Get your tissues out, this one is a tear jerker.
Try explaining your passion for cars to someone, I dare you. You can’t, or at least not without them thinking you’re clinically insane. For most petrolheads, cars are an all-encompassing lifestyle. Your weekend is either spent at events; track days, car shows, autocross, whatever, or it’s spent fixing your car that you broke during said weekend shenanigans. Your friends? You either met them through cars, or your constant automotive narrative has led them to passively hate you. Your paychecks? Car parts and event entry fees. Cars personally saved my life during the monotony that is college life. For one gearhead, cars saved his life in a slightly more literal way.
Meet Jon Livermore. At age 32, Jon had tuned his Evo 9 to around 420whp, enough to blow the entire rear end straight off the car; differential, half shafts and all. It was also at this point that Jon was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer. Near constant treatment commenced, but the project continued. With the generous help of friends, his Evo 9 turned into a carbon-bodied 700whp monster. More importantly, it was the build that gave him the strength to carry on through the onslaught of chemotherapy.