Have a friend who's obsessed with cars, he's lonely

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Hello WrongPlanet,

Today I come to you because I have a 17-year-old male friend who's obsessed with cars and likes wrestling. He doesn't have his own car and can't drive though. He's a lonely person, a socially awkward guy, and I'm going to be moving away from him soon. I think I'm his only friend, or at least the only one who cares about him (that isn't his mother). I was wondering if any of you might be interested in talking to him/getting to know him, he might even have a form of Aspergers/autism, his behavior and social gracelessness makes me think so. I'd rather leave him someone who wants to talk to him, someone who appreciates and enjoys his interests [Seriously... He knows so much about the makes and stuff of cars...], and frankly, I haven't been able to be that person. I don't like cars OR wrestling, or the games he likes [he's also a bit of a gamer, not really, but he likes Legend Of Zelda].

So that's me pleading with you, members of the Friendship Board. If you're willing to try and interested in being more than a passing aquaintance to him, I'm be very appreciative. Message me, and I'll direct you to his Facebook account! Thank you very much for reading. *bows*

PS: No one in the school really shares his interests, and we live in a small community, which is why I'm looking through the internet rather than not.

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I think you guys will like my blog. http://modestyking.wordpress.com/

There's a few car clubs around, I know there's a classic car club here that meets once in a while, have you tried looking for car club groups in your area that you and him could attend? Maybe you could go along with him to the first one to help him build comfort and break the ice.

Maybe. Problem is, our community is small and the people that DO live in it are mostly retired people, working class people with no time, and young'uns [<19, give or take] who don't have enough responsibility to set up something like that. I mean, he's memorized the stats of so many cars - hundreds. If he were Aspie [which is possible], I would say that they are his special interest. Except he doesn't feel like researching how they actually work - the hydraulics involved and whatnot.

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I think you guys will like my blog. http://modestyking.wordpress.com/

Sounds a lot like me only I'm a year younger. I assume his parents have a car right? Tell him to try autocross or perhaps going to car shows. www.autox4u.com is a great place to start. There are multiple car forums that he can join if he wants to interact with other people or he can just follow the various posts if he wishes and does not own that car. For instance, if he likes ferraris google search: Ferrari forum. I personally do no care for classic cars but if that's his thing this is a good place to start: http://www.oldride.com/clubs/pennsylvania-clubs.html. or just do a google search. There are also a great number of car museums in PA (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/autom ... antic.html). The issue with being a "car guy" at this age is that it is not something that many people our age have a detailed understanding of. Teens are age are often overwhelmed by being able to get their liscence and may briefly discuss cars but do not have a genuine interest or understanding of them. The internet is a great rescource and given that you are in a small town, it is one that he should learn to make use of. It does seem odd that an aspie would enjoy wrestling but you never know.