eriegz
Emira Maniac
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2022
- Messages
- 1,221
- Reaction score
- 3,134
- Location
- Calgary, Canada
- Emira Status
- Emira Owner
Well, the day has finally arrived! Yesterday I drove this thing off the lot:
And what a journey it's been! Actually, so much time had passed since I first ordered this car 2 years, 10 months, and 17 days ago (let's call it 3 years) that my life has kind of moved on, and I honestly wasn't sure if I even wanted the car anymore. In fact, I tried to cancel my order back in February, partly because I was fed up with this whole waiting game, and partly because I felt like a sports car wasn't really relevant to me anymore. But my salesperson put up a fight, and so I decided to just let it ride for now and see how I felt once the car got here.
For some more background on myself, ever since I was a kid I've always been obsessed with sports cars and supercars. They just awaken something deep inside of me. I still remember seeing my first Lamborghini Diablo on the road when I was a young boy and freaking out and yelling to the entire car, "What was that?!?". And my mom loves telling the story of our family vacation to Hawaii, when I kept a tally of all the 50 or 60 different brands of cool cars that I saw during our trip on a scrap piece of notebook paper.
But our family never had a lot of money, and so these dream machines remained dreams for many years. Then one day, back when I was struggling to finish my university degree, I had a lightbulb moment when I decided, you know what, I'm going to buy a Lamborghini Gallardo. I'm going to do it. I'm going to finish my degree, get a good job, save up my money, and buy my dream supercar. I put a spreadsheet together, figured out how much money I'd need, how many years it would take me to get there, decided it was an achievable stretch goal for me, and put the pedal to the metal. Then, for basically every single day for the next 10 years straight, all that I thought about was cars. From the minute I woke up, to the time I went to bed: cars. All day long, I would look at cars on Instagram or Facebook or autotrader or Google image search or autogespot or Top Gear or Motor Trend or, or, or... And I did my best to manage this obsession in the healthiest way possible, but without a doubt this goal of buying my dream car defined me as a person during this decade.
Fast-forward to a few years ago, and despite still not quite being at my Gallardo target yet, I've finally started to save up a decent chunk of cash. I decide that I can't wait anymore, I need a car now, and I start shopping used Lotus Elises and Exiges. Then one night after dinner I stumble across an article describing the newly-unveiled Lotus Emira, and my jaw hits the floor. Wow!! A brand new Lotus model, with gorgeous supercar looks, a manual transmission, a modern, updated interior, and around the same prices as a used first-gen Gallardo?? Needless to say, it took me about 1.7 seconds to decide I had to have it, and I immediately phoned my local Lotus dealership and put down a deposit. And I thought to myself "Oh man, I cannot wait to receive this car in about 8 or 9 months!!!". (Oh, what a naive fool I was…)
< insert 1,052 days of forum posts, Photoshop renders, memes, delay announcements, tears, anger, denial, bargaining, acceptance, anxiety, indecision, boredom, banter, more memes, jokes, celebrations, and laughter with everybody here on this forum
>
Also, I really, really... REALLY wanted to order mine in Krypton Green. But alas, I guess Hethel Yellow will have to do.
But 3 years is a long time. A person can change a lot during that period. For myself, about a year ago I had a sudden moment of clarity where I realised that my life was completely out of balance, and I was heading down the wrong path: I had eschewed almost all human connection, and had taken the relationships with my friends & people closest to me for granted. I had been too focused on my career. I was neglecting my health. And I had been pursuing my sports car ownership goal for the wrong reasons — I realised I'd been wanting to achieve it just so that I could hold it up to the world and say "See? I told you that I could do it, and I did it! I am successful! Admire me, love me, celebrate me!", and then surely, friendships & human connections would come pouring in shortly after that!
I went back to the drawing board: What were my values as a person? What did I actually want to do with my life? What did I want to accomplish before I died? What kind of a legacy did I want to leave, for those who knew me? And what was I doing to build & nurture meaningful connections with these people?
Something had to change. I took a break from the forum, took a break from Instagram, took a break from obsessing over cars & my Emira purchase at all hours of the day. I started reaching out to people I hadn't spoken to in years, and was elated to discover that they were happy to hear from me too. I started going to the gym 3 times a week, and started seeing results in the mirror and in my energy. I started smiling at people that I passed on the street, and making friendly chit-chat with strangers. I decided to learn how to speak & write Mandarin Chinese, and signed up for beginners courses and language exchange partners. I decided to start going to concerts again. I said yes when a friend of mine invited me to come to a free Brazilian dance class (I've never danced before). I decided to open myself up to the world again, open myself up to people, open myself up to having new experiences and new adventures.
"Jesus Christ", you must be thinking, "what the hell kind of ownership journal is this? What does any of this have to do with the Emira??"
And that is exactly what I struggled with over the past 6 months. How exactly would the Emira (or any sports car / supercar, for that matter) align with my values as a person now? How would owning this car bring more meaningful human connections into my life? How would it help me get in better physical shape? How would it help me become a more fluent Mandarin speaker? How could I justify such an extravagant purchase at a time when so many people are struggling? How could I rationalise buying this car when our planet is in the middle of a full-blown climate crisis? And yet, how could I just abandon my lifelong dream now, once the end is finally in sight?
To be honest, I still don't have great answers to some of those questions.
But with all that being said, after months of soul-searching and cross-examining every one of my motivations, desires, values, & priorities, I decided to take the plunge after all. At its core, the Emira represents the culmination of a lifelong dream for me, and the moment is right to act on it: The Emira is a very special machine, very likely the last of its kind, and I'm finally in a position where I can afford a car like this. And after realising that some of my motivations for wanting a sports car were based in some flawed / harmful belief patterns, I was able to reimagine my goal once more in a more positive light: How could I use a car like this to brighten up someone's day, or bring a small amount of joy into their life? How could I share this special vehicle with friends, family, or other like-minded enthusiasts?
And so, yesterday I pulled the trigger. I booked the afternoon off work, walked into the dealership (skateboard in hand, in case the Emira broke down on me
), and drove out in perhaps the most beautiful car I have ever laid eyes on:
Having decided that I would fully PPF protect this car so that it didn't turn out pockmarked by road gravel like my other car, I headed straight for Elite Auto Styling to get it wrapped, using a route that avoided any major highways. The drive over was absolutely surreal. I couldn't believe that this was actually my car. I still can't, honestly. This is my first sports car ever, and also my first new car purchase ever, and so it's all still just slowly sinking in. Even while walking my dog later that night, I put my hand in my jacket pocket and was surprised to feel the Lotus Emira key in there — so it WASN'T all just a dream! :O
Upon arriving at the PPF shop, I was excited to see the Seneca Blue Emira of another forum member. Great finally meeting you in person, @Type131! The timing worked out perfectly such that he was picking up his finished car at the same time as I was dropping mine off. So cool seeing the two cars next to each other!
Now the REALLY hard part: waiting another week & a half for the car PPF to be finished, after having been teased with that short 30 minute drive!
Speaking of which, am I just very new to sports car clutches, or what's the trick to pulling away from a stop in 1st gear in the Emira without stalling it? My other daily driver is a manual transmission Scion xB which I've been driving for the past 11 years, so I'm not exactly new to clutch pedals. Maybe I'm just accustomed to that car's clutch feel? Either way, I'm sure I'll get used to the Emira's clutch eventually.
Also, in all the flurry of activity & new experiences & sensory input & meeting new people yesterday, I forgot my house keys in the Emira and had to drive back to the shop to retrieve them.
Oh well, it gave me the chance to see the car one last time! And no exaggeration, when I rounded that corner and saw the car in the flesh once again, it took my breath away. What an absolute stunner!! 
I know it's a cliché, but it felt like I was standing in front of a spaceship / UFO. The car's presence in the flesh is otherworldly.
Anyways, that's all for now. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. More pictures and updates to follow in the coming weeks!
And what a journey it's been! Actually, so much time had passed since I first ordered this car 2 years, 10 months, and 17 days ago (let's call it 3 years) that my life has kind of moved on, and I honestly wasn't sure if I even wanted the car anymore. In fact, I tried to cancel my order back in February, partly because I was fed up with this whole waiting game, and partly because I felt like a sports car wasn't really relevant to me anymore. But my salesperson put up a fight, and so I decided to just let it ride for now and see how I felt once the car got here.
For some more background on myself, ever since I was a kid I've always been obsessed with sports cars and supercars. They just awaken something deep inside of me. I still remember seeing my first Lamborghini Diablo on the road when I was a young boy and freaking out and yelling to the entire car, "What was that?!?". And my mom loves telling the story of our family vacation to Hawaii, when I kept a tally of all the 50 or 60 different brands of cool cars that I saw during our trip on a scrap piece of notebook paper.
But our family never had a lot of money, and so these dream machines remained dreams for many years. Then one day, back when I was struggling to finish my university degree, I had a lightbulb moment when I decided, you know what, I'm going to buy a Lamborghini Gallardo. I'm going to do it. I'm going to finish my degree, get a good job, save up my money, and buy my dream supercar. I put a spreadsheet together, figured out how much money I'd need, how many years it would take me to get there, decided it was an achievable stretch goal for me, and put the pedal to the metal. Then, for basically every single day for the next 10 years straight, all that I thought about was cars. From the minute I woke up, to the time I went to bed: cars. All day long, I would look at cars on Instagram or Facebook or autotrader or Google image search or autogespot or Top Gear or Motor Trend or, or, or... And I did my best to manage this obsession in the healthiest way possible, but without a doubt this goal of buying my dream car defined me as a person during this decade.
Fast-forward to a few years ago, and despite still not quite being at my Gallardo target yet, I've finally started to save up a decent chunk of cash. I decide that I can't wait anymore, I need a car now, and I start shopping used Lotus Elises and Exiges. Then one night after dinner I stumble across an article describing the newly-unveiled Lotus Emira, and my jaw hits the floor. Wow!! A brand new Lotus model, with gorgeous supercar looks, a manual transmission, a modern, updated interior, and around the same prices as a used first-gen Gallardo?? Needless to say, it took me about 1.7 seconds to decide I had to have it, and I immediately phoned my local Lotus dealership and put down a deposit. And I thought to myself "Oh man, I cannot wait to receive this car in about 8 or 9 months!!!". (Oh, what a naive fool I was…)
< insert 1,052 days of forum posts, Photoshop renders, memes, delay announcements, tears, anger, denial, bargaining, acceptance, anxiety, indecision, boredom, banter, more memes, jokes, celebrations, and laughter with everybody here on this forum
>Also, I really, really... REALLY wanted to order mine in Krypton Green. But alas, I guess Hethel Yellow will have to do.
But 3 years is a long time. A person can change a lot during that period. For myself, about a year ago I had a sudden moment of clarity where I realised that my life was completely out of balance, and I was heading down the wrong path: I had eschewed almost all human connection, and had taken the relationships with my friends & people closest to me for granted. I had been too focused on my career. I was neglecting my health. And I had been pursuing my sports car ownership goal for the wrong reasons — I realised I'd been wanting to achieve it just so that I could hold it up to the world and say "See? I told you that I could do it, and I did it! I am successful! Admire me, love me, celebrate me!", and then surely, friendships & human connections would come pouring in shortly after that!
I went back to the drawing board: What were my values as a person? What did I actually want to do with my life? What did I want to accomplish before I died? What kind of a legacy did I want to leave, for those who knew me? And what was I doing to build & nurture meaningful connections with these people?
Something had to change. I took a break from the forum, took a break from Instagram, took a break from obsessing over cars & my Emira purchase at all hours of the day. I started reaching out to people I hadn't spoken to in years, and was elated to discover that they were happy to hear from me too. I started going to the gym 3 times a week, and started seeing results in the mirror and in my energy. I started smiling at people that I passed on the street, and making friendly chit-chat with strangers. I decided to learn how to speak & write Mandarin Chinese, and signed up for beginners courses and language exchange partners. I decided to start going to concerts again. I said yes when a friend of mine invited me to come to a free Brazilian dance class (I've never danced before). I decided to open myself up to the world again, open myself up to people, open myself up to having new experiences and new adventures.
"Jesus Christ", you must be thinking, "what the hell kind of ownership journal is this? What does any of this have to do with the Emira??"
And that is exactly what I struggled with over the past 6 months. How exactly would the Emira (or any sports car / supercar, for that matter) align with my values as a person now? How would owning this car bring more meaningful human connections into my life? How would it help me get in better physical shape? How would it help me become a more fluent Mandarin speaker? How could I justify such an extravagant purchase at a time when so many people are struggling? How could I rationalise buying this car when our planet is in the middle of a full-blown climate crisis? And yet, how could I just abandon my lifelong dream now, once the end is finally in sight?
To be honest, I still don't have great answers to some of those questions.
But with all that being said, after months of soul-searching and cross-examining every one of my motivations, desires, values, & priorities, I decided to take the plunge after all. At its core, the Emira represents the culmination of a lifelong dream for me, and the moment is right to act on it: The Emira is a very special machine, very likely the last of its kind, and I'm finally in a position where I can afford a car like this. And after realising that some of my motivations for wanting a sports car were based in some flawed / harmful belief patterns, I was able to reimagine my goal once more in a more positive light: How could I use a car like this to brighten up someone's day, or bring a small amount of joy into their life? How could I share this special vehicle with friends, family, or other like-minded enthusiasts?
And so, yesterday I pulled the trigger. I booked the afternoon off work, walked into the dealership (skateboard in hand, in case the Emira broke down on me
), and drove out in perhaps the most beautiful car I have ever laid eyes on:Having decided that I would fully PPF protect this car so that it didn't turn out pockmarked by road gravel like my other car, I headed straight for Elite Auto Styling to get it wrapped, using a route that avoided any major highways. The drive over was absolutely surreal. I couldn't believe that this was actually my car. I still can't, honestly. This is my first sports car ever, and also my first new car purchase ever, and so it's all still just slowly sinking in. Even while walking my dog later that night, I put my hand in my jacket pocket and was surprised to feel the Lotus Emira key in there — so it WASN'T all just a dream! :O
Upon arriving at the PPF shop, I was excited to see the Seneca Blue Emira of another forum member. Great finally meeting you in person, @Type131! The timing worked out perfectly such that he was picking up his finished car at the same time as I was dropping mine off. So cool seeing the two cars next to each other!
Now the REALLY hard part: waiting another week & a half for the car PPF to be finished, after having been teased with that short 30 minute drive!
Speaking of which, am I just very new to sports car clutches, or what's the trick to pulling away from a stop in 1st gear in the Emira without stalling it? My other daily driver is a manual transmission Scion xB which I've been driving for the past 11 years, so I'm not exactly new to clutch pedals. Maybe I'm just accustomed to that car's clutch feel? Either way, I'm sure I'll get used to the Emira's clutch eventually.
Also, in all the flurry of activity & new experiences & sensory input & meeting new people yesterday, I forgot my house keys in the Emira and had to drive back to the shop to retrieve them.
Oh well, it gave me the chance to see the car one last time! And no exaggeration, when I rounded that corner and saw the car in the flesh once again, it took my breath away. What an absolute stunner!! I know it's a cliché, but it felt like I was standing in front of a spaceship / UFO. The car's presence in the flesh is otherworldly.Anyways, that's all for now. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. More pictures and updates to follow in the coming weeks!
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