The car that started it all?

For me, it was not any particular car, rather, it was a book, Hot Rod, by Henry Gregor Felsen.

http://www.damfino.com/authors/hfelsen/carsanddeath.html

I was probably 10 years old when I read this and despite the rather gory ending, I desperately wanted a '32 Ford roadster. Always dreamt of finding Bud Crayne's roadster, disassembled in a long abandoned garage waiting for me to reassemble and resume terrorizing the streets.