By Josh Echt
©2017. All rights reserved.
When you think of the phrase “first car,” you think of freedom.
The ability to go anywhere you want (within reason) at any time you want (also within reason). Growing up in car-centric Geauga County gives me a unique perspective compared to friends who grew up in more urban areas.
For me, my first car was a Pacific Green 1997 Ford Contour GL Sport, a simple, tasteful and underrated sedan. It handled like a Mustang due to underpinnings shared with the European-market Ford Mondeo, but sipped fuel like the economical Ford Escort. Ironically, both the Escort and the Contour shared the same Zetec 2.0-liter twin-cam four-cylinder engine. It was neither the fastest on the road nor the most luxurious, even though Car & Driver named it one of the best-handling sedans of the 1990s.
But it was mine.
My name is Josh Echt and I’ll be writing columns periodically on cars, sports, relationships, Geauga County news and other facts of life for The Geauga Independent. I received a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2006 from Kent State University. A few weeks later, the Geauga County Maple Leaf hired me as a reporter. I spent eight years learning about my home county before moving to Columbus in 2014.
In addition to writing, I’ve partook in tons of hobbies, but one of my favorite pastimes is learning about the automotive world. I got my first Motor Trend in September 1990 at age six. I wasn’t the most coordinated growing up, so I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 18. The rest of my class got their license at 16, but I knew I wasn’t ready yet.
By the time I turned 18, however, I was ready and aced my driving test. I got the Contour for my 18th birthday and really learned how to be a good driver in a hurry.
I knew I had arrived when my father was going to drop me off at home while he went and did an errand at the store. But then he realized I just had my license and said:
“You go to the store.”
Never did those five words mean so much to me that day, Dec. 27, 2001. At last, I had freedom.
What were your first car experiences like and how did they shape your life? Weigh in here, either by e-mailing me at jecht@kent.edu or visiting The Geauga Independent Facebook page here. https://www.facebook.com/pg/GeaugaIndependent/posts/
