Race driver Jackie Stewart supposedly said “You don't have to be an engineer to be a racing driver, but you do have to have mechanical sympathy.”. Makes sense, to me, the race car is probably a bit closer to the way you'd treat your horse or something, to a driver.
"Probably any one of the boys from the Palace Flophouse could have made the truck run, for they were all competent practical mechanics, but Gay was an inspired mechanic. There is no term comparable to green thumbs to apply to such a mechanic, but there should be. For there are men who can look, listen, tap, make an adjustment, and a machine works. Indeed there are men near whom a car runs better. And such a one was Gay"
^one of my favorite excerpts from my one of my favorite novels, Steinbeck's /Cannery Row/
Martin Fowler cited Martin Thompson of LMAX who cited Sir Jackie Stewart of Formula One
Anyway, that's where we get the term from.
^one of my favorite excerpts from my one of my favorite novels, Steinbeck's /Cannery Row/
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_resonance
Edit: Ha! It was mentioned by name in the questions section.