As a lifetime car nut, I’ve always been hoping that my kids would love cars as much as I do. It’s not that I want to subject them to a lifetime of poor financial choices chasing “the next one”, I just find an enormous amount of joy in and around the automobile and want to share that with them. Okay, I really just want to co-opt them into my hobby so I don’t have to choose between family time and car time!

You may have heard that this latest generation of kids doesn’t even want to drive…doesn’t bother to get their license. That wasn’t the case with Gabe. At 14 he started asking me about driving lessons and when he could get his learners. He signed up for driver’s education the second he was eligible. He took the classes seriously and we spent many hours driving together, building up the seat time he needed to qualify. He was on a mission to be a licensed driver!

Secretly, Meg and I were on a mission of our own. I wanted to get Gabe a car that would be safe, reliable and fun. Not too much fun…but fun. After a lot of searching, I settled on a new 2023 Mazda 3 hatchback with the 2.5L Turbo engine. It had all the safety features but is also a drivers car at the same time. I had to buy the car in advance of his birthday, but I worked out a plan with The Shop, the car club I belong to. They agreed to store the car, and on his 16th birthday, we would go to the onsite restaurant, Derby, for brunch. We go there pretty often, so it wouldn’t give too much away. The Shop had Gabe’s car waiting for us in the lobby and the rest is history. Huge surprise, he was blown away.

One of the first things we did after Gabe got his car, was to attend a Porsche Club Drivers Education day. You get to learn about car control, understand how ABS works, feel your car at the limits of grip in a safe environment, and generally have an awesome time! Gabe did a fantastic job and had no problems keeping up with me in the Spyder!