http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U189SwhPXKI

The death of Paul Walker, star of the Fast and Furious films has been an unmitigated tragedy. We know him from his films, but we gearheads also know him as one of us. In October last year, Matt Farah, host of The Smoking Tire, toured the seriously impressive car collection, which serves as a reminder of just what a passionate fan of driving and cars he was.

One of the great things about cars is that they offer you a window into who someone is and what they care about. And over the course of this eight-minute video, we get to see what Paul Walker loved about cars.

The literally dozens of Saleen Mustangs hint at a love of unpretentious blue collar speed. I was particularly pleased to see how many of the normally unloved Fox body Mustang’s Walker had. Sure, with that money, he could have bought something faster, newer, and sexier. But no, he chose to be interesting.

That personality is on display throughout the collection, whether it’s a rare German sports car like the BMW M1, an old school Mercury two door wagon, or the gorgeous but slow Volvo P1800. It seems that Paul Walker loved cars for their souls. But clearly from the three Porsche GT3s that are scarred from going to war on the track, we know that these cars weren’t simply owned to be looked at.

Yes, we should be sad that Mr. Walker is gone, as we should be sad whenever we lose anyone. We should also take a moment, though, to share in something that speaks of passion and joy.