Memories

Yesterday I went on a road trip to pick up some parts from a family I’d bought two cars from last year. The man who’d owned them was a true enthusiast, like me, but he’d passed away, and I ended up sitting with his family for a while as they reminisced about him — not just as a car guy, but as a father and a husband. They’re still figuring out how to sell off the vehicles and parts he’d collected over the years, and how to hold onto the ones they want to keep in a way that would make him proud.

Honestly, a lot of the vehicles that end up in my inventory come from stories just like this one. Cars and trucks that were once someone’s pride and joy, left behind by family members who are no longer here to care for them. The families left holding onto them often don’t have the space or the know-how to maintain them, so the cars just sit there — less like a beloved project and more like a sad little memorial to the person who’s gone. I don’t think that’s what any of these owners actually wanted. I think true enthusiasts want their cars driven and appreciated, and if they can’t do that themselves anymore, they’d rather see them go to someone who will genuinely enjoy them and make new memories in them. Every time I sit down with a family like this, I hear the same request: find someone who’ll actually enjoy the car, not tear it apart for parts. I take that seriously, every time.

I’ve got three vehicles of my own that I’ve held onto to honor family members. One’s already promised to my grandson, but the other two — that’ll be up to my daughters. Those cars will always mean something to me, but honestly, it’s not really about the cars. It’s about the people. It’s the memory of doing an oil change with my five-year-old and telling her the oil is like the car’s “blood.” It’s the road trip to Boston to grab a Maverick and going whale watching while we were there. It’s letting the kids take the wheel for the first time. Those are the moments I hope my own kids hold onto — not the cars themselves sitting in a garage like some shrine, but the memories we made together because of them.