Cars have always been popular and probably always will be.  They are a source of all kinds of hobbies.  Here are some ideas to start feeding your passion for all things cars.

Travel to Car Shows

There are all kinds of car shows and they are happening all over.  There are new car shows at the convention centers in most larger cities.  Car Clubs have local shows where members show their restored or “in process” projects.  Keep a calendar and attend some shows.  Local car enthusiasts love to talk about their cars and might even encourage pictures that you can collect.

Visit Car Dealers

If you can put up with salespeople visiting new car dealers can be fun to see what is new.  Just be careful you don’t get the “bug” and drive one home sooner than you planned!.

Build Model Cars

Building models isn’t as popular as it used to be but can still be a great hobby.  A quick search on Amazon or Ebay will reveal some possibilities.  A model of some exotic car might be as close as most of us will get to the real thing!

Collect Old Car Related Items

This can take many forms.  Almost any old car part is collected by somebody.  And car related items are also popular like advertising signs, brochures, manuals, and even old magazine ads.

Make Your Car Great Again

Maybe you can’t afford that dream car yet so why not make your current vehicle as great as it can be.  Clean it out.  Give it a good waxing.  Fix any minor items needing repair.  It will make you feel better, and I swear cars run better when they are all cleaned up!  It is like they know you care!

Start a Dream Car Savings Account

Maybe your dream car is sometime in the future.  Why not start a separate savings account now.  Just put in a few dollars whenever you can and watch your savings grow.

Fix Up an Old Car

This is what most people think of when they think “car buff.”  Fixing up and restoring an old car can be extremely rewarding.  It can be expensive but doesn’t have to be quite as bad if you buy a more common model, do much of the work yourself and have reasonable expectations.  This is a great project for a retired person.

Visit Junk Yards with Old Cars

I got this idea from a series on the Internet called “Junk Yard Gems.”  The idea is to visit junk yards and try to spot unusual or famous models.  They may have seen better days but are still interesting.  You might be able to combine this with collecting items as described above.

Collect License Plates

This one has been around for a while.  People used to collect license plates from as many states as possible.  You could also collect old or antique plates.

Go To Car Races

This one is obvious and there are many kinds.  There is NASCAR with its huge following.  There are drag races and local races of all kinds.  Get out there and support all those local teams and drivers that put their soul (and a lot of cash) into their love of racing.

What are your ideas?

There are countless hobbies out there for you to try.  Hobbies are great for relaxation and to keep your brain sharp while you learn new things.  With the Internet you can almost always find others that share your interest either locally or online.

Below are some ideas to get you started.

Tree Shaping

You know how you sometimes come across shrubs and trees with geometric and animal shapes?  That is tree shaping.  I guess the first step is to grow a bunch of your own bushes.  I don’t think the neighbors would appropriate you experimenting on their trees and bushes without asking!

Geocaching

This is a way to put all those GPS enabled devices to work.  The idea here is hobbyists navigate to a set of coordinates and find little treasures there in the geocache container.  This hobby is growing and there is lots of information on how to get started online.

Collecting Insects

OK, so collecting insects is not for everyone.  But if want to give it a try there is no shortage of different kinds to collect.

Soap Carving

Not sure how this one got starting but at least you can still use the shavings to clean up.  And when you get tired of looking at your creation you still have the soap!

Making Snow Globes

Never thought of this one but it is pretty cool.  Snow Globes make great gifts, and you can get as artistic as you want.

Ghost Hunting

I confess my wife and I used to love the “Ghost Hunters” show.  Well people really do this and I’m sure you can meet some interesting people, even live ones!  Do a search and find a group in your area.  Some communities even offer haunted house tours.  Keeping a journal of your experiences could be fun.

Origami

I’ve always been fascinated by those paper creations.  There are books and kits available to give it a try.  I assume the materials are basic and inexpensive.

Whittling

This one has been around for centuries. The shavings aren’t quite as useful as soap carving shavings, but you can always use wood shavings for kindling.

Stone Skipping

Never heard of this one but apparently the record for skipping stones is over 50 skips.  It may take a bit of practice to reach that level.  On the other hand, skipping stones across a pond on a nice day is probably very relaxing.

Brewing Beer

This one has also been around for a long time.  There are kits and lots of information available.  If you like beer it must be awful gratifying to offer guests your own brew!

Metal Detecting

I have tried this one and it really is a thrill to find old stuff buried long ago.  We never found anything valuable but that didn’t matter, it was great fun.  Just make sure you have permission to dig and make sure you put things back as you found them.

Building Rockets

I enjoyed building model rockets as a kid, and later with my son.  Model rocketry isn’t just for kids.  There are groups all around the country and some build some really big creations.

Flying Drones

Learning to fly a drone and then taking pictures and videos is a relatively new hobby.  It probably pays to learn on small and inexpensive drones before committing to an expensive model.  It can get expensive to crash and lose your drones.

Chainsaw Carving

This is the third “carving” hobby in this article.  This one isn’t for the faint of heart!  But I am amazed at the creations of experienced artists.

Rock Collecting

This one can be as simple as collecting specimens off the ground that just look nice.  Or you can order all kinds of samples online or at “Rock shops.”  In my trips to the southwest US rock shops were common and always fascinating to visit.

Wargaming

I did this one with friends as a young adult.  It still could be fun now and I bet it wouldn’t be hard to find a group of friends to play a couple times a month.  Start with “Risk” or “Axis and Allies” and go from there.  Good times!

Legos

Legos aren’t’ just for kids and you are only limited by your imagination.  There are shows and contests all over the world.

Making Fireworks

I came across this one in my research and didn’t even know it was legal!  Obviously you better make sure it is legal in your area and know what you are doing.  I would think that if you try to order too much of the required chemicals and supplies you might get a visit from law enforcement!

As you can see there are an endless number of hobby possibilities.  The fun part is experimenting to find one or more that work for you!