What’s the Best Smell in a Car?
The internet is littered with content that suggests that what smells good to some people evokes the exact opposite reaction in others. The latest According to You question will likely add to that, but first, I owe you an explanation: This question’s origin wafted up from a very non-automotive source.
It stems from my personal wake-up call that osmophobia is real. Smells can trigger headaches in some folks, and I’ve discovered that one spice (cumin, probably) is the trigger for painful sinus headaches for yours truly. As a South Asian American, it’s unfortunate that such a delicious part of my culinary heritage does this to me, but I’m thankful it only happens when the smell is very strong.
Be it spices, freshly cut grass, a light rain, or chemicals in vehicles, we all have different reactions to smells. It’s been suggested that not everyone smells things the same to everyone for valid physical reasons. And for this very, very personal reason, I began to think about the positive angle of this topic—what’s my favorite smell in cars?
Allow me to pick the lowest-hanging fruit. Leather seats smell absolutely wonderful to my olfactory nerves. (Thank goodness they don’t trigger my headaches!) And, for me anyway, leather paired with new car smell is downright addictive.
There are other smells I enjoy, like the contrast of old engine oil versus fresh synthetic oil after performing an oil change in my own driveway. That’s the smell of satisfaction for a job well done. But it can’t touch the smell of leather in my book. So I kick the question back to you, dear members of the Hagerty Community:
What’s the best smell in a car?
Leather and old car smell
FRESH AIR!
Going to the Shell gas station back in the 50’s with my Dad to smell that leaded gas being put into his 55 Buick
Diesel! The smell of diesel exhaust belching from a fleet of ’90s era Mack tractors, idling in the yard, with 6 cylinder mechanical fuel injection engines- emissions be damned! Pre-dawn dead of winter warmup, sleepy drivers wandering out to their assigned beast-of-burden, waking up as they inhaled that smell- the smell of power and torque. It always woke me up and energized me more than any coffee ever could.
Best: new Connolly leather in a Rolls or Bentley, followed closely by Castrol R, racing fuel, and proper old two-stroke exhaust.
Worst: old 90wt gear oil, especially with limited slip additive, and heavy cigarette smoke residue, call me crazy, but the smell of a lit Zippo or a freshly lit cig is excellent, although I’ve never smoked cigs.
My USMC zippo thanks you for remembering it and its brethren, Greggory!
– Outside the car favorite smell is NEW TIRES.
– Inside a fresh In-N-Out Burger just picked up at the drive thru window.
As for leather interior. The interior guy that I recently used to do the work on the 1956 F100 I built for my brother-in-law no longer like to use leather as he says the quality of today’s leathers does not hold up. But for customers that do want that great leather smell he ties strips of leather under the seats.
Best smell in a car goes back to 1964-1965. I popped the clutch in my 1957 dual four barrel 283 Corvette, watched the Sun tach immedately go to the far right and then it happened. Me window was down and the sweet smell of Sunoco 260 was overcome by the wiffs of my Bucron cheater slicks filled the cockpit. That special smell and scream of the 097 cammed heartbeat comes back each time I go in the garage and pat her with a smile on my face and stare at those Bucrons in the corner. What a special smell those memories bring back.
For many years now, I finish the spring detailing with an air freshener. Not any freshener, but a Little Tree Royal Pine. The scent brings me back to memories of my big brother’s ‘63 Corvette.
As a kid, it was the smell of the gas going into the tank!
At the track, it was an unexpected floral odor as certain cars went by. I talked with my usual supplier who wasn’t sure, but said that Castrol, at one time, had a special oil blend that smelled something like that, but he thought it was no longer available in the US.
Definitely not on my list was a tipped over latte in my Fiat (no cup holders) in August! That stunk for over a year!