Car guys are a natural fit for the Christmas season because the car hobby itself is founded on hopes, dreams and nostalgia.
That’s the basis of the coolest hobby on earth—Christmas is a big deal to guys who pin everything on luck, skill and money in the world of old iron.
Here are some classic examples of Car Guy Christmas dreams.
Jerry Sutherland
They dream about legendary barn finds. Every car guy hopes to uncover a barn find super car because a lost Daytona ticks off every box for a pot of gold at the end of the old iron rainbow.
In car guy world, that dusty Daytona is like finding the Ark of the Covenant in the movie ‘Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark’.
Car guys also hope for better car parts. Crappy car parts are an epidemic in the automotive world.
They can strike old cars and new cars, because substandard car parts are the scourge of anyone who twists a wrench on any car. These subpar parts have crushed many car dreams, so the Christmas hope is for stuff that doesn’t fail in less than a week.
The perfect paint job is another car guy Christmas dream. Anyone outside the car hobby will look at a shiny paint job, but hardcore car guys have higher—almost impossible standards.
They’ll see the orange peel, overspray and sanding marks faster than an osprey spots a trout in a slow-moving river. In simple terms, beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to a high-end paint job.
The perfect car show is another car guy Christmas dream. This event would have both green grass and downtown locations with trees sprinkled throughout the show.
The downtown would feature old buildings, treed boulevards–and the weather would be sunny but not blazing hot. The final piece of the dream car show would be a paved back road to the show with no traffic.
Car guys live on the multi-year plan for projects. Some projects can span decades.
The car guy dream is to have the time, skill, money, and luck to finish a major project over one winter. This can and does happen, but it’s a rare occurrence—rarer than conquering Mt. Everest in sandals.
Another car guy dream is evolution of 3D technology. The 3D car parts world is still in its infancy, but car guys dream of a day when you can tell your phone to produce a mint metal fender for a 1955 DeSoto on a remote 3D printer.
Eventually your phone should even be able to scan your rusty fender and pump out an exact copy that fits better than factory. This dream would put shoddy, crooked aftermarket parts guys right out of business.
The final car guys dream is a world where parts or project cars don’t cost the equivalent of Ecuador’s national debt.
Too many dreamers watch pumped-up TV auctions full of drunk money guys bidding vehicles up to insane levels. These games drove vintage VW vans into Porsche price territory and now a ’66 Bronco costs more than a fully-loaded 2026 Ram Tungsten 4×4 Crew Cab.
Will these Christmas Car Guy dreams come true?
Probably not. But that won’t slow down car guys from having Christmas hopes and dreams.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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