Driving Freedom’s Thrill
“Why do you like driving so much?” – I wonder how many times we have heard this seemingly stupid question. Stupid for us, that we have the innate desire to get behind the wheel (or why not, also on a motorbike), turn the key and drive on streets without traffic. Track days are nice and fun, we can take the car and our skills to the limits in full safety, but the emotions you feel driving on a mountain pass or along a scenic road by the sea are unmatched.
Obviously our travelling companion must be the right one, never mind if convertible or coupe, but there must be horses under the hood and a sound worthy of turning off the radio, and serve as a soundtrack for an adventure that even if done by ourselves, won’t feel the lack of anything or anyone else. And so, here we drive, we grind kilometers and spend hours of our free time at the wheel (once again), but with a diametrically opposite spirit to the one that is with us for most of our weekly drives. Yes, because we feel free and we decide the route, eager to discover where a strip of asphalt never travelled before is going to lead us.
Personally I love to plan my road trips, even those developed in a single day. It’s a great reason to get up early in the morning, starting with a precise destination in mind (and on the sat-nav) that has been discovered the night before on the internet, after zoomed with Google Earth in some kind of place maybe not so far away from home and where we already imagine to burn some rubber, by dropping from a corner to the other and immortalizing those carefree moments in our minds. A bunch of memories of experiences that enrich our relationship with the car that accompanies us and that bind us with a feeling that those who do not love cars will never understand. Freedom, one of the most important values conquered by man, you live that emotion also cultivating your passion (for the car) and unleashing it in wild places, perfect background for these moments that make you feel alive. Then, after a series of hairpin bends, you arrive at the top and get out of the car. Turning around, you look at it and smile. Take some pictures and it seems to be there waiting, anxious to jump again between a curve and the other. Then everything comes to an end, you get home and park in the garage: a last look before going to sleep and start a new week. It looks at you, winking. And then you know that it’s only a matter of time, before being on the road again.
I know you understand me.
Alex Marrone
Photo Credits: The Looking Glass