Car show may shine light on what makes guys tick
With all the advice books published over the years on how to improve communication in your relationship, one tried-and-true axiom remains: If you want to get a guy to talk passionately about a relationship, ask him about his car.
When it comes to four wheels and four on the floor, an overhead cam, fuel injection and dual exhausts, many guys talk from a place deep in their soul.
You see, a guy may not know a Manolo Blahnik from an Easy Spirit, but he can spot a tiny flaw in the restoration of a 1958 Corvette, even if he wasn’t born until decades after it first hit the road.
Want to hear some heartfelt passion from a guy? Try tuning into National Public Radio’s Car Talk (Saturdays at 6 p.m., Sundays at noon, KPBX, 91.1 FM) and listen to how men open up and talk to Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers – better known as Tom and Ray Magliozzi. You hear passion. You hear angst. You hear men talk about – drum roll please – commitment.
Better yet, watch men share their feelings by attending the fifth annual Goodguys Great Northwest Nationals, a car show produced by the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association today and Sunday at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center.
Shows like this one are like a CT scan of the inner workings of “guy psyche.” Guys love cars that go from zero to 60 with jaw-dropping speed.
Guys who show little interest in a sun-kissed beach pay rapt attention to the sight of a Sunbeam Tiger. Guys with little get-up-and-go get up and run to see a restored GTO. And guys who do nothing but grumble about their boss, light up like a Christmas tree at the sight of a Boss 302.
Watch them negotiate with passion at the swap meet as they trade specialty car parts. Watch them wax nostalgic as they browse the displays of model cars.
And you can watch guys who haven’t seen the middle of a dance floor since they graduated from high school hoppin’ and boppin’ when Hot Rod Deluxe hits the stage today at 2 and again at 7 p.m.
The bottom line is this: If you’re interested in hanging out with the kind of guy who can’t tell you what Susan Sarandon’s character, Annie Savoy, does for a living in the movie “Bull Durham” (she teaches part time at a junior college: English 101 and beginning composition), but knows instantly what car Kevin Costner’s character, Crash Davis, drives (a 1968 Carroll Shelby GT350 Mustang convertible that Costner bought when filming concluded), then the Goodguys Great Northwest Nationals is a must-see event for you.