Small is beautiful

There are emotions that enter your heart as a child and stay with you forever: a passion for cars starts like this – it is by no means a coincidence that you love the cars that are part of your memories, even those from your early childhood. The Key, available before Christmas, discovered that a Japanese collector in Tokyo has built a specially-equipped truck to transport four magnificent European Gran Turismo cars to schools in order to introduce children to models with famous names, such as Ferrari, Lancia, Lamborghini and Bizzarrini. The children can get into the cars, touch them and smell them. Because once, amazingly, cars had a distinctive smell that evoked high performance and glorious emotions. Children and automobiles are very often the place where destiny raises its head: as a child, Fernando Alonso received a red fire truck. And he said it was a Ferrari. Luis Hamilton found his childhood hero in Ayrton Senna and his many exploits. Anyone who thinks cars don’t matter anymore is wrong. Trivial, everyday cars no longer matter. Cars that matter are the ones that make you dream, whether it’s a Volkswagen minibus to go surfing in or a Panda 4×4 to handle any terrain. Or, while we’re there, cars of a time gone by, in need of restoration or customized to make them an extension of their owners. We applaud Tamotsu Akama for what he does for young Japanese children. And congratulations to Porsche and its Porsche 4 kids program, which allows children to discover the charm of their particular brand. Let’s hope others imitate them.