Brian Driggs | Phoenix, USA

I haven’t owned that car in years.

But she was the catalyst for everything.

The result of a Jeep Wrangler purchase gone awry, I would spend the next 12+ years and 210,000 miles (340,000km) of my life in a very serious relationship with the more stylish, if not less-appreciated, of the DSM twins. Our relationship was give-and-take – she would give and I would take – until such time as I realized I had built an all-motor drag car without any interest in drag racing.

My true love is rally. Not the kind of entitled, triple-digits on public highways, run-from-the-cops, “lifestyle events” often branded as such in recent years, but real rally. I’m talking Tommi Mäkinen, Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz, flat-out-over-crest, into triple caution sideways on gravel on dark and stormy nights rally. And as second generation DSMs are not suited for such automotive hoonery, Daisy had to go. She left me October 21st, 2008.

Aside from a summer fling with an 86 Volvo 245GL (who my father-in-law ended up adopting), I’ve been juggling a pair of Mitsubishi Galant VR4s ever since. It’s automotive polygamy at its finest; one gets all the love and finery, the other gets by. One is my eventual race car, the other my conveniently portable parts car.

But what does all of this have to do with Gearbox Magazine?

Simple. I am who I am today because of these cars. Daisy was the catalyst for everything. I loved my car and discovered there were others online who shared this machine love. Together, we learned the ropes, we advanced the development of the platform – we helped each other build high performance machines and lives.

Just about everything I’ve learned about life in the last 15 years, I learned through an automotive filter. I’ve included forum admin and moderator positions on my resume – and I’ve landed jobs as a result.

I started Gearbox Magazine because I believe the skills and experiences of automotive enthusiasts reach beyond the simple “plays with cars” perception held by everyone else. I believe the things we have in common as gearheads are what will enable us to get the most from our differences. I believe we can discover news ways to translate our automotive experiences into other areas of our lives.

We can modify our vehicles to the point of outperforming million-dollar hypercars. I think we can do the same for our lives.

GBXM exists because these stories must be told. Gearheads united.