When Memories Hit the Gas: Unexpected Flashbacks from a Podcast Interview

One of the best parts of interviewing guests for To All the Cars I’ve Loved Before is the way their stories spark my own memories—moments from the past that come rushing back, sometimes unexpectedly. Last night was one of those moments.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Caroline and James from HHWheels (YouTube.com/hhwheels), and Caroline shared a hilarious story about her 1969 Ford Fairlane. The previous owner had slapped a “GT” emblem on the side, transforming it into a “Ford Fairlane GT” — a model that never actually existed.

Her story immediately brought me back to high school and a friend of mine who had to replace the hatch on his Chevy Sprint. He found a newer one but decided to have a little fun with it, covering the back with random badges from different cars. None of them said “Sprint,” so the car’s true identity was completely lost.

One day, he got a parking ticket at school, and because our principal wasn’t exactly a car guy, he had no idea what kind of car he was dealing with. Instead of identifying it as a Sprint, he just wrote down every badge he saw. It was a ridiculous but hilarious sight on the ticket—like a Frankenstein of automotive branding.

It’s these little moments—unexpected connections between past and present—that make talking about cars so special. A simple story about a misplaced emblem took me right back to those high school days, and for a moment, I was there again, laughing with friends over a parking ticket.

What about you? Have you ever had a car that wasn’t exactly what it claimed to be?