Of motor vehicles and human emotion

As we all know, cars and trucks are merely things. Even if one day they can operate themselves, they will never be able to replicate true human emotions.

Oh but how our emotions get so tied up in these hunks of motorized steel and rubber (as well as polymer composites and aluminum, too.)

Take the rush engendered by high speed acceleration and maneuvering; a combination of skills stunt driver Ken Block regularly puts on display with his elaborately choreographed Gymkhana films. Check out the latest one below:

But motor vehicles do more than just excite the adrenal glands. They also pull at our oft-mythologized heartstrings.

Take the wonderful story below, published five years ago, about how a father’s adult children tracked down his beloved Chevrolet Impala some 30 years after he sold it to provide for his family.

In this wonderful moment, the car is transformed from mere metal into a gift of love that in many ways can never be fully expressed.

Even in the world of trucking, where vehicles are critical work tools, the human touch is inescapable.

I love the story below, broadcast late last year NBC Nightly News, about the growing number of fleets and independent truck drivers are taking more “luxurious” rigs on the road – literally making them homes away from homes to improve their quality of life while enduring long journeys to deliver freight.

It just goes to show that the human connections to cars and trucks often run a lot deeper on an emotive level than we may ever think.