I studied to be a car mechanic. That was my plan B. Servicing cars and changing tyres in Finland.
I remember in ‘37 when trolley cars were so big in New York. It was five cents for a ride… There used to be open-air buses, and you could go up a spiral staircase and sit up on top. Those were great, great days.
I have two bikes: a classic 1978 Yamaha SR500 and a more modern Suzuki SV650. I’ve been into cars and bikes since I was tiny.
I love driving fast. I grew up in Germany; we have the Autobahn here, where we can drive without a speed limit. And throughout my 20s, I always had fast cars, and I always went to the maximum. Like, my average cruising speed was 250 km/hr.
In L.A., I see people who are always in their cars, always driving. I encourage them to walk more – walk to the post office, walk to lunch. Even if it is a 10-minute walk, it’s so good for you.
I am a racer. I’m not a race car driver. I am a racer. I race. That’s what I do. I don’t go on vacations. I don’t take my family on vacations because I don’t have a family. My family is the racing family.
Every new car, you open the door, and you look at all those internal mellifluous swoopy bits, and they have no meaning.
I really love muscle cars. I don’t think people might realize that about me. I really want to go to an auto auction and blow my life savings on a Camaro. They have such design around them, such panache.
I’m carded for R-rated movies. And I get talked down to a lot. When I try to go rent a car or buy an airplane ticket or other stuff adults do, I get ‘Okaaaaaay, honey.’ I remember when I was 18, getting crayons in a restaurant.
If you own a toll road, you don’t care how many passengers are in each car or what kind of car it is. You just want as many cars to move down the road as possible, and you make damn certain they pay their tolls, okay?
Factory farming is one of the biggest contributors to the most serious environmental problems. The meat industry causes more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, planes and ships in the world.
I grew up with the Highwaymen, which was Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. Mom and Dad rode rodeo, so country music was always in the house and the car. They threw in some Dolly Parton, too.
My wife’s a redneck, and she loves a muscle car.
Boredom is a fearsome prospect. There’s a limit to the number of cars and microwaves you can buy. What do you do then?
I was always into different stuff: custom cars, electrical, construction, tattooing, decor, you name it.
I’m hands-on with everything. From music to a car to remodeling a house – anything. People don’t know that stuff, though, ‘cause I put all my focus into music and being mysterious a little bit.
I have one thing that I’m saving for my son. It’s a 1965 Chevy Impala Super Sport. It’s a beautiful sea-foam green color. It’s like a teal green, white interior, and it’s just a gorgeous car.
I was a pizza delivery boy at the Pizza Oven in Canton. I wanted to get fired so bad, I actually wrecked the delivery car, but they wouldn’t fire me because I was the only person they had working there.
Nothing impresses the ladies like a clean, pressed pair of khakis and a large pattern shirt featuring either classic cars, mojitos or men playing golf.
With a brand – and I respect Porsche – but the Ferrari brand is more exclusive… We never do SUVs, we never do four doors, and we never exceed 7,000 cars per year. And 7,000 means 7,000.
In L.A., my house is surrounded by churches, and there are no cars, so it’s really nice to just walk around before I go home to check my emails from Spain, which have been coming in all night.
I’m not keen on cars and motorbikes. I tried to be a biker, but it wasn’t me – I bought a Harley-Davidson and dumped it.
I remember my wife and I used to get on plane and see everybody else with their babies. They’d be putting strollers and car seats up above, and we’d think: Oh, please Lord, don’t make us go through that.
I bought a car, but not just any car; I bought a Volvo, which was the safest on the road at the time. It’s not any more, so I upgraded to the Mercedes.
But, I think I first got into cars because of an electric car – it was the Tesla. And then, just the fact that they are such high-tech products. There’s automated driving. There’s battery technology, all the other stuff that goes into it.
