Driving has never been a chore for me, I have always enjoyed it, but it wasn't until getting a Mk4 Golf when I was 22 that I really started to love cars. Looking back, that car was not good, but it felt good, and I suppose to VW and their buyers, that was all that mattered.
Driving home from buying the car, the sun started to set and I put the lights on. The dashboard lit up blue. I had only ever seen green or orange dashboard illumination before this, so it was a shock! I don't know why, but that really made me love the Golf. I started reading tuning magazines and eventually made some mods to the car.
A few years later I got to drive a Gallardo, and while it was certainly a fun experience, I would actually rank seeing the blue dash lights in the Golf as being a more impactful moment.
The thing about cars is if you love the car nothing else matters, it could leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere, but you will repair it no matter what anyone else says. Nice! I bet that was amazing.