I drove my freshly finished 1968 Camaro for the first time on a Tuesday morning in October, on a back road near my shop. No traffic. Cool air. Four-speed manual with a close-ratio gearbox and a 396 that has been rebuilt to about 450 horsepower.

I've been doing this for twenty years. The first drive in a freshly finished car is still the thing that makes it worth it. Not the shows, not the trophies, not the compliments. The first drive.

Pull out of the driveway in first gear. Check every gauge. Look for smoke. Listen for sounds that don't belong. Everything normal. Open the throttle in second gear on a clear straight road. Everything exactly as it should be. Twenty years and it still makes me smile like an idiot.