My Secret Place | Driver’s Lounge
When it comes to our cars we all get a little jealous. This is why rather than going out with our family, we spend Sundays washing and polishing it, sometimes improvising even as expert detailers, or because before reaching our friends for a nice driver, we spend hours taking care of all the details. But this time I don’t want to linger on the periodic checks at every square millimeter of the bodywork, swearing against some too heavy fly which may (not true) have compromised the impeccable state of the paint. This time we deal with an equally delicate topic, after all we only talk about serious things. In short, the car, mine, yours, ours – we don’t let anyone touch it, but how do we put it with that secret place of ours?
Each of us has one and we jealously keep – where possible – its precise location, almost trying to leave it hidden from most and in particular from other driving enthusiasts. That it is a road or even better a precise point of it, a lay-by, a corner or a secondary path where we periodically go and once the car is stopped, we turn off the switch that connects us to the outside world. How many photos we have taken in that place, how many special moments we spent there, often with only the company of our beloved car. Yet the desire to share this intimate joy creeps ever stronger into us, as if to want to pull that rope that we cannot absolutely break, otherwise it would be like betraying the trust established with this secret place. And it doesn’t matter if this could open the doors to a couple of drivers or hundreds, it must remain as close to us as possible. It’s ours.
Yes, because every inch of that place has a meaning, a story to tell. Whether they are sad or happy moments, most of the time not even remotely connected to the automotive world, all that matters is to let this point continue to exist outside anyone else’s radar. One fine day you happen to see it as the background in someone else’s photo and this makes your blood run cold. You try to remain indifferent, not even a comment to the overwhelming Instagram post and hope that it ends up on the bottom of the feed even before someone understands the value of a corner of the world that for you represents the largest part of the same one. Danger is over, you have to be careful how to use social networks in order not to reveal your position, sometimes you have to ignore questions too curious and all in the name of healthy selfishness, because after all it is not a famous location to attract tourists, not even one of the main best driving roads, reporting on the guides placed in your library, it’s something private and must remain like that.
I know that you will immediately have a specific place in mind, or rather that very place. And that grinning with your nose immersed in these pages you will agree with me that you will do everything to keep it for yourself. Know that for me it is the same and that the magic of this place of mine is not given by a breathtaking view, let alone by a particular road to get there. It is simply a practically invisible dot, hidden somewhere on the map and yet very clear in my mind and heart. A place that I shared with a special person who no longer exists and which has made it part of me for this, a way to stay in touch with him, a bridge between two worlds that can only meet thanks to their spiritual value that this few kilometers from my house is able to create. Week after week, month after month and year after year, my secret place has played an increasingly important role, ready to reassure me in sad moments and happy to rejoice with me at every personal success. We all have a special place, which can be linked to missing people or to those moments that have marked us in a particular way. These places are a healthy secret to be kept jealously.
Words by Marco Mancino / Photos by Andy Williams