The term ‘car guy’ refers to people who love the car hobby.
‘Guy’ isn’t exclusive to males—I’ve met many female car guys over the years who can easily match male enthusiasm for old iron.
They’re not as common, but women have the same car guy blueprint as men, so to understand what that means–here are some thoughts from the frontlines.
The first page of the car guy blueprint is about the varying concepts of time.
For example, a 1996 Nissan Twin Turbo 300ZX looks like a new car to me–but to a Gen-X car guy, it’s a timeless (and old) classic. In my world, a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner two-door post is a timeless classic.
Non-car guys see both as old cars, but to them, the Nissan looks comfortably familiar–the Road Runner is a Model T.
The car guy blueprint also features a large optimism page.
This varies too because most car guys are high on the optimist spectrum, so they’ll look at a project as a challenge rather than a burden. Painful experience teaches car guys to add realism to the formula, so massive projects are rejected after a few crash and burn experiences.
Or their wives start leaving divorce lawyer brochures on the workbench.
There’s a point where even the most optimistic car guy has to leave a potential project behind and face reality. I’ve seen a few car guys crash through the impossible project barrier and produce an incredible old car or truck—but they’re never the same afterward. It’s like climbing Mount Everest—you probably don’t want to do it again.
The next thing on the car guy blueprint is tribalism.
You have your Chevy tribes, your Ford tribes, your Mopar tribes, your import car tribes—the key word is tribe. This means you’re technically at war with the other tribes. If you’re a Mopar guy and your buddy is a Ford guy, and there’s a major brawl at a car show–you’re going to side up with your Mopar tribe.
Your Ford buddy is on his own.
The next page on the car guy blueprint is power.
There’s a subsection in the blueprint here. Many—but not all car guys are more-power guys. This means if they find a survivor Chevy Nova with the trusty straight-six under the hood that six-banger is going be yanked faster than an impacted wisdom tooth. An LS Chevy small-block will take its place–because that’s what more-power is all about.
A subsection of car guys will be appalled that grandma’s 26,000-mile Nova is going to be turned into a nasty street machine after decades of faithful service. Personally, I lean toward preservation if the car is mint, but if it’s a little beat-up–an LS swap makes sense. The cool factor outweighs the history factor if the Nova is showing its years.
That brings me to the car guy blueprint for noise.
I’m a fence-sitter here too. I like a rumble, but open headers don’t make sense on a public road. There’s something understated about a factory rumble, but any car or truck that’s all noise and no go should be driven directly over a cliff. It’s like automotive stolen valor.
I’ve only touched on a few pages of the car guy blueprint because it’s such a complicated subject, but these are starting points. Look for more blueprint pages in 2025.
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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