Pretty much same as you, Tom, I was at the race track while my dad ran a rear engine dragster when I was a month old, and spent a good portion of my life in our parts store/machine shop growing up. Kind of inevitable, I guess... He wrecked the racecar when I was 5, and we rebuilt a 63 Chevy truck as my first vehicle when I was 12, and now have put nearly 4 years into a 79 Camaro for a toy.
I think the car that probably did the most to me, though, was an 81 Camaro that my mom drove daily when I was in elementary school. Dark blue, well built 400 and a 9" with loud exhaust, I wanted to drive that car so bad...get my second chance now with our 79, I guess
Thus the obsession, though..kind of runs in the family, pretty much all of the last 2 generations have made their living doing something involving cars.