Link (spoiler alert!):

http://youtu.be/Rhoc3DpWHy8

I'll be the first to admit that im a softee and that my optics became moistened. Its quite an emotional reset. Very touching indeed.

As cheesy as the FnF series is for pure and "orthodox" car enthusiasts, the franchise is unavoidably an important piece of modern car-guy culture. Paul Walker being the face of that franchise. For those with a pulse, news of his passing was very saddening. Not only was he a symbol of modern car culture in the movies, but in real life he came across as a genuinely good guy, and was a true car enthusiast.

There is something that irks me though, when you read about Paul, or anyone else being remembered as a "true car enthusiast". On the surface It seems tacky and frivolous as if being placed on the same level as the identifiers "Husband", "father", or "war veteran" etc. for which you can equate certain contributions and sacrifices that might conjure up intensified remorse over their passing.

But to be remembered as "true car enthusiast"...

...cars are frivolous. They are mass-produced machines created for the purpose of moving the masses. For enabling society to function with greater speed and efficiency. They are steel, iron, glass, rubber, plastic, aluminum, and fabric.

Things that rust, corrode, break, fail, and become recycled goods.

Material things...

.....or are they?

The automobile has had a greater impact on the world than any other man-made object, save computers.

To a true enthusiast a car becomes even more:

It is an extension of yourself in which you can express style, help to form an identity, a blank canvas.

It is the mode which takes you places you want to go, and to people you want to see.

It inspires creativity, innovation, passion, desire, and is a starting point for mechanical aptitude from which careers can be based.

It is the genesis for some extraordinary and meaningful friendships, things which last, things that arent weathered by the elements. Things which aren't frivolous at all.

Cars bring us together.

And even if our tastes differ, when we lose a fellow car enthusiast, we lose someone that understands us on a level that the rest of the world doesn't.

Here's to Paul, to car guys, and all the wonderful friends ive made within the automotive community.