green had.
For me it ws an MGA. Bought it in 1970, dated my later to be wife in it, turned it into a race car and ran in in regular and then vintage racing for 20 odd years and it still sits in my carport today. It was followed by around 90 other cars, mostly British with a smattering of others, but the MG was the one that set me on that road.
At thireen, while my father was stationed in France, he took me to the 1963 Le Mans. It was my ah-ha moment. The car that started my love affair with Fords was the predicessor of the Ford GT, the Lola GT. Never could afford a Ford GT, or a Cobra, but I managed to buy a GT 350H. Loved that car for 44 years now. Unlike a lot of cars out there that become show cars, mine is a nice driver.
In addition to Grandpa's barnyard of automotive delights, Mom and Dad were both involved in various motorsports before I was born. Mom worked in a motorcycle shop until I was about 7 years old. Dad and his brothers-in-law raced in the offroad scene of the desert southwest throughout the '70s and early '80s. Lots of stories and neat cars/motorbikes...
Mom had an early beetle until I was 10, and a '57 Studebaker in a storage unit.
Dad's race patches-
Really, I was doomed from the beginning...
I suppose it started with two things: stories of my father bombing around a small farm town in Massachusetts back in the 50-60s in a white Austin Healy 3000 while the small town cops chased, and my favorite uncle owned a shop next to my house growing up (which I was supposed to stay away from per my mother. So naturally I was there everyday).
My first car was almost a 72 Nova SS. My uncle picked it up as a project when I was 13, and I fell in love immediately. He decided that if I did the work myself I would "earn" it and boy did I work on that car. He would point me in the right direction then make me figure out what to do. Then once I struggled and bled and cussed and finished the job, he would say "now let me show you the easy way to do it". 
Learned how to do brakes, sand until my arms fell off and skim coat bondo, basic tune up stuff, etc. Unfortunately I never did get that car, but maybe someday... 
I've owned some fun cars over the years, and driven them appropriately. But, as for working on cars, it has been a looong time.
A few years back now (probably 10, you know how time flies) my husband preach introduced me to the Karmann Ghia. I wanted one so bad it hurt. We even named our two boxer dogs Karmann and Ghia. preach got me John Muir's book "How to keep your Volkswagen alive" and I read it cover to cover. I decided that I would get an engine needing rebuilding and then do it myself (maybe with upgrades) mostly just to see if I could. Then someday I could put it in the Ghia that I didn't have. Well plans didn't work out the way I expected:
Definitely not complaining, and I still want to rebuild a type 1 engine, but the white car was not the original plan.
In my family instead of saying "be safe" when parting we say "drive recklessly and take chances". No E36 M3.
Recon1342 said:In addition to Grandpa's barnyard of automotive delights, Mom and Dad were both involved in various motorsports before I was born. Mom worked in a motorcycle shop until I was about 7 years old. Dad and his brothers-in-law raced in the offroad scene of the desert southwest throughout the '70s and early '80s. Lots of stories and neat cars/motorbikes...
Mom had an early beetle until I was 10, and a '57 Studebaker in a storage unit.
Dad's race patches-
Really, I was doomed from the beginning...
Love the patches! Thanks for sharing!
When I was 12 a teacher bought a 67 Saab Sonett II that day and gave me a ride home. Restoring a 67 Sonett V4 #323 now. I was hooked ever after. MGA,sprite,TR250,924,Sonett III.
Randy Clark
For some reason the text didn't come through. This was the wallpatper in my bedroom growing up. I had no choice. Actual ownership started with a Corvette LS6, then 280ZX, VW GTi, Alfa Quadrafoglio, another VW GTi, Lotus Elan, which a still have. Passed the bug, and the VW GTi on to my son, who bought a miata, which we turbo'd... and now he has a 4Runner, which he has solo replaced the transfer case... and other jobs that were not meant to be one person jobs. He's his father's son.
Dan Collins
I suspect there are more than a few of us that can't identify a single initial car that sparked our interest. For example, my father had Fiats, my brother had muscle cars. I saw tons of cool stuff as an Army brat, from a re-assigned soldier's Pantera up for sale to a '67 Coronet abandoned in the base chapel's parking lot. But in the end, the car that I have to credit most is my first car, a '70 Mustang Mach 1; a car I still own but still isn't finished, even after decades of ownership. It's the one that I created so many foundational memories in, with friends, doing dumb stuff, roadtrips, speeding tickets, sketchy stunts, somehow surviving it all without permanent damage. I learned more about cars and about being a grown-up because of that car. So, while it might not have been the first, it's the most important and most meaningful.
As a child of the '80s, the car that inspired me over anything else was the E30 M3.
I also loved the 964 RS America, MkII Golf GTI, and Peugeot 205 GTI.
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