The Best Day at Work… Ever
Mike and I took a road trip to Pennsylvania over the weekend. We went up there to visit a friend of ours, Mr. Jim Herbster. He has a car collection and a personal automotive memorabilia museum, all right in his garage. It’s really impressive to say the least.
He invited us to come up to his home so that we could do some filming and photos of everything that he has. The whole experience was better than Mike and I could have ever asked for. Jim was so open about everything, and when the tour started, we wished that we could have just spent the entire day listening to the stories behind every piece of equipment, every model car, and every piece of history that Jim had put together. And that only covers what was hanging on the walls of his garage. His three cars all had their own stories to tell, but Jim helped them out and told us their stories in his own words.
As Jim took us around the room, we saw what makes car culture so great. Each item in his garage symbolized a significant piece of history. Whether that was a piece of his own history or more so a representation of an era that has already come and gone, each piece of memorabilia is worth much more than just cash value.
To Jim, every single thing in his garage is worth more than anybody could ever monetize. Each thing has an intangible worth. That’s not only true of all his memorabilia, but it’s also true for his cars. He knows exactly how much each is worth, but that’s not why he has them. He has them because he loves them. Of course, just like everybody else, he has his own favorite, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy all of them. It’s that enjoyment of what he has that’s priceless.
That enjoyment spilled over into our visit. The whole time we were there, we could see the excitement in Jim’s face, especially when he started talking about what it was like to drive each car. His face lit up as he spoke. A little piece of that excitement was dispensed to us as we listened. We didn’t even drive or ride in any of the cars at that point, but we felt what Jim experienced. It was incredible!
On so many levels, Jim exemplifies The Unlimited Driver. We aim to share our experiences and our joy with those who are willing to come along with us on our journey through the world of cars. It’s also this excitement that’s lost in many modern cars. Unfortunately, it even goes farther than that. Because of regulations, budget constraints, and technology-dictated design, car designers are often hampered from doing what they should be doing when they go to work: Design a car that speaks, even when it just sits there, and design a car that speaks even louder when it’s being driven. While that’s certainly not the case for every single car today, it’s becoming truer as time goes on.
Fortunately for us, we were also be able to physically experience two of Jim’s cars first hand. Mike got a ride in his classic Boss 302 while I got to drive his GT500 down some of the back roads of Pennsylvania. That was one of the best experiences that both of us have ever had while working at The Unlimited Driver, and we just had a blast hanging out with Jim!
We will never be able to thank him enough for allowing us to film at his house, and certainly will never be able to thank him enough for letting us experience the joy of his cars. I have a feeling though, that no thanks are really necessary. For an enthusiast like Jim, seeing a couple young guys like us just enjoy the collectibles he had was more than enough. He saw our faces. He saw our joy. He listened to our questions, and heard our laughter as we accelerated down the road and into a corner. All of that brought more joy to him than any “Thank you” could deliver. And for us, well… it was just about one of our best days at work ever!
–SWF
