Just drive. — The Therapy Pedal

Everything needs a beginning. For holy men of the door banging sort it’s Genesis, for writers it’s the first key-press and third cup of coffee for the hour, and for politicians it’s their first lie to so-called friends at their private school before a life of fake smiles and clammy handshakes. We all need to start somewhere.

So where does The Therapy Pedal start? Well… it starts with an idiot with no website making skills, a tubby belly, possible undiagnosed attention deficit issues, and the dream to create some positive content for the car community and younger people as a whole. It also begins with good friends and family members who are willing to be awkwardly recorded in not really well thought out interviews in the hope that some sort of spectacular and grandiose wisdom is poured forth.

There is an issue however, the creator, me. I am not a gifted interviewer naturally and as such this first interview is quite short and far from in depth. The very accommodating interviewee on the other hand, is a remarkably handsome devil by the name of Aiden who I met some time ago through mutual friends at a Cars and Coffee, and with my simpleton questions he came up with the fundamental reason we exist as car people in many cases. This basic premise he has perhaps unknowingly set the stage with, especially with his final answers, are the core foundations to which all other subsequent conversations recorded for The Therapy Pedal can be built upon.

*Photo above courtesy of Aiden Dryburgh, shot by @ben.m_m*

Introduce yourself, name, age, where are you from?

I’m Aiden, I’m 23, and I’m from Adelaide.

What do you do for work?

I’m a new car salesperson at Toyota.

What do you drive?

2009 Nissan 370Z.

What’s been done to it?

Not much, it's got coilovers, big wheels, a bit of camber, and a front and rear Nismo conversion.

Awesome, so, where are we at the moment mate?

We’re at Cars and Coffee up at Bridgewater, which has been pretty decent, but a bit too cold for most people by the looks of things.

That is true, it is bloody cold. How did you get into cars?

I was originally a 4WD person coming from the country, and moved to the big smoke, so I got more into cars and started in an FG Falcon which got me into the car scene. Eventually I wanted a Japanese car, and couldn’t afford a Skyline or a Silvia, so I got into a 370Z which is the first car I’ve really modified. I love it.

Is there a bit of a story behind your car at all?

Not really, I was just looking for something cool, wanted some manual and rear wheel drive. This was when Japanese cars were starting to get expensive so I was looking at Z’s. Started looking at 350’s but found this 370z for a good price and loved it. I love how the 370 is modern enough to have all the day to day luxuries for everyday driving but is still a very analogue car which is great fun.

Serious question, do you think cars help people mentally?

Yes, definitely. It’s cliche and it's what everyone says but just going out for a drive, it’s just so helpful, so helpful. If you have anything going wrong in your life you just go for a drive and everything just goes away. It’s a way to get out of what the fast paced world is these days and slow down. Yeah… just go for a drive.

Do you think it’s helped you?

Yeah definitely, definitely. I don’t know what I would do without cars. Everyone needs a hobby as well. You need something to distract you from everything happening in your life, and yeah, it’s an expensive hobby but it’s a fun hobby.

Cheers mate, that’s it, see that wasn’t so bad.

*Photo right; courtesy of Aiden Dryburgh, shot by @ben.m_m*

While I didn’t poke and prod into Aiden’s deepest and darkest desires, there is something to be said for the message he has put forward, the necessity for just going for a drive. From the dawn of cars being a relatively affordable part of life people have used their vehicles as a form of escape from the hum-drum.
We exist in a world with bright LED screens showing us unrealistic beauty standards, trust fund babies showing off wealth many of us will never see, encroaching climate issues, and a bombardment of world events more dire than the last. It really is no wonder why people use ‘the escape’ in many forms and often it involves a car in some ways. Whether it’s driving out to a campsite, another city, or friends abroad, we use these vessels to take us out of the world as we know and consume on a daily basis.

Car enthusiasts have taken the escape to a new extreme by having a lifestyle and hobby built around this very concept. We take great joy, and in equal measures a great level of relief from simply driving to our favourite places or using the journey itself as the experience. In many cases it is not simply the destination, as great as it may be, it is the actual driving to the location that makes existence that much easier.

This isn’t just a statement brought out of thin air, either, it’s rooted in some psychological truths. Professor Lynne Pearce, who teaches literary theory at Lancaster University in the UK and penned the book ‘Drivetime: Literary Excursions in Automotive Consciousness’ speaks at length regarding the benefits of simply driving.