I have a confession to make. I started NewYorKars at a time when I didn’t even have a car. I moved from Queens, N.Y to Manhattan just before the lease expired on my 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. I returned the car in near-mint condition with too few miles. It wasn’t until the following year that I realized how badly I missed it.

I came up with the idea for a car blog during my walks. Living in the city and working in cramped offices made daily strolls a necessity. Sometimes it was the only part of the day that I could enjoy being outside. My walks grew from a couple of miles to over five. I always had my headphones in, so music was the only thing that kept me going.

And the cars. There were always cars.

Carspotting

I could walk the same block day after day and find different cars parked each time. And when it came to cars owned by local residents, they were as eccentric as their owners.

I made a list of cars, some which I would like to share: 1946-48 Jeep CJ2A (converted to a mobile sugarcane stand), 1954 GMC 150, 1954 Chevrolet 3100, 1961 Citroën DS, 1965-67 Jaguar E-Type, 1971 Citroën DS, 1973 Ford Mustang convertible, 1978 Mercedes-Benz 450SL, 1978 Toyota Truck, 1984 BMW 318i, 1990s Land Rover Defender, 1990s Jaguar XJS V-12 convertible, 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Final Edition, unknown year Checker taxi, unknown year Citroen H Van (converted to a rolling coffee shop) … and much more.

I snapped photos and jotted the date, time, and street. At some point I stopped adding to the list. But it inspired me to think about the interesting cars New Yorkers live with on a daily basis.

I started setting up newyorkars.com in 2015 but got distracted by an exciting new stage in my career. The site was put on hold.

I got my first car in seven years near the end of 2017. You can read more about my experience with the 2018 Ford Focus RS here.

Finally

I took all the ideas that had been crashing about in my head like so many bumper cars and officially launched the site at the very end of May 2019. It had been lying dormant for years. I wanted to share my car experiences with others. I wanted others to share their car experiences with others. That’s what NewYorKars is all about. What does your car mean to you?

Take us for a spin

Check out the Garage to see what we’ve got parked in there. Catch up on the ever-changing automotive landscape in our Car News section. See our latest updates and leave us some comments and messages; in other words, Socialize. And don’t hesitate to Show Off Your Ride. We promise it’s fun and painless!

Thanks to my friends and family who feign interest when I prattle on about cars. And an extra special thanks to those of you who let me use your car for the site. I owe each and every one of you a beer. Remind me sometime. Cheers!

Al Khoury