Automotive Inspiration: The Automotive Lifestyle Expanded…

For Cars, Movies and Cool… it’s Fireball Tim!

The other day, I was invited to an event at KTLA Studios in Hollywood. 

The Morning Show was doing its yearly Drive-In segment in which they feature about 14 classic cars and cover the latest movies. It required me to get up at 2:30 a.m. and head out by 3 to get the cars set up like a mini drive-in theater.

Once set up, entertainment anchor Sam Rubin would come out with celebrity guests like Djimon Hounsou and do some interviews from the back of the cruisers. Now, when I arrived, the vibe was hot. Fourteen cars, 3:30 a.m. and an eager desire to set up for filming. As I’ve done this many times over the years for nearly 400 films, the energy and commitment never let up no matter what … and that’s what I love about filmmaking.

 Although most of the car owners were there simply for the breakfast from KTLA and a chance to see their cars on TV, I got a chance to Vlog the experience and the behind-the-scenes setup. I spoke with Sam and Djimon to get an idea of their favorite cars and such, but again, the owners were willing to do whatever it took to make things look good, and the vibe was awesome (minus one publicist who happened to be freaking out). 

People love their cars for a number of reasons, but there is really only one psychological truth that exists in the automotive enthusiast. When you share your car and your story, there’s a book ended completeness that pools in a sense of validation — a confirmation that what you’ve done was both positive and the right choice. But the best thing about car people is that they respect all choices.

The ride of the car person through life is a journey of levels. As a child, you cultivate moments where you can discover, play and experience the thrill of cars. As a teenager, if you’re lucky, you survive having pushed that automotive experience to the limit. And as an adult, you choose, build, design or buy your automotive journey and learn to share it. That share becomes a validation of purpose and completeness. 

What we all want in this world is to feel that we’ve made the right choices for ourselves. College or no college. Job for a lot of dough or job that you love. Right marriage or right exit. Our internal thoughts are built on validation, and we seek it in every moment. 

And although choosing the right car to buy, create or build can be cool, validation actually comes from the choice of validating yourself. If you continue to seek validation outside of you, it’s like chasing a greyhound with a great pair of sneakers. It’s just not going to happen no matter what. But by validating yourself every day, we learn to habitualize something that affects every great decision in our lives. We will know that we’ve done our best and only good can come.

Car guys and girls support each other as a family. It doesn’t matter whether you’re into a hot rod, rat rod, bomb, truck, tuner, classic or whatever. Family is family and it’s all good. Gee, wouldn’t that be cool if the rest of the world felt that way?

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