We’re Visible and We’re On!
We're back to being visible again this coming Saturday after a well-deserved Saturday off for our beloved Thugs. For Fresnoans, this means E@RTC is happening on July 22nd as usual. Hopefully, you were all productive on your pleasant Saturday and chose to do something outdoors. It won't be long before the rains return and we all go back to fighting moss.
When we've had a Saturday off, it never fails that the next Saturday is bustling. As usual, we always encounter something we've never seen before. There's always a new surprise someone wants to show the world. It might be someone they just met, but who are we to judge? It might even be your drooling aunt Ruth.
I was reflecting on how drastically the car culture has evolved and expanded since around 2000. Years ago, I had some statistics that demonstrated the Pacific Northwest had the lowest percentage of exotic car ownership of any major city. We also had the lowest percent of private plane ownership, and it wasn't due to a lack of wealth. It was because people felt it wasn't acceptable for various reasons, and not many of these reasons were political. It was just how the Northwest was wired. I suspect nobody thought much of it at the time. It isn’t like someone wakes up in the morning and never having seen one suddenly craves an exotic in the garage. It’s like falling in love. You know it when you see it, as you later explain to your divorce lawyer.
It's the community that fosters enthusiasm for exotic cars, boats, planes, and all the hobbies around town, thus promoting ownership. People have a desire to belong to something. In our early days, when Tesla used the Lotus roadster as a platform, it had a very tight community. That helped Tesla gain acceptance and the community remained strong and has since built a huge following. A car's popularity is significantly driven by the community of enthusiasts surrounding that car. For this reason, having an active community boosts ownership, and thus, more enthusiasm. Even the Prius has a car community, weird as that is to imagine. They often congregate in the left lane, but they are there!
For these reasons, we believe that our keeping a robust E@RTC is critical to sustaining exotic and rare car interest in the Pacific Northwest. Aunt Ruth may run home and buy one.
I keep forgetting to mention that another frequently overlooked driving loop is to take Highway 410 from Enumclaw, then over to lovely Yakistan and hit the wine country in that area towards the Tri-Cities, and then return via I-90. It makes for a long day, but the views on Highway 410 make it worth it. Simply driving up to Mt. Rainier after E@RTC makes for a pleasant afternoon. Another option is to drive down to Tacoma to America's Car Museum, have lunch in Gig Harbor, and then head back, or continue on if you're running from someone.
Remember, Paccar is coming next week, so don't forget that either!