I thought that this week’s film on Sarah Lahalih was pretty special, and after watching the final cut I was inspired to turn this Vintage Friday into one about teaching. Great teachers are required to keep this passion of ours alive, and it doesn’t matter if that teacher is learned about apexes, great “patina,” or rebuilding carburetors—knowledge is power, right?
My mother was a teacher, and her stories about her profession helped me to understand the impact that any type of teaching can have. So whether it was a driving instructor during a track day or my editor in the heady days of the Wheels section, listening for only a few moments can provide a lasting impact. I still mumble to myself, “Eyes up…” as I start the engine, remember how to wash a car correctly, and can tell you that by inserting a small fuse can turn many all-wheel-drive Subarus into front-wheel-drive machines. (More fun, though, is pulling the “NPP fuse” in some GM products.)
All of the people who do awesome work today have had great teachers. We talk about it all the time: Chip Foose and Rod Emory learning from their fathers, or even when designer Bill Mitchell learned from being owned in a drag race that Larry Shinoda should really be working on the Corvette.
Who—or what—has been your greatest teacher?
Photography by: Afshin Behnia, Amikam Gilad, David Marvier
