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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?
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I would have to agree with burning the 2 cycle Yamalube riding trails as a teen! Of course riding the DT175, Great Times!
LOL—carb cleaner. The day I met my future wife, I had rebuilt my carb. With ‘90’s safety protocols, I stunk of carb cleaner. She didn’t seem to notice or must have liked it—30 years later she’s still hanging around with me. A future date (still 1990’s) I changed the rear differential on my car and stunk of gear oil. Again, no comment from her. I decided she was a keeper after that, because I smelled terrible.
Light smell of the burning oil, a film of which inevitably remained on the headers after a successful repair or maintenance event.
Love the smell of race fuel burning. I would buy an air freshener with that distinctive smell.
Yes, leather seats smell great, BUT, not all leather smells the same. The best by far, imho, is Roser leather that Mercedes Benz used in my uncles 1962 300 SEL, and some other models of that era. Sadly, no longer available.
The smell at an old gas station before unleaded gas and the scent of burnt rubber
1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan- Wood, wool and age.
CnH2n+1OH
a.k.a. Alcohol Fuel from the early 60’s race tracks