Head-turners

Every car we drive gets a reaction. Some cars get a reaction from everyone, some just from middle-aged men, some mostly from women and children and some from the select few with a keen eye for a rare classic. 

The head-turning isn't always a positive, as sometimes Colin and I are cast a scolding look due to "unnecessary" exhaust, speed or tire squeal. But, in general, when we take our cars

 out, more often than not they receive approving gestures. These gestures come in the form of waves, whistles, thumbs up and the ever popular light 'em up motion made by making a circular gesture with your hand that loosely resembles spinning rear wheels. 

In fact, one of my favorite memories of such said reactions took place when my younger sister, Rachel, met Colin for the first time. Rachel found herself fortunate enough to be a passenger in Colin's Jeep Cherokee. There are two key elements you must know, first, Rachel's favorite marque is Jeep, and second, this is no stock, run of the mill Jeep Cherokee. Oh no, but rather a supercharged SRT 8. So as Rachel fastened her seat belt she was surprised to be met with such a monstrous rumble as Colin turned the key. That deep growl from the exhaust must have awoken something inside Rachel as she proceeded to say quite loudly to Colin, "Light em' up, bitch." Colin handled being called a bitch better than most and even appeased my sister with a little tire squealing and what some more conservative types may have called excessive acceleration. Not sure whether he was trying to impress my sister, or me. 

Not everyone has the same appreciation for the Jeep as my sister. But there is one car in our arsenal I've found to universally turn heads. This car alone has the power to bring 

poised, sophisticated men to their knees, turn classy ladies into giggly school girls, and put the spring back into the step of an arthritic elder. The Ford GT. 

Every time we release the Ford GT from it's prison that is the garage, driving down the road is like watching a parade unfold in front of our eyes, but we're the only parade entrant. Pedestrians hear us coming. We see them stop. Turn. Look. And then their eyes get wide and their mouths fall agape. Soon both sides of the street are lined with onlookers who resemble Venus fly traps. 

The Ford GT not only stops people, it stops traffic, and may even have been

 the cause of a minor fender bender. I can't say for sure, but we were at a stoplight a

nd the oncoming car was stopped waiting as well and we see him staring at the car (familiar Venus fly trap face), and then the light turned green and we started to go. That's when we heard the unmistakable sound of bumper meeting bumper. Our onlooker had been rear ended. Now I can't say for sure what the cause was but I'm guessing he was busy looking and he didn't go when the light turned but the guy behind him did, or the guy behind him was busy looking and forgot about the car in front of him.

Hopefully we weren't the cause of that unfortunate meeting of Detroit fiberglass, but we were definitely the cause of a temporary traffic delay. This guy gave one of the most colorful reactions, and it was fun because you could see he was just thrilled to be even in the presence of the GT. He was so effected I couldn't help but think one day he's going to tell his grand kids about the day he saw the elusive Ford GT. We pulled up next to him and I saw him see us and then there was a delayed reaction. He looked away  and then paused, I could see his mind processing what he'd just seen. He then looked back and smiled. His smile was that of a child who had just been giving a bowl of ice cream bigger than his head and told there was more where that came from. Then he started shouting things I couldn't hear with his window up, then as we pulled away he got out of his car - in the middle of traffic, mind you -  and started yelling, "That car is f*^%ing nice." All while laughing as though the meaning of life had just been revealed and all the while the cars behind him are honking and yelling their own thoughts about things. If this was his reaction at just seeing the GT, I think if Colin had given him a ride, it may have been more than his system could handle, resulting in Milwaukee's first case of human spontaneous combustion. 

All the wonderful entertaining head-turning gestures aside, there is one reaction I'm most thankful for. As the Ford GT is the car I was driving when I almost learned the meaning of "felony speeding." I will forever be indebted to the kind stranger who saved me from jail with a quick flash of his lights.