It must be a Genetic Disorder (kids and cars)

My 2 1/2 year old son:

-After learning "Mommy" and "Daddy" his first real word was "carcar"

-After learning his ABC's and 123's he's taken to trying to learn every car manufacturer is. So far he can nail Honda's and VW's, but hes still working on the rest.

-His obsession with the movie "Cars" might be seen as unhealthy.

-From the day he came home from the hospital he's been protected over by a cat known to us only as "The Stig"

-And now he's taken to the habit of any day off of work I have, immediately after breakfast, he wants to get dressed. I ask him where we're going, he tells me "E-DubaYew." We leave the house and and he tracks my Scirocco down in the parking lot an tells me to put he key in the door so he can sit behind the wheel.

His reaction to first start up is usually about the same and worth it every time. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=152587768090292

My son is going on 5 now and I think he's finally gotten burnt out on Disneys "Cars", but only after watching it once daily for the past 2 years (or so it felt like it). It's got to be genetics. Before i got my GTO I was looking for a Cosmos Purple one but had to settle for red, so after I got the car on the way back form the dealership he told me he was going to buy a Purple GTO when he got big and that "it would be faster than mine and beat mine" Thanks son, I love you too..

I just took my 2 boys camping over the weekend at NJMP while I drove & instructed for 3 days. We got back late Sunday night, loaded the truck again... and yesterday my oldest (10yrs) and I spent 7hrs at OVRP driving karts.

When they were really little they were obsessed with matchboxes. Later they were TOCA III maniacs. BMX racers. Now at least one is dreaming of WKA championships. The other guy... he'll come around too ;)

my 18 month old loves anything with a motor. He knows how to move the jack handle to raise the car, but lacks the strength. He has a toy drill, that he uses to fix his toy cars and trucks. Though I can't see your face book vid due to privacy, I imagine it's the same look my son has when I put him in my lap and start the wrx(and rev the engine). He can say car, truck and tractor. I honestly think he said car before he said dadda, but not Momma. He also has a borderline obsession with lawn mowers, which he calls Momo(maybe he read the wrx stearing wheel?). I'm hoping the lawn mower thing continues, I hate the things, and will be glad when he is old enough to do the lawn.

neckromacr wrote: -His obsession with the movie "Cars" might be seen as unhealthy.

Could be worse. I had an obsession with the chase scene in bullitt. Learned how to rewind it just right. I also had an obsession with Davy Crockett, best movie EVAR. Seriously I think I watched that at least 500 times between the ages of 3-9.

We also have scratches in old coffee tables from matchbox cars.

Apple doesn't fall far from the tree....but don't be surprised if they "branch out" as they progress from toddler stage.

I've got 3 kids. A 6 year old boy, a 3 year old boy and his twin sister. My oldest boy started out in cars very young. We literally had a receiving blanket made up for him with a picture of the FFCobra that I owned at the time and the caption said "In 16 years, it's all mine". He was obsessed with the move Cars to say the least. He loved cars, monster trucks, etc... We had him in a 12V electric Hummer as soon as he could reach the pedal. When he was 4, we bought him a 90cc go-cart. He was weaving through cones at 15+mph and doing power oversteer in the grass. But suddenly his interests changed, and we wound up selling the go-cart. He is still interested in cars, but not like he used to be. Now it's action figures, karate and the WWE. He's starting to now get back interested in it again, and asking to start racing go-carts, but before I lay out any money, I'm taking him to several indoor go-cart tracks to let him try driving and see if he really likes it.

His little brother, now at age 3, is still totally obsessed with cars and trucks. He lives for them. We'll see if his interests change as he gets older too. I'm hoping they both stay interested in cars, and we can go to car shows together or one day get a father/son project.

My daughter...well...she likes cars because daddy does, but beyond that, the only car she wants is the one Barbie would drive.

When my oldest was 3 (he is now 7) he could name at least a dozen different cars. One day he and my wife were in a parking lot and an older lady was putting something in the trunk of her car and Ian said something like" look Mom a Cadilac", the lady turned around and was amazed that a kid that young, less than 3 could tell waht kind of car she had. He would also rewind the chase section of the original Italian Job over and over. At 7 he has now taken a shine to Froza 3, the old Le Mans track and ALMS race cars.

My other son, who is 2.5, has started asking what the different cars are and loves to "race" with his brother. He will sit down beside Ian with a Wii streaing wheel and drive around the track while his brother is playing.

Between the two of them they have close to 500 Matchbox/hotwheels, good stuff.

sachilles wrote: Though I can't see your face book vid due to privacy, I imagine it's the same look my son has when I put him in my lap and start the wrx(and rev the engine).

I think I fixed it, it was on the wife's page who hides everything.

I care a lot less who sees my stuff http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=152587768090292

Cute. Make sure you don't leave you car in gear....cause some day he'll put that key in there and start it when you aren't around. Mark my words.

By the way, you power steering sounds a little stressed.

sachilles wrote: By the way, you power steering sounds a little stressed.

I'd look into it, but I have parts lined up for a conversion to manual, only thing missing so far is a non-PS water pump pulley and the tie rods. Just been too busy/lazy to get to it.

Klayfish wrote: But suddenly his interests changed, and we wound up selling the go-cart. He is still interested in cars, but not like he used to be. Now it's action figures, karate and the WWE. He's starting to now get back interested in it again, and asking to start racing go-carts.....

Did his sudden drop in interest revolve around starting school or anything? My son races karts (he's 9 now) and has had trouble relating to the other boys at school. They all play football or baseball, watch WWE, etc. They don't understand when he talks about hitting apex's or trail braking. He doesn't do what everyone else does (and talks about) so he sometimes feels left out.

-Rob

Here's what happens when my gf's kid gets behind the wheel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhpnGp90U6k

He's also somewhat obsessed with Cars - hence the homage on my Miata:

The first X-mas after my divorce I took my daughter (3 at the time) shopping for a present for Mommy and at first she picked out a hello kitty doll, as we continued through the toys we eventually got to the cars and she dropped the doll and said "THAT" pointing at a 10 pack of hot wheels. Her mom sure was pissed at me and I didn't do or say anything to influence our daughter.

She is now seven and keeps asking me to send her hot wheels and Little Pet Shops. I asked her why I needed to buy Hot Wheels and she told me "Because Mommy won't."

My daughter broke up with a boy in HS, because he didn't drive well. She just called home from college and asked what the specs were on the new tires I picked out for her Mazda 3.

rob_lewis wrote: Did his sudden drop in interest revolve around starting school or anything? My son races karts (he's 9 now) and has had trouble relating to the other boys at school. They all play football or baseball, watch WWE, etc. They don't understand when he talks about hitting apex's or trail braking. He doesn't do what everyone else does (and talks about) so he sometimes feels left out. -Rob

I had some trouble like that, especially in grade school. Everyone had Mets or Yankees shirts and jackets. My T-shirts all had Petty and Earnhardt. In gym class I never knew how any of the games were played before hand as I never bothered to watch any baseball or football on tv. By high school it became less odd and I even saw a superbowl or two.

rob_lewis wrote: Did his sudden drop in interest revolve around starting school or anything? My son races karts (he's 9 now) and has had trouble relating to the other boys at school. They all play football or baseball, watch WWE, etc. They don't understand when he talks about hitting apex's or trail braking. He doesn't do what everyone else does (and talks about) so he sometimes feels left out. -Rob

I still have to bluff my way through normal "sports talk" , and reserve the racing/car chat exclusively for this place, (with a few exceptions.)

My dad had 50 cars (not at the same time) by the time I was out of HS. He's slowed, but is probably still averaging a couple each year. They were always interesting oddball euro and niche american cars. He definitely passed it on to me.

My 3 year old is off to a good start. When he ran his trike into my bimmer at about 2.5 yo, I let out a pained scream and then quietly told him he'd hurt the car and he just.....crumpled. He was inconsolable for an hour. For the last year he's been kissing the scratch on the side of the car every time he's in the garage.

Kind hard for him not to be a bit obsessed. I'm always under one or another of the cars. Every Saturday morning we leave the house when he wakes up and take back roads to the next town over to get donuts. "miaaaata" in the summer, "gold car" in the winter. We mostly discuss driving technique and how annoying it is to be stuck behind traffic. Other kids' parents have mentioned that Sam has told their children that their fathers drive slow.

Ruh roh.

Luke wrote:

rob_lewis wrote: Did his sudden drop in interest revolve around starting school or anything? My son races karts (he's 9 now) and has had trouble relating to the other boys at school. They all play football or baseball, watch WWE, etc. They don't understand when he talks about hitting apex's or trail braking. He doesn't do what everyone else does (and talks about) so he sometimes feels left out. -Rob

I still have to bluff my way through normal "sports talk" , and reserve the racing/car chat exclusively for this place, (with a few exceptions.)

I just get dismissive when everybody else brings up stickanball ("..grown men playing kids' games? Bah." ) I played American rules footfall in full pads from the age of six to fifteen. I had a "sports father" (to this day, can't stand to hear the stuff on TV) who hated my love of motorsport. Any disparaging remarks about my manhood are answered with a showing of the pix of my dead ITC Mazda 323 after I rolled it at Charlotte. What is it the NASCAR guys say? "In this game, sometimes when you go out of bounds, you don't come back."

my neice is not into cars and she is 11....trying to change that though. my newfew are 10 and 6 and they are into cars for sure.....it helps taking them to car realted things.....

It didn't look like you had to press the clutch to start the car in that video, what's up with that?