Opinion: The best cars speak to our inner child

I played a small part in creating a moment of pure joy recently. An Audi R8 was passing through the road-testing garage and on my way home from shooting it for the Wheels YouTube channel (check it out, if you haven’t already), I decided to stop at a friend’s place. Their son is a toddler and obsessed with cars, so I casually assumed he’d appreciate a look.

I didn’t give it much more thought until I arrived and spotted the top of a small head behind their front fence. It was moving excitedly from side to side and bouncing up and down as he strained to catch a glimpse of the noisy blue supercar.

What followed was both heart-warming and a moment of unexpected perspective. Kids have an amazing ability to break life down into its most uncomplicated form and as I watched him stare and shout and smile – and then make a funny shocked/worried face as I revved the big 5.2-litre V10 – I was reminded of two things.

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The first is that a big part of the joy of cars is sharing them. As a country boy, I’d have lost my mind if someone turned up with a low-slung supercar when I was a kid, but what I wasn’t expecting was the warm glow of happiness I felt at stoking that same passion for cars in a younger generation. It’s why I firmly believe cars shouldn’t be mothballed and tucked away for posterity; they should be driven, enjoyed and shared.

It’s also a big part of what makes car meets like Melbourne’s rapidly growing ‘Highball Cars & Coffee’ so successful. You don’t just go to ogle and dream, you swap stories, create memories and foster the love of cars in the next generation.

The second thought is the one that’s stayed with me, however. I’ve often pondered what separates the great cars from the merely very good and the toddler’s reaction to the R8 crystallised something for me: the best cars are the ones that speak to our inner child. Think about it.

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I’d wager that many of your fondest motoring memories stem from your formative years: spotting a sports car for the first time; your first sensation of speed in something properly quick; the sound and fumes of your first motorsport event.

Supercars are the most obvious candidates for rekindling that sense of child-like glee, but by no means do you need to spend big to recapture a sense of wonder. I know this because I’ve recently experienced it driving a $45K Hyundai i30 N.

Hyundai’s mid-life update for its first hot hatch is surprisingly comprehensive and has honed an already excellent car into something pretty special. It has also added the option of an eight-speed dual-clutch which includes powertrain modes entitled ‘N Grin Shift’ and ‘N Power Shift’.

I’ll freely admit I thought the names were naff but then I drove the car and, as I watched the shift lights glow red and heard the cracks and bangs from the exhaust, I conceded they’re actually spot-on. There’s a silliness and youthfulness to the N that actually isn’t silly at all. It’s brilliant.

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Even better news is that the i30 N is by no means a unicorn. Hyundai’s smaller hot hatch, the i20 N, delivers a similar experience, and here’s hoping the hugely hyped GR Corolla, delivers the same sense of fun and engagement.

A new Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86 and the incoming Nissan 400Z also promise thrills at reasonable money so here’s my suggestion: if you haven’t felt that rush of glee for a while because of lockdowns, or maybe you think you’ve outgrown it, do yourself a favour and go for a drive in something that makes you smile. If you can tap into the same sense of joy as my friend’s toddler, you can’t get much happier than that.