Drive by Tim Falconer

Author:Tim Falconer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Canada

12 Colorado Springs “More Than

I Need, Less Than I Want”

“SO ANYWAY, the garage day is typically a tour to three or four club members’ homes where everyone who is interested in attending hopefully drives their Mustang if the weather cooperates,” Neil Case explained to me in an email. “We include a progressive lunch during the tour, where at the first stop the host provides an appetizer, and most everybody congregates in the garage to discuss any Mustang project that may be going on. After about an hour, we all jump in our ponies and head to the next stop, where we typically have a salad and most everybody congregates in the garage to discuss any Mustang project that may be going on. After about an hour we all jump in our ponies and head to the next stop, where we typically have the main course and most everybody congregates in the garage to discuss any Mustang project that may be going on. After about an hour we all jump in our ponies and head to the next stop, where we typically have dessert and most everybody congregates in the garage to discuss any Mustang project that may be going on. We will have our club meeting during that time as well, during one of the stops. Sometimes we may skip the appetizer so the day does not get long for everybody.”

Though Case was the one who responded to my request to ride along on garage day, his wife Jamie was actually the president of the Rocky Mountain Mustangers, a car club in Colorado Springs. The members take part in car shows, go on cruises, hold a swap meet and attend a monthly meeting. They also share restoration and maintenance tips with each other.

Most car clubs are social organizations as much as anything else, but all of them bring together people who share an interest in automobiles. Many clubs, such as the Mustangers, are devoted to one marque, but others welcome anyone who’s interested. (Variations on the theme include the Car Club for Men, a humorous website for those with an automobile that’s at least ten years old and has at least 160,000 kilometres on the odometer. My Maxima became eligible shortly after I left Toronto.) For most members, this hobby is a healthy, if expensive, passion. But some people cross the line into obsession. My friend Mike Harper, a Toronto advertising consultant, owns two Porsches and races his 911 with other members of the Porsche Club of America (Upper Canada Region). He’s seen marriages break up and people spend their way into bankruptcy. “Cars,” he said, “are like crack cocaine for some of these guys.”

The garage day in Colorado Springs was one of the few events I’d planned before I started my road trip; after all, it combined Mustangs—not just an iconic car but my favourite (along with the Galaxie 500) when I was a kid—and the Rocky Mountains. It had to be done. Beyond following my own whims, I

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