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?
The original foxbody mustang smell is unmistakable. Mine and my friends unrestored originals all smell the same. Decaying plastic, old rubber seals, a bag of Doritos from 20 years ago, hubba bubba gum, Mountain Dew, a quart of 10W30 behind the seat and the Joshua tree….ahh, gives me goosebumps.
I’m with you on this one RedRyder[SFZ]! I had an ’85 GT Black and Silver with t-tops and 5 speed manual. The t-tops were prone to let some moisture in and on a summer day on a long drive the carpet around the shifter console/driveline hump would literally get hot to the touch and sweat. Great stuff!
Maybe, but not on our 1984 GT convertible. My wife (whose car it mainly was when it was newer) is way too good at interior cleaning for those kinds of smells, except maybe for the old rubber seals.
Hot freshly baked bread in the back seat, cold pizza left overnight on the front passenger seat when you first open the door and remember you left it there, and Connelly leather in a late 60’s to mid 70’s Rolls Royce. That’s what luxury smells like.
Racing gas being burned!
My favorite was the diesel exhaust smell from a Trailways bus. I don’t know why it was different from other diesel engines, but it was.
The rancid stench of my son’s puke over the leather seat of my brand new S2000! He was seven at the time, and just had to go for a ride in it.
I agree with votes for the smell of leather- old, faded leather in particular. But the other smell that always got my attention was the old-type of Castrol which I used in my 62 Triumph Bonneville.
As an old road builder I love the smell of fresh hot asphalt during the paving process. When ever I pass by a paving crew I put down the windows and breathe in the bitumen goodness.
Older BMW’s – and probably other cars from the mid-20th Century – used a material called “horsehair” as seat padding. Don’t know if it really came from horses, but it gives those cars’ interiors a distinctive smell, probably like the mohair that Whitman Strong referred to.
Goodyear, Hosiers, Firestone, Mickey Thompson, M&H, and more. spinning really fast.
Those little green Christmas tree air freshners.
My 69 GTO burning 108 octane race gas, spinning the BFG TA’s; more civilized the C5 still has sort of a new car smell.
Automatic transmission fluid and parts cleaner in my dad’s automatic transmission shop (long passed)
Meguiar’s car waxes and other products (Pina Colada). Mother’s Soft Wash Gel car wash soap (Cherry).
and wait for it….
… the smell of fear lol.
The lingering smell of a good long smoking burn out.
Unburned Sunoco race gas that’s been run through an engine.
Toxic? Probably. Bliss? Beyond a doubt.