|
The world was much larger as a kid. There were more endless days, limitless expanses and untested ideas to explore. Some of us just decided to do so on wheels  at an early age.
This week came with a couple of reminders about how some of our earliest rides can influence the gearheads that we'd become. First off, Matt Litwin's column about growing up on those plastic-tired Big Wheels and the donuts that ensued should be relatable to any child of the Seventies or Eighties who discovered the joys of spinning out on even the most tractable of surfaces and the advantages of a low center of gravity. We had a few readers chime in with their memories of Big Wheel mayhem, perhaps none as endearing as Kevin's:
I had a big wheel too. It was great. It had an adjustable seat. When I ran out of room on it, we tossed the seat and had our butt barely hanging on the back edge. Ran it as fast it could over ramps. I rode it until the steering wollered out then dad shimmed it in with a piece of metal pipe and I was off to the races again. I rode it until it broke in half. Dad said "That's about it. I think you are getting too big for it. Let's go to K-Mart and get you a bike." I hugged him in the checkout line for that bike. A public display or affection. Boy I sure had some good times with dad. Even putting a junk big wheel back together with a piece of metal pipe.
Second, the Crosley Automobile Club's pick for the Crosley of the month, included at the top of this article, is a homebuilt cut-down barnyard stormer that Mike Powell shared. According to his description, it was built by his father in the mid-Fifties using a narrowed and sectioned Crosley CC body, narrowed axles, a Wisconsin engine and a Crosley transmission. Mike's father taught him how to shift on the little kart, and it remains in his family today for successive generations to learn how to drive.
Both are a good reminder that many of us don't just emerge as fully formed gearheads right when we turn 16 and get that driver's license. The enthusiasm for cars comes earlier than that, through toys and karts and the yearning to get behind the wheel of anything that rolls and steers to conquer those wide-open spaces. And in doing so, we set the mold for the gearheads that we would become.
Tell us what your childhood inspiration was. Was it a homebuilt speedster like Mike's or an off-the-shelf fun machine like Matt's? And what lessons did it impart to you?
| 
Re: Open Diff: How Did Your Childhood Speed Dreams Influence You as a Gearhead?
