Resolutions for 2014

Traditionally, the New Year has always been a time to turn over a new leaf and that means leaving behind bad habits and, hopefully, bad Kharma. Typically these New Year’s resolutions involve quitting smoking or losing weight, eating more healthy foods or drinking less. In some cases, New Year’s resolutions can be life changing if the resolution involves a real challenge, like completing a marathon or circumnavigating the globe. But for people who live and breathe cars, resolutions often take a different form, and several of our staff and contributors have shared their New Year’s resolutions.

1. Rob Sass resolves neither to buy any more Jensens in 2014 nor to keep any newly acquired car for less than three months
2. Jonathan Stein will never undertake another complete restoration or own another car that you have to jack up, remove the wheel and take off an inner access panel just to check the ignition points.
3. Dave Kinney resolves to never buy more than five Avantis in any given year.
4. Jonathan Klinger will keep “project creep in check” and never again let minor routine maintenance evolve into a ground-up restoration over the course of eight hours.
5. McKeel Hagerty resolves never to restore an Aston Martin remotely again.
6. Wayne Carini will not to paint any Ferraris red in 2014.
7. Ken Gross won’t remove the fenders, running boards and hoods from any more old Fords. He won’t even drop the ride height.
8. Ezra Dyer resolves not to take his diesel Bronco to the drag strip and measure its performance in ways that will tempt him to spend money on “items such as injectors like fire hoses.”
9. P. J. O’Rourke, after 40 years on four wheels, resolves not to buy a classic CB750 Honda.  His wife resolves to shoot him if he does.  
10. Don Sherman pledges to diminish his obsession for rescuing first-generation Honda Insights and limit himself to one to restore and drive and another to convert to a mid-engine rotary-powered supercar.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Dave Kinney won’t also resolve to run his first marathon or that beef-loving Jonathan Klinger won’t commit to 12 months as a vegetarian or that P.J. O’Rourke won’t alter his resolution in favor of a faster bike in the hopes of outrunning his armed wife.

(1. Rob Sass is the Publisher of Hagerty Classic Cars magazine and the Vice President of Media Content for Hagerty. 2. Jonathan Stein is the Executive Editor of Hagerty Classic Cars magazine and the former Publishing Director of Automobile Quarterly. 3. Dave Kinney is the Publisher of the Hagerty Price Guide and the principal of U.S. Appraisal. 4. Jonathan Klinger is Hagerty’s PR manager, and the McPherson College graduate has a long history with old cars. 5. McKeel Hagerty is the President and CEO of Hagerty, and has been playing with cars since long before he had his license. 6. Wayne Carini is best known as the host of “Chasing Classic Cars,” but is a restorer, collector and dealer of fine automobiles. 7. Ken Gross is a veteran automotive journalist who knows his exotics as well as he knows hot rods, and that’s saying a lot. 8. Ezra Dyer is best known for his humorous take on all things automotive. His work can be found in Automobile and many other publications, including Hagerty Classic Cars magazine. 9. P. J. O’Rourke is a political satirist, journalist, and writer who is the former editor of National Lampoon and has written much about cars. 10. Don Sherman is a longtime automotive journalist who has worked extensively with both Car and Driver and Automobile and is a frequent contributor to Hagerty Classic Cars magazine.)