When I was a kid I loved cars, motorcycles, and racing both. But, there were only 3 cars that I can say I really loved.
One was a 1958 Corvette that my grandpa helped me do some body work on and then he painted it (7 coats of hand-sanded white pearl lacquer) and redid the interior (tan leather). About 6 weeks after he passed away someone backed into the front end and I just couldn't face working on it without him.
Next car I loved was a 1958 Austin-Healey Mark I (bugeye) Sprite that I totally rebuilt from a basket case with guidance and a little help from the guys I worked with - but I did the work myself ... was going to use it for SCCA gymkhanas and rallies until I was old enough (and had the bucks) to rebuild it for racing and go to racing school. It was stolen out of my driveway one night and found 6 weeks later in a creek at the bottom of a cliff in Memphis, TN - not enough left to bother with.
The last car I had that I loved was a 1966 Ford GT350-H ... the insurance company canceled my coverage when they found out it wasn't just a regular 289 auto-tranny Mustang.
Of course during the married and child rearing years the only concern was affordable and reliable transportation for a family of 5 - nothing too much to love about a station wagon or a gussied-up Ford cargo van.
My car now I inherited when Dad passed away 13 years ago - 1985 Cadillac Eldorado. I've rebuilt the engine and transmission, had to replace a window motor, and had to have the brake lights worked on a couple of times. It gets decent gas mileage (about 27-mpg) and it's paid for. It's fuel injected, computer controlled, and I don't think there's a flippin thing on it that I can work on myself. I really can't be in love with a car I can't get intimate with.
I'm afraid that my days of being in love with a car are over ... unless I win the lottery ....