Started my car interests in my pre teens. Got my first vehicle, a 1947 International panel when I was 13 , from my uncle. Worked on it for months to get it running, and sold it not long after I turned 16 and could drive. Most of my early cars were '55 or '57 Chevys, and several of them were gassers with straight axles.
Bought a '71 Camaro when I got out of the USAF in 1973, and still own it. Drag raced it for 16 yrs. and recently restored it to street only use.
Just before retiring I got the gasser bug again! Wife approved a retirement car, and I bought my 1946 Austin. Threw it together in 6 months, and then proceeded to make upgrades as I put 3,000 miles on it the first summer it was done.
The Austin will be my retirement project for a long time, as I plan to keep doing upgrades as long as I own it.