It's clear you feel it's just a car now. You're not on here as much as you used to be. "Anyone who TRULY believes "it's just a car" is not "wasting" their time on this forum." Or in the garage. Or at Z events.
...
In writing what I did, I was thinking forward from the back, not the other way as you are. The relationships follow the Z - "the car and the community are a package deal". The Z was your ticket in. I didn't mean to suggest the community would follow the Z out once the Z has passed, though it does seem that it goes that way for many, by their own choice/behavior.