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Is it the speed? Is it the handling? Could it be the movies that they're featured in? While all of these factors do come into play, they are all things that really any car could potentially have. If you know what you're doing, you can make any old Honda Civic run a 12-second quarter mile if you wanted to. You could put anti-roll bars and stiff springs on a 1970 Chevelle and do pretty well at an autocross event. And just about any type of car, from beat up sedans to multimillion-dollar exotics, has been featured in a movie at some point. So then why is it that different people value certain cars over others?

Perhaps the question we should be asking is, "What do certain cars have that no other car can have?" The simple answer is that they have you, the driver. Only your car can have you. Yes, the speed, handling, and fame of the car has an impact on how you initially view it. But, you can never truly understand a car until you have actually driven it. Sometimes, you like what you experience on the first go. Other times, it'll take time for you to understand why you like the car. You may know exactly what you're looking for in a car, but maybe not what will make you want to keep the car forever. It really all comes down to what you choose to do with the car. The impact the car has on you depends on how it reacts to your input based on how you or other people have built the car.

Let me use my personal experience as an example. I currently drive a 1992 Ford F-150. It's big, it's slow, it goes through fuel like nothing, and on top of that, the previous owner(s) didn't bother to have any of the fluids changed. When I first got it over a year and a half ago, I wasn't really much of a truck person. I liked them just fine, but I would have preferred some kind of sports coupe. But getting something like that is expensive these days, whether in the long or short run. This is especially true for something equipped with a V8 engine, which is what I would have gone for. And so, a pickup truck was logically the next best thing. It was cheap, and it had a V8, all with the added benefit of being the most practical vehicle on earth. Say what you will about crossovers, but nothing beats a pickup truck when it comes to storage space.

Throughout the year and a half I've had my truck, there have been ups and downs. There were multiple oil and coolant leaks, both minor and major mechanical failures, and some of the electronics are still giving me problems. I was about ready to give up on it when the transmission went out. But then I started doing research on performing proper preventative maintenance, which in turn allowed me the opportunity to become familiar with my vehicle inside and out. The more I learned, the more I realized what I could start making out of it. I learned that there are aftermarket companies that make both OEM and performance parts specifically for this truck. When I got the truck, I didn't realize it could be my gateway into the aftermarket scene. And now, I adore my truck. It has taught me valuable lessons that I'm certain will take me far in my automobile-oriented life. There are no two ways about it. This truck is very special to me. I want to keep it as long as I possibly can because I know I can turn it into something that will show other people just how special it is to me.

This experience has been had by many people. Movie stars in particular, such as Burt Reynolds and Steve McQueen, grew quite fond of their respective characters' film cars when their movies wrapped up filming. Reynolds owned a couple of Pontiac Firebirds after "Smokey and the Bandit", and McQueen owned numerous cars, both from his films and outside of his work, throughout his life. These cars have since sold at auctions for hundreds of thousands of dollars. All of the cars Carroll Shelby built are to this day met with adoration simply because it was Shelby and his team who built them. The only reason Ken Miles' cars aren't famous is because he himself wasn't known until the release of "Ford V. Ferrari." It was the people who made the cars famous because of what they did with them whether it was racing, filming, or both.

Cars are special because of the people who drive them. It is up to us to make them special because at the end of the day, they are simple machines assigned to accomplish a task. We as owners and drivers make them so much more than that, even if just to ourselves. So if you have a car that you consider to be a piece of junk, maybe consider turning it into something better than that. Only you have the power to do that.