What are you driving? Is it you?

ByYvette VanDerBrink

For a lot of people, a vehicle is just a form of transportation. Something to get from A to B. A big bulk of iron, that’s just an expense with a payment they hate to pay every month. But for us car people, our vehicles are an extension of our personalities, a representation of, well, ourselves. We sit in that Chevelle, pickup, or whatever you drive, and it transports us back in time. The memories come flooding in. I know when I sit in my Chevelle, I can smell Dentyne gum and Miller Beer. They really aren’t in there, but that’s the smell that comes with memories from my high school days and old boyfriends. That’s why people own classic cars - for the memories. People long to have a vehicle that gives them a persona or brings back memories. They want that car they got married in, their first date, or whatever milestone they experienced while inside their car.

When we are looking for that new car or truck, we also look at what fit us and our personalities. I watch a lot of people buying cars at our auctions. I've made a few observations, a lot of Redheads buy Mopars, seen quite a few couples buy Mustangs for their first classics, and Chevrolet buyers jump up and down with joy like Tom Cruise on Oprah. A car or truck brings joy to our lives.

I’ve driven pickups all my life. Dad always had them on the farm. There’s nothing like flying down a gravel road with the wind and dust coming in on a summer day. In the winter, we would fly around with a tow rope and pull people out of the ditch with the pickup. I’ve always been a Tom Boy and well, still am. I drive a 2015 GMC Duramax pickup and use it to pull my auction trailer. I love it.

Now my theory is that people long to drive a car that gives them a persona or matches their persona. I've saw my theory in action. This winter, I was sitting in my pickup in a parking lot and a minivan pulled up. An older man and his wife got out. The wife took off high tailing it into the store. The man started following his wife then stood in front of my truck and was looking it over. He didn’t even know that I was watching him. He stared at the grill, looked down the sides, walked around the back, and even got on his knees and looked under my truck. He got up and stood there like Paul Bunyan with his hands on his hips standing tall. Then his wife yelled, “Get over here!” He turned and looked at his wife, looked at my truck, and then looked at his minivan and actually hung his head as he followed his wife into the store. I could tell that, in his mind, he already had pictured himself in my truck, boat hooked up in back, dog riding shotgun to the lake, and (only assuming) his wife was nowhere in sight.

Springtime is here and time to get out those classic cars and bring out your inner you. Let’s all hop in your newer classic, vintage rides, and let the good times roll!

Yvette VanDerBrink-Auctioneer
The Lil’ Nordstrom’s Gal
VanDerBrink Auctions, LLC