Revving engines, spinning tires, flashing headlights. Cars are a staple of modern life, transporting people across the world and exemplifying advanced engineering through everyday utility. In the hundred years since they first rose in popularity, passion for cars has been passed down, inspiring new generations to explore these machines inside and out.
“My cousin, he had this truck and he built his truck … and he’s really the reason why I mainly got into [cars],” source A said. “And he was like, ‘Bro, like, you could see how fast my truck was, I know you like this type of stuff.’ And so I started getting more into it, into cars and trucks.”
Aside from their daily transportation uses, cars garner attention for their specialized components and modifications. Many people are interested in cars for their aesthetic appeal, with car magazines and popular shows like “Top Gear” showing off the sleek designs of countless cars. But many car enthusiasts are more intrigued by what’s on the inside, spending hours inside their bonnets exploring and altering the mechanical workings for themselves.
“With my cousin’s car … we took out the engine, we replaced the part that had gone bad because one of the pistons had broken and so we had to get it replaced,” source A said. “Working on an engine is the most time-consuming thing.”
HUSSEIN WAHAB//USED WITH PERMISSION
Hussein Wahab (11) has translated his passion for cars into business. Wahab was born in the U.S. and moved to Lebanon in elementary school, later returning to Memphis for middle school. He was introduced to cars through his older brother, who modified their family car in Lebanon and eventually opened an auto shop in Memphis.
“We had a Land Rover and my brother just kept modifying it with my dad’s money,” Wahab said. “And, you know, yeah, he made it sound nice … So he was always into cars back then. And when we came here, we saw an opportunity, a better opportunity. We got the [auto] shop and, you know, found those auctioned cars and made them very fast, made them race cars.”
Wahab’s business centers around restoring and reselling crashed cars. His brother’s influence continues to inspire Wahab’s passion for cars and has also shaped his business model.
“My older brother … he had a friend that he worked with together, and I always grew up in the shop with him and I got my first car. That was a BMW 335i and he helped me start on it and [learn] how to change stuff … And you know, it just kept going off from there and I would buy crashed cars, fix them up and then sell it for a higher price.”
For this business, Wahab buys crashed cars at auction, viewing them as investments. If he can see profit in them, Wahab sells the revamped product right away. But this quick-fix-and-sell model is not the case for all his cars, some cars get special treatment.
“I have a very old Mercedes, I usually bring it [to school] often,” Wahab said. “That car I’m gonna keep. It’s very clean, it’s an old classic, it’s like it’s been garaged for its whole life and I got it for a very cheap price. I can sell it for maybe $10K plus … but I’d wanna keep it maybe 10 more years and it would be [worth] a lot more.”
Aside from refurbishing cars for himself and his business, Wahab helps other people maintain their cars. At his brother’s shop, this often means working on several cars at one time; two cars on the lifts in the garage as well as two cars parked under them.
“I work on a lot of things,” Wahab said. “Usually like people would come in with, I’d say, a regular car and not a performance car — a fast car — and they’d want, like, just maintenance work done. Like, if something went bad on their car, a belt, something regular, I can easily fix that for them. I have a lift. I’m very known with that stuff, so I mean [I work on] basically everything.”
For many people, cars are more than basic transport, they are a source of industry and passion. Even in the spectrum of car fans, from aesthetic appreciators to racers to businessmen, everyone has a favorite car: a piece of engineering that reminds them of nostalgia or the future, beauty or utility and keeps their passion driving forward.
“It has to be [my] all time favorite car,” Wahab said. “I’d say the BMW M3.”
