Cars are many things: they are practical; they are frustrating; they are sometimes infuriating and even dangerous. But to a fanatic like me and – I think its safe to say – you, cars are, in a word, fun. What separates a gearhead from a normie is the perception of the car as an appliance: because to us, it’s not. It’s a statement, it’s a purpose, it’s a source of pride and joy. To a gearhead, a car isn’t a means to an end: it is the end. It is the goal, in and of itself: you either get this, or you don’t…and if you don’t, you’re not reading this blog! 😛
Among all these things, another thing that a car can be is a work of art. Anyone who doubts this might spend some time lingering on this photo of a 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta…
I mean, seriously…have you ever seen anything more beautiful? And if old Ferraris aren’t your bag, substitute your own favorite car! I can spend hours, days, studying the curves of a 1955 Jaguar XK140, the angles of a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville, or the elaborate trim details of a 1966 Ford Mustang. Even utilitarian sedans like my own 1956 Chevy 210 have a style that can easily and rightly be classified as art. I can even see artwork in the peaked hood of my cheap, battered little 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup. To a car fanatic, details matter; style matters. Because the car is not an appliance, its an experience, and a big part of that experience is the form.
What toy cars-model cars-offer us is that specific piece of the experience: the form. A 1:64 diecast or an HO slot car cannot give you the sound or the smell or the movement of the real thing, but they can give you the visual joy of the shape and the beauty. That is what makes them so cool: they are so cheap, so obtainable, so easy to store and keep, and yet they are so pleasing to look at! The curves, the colors, even the shine of the chrome: its miniaturized, but its there!!!
Even today, after a lifetime of collecting, I can spend entire evenings in my toy room with my cases open before me on tables just looking at my cars: taking each one out, turning it around in the light, poring over its details; opening the doors and the hoods, compressing the little working suspensions, rolling them across my workbench: its a remarkably calming and satisfying experience looking at those curves and angles and colors, and its amazing that something so simple and so affordable can give me so much pleasure. In the world we’re stuck in today, it can be very difficult to find this kind of Zen-like peace. My toy cars-my model cars-are my merciful release, and the pleasure they provide is in their form.
To this, we can add the other things that the toys don’t give you: the expense of maintenance and storage, the worries about fuel and oil prices, the crushing and ever-increasing insurance rates and registration taxes. No, it’s not the same, but it’s still very FUN! And fun is what makes life worth living; how can there be joy without play?
So this long philosophical rant must now come back to the subject of this blog: Thunderjet slot cars, and the joy that collecting, building, customizing, restoring, and racing them brings us: it’s the slot cars, more than the die-casts, that can give us one more slice of that experience of a real car…
I watched I Madman last weekend. It is interesting the interest in cars, it’s like its somehow something we are born with. As a very small child, my favorite toys were my toy cars and train set. They were what I was naturally drawn too. I remember sitting in the back seat on those drives through rural Louisiana always on the look out in fields and behind houses for old cars. I’ve been drawn to cars for as long as I can remember and understand the peace you get from your collection, I feel that too. Even when working, I always have these little cars at my desk and roll them around to clear my head!
Still one of my favorite obscure movies! Wish we had watched that together.
It is amazing how much peace these wheeled toys can provide to our troubled adults minds! That’s one of the main reasons I can’t give up collecting; the amount of pleasure for the money spent can’t be beat.