What a Sweetheart

The other night a friend of mine told me that I refer to cars as I refer to women. Lot's of feminine terms, like she, sweetie, etc. And after it was brought to my attention, I started listening to myself, both in spoken word and on the various message boards on the web. And I've come to the conclusion that yep, I do!

Throughout history, people have often referred to inanimate objects in the feminine vernacular. Cars, trucks, boats, bikes, etc. And talking about toy cars in the same vein is just an extension of that historical oddity.

For the majority of us, our hobby fulfills a dream of cars that we'd never be able to own in the 1:1 world. For the price of one great hot rod, we can buy thousands, even tens of thousands of little cars. So it's only natural that we refer to them as we would a favorite daily driver or show car. And even the lesser of the favorites are revered by at least someone. And I'd bet that those folks call their toy cars babies. Like "this baby is sweet." Or "check out the stripes on that baby." You get the picture.

Now don't get the idea that only men refer to their cars like this. I know a number of ladies who collect, and speak of their cars, trucks, and bikes in the same manner. It's only natural. Not only does "check out the wheels on that dude" sound funny, applying a masculine term to a vehicle takes away from the implied beauty. Even the Lakester (which happens to be a favorite of mine) sounds like a winner when described like this: "That sweetie is modeled after early fuel-tank derived Hot Rods". If you say "That guy is designed to look like early fuel-tank derived Hot Rods", it looses some of the mystique. Try it out loud, see for yourself.

Yep, I do talk about my cars with a certain amount of reverence, even love. Why not? If we don't truly love what we are doing, then why are we doing it? And that love of the car, real or diecast, is what drives us to talk about them as if they are the most beautiful things in the world. Listen closely to yourself next time you meet some collector friends. You'll see.

Now let's go see how this baby does on the track........

--Joe