For most of you out there, car rides are probably a bore. Many may tune out your surroundings when you’re in the car.
However, for me it’s different: car rides are a time when I am most awake and aware of my surroundings.
The car ride often ends up being more enjoyable than arriving at the destination itself. This is because I’m a car fanatic. Whenever I’m on the road, I keep my eyes peeled for any extraordinary sports cars that might cross my path.
I’ve been a car enthusiast since I was little, which can be proved by videos my parents have of me naming high performance cars out of a book at age two.
As a car aficionado, I couldn’t have asked for a better town or school to feed my passion. In most communities, a teenage car buff would probably be ecstatic at the sight of a Porsche 911 or Corvette C6. However, Westport has made me immune to these unexceptional sports cars, for I see at least a half dozen of each daily.
Westport residents really do seem to have a passion for cars. A student at Staples owns a Ferrari 360 Spider and drives it to school each day. In a town where a kid drives a Ferrari, the automobiles that adults own are even more unbelievable.
The most extravagant car that I’ve seen on the roads in Westport is a mustard yellow Porsche Carrera GT. To those of you out there who are not car enthusiasts, this name might not mean that much. Let me explain: the Carrera GT is Porsche’s super car that retailed at $400,000. It is also one of the most beautiful cars of the decade, if not the history of car design. I’ve seen this car parked around town twice, and on each occasion I have pulled over for a quick photo shoot of the fantastic machine.
Westport isn’t just home to fantastic modern cars; the finest classic car that I have seen around town is an early 60s Aston Martin DB4. Though it may not have the mind-blowing performance that the Carerra GT does, nothing can compare to its style and class.
However, I’ve seen automobiles at car shows that make those two sports cars look mundane. At the Fairfield Concours d’Elegance held at the Hunt Club this September, I saw a Bugatti Veyron, the fastest and most expensive car currently made, at $1.7 million with a top speed of 254 mph.
Nonetheless, for me, the true fun is seeing a fantastic car on the road, not at a show. Though the automobiles displayed at car shows may be far superior, there is something exhilarating about seeing an amazing sports car on the street. I think it’s because at car shows I expect to see fantastic cars. But when I unexpectedly see one on the road, surrounded by bland, ordinary cars, my heart literally skips a beat.
If you want to see incredible cars around town, there are certain places to pay extra attention to as you drive by them. Basically, the pricier a shop is, the more likely you are to find an impressive car in its parking lot. The best example of this logic is probably Mitchells. I’ve seen more Aston Martins and Bentleys parked at this high-end clothing store than anywhere else in town.
Living in Westport has many benefits: our town has a fantastic education system, a great beach, the Westport Playhouse and many public amenities like the library. However, for pure enjoyment, I believe Westport’s array of extraordinary sports cars is this community’s most exciting aspect. Recently, as I saw a Staples student being dropped off at school in a brand new Aston Martin Rapide, I couldn’t help thinking that this is one amazing place to live.
