How I Started to Like Cars! / Como Comecei a Gostar de Carros!

Since I was born, I have contact with old cars, my grandfather and my father collected cars, and I always were with they. My grandpa bought to me a quadricycle gasoline when I was two years old, starts there my strange contact with motors.  In 2001, when I was three years old, my grandfather died, but my father continued collecting.

I started to really enjoy the antique cars in 2005/2006, every Thursday I’ve been to the meeting of Ford Galaxies with my brother, my father and sometimes, my mother has been too.  At Sundays, I’ve been in the square that sits in front of the Atlético’s stadium, where several special and antique cars come together. In 2006 I won of Christmas a 1942 Jeep motorized replica, and stopped of ride the quadricycle, it was getting small to me, and started to drive the Jeep.

Ford Galaxie Landau

 Now, I have no time to go every week in all of meetings, but I still love cars! Usually, I go in Spain square Saturdays evening and in Praça do Atlético at Sundays. Every weekend, old cars get together in these squares.

My favorite cars are the engine V8, especially the Muscle Cars. I think that I like these cars influenced by movies like The Fast and the Furious and games like Need for Speed, besides collection of miniatures from my father. As we can’t have all the cars we want, we are satisfied with the miniatures. My father has had a Chevrolet Impala, a Ford 1946 and the Ford Galaxie Landau, another reason to I like cars whit this engine. Now, he has only the Landau that is old and V8.

 Chevrolet Impala

I'll talk a bit about the history of muscle cars. Before their creation, all the cars were too large and the young adults wanted smaller and more sports cars – Born there the Muscle Cars, also called Pony Cars. Were small in relation to the cars back then.  In the 60’s and the beginning of 70’s, the main Pony Cars were Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger, was a success!

Opala SS, Charger R/T and Maverick GT

In the late 70’s, there was the oil crisis, so the most of muscle cars stopped to be produced, were spendthrifts. Only Camaro and Mustang have been continue producing up to now.

 Here, in Brazil, the muscle cars were different, Chevrolet has brought the Opala SS (but has six cylinders), Ford has brought Maverick GT and the Dodge has brought Charger R/T.

Now, doesn’t exist Brazilian Muscle Cars, but some of the Americans come back, as Camaro SS, Charger R/T, Challenger SRT and Mustang GT. I have got all of they, but in miniature!

Edinho R.