NEAL BOULTON

Technological progress in our civilization has often been the result of having a fire placed under our asses. Today, gas prices are the highest we’ve ever seen and the price of oil threatens to rise. In return, the era of ‘dirty’ automobile engines that run on gasoline seem to be driving into the twilight of their existence.

So why on earth commemorate our recent biggest headache with a special issue about cars and their ephemera? I thought this was a gay men’s magazine!

It’s simple. Men, whether intimidated by the engines under their car’s hoods or in love with them not only need cars, but buy more of them than our counter gender. What’s more, for some of us, getting greasy inside an engine is a thrill, while for others, watching the men who do is the thrill.

But for decades what represents cool in cars is no longer muscle—it’s design. Yet, nothing is more of a turn-on to the human race than speed—which can only be achieved by power.

America will always be a car country—and why not? A vast country unfolds before us on the open road and so do the keys to self discovery. From the wavy grassy plains, to the mountains that tower, to the cities that offer hope of a new life—the car and the road and a brighter future have always been intertwined.

When I came out in 1985 I was asked to leave my home. That day, the walk to my car was the longest I had ever taken, but the drive from Baltimore to New York was my solace. Highway signs glided cinematically overhead; the landscape blurred by motels and diners, industry and decay sped past my windows. Possibility—the hope that fuels our community—rushed before me.

Gentlemen, the car era is about to change. But we’ll always want the rush, the glamour and that thing on four wheels that keeps moving us forward.


Neal Boulton, Editor-in-Chief

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