# Cars are simply alive

> My first car, and why I ended up thinking a car is alive. Why I wanted something old and mechanical rather than new, and what happened when it broke.

Watch: https://blanklob.com/w/cars-are-simply-alive (12:02 · Fun · 2026-10-20)

## Transcript

I just want to talk about something that I did recently that literally changed my life. I took my own time to really understand some stuff, and man, what a decision I made. I changed my life to the best.

And yeah, I got my first car, and it's not any car. It's not any car, man. It's a coupe, beast of a car, peak BMW. I always loved BMW, I don't know why. There is a time where I hated it, because of the new modern cars, just how they are very performant, like very performative, very showy, kind of like how a GT3 RS is. And me, I'm the kind of person who likes things that are quiet but have a certain charisma inside. But not showy, more like quiet, essentially.

And I've been looking, I always also loved old cars. I've been looking into things like, even playing with them at some point. I'm not a fan of electric cars in general. I feel like they're very transactional. They kind of ruin the car enjoyment in a way. It really depends, because I haven't really, I don't know. It's just not me. I love mechanical, analog stuff. It really goes with my life.

And then I was looking through this marketplace, and really when I started I had no idea what I was going to get. I was just, I know the brand, I said it's going to be something like German. Maybe Japanese as well, why not? And then I started looking into different cars and I realized I actually like old BMWs. And back in my childhood, I used to play Most Wanted, legendary game, Most Wanted 2005, Need for Speed. And I loved that car in that game. It's not really the decision that drove it, but it just gave me another reason, or maybe it helped shape it in my head way better.

That GTR, of course, I know it's completely a different game, different levels. It's not any regular one, but it doesn't have to be the GTR or the M3, you know. It really doesn't have to be. I'm more focused on something that would be a daily thing, something that I would actually be willing to ride even though I don't need to, that would push me to go outside, this kind of a car.

And until I found one and I got it. The guy who I bought it from really took care of it and was very transparent. It was a really good guy. I don't know if we can call ourselves friends now, but yeah, really cool guy who helped me a lot as well.

And there is this issue as well, which is the problem is this is my first car. And for someone who's never driven before his own car, I'm kind of old. Because I got my license like seven years ago, six years ago, and I still haven't driven a car, a proper car. I've driven cars before, but way, way back when I got just my license. And right now it's been six years since I've driven, and you can practically say that I have my license, but I don't know how to drive. And the first car I get is a coupe, close to 200 horsepower. The first time I got it, I was just trying to know the buttons. I was just trying to understand everything. And slowly I started to pick it up.

Every time I see that car outside, it just makes me, you know the feeling you get when you first get something, like a phone or whatever? Every time I land on that car, every time I see it outside, I would get the same thing. Every time, again and again and again, it doesn't disappear. It's very weird. I know things, you buy them, you're super excited, and then it kind of fades away, and then you want another thing. But this car is really different for me. Every time I'm like, how can I drive it more? How can I get the most out of it? At the same time, I must take care of it. There's a familiarity with the car which I'm trying to build.

And there is the car itself, the looks. I would park that thing at night, and I would come back and see her parked, and I would be super amazed. I would have this feeling that this car doesn't belong to me, and I'm just amazed. You know how when you see a Porsche parked outside, and you're like, damn, that's a nice Porsche, and you just want to have that Porsche? I would get this sense every time because of that car.

And it's not even good in terms of looks. That's the other thing. The paint is super old, it was repainted like five years ago, it used to be grey, now it's black, and it has some rust on the sides as well. So it's not really that good, you know, but it still looks good. It still looks fucking good. It doesn't get old. It just doesn't get old. And I'm like, damn, I get to enjoy this, man.

And here is the thing, here is what I know, it's all real. I took her to the cleaner, which is a garage that cleans cars, I don't know its name in English. And when I took her back, it just became new. Kind of like new. And there is an issue where it just starts to vibrate. I think it's the gearbox, it's vibrating too much. And it scared the shit out of me, because inside the car it was like, and I'm like, this has to be solved. This is something that is going to kind of explode.

So what I did is I took her to the mechanic. The mechanic said, well, it's a bunch of joints. And then he called me again and he said, we need to change the gearbox. And he changed the gearbox. He did a lot of other fixes as well. He did all the oily stuff, which is changing a bunch of liquids. And he did all of that.

And when I got the car back, well, before I got the car back, I missed it. I missed it so much. I missed it not because I wanted to go somewhere or because I needed to. Literally I was happy without a car. I had no need for a car, literally. I wouldn't even say I got this car because I want to drive somewhere that right now I use public transportation to go to and it sucks. No, I didn't do that. I got this car because of enjoyment, because of fun, because I just wanted to do something, and sometimes maybe go with someone somewhere. Or literally just go somewhere I wasn't able to go to, because now it just feels much more fun and easier. And the actual ride is the experience, not the destination. So I'm like, yeah, this is the reason I got it.

And I missed that car, dude. I missed that car. I missed it so badly.

The funny thing is, a while ago, just a few months ago, I actually had kind of a hate towards cars, because I was more of a motorcycle guy. Because I felt like cars are transactional. Go A to B. Sitting on a motorcycle is more like an adventure way of getting from A to B. But I was wrong, man. I was super wrong.

The car is alive, not because it is a machine. The car is alive because you believed it is alive, because of the value you gave it. And the moment you start giving a car just enough respect and value, that's when it becomes alive. It's that simple. You get what you think.

Yeah, and I choose to believe that. Because the moment I sit in that thing, it holds to me really well. It takes care of me, the same way I take care of it.

And I think about it right now. I think about it. I know it's at the mechanic, I know it's being taken care of, but I have kind of an anxiety that, is it really being taken care of? But yeah, it is what it is. Anyway, peace.