I think a lot about how I have a lot of fondness and smell memory attached to what are probably carcinogenic vapors. A nostalgic part of me is sad that we are losing the cultural artifact that is the smell of gasoline. We had a 5hp go-kart when I was a kid, and my parents always used gasoline powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers. But obviously in other ways I am very happy we are moving past it.

Yep, we used to love the smell of gas stations growing up. But mostly harmful to breathe I’m sure.

Nothing like the smell of boat gasoline.

Yahh my step mom had a jet boat, I know that one for sure!

Gasoline engines without catalytic converters as well. When I'm on a sidewalk and an old car drives by, the familiar smell takes me back to my youth. Riding in traffic with the windows down, or field trips to some destination in the city full of flatulent traffic. It's the smell of childhood summer when the air was calm and exhaust hung in the air forever.

I was also around dairy farms a lot as a kid. Like the ironically adjective'd "pre-smog" engines, it only smells like nostalgia for a minute or so.

Smells like... cancer.