When you spend as much on your garage as your house
You know you're a real car guy when . . . as you're watching the last minutes of the movie Le Mans for the tenth time, you ignore your wife flashing you. (I failed that test . . . )
When you dismiss countries to live in based on their car friendly-ness (disregard my current country of residence, changing VERY soon!). To explain: My new business I can run from most places, so long as I have cell reception and internet access on my laptop. UK is both relatively car friendly (if you know where to look) and tax friendly. Will be my residence for the next 5-10 years if not longer. I could live in the Caribbean if I wanted to again; Great weather, people, little to no tax if you choose the right island...but a road trip is out of the question for instance, car servicing is harder to come by. List can go on. Sometimes I wish I hated cars as I would move back to the Caribbean in a heartbeat and live like a king for the rest of my (presumably then short) life with a harem of cheap women and the best beaches/ocean.
The first car you own is a 1969 TVR Vixen which you use for 4 years before getting a more prctical car to use as a DD, but 33 years later you still have the TVR.
You REALLY know you are a car guy when you build a "house" that looks like this....The $4 million dream house for a car collector | The Home | Seattle Refined - Life is Different Here
When your 9 year old son knows every car emblem and brand by sight without hesitation.. You taught him well!
You know your a car guy when: You are caught baking your freshly painted valve covers in the oven, and the next day your wife gets a new oven....and you now have your own oven in the garage.
I was once staring at the computer screen with a look of longing and my wife comes over and goes: "Are you looking at porn?" She realises the screen was filled with 348 photos and 348 sale adverts and goes: "Aha, you are looking at porn!" I think I shall keep her. All the best, Andrew.
Did the same thing.... She found out after the fact and wasn't very happy. I promised I would never do that again 😉
+1! You know when you convince the cops at the park to radar a drag race between a real car and a gas powered remote control car.
When every single car purchase starts with the question "Is it fun to drive?" When you start checking out cool driving roads and/or car events on the vacation destination. When you're living very comfortable but still put tons of effort and energy into starting a business so that you can actually buy the cars everyone dreams about. When you actually feel the urge to do some work on your car, even if it's just a pre-drive cleaning on a Sunday. When you gladly add a quarter more mileage to your route because it's a more entertaining drive. When your home is filled with automotive memorabilia. When you're taking a drive just for the sake of taking a drive. When you have the entire collection of Top Gear episodes saved on your laptop. When both the smartphone screen and desktop background are car related. When you almost always buy **** you don't need and won't never use, every time you're at your car parts shop. When you take a picture of every interesting car you walk past and save it just as a memory. When you are usually very calm, but kinda almost lose it when someone slams the door to your car. When you get a kick out of letting your friends drive your cars (just to see their reaction). When you read car ads even though you really don't need a car, just to kill time and keep track of the market for the cars that interest you.
You Know you are a car guy when your wife/significant other says " You love that car more than me" and you look at her and say " You don't really want an answer to that question do you?"
You're a car guy when you continue to drive your Ferrari in Italy where the Guardia di Finanza (financial police) regularly stop drivers to conduct a mini-tax-audit right on the side of the road. This "stop-and-audit" program is designed to check that the drivers income tax declaration justifies owning an expensive automobile. They stop me every 6 weeks or so. That's why exotic cars are currently rare sights on Italian roads. Fully a third of Italian Ferrari owners declare an annual income below 22,000 Euros ($30K) per year.
They should give you a sticker to put on your window that declares that you're paying your taxes correctly, so that you won't get pulled over again... Must be tiring.