Binge-watch all 30 episodes of our “Why I Drive” series and get revved up
If you can’t get out and drive your project car or collector vehicle yourself, one of the next best things is to appreciate a fellow enthusiast’s pride and joy doing what they love.
Our video crew here at Hagerty can do some amazing things with stop motion (caught up on our Redline Rebuild series?) and it can also whip up some beautiful short-form videos when everyone gets out of the shop. If you’ve got an hour and a half to kill, you can watch the entire catalog of masterfully edited and produced Why I Drive segments.
The Why I Drive episodes strike a different chord than most of our videos; they’re all first-person accounts from car (and truck) owners explaining exactly what drove them to buy, keep, and sometimes painstakingly restore their collector vehicle. For some, the vehicle is a tie to a departed family member. For others, it’s a link to an adopted homeland. I’ve watched almost all of them and if you’ve only got a few minutes to spare, I suggest these three, which are among my favorites.
This ’caged crackerbox Willys wagon, with its perfectly weathered exterior and louvered hood, hides a small-block V-8 and a pair of locking axles. The vintage 4×4 has such an iconic shape and this one is modified to perfection. The rattling drive through the hills is a perfect example of the kind of freedom that comes from owning a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The owner, Tom Wilmer, found the wagon, his fourth, on Craigslist.
If you want some absolutely gorgeous angles of a C3 Corvette, this episode will deliver. The video crew got some beautiful shots while following JJ and Pierre Petersen’s 1972 Corvette Stingray through the desert.
Finally, the episode that kicked off Why I Drive has one of the best engine soundtracks we’ve ever captured. Eric Dean, the owner and builder of this GT40, keeps earplugs handy whenever he drives the screaming V-8, but you won’t need them to appreciate his creation.
If these videos don’t inspire you to get out and drive, open up your local classified, or, at the least, watch the rest of the Why I Drive marathon, you may need a different hobby.
