A phone call from my nephew got me thinking....

[ProjectBazza]

...and don't me started on man caves!!

LOL! I have a feeling we share the same opinion about those....things.

It was a lot of fun and I maintained an interest, but I never really got bitten by the car bug until my late thirties. Now, it's safe to say I spend more time in the shop than anywhere else. I don't call myself a car guy because I don't know very much, but it's definitely a top interest.

Don't sell yourself short! I've read some of your responses here, and "knowing what you don't know" is simply a sign of wisdom!

 

[Bobacuda]

At 13, I got the first “job” I ever had that required regular hours - about 30 a week during school and 50 hrs during summer. Full service Sinclair gas station in a rural, ag-based community. Worked there until HS graduation (followed by the Navy), then occasionally on weekends while in college. Sad day when the Boss called it quits. I got the car bug at that Sinclair station.

Learned to do oil changes, grease jobs, brake jobs, fix flats (cars, trucks, heavy trucks, tractors). Learned customer service and how to price stuff - learned to be an honorable employee.

BEST JOB I EVER HAD!

I am truly sorry that my son and other kids today will never have that experience.

 

[like_A_pike]

Can’t decide! I just liked playing with toy cars as a kid. Folks split up early on. But my first paying job was 13 at my great uncles body shop. They gave me $10 to scuff and mask cars ahead of paint. I think they were scamming me really, as I only got the big big chrome encrusted land yachts. I masked all the graphics on an old Cherokee before I started to get wise to them. LOL. Learned a bunch though. At 17 I learned that dad liked buying used crap cars and was pretty proud about how far he could push them. I followed suit but always got yelled at when I borrowed his tools! I spent a semester in college installing hitches and Fisher snow plows for dealerships at a local shop doing basic brakes and exhaust work between those installation jobs. I remember Western Auto but like the smell of bondo better!

 

[69conv]

Didn't start working on cars til I was about 16. Changed motors with a come along hung from the fork on an old maple tree. Swapped transmissions in the drive with the car on ramps. Taught my Dad how to do brake jobs on his old Chryslers. Do a cam swap over the week end so I could drive to work on monday. The good old days.