Living the Car Life as a Car Guy’s Wife

Around 16 years ago I met the man that would become my life, and now business, partner. Patrick is many things, but the one thing I most frequently use to describe him is that he is a ‘car guy’. I’m not talking the knows a lot of things and appreciates certain cars kind of car guy. I’m talking the wrenching, fabricating, always looking for the unicorn, car show attending, fast driving, deal finding, arms elbow deep in an engine, LS swapping, always working on a project car, parts transfer coordinating, let’s go to the middle of nowhere to look at a car kind of car guy.

One of the first memories I have of being with Patrick was going to drop off his beloved 1978 Cadillac to a friend. His friend passed on from cancer a few years after, and we have long since lost track of that car, but we still talk about it every now and then. My favorite story about Patrick and cars is that his dad went out and bought a 1954 Chevy Bel Air when he found out his mom was pregnant with Patrick. It’s the car Patrick learned how to work on cars on. It’s the car we took to car shows while dating, one time even getting told we had to leave a parking lot by a local police officer after talking for a few hours while watching the sunset. It’s the car we drove to Patrick’s cousin’s wedding, my brother’s wedding, and from our own wedding ceremony to the reception. It is also the car my son attended his first car show in as a baby. While it hasn’t seen pavement for several years now, we still have it, and will always have.

Since then, we have been the proud owners of many, many, many cars and even more car parts. Some for a short time, some for many years. In fact, we have owned at least one car from every decade from the 1940s – 2010s. I have gone on more adventures than I can count, as a car guy’s wife, to pick up cars or car parts. I have gone on equally as many to drop off cars and car parts. Nothing like sitting in the truck or car, waiting for Patrick to finish up a transaction, in every kind of place imaginable. The back woods, nice neighborhoods, not so nice neighborhoods, farm country, in the middle of fields, the city, the country, little towns, big towns, other states, you name it, we’ve probably picked up a car or car parts there. Some of our ‘hottest’ dates have involved going to Summit Racing store.

Over the years one thing that has become abundantly clear about car people culture is the car people camaraderie. Many evenings, when I didn’t go along to pick up cars or parts, I would sit up worrying and waiting, a random address sitting in my text messages, just in case. Or the many times when complete strangers have come to our home to purchase a car or parts. In almost every instance, Patrick would come home, or back into the house, and tell me what a nice guy, sometimes lady, it was that he had just met. He would sometimes even have full life stories that the other person shared, or, at the very least, some story about the car or parts exchanged. I can’t tell you how many of them he has exchanged his number with and still maintains contact with.

Then there is the forum. Grassroots Motorsports, a family-owned classic car and project car magazine company that is held in very high regard in our household, operates an online forum for car people. Patrick has been a member since the early 2000s, almost since it started. In his time on the forum, he has made numerous friends, some that we even call family. We have shared meals, stories, ups and downs, celebrated the good, and mourned those that have passed on. We have met spouses, our kids have played together, some have shared their homes, and we have shared ours.

Some of the best times we have had as a family is attending the Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge. Without going into too much detail, those can all be found on their website, basically, the challenge is to build a racecar for $2000 or less and participate in three events. For the event, people from all over converge on a hotel in Gainesville FL and spend about three days together. One can come as a participant or spectator for a fun filled weekend of watching cars autocross, drag race and be judged in the concours. Some people have been attending the challenge since the beginning, for some it was their first time this year, and for others it is somewhere in between.

The Challenge is quite similar to summer camp. It is a gathering of people with one main thing in common, a love of cars and competition. The first day/night is full of watching the parking lot build, the sharing of brats and beer, and checking out all the cool builds coming in. The second day brings a morning of autocross, tweaking whatever needs tweaked (or completely rebuilt), changing tires, bonding over watching cars race, and ending with cheering everyone on in the drags. We all anxiously watch the time boards to see which car posts the fastest time. Afterward, everyone returns to the hotel, taking over the pool/hot tub area to chat about the day and life in general. The last day is spent chatting with other challengers while the guest judges make their way from challenge car to challenge car, listening and observing how each car was built. It all culminates in a tallying of scores from all three events and an awards ceremony. Everyone is super excited to get there and see old friends, and it is always sad when it is time to leave. Despite it being a competition, every time I have attended, I always experience a much bigger feeling, that of connection, community, and friendship.

Some people get the ‘look’ when I tell them my husband is a car guy, especially when I start counting on my fingers and toes how many cars we currently have. They tell me they are sorry or just shake their head. Then there are others that get really excited when I start rattling off what we have, despite the fact that many of them are still in project mode. I have had my moments of frustration over the years when, yet another project car is trailered into the driveway, or another non-working car has been sitting in the driveway for just a little too long. I have never complained too much or too loudly because it brings me joy to see Patrick doing something he loves. He has always used his car money or creative trading when buying cars or parts. He has always put his family first, even when it was difficult to do so. When all is said and done, though, an extra car, or 10, is nothing compared to the adventures we’ve had, all the neat stuff that has passed through our driveway, amazing experiences, and friendships we have made.

“I’m not talking the knows a lot of things and appreciates certain cars kind of car guy. I’m talking the wrenching, fabricating, always looking for the unicorn, car show attending, fast driving, deal finding, arms elbow deep in an engine, LS swapping, always working on a project car, parts transfer coordinating, let’s go to the middle of nowhere to look at a car kind of car guy.”

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