“I Feel the Need……..The Need for Speed”

What is our fascination with speed?  It doesn't matter if its cars, motorcycles, planes, or even the latest track stars, we all love to see something go fast!  Maybe it’s a guy thing but we always want whatever we are driving to go faster…….we never seem to be satisfied with how fast it will go, we always want more.

The year was 1986 and a popular movie was released by the name of "Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise and it portrayed a Navy fighter pilot who loved to go fast and show out.  One famous line in the movie has been quoted for years by car guys everywhere……”I feel the need, the need for speed”.  Fast forward a few years and a new video game was released for the PlayStation and Sega called “Need for Speed” and it featured you in a role play game where you were behind the wheel driving some of the fastest cars of all time.  With each new release of the game, it allowed you to blast down the road in the most popular and exotic super cars of the world!  I can remember waiting for the next version of the game to come out each year, because you always wanted to see which new super cars would be on it.  A few years later they even had an edition call “Need for Speed-Hot Pursuit” where the goal was to drive it like you stole it and outrun the cops after they began chasing you.  (Note…..don’t try this in real life!)

Hollywood has now made a new movie called “Need for Speed” that tells the story of an underground street racer who was framed and has now been released from prison.  He joins a cross country race event to get revenge on the man who set him up.  Needless to say there will be lots of high speed car chases and tons of awesome looking cars.  There was even a specially designed 2014 Mustang custom built for this movie and it promises to do some stunts that will take our breath away.  Just in the last couple of weeks it has been revealed that the newly released 2015 Ford Mustang will also make a cameo appearance in the movie.  I’m sure this movie will pay tribute to all the classic car chase movies of recent fame (Bullitt, Gone in Sixty Seconds) that also featured famous Mustangs.

Now back to my original question……what is up with our obsession with speed?  The Bugatti Veyron has held the title of fastest production car for the past few years, but that record was just broken this year by a newcomer.  The Hennessey Venom GT set a new world record of 270.49 mph (435.31 km/h) for a 2-seater sports car.  Hats off to the Hennessey Performance team for such an incredible run and such a spectacular looking car!  I can’t wait to see what will break the record next.

So it matters not if you are driving a car, flying a plane, racing a horse, or even the neighborhood foot race…..everybody wants to be the fastest.  Some say it’s the adrenaline rush or just the thrill of going faster than what seems humanly possible.  I say that as long as people are traveling in some type of vehicle even if it’s in personal Spacecraft’s one day……..it’s always going to be a race to see who is the fastest as they satisfy their “Need for Speed”!

It’s almost time for car show season!

Warmer weather will be here before you know it and you will see local car shows and cruise-in’s everywhere.  Are you plugged into your local car show scene??  If not you might be asking what’s the big deal with car shows and why would I want to go to one?  Local car shows are always a great family friendly way to get outside and see some remarkable classic cars and trucks as well as the late model muscle cars of today. 

Going to car shows is one of the most fun memories I have spending time with my dad.  We would walk around and I would listen intently as he reminisced about the cars and hearing stories of which ones he had owned.  I would not trade those day with my dad for any amount!

These shows usually offer some great music and good food to enjoy as you stroll back in time and relive what my dad calls “the good-ol-days”.  Many times the local cars shows are raising money for a local charity or organization and they offer a great way to support your community.  It is wonderful to see money raised to help clubs or organizations in your town when in need.

A few years ago you had to search far and near each month to find a good car show to attend, but now days its hard each weekend to decide which show or cruise-in you are going to go to.  Sometimes there are multiple shows to attend the same day…….can you say road trip?

So if you have a classic car or truck get it shined up and ready to hit the shows and if you don’t, grab the wife and kids, get out and take in the sights and sounds of your local car show scene.  Kids are so into video games these days, it will be a great change for them to get out and experience an up close look and sounds of an American V8 engine as it fires to life!  It is such a wonderful site to see a family at a car show with the little boy in tow with his dad and the mom pushing the baby stroller and everyone having a great time as they enjoy the classic cars and trucks at a local car show………are you making plans to attend one now?