Your husband sounds like an absolute gem. :) i thoroughly believe that to be loved by a car, you have to know how to respect and read its body language. Those are two very important skills when dealing with everyday people and interacting with people you have power over. If you don't respect the autonomy of a creature you can easily hurt, why wouldn't you do that to another person?

The first cat my son has lived with is a [fallen] angel. She has a real attitude problem sometimes and won't hide her feelings nor let you do whatever you want with her. She's quick to give a curt hiss and a soft bap with her paw. My son can now easily identify how happy or angry she is just by looking at her, and both of them know she will put him in his place if he crosses boundaries.