We at Jalopnik are here because we love The Cars. We write about The Cars and y’all tell us what you think about them, but there’s a bunch of other ways to be a part of that world. What’s your car industry dream job?
Would you be a polemical CEO, or would you be a beloved designer?
I love writing about cars just as much as I do reading about them (whether it’s in our comments or elsewhere) but if I could do anything, if I could go wide, I would be a race car driver. Like Speed Racer, or better yet, Ivan “Ironman” Stewart.
Stewart is a legendary off-roader who ripped up trails and conquered Baja more than once, behind the wheel of some of Toyota’s coolest machines. He’s a Motorsport Hall of Famer, and rightly so. I was lucky enough to ride along with Stewart as he drove me and a couple of other car bloggers on a trail Toyota set up near Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, Texas.
He piloted a Lexus LX 570 while the three of us held on to our seats, in awe of his skills as an off-road driver. I didn’t know a machine that big and cumbersome could be so lithe and agile. It made me realize that, often, the biggest obstacle for any car is the driver behind the wheel.
And, likewise, that a driver can make a good car better. I couldn’t help but feel immense respect for Stewart and his connection to the machine, and all I could do was celebrate his skill. Also, I was a little envious; I wished to be half as good as he was. All these decades on, Stewart makes driving off-road look effortless.
If I’m being totally honest, I’d want to be like Marquez or Rossi, flying through a track on a MotoGP rocket but the gnarly crashes riders can suffer scare me. If you’re not afraid of the kind of speed professional riders get up to, either you’ve lost it or you’ve just never watched an Isle of Man TT video.
I’d be happy either as a professional driver or rider, but what about you? What’s your car industry dream job?
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