Automotive marques often become social and even political symbols. We allow them to define who we are, whom we identify with, and whom we hang out with. Unfortunately they often become stereotypes that hinge on bigotry, envy, hate, and class warfare.
In reality they are not what we are. They are simply brands.
When I was much younger I saved and saved and saved for a Porsche 911, my dream car. I found an older used coupe and it became my daily driver. One day it stopped running, right in the middle of a very busy intersection. As I was trying to push it to the side of the road, by myself, a woman driving by yelled, “Serves you right you rich bastard!” I was very far from being rich. My car probably costs less than her car did but the symbolism is what she was yelling at. Maybe it was her own insecurity.
Too often human beings become stand-ins for automotive marques.
Don’t drive a car because of what’s on the grill. Don’t pick a marque because of how you think it will define you. Try not to judge another by what they drive.
Marques and badges don’t define us as people. Who we are does.
Are you guilty of stereotyping people by what people drive? I have been. I’m working on improving.
With my publisher, Coachbuilt Press, we have recently released the second of our “Automotive Jewelry” books that present many mascots, badges and signatures that have adorned the automobile since its earliest days. Please visit http://www.CoachbuiltPress.com to get a peek inside. And if you haven’t seen it, please listen to my wonderful interview here on Cars Yeah.
I too thought I would like a Porsche – Fresh out of college with a new job I found a 67 911 a local doctor had for sale – It was the same price as a new 72 240Z. The doctor warned me – “if you don’t have a lot of money – don’t buy this car” – I bought the loaded new 240Z. I have never regretted the decision and appreciated the advice. Many Z’s later (many) I’m still in love with my Z’s – I picture myself pushing that 911 off the road and trying to figure out how to pay to fix it. Never had that problem with any of the Z’s I have owned. I’m sure the Porsche would have been fun but reality and practicality won over my heart.
Driving one of my custom built cars, I will occasionally get asked how much it cost. “I didn’t buy it,” I say, “I built it.” But I also drive a very utilitarian and much abused ’76 Chevy van: faded paint, crushed rear corner where a garbage truck ran a stop sign and hit me. When I drive it, full of tools and materials, to work on my mom’s house in an upscale area east of Seattle, I often get pulled over by the police. I get “profiled” for driving a beater in the good part of town.
I’ve been a car guy since childhood and bought my first BMW, a 2002, in 1974. I’ve been driving them on a daily basis ever since, but always buying them @3 years old or more and keeping them for 5-13 years. I bought them because of their handling, performance, practicality and understated good looks. If a person knowledgeable about cars assumed that the tii defined me as a car enthusiast who was practical, one who preferred understatement to flash and not a big spender, they would have been right on the money. But in the 80’s, they suddenly became a status symbol and the symbol of yuppies. If people asked me what I drove, I’d respond “an old BMW to avoid the assumptions they may make about who I am. My ’73 tii, which I bought in ’76, was keyed several times in the 80’s because, I’m sure, the roundel on the hood. Whoever did it probably thought it was a new car because of its great condition.
But at times I find myself making the same assumptions about what others drive – and I dare say I they often are correct. At times, I correctly guessed what friends drove because of who they were and how much – or how little – they liked cars and driving. Today it’s much harder to do because of the sheer number of models, their similarity and the ubiquity of BMWs, M-B, etc. But if you think most car manufacturers don’t successfully make assumptions about how they design, accessorize and price their cars, you’re not paying attention.
in an ideal world, cars would not give clues about who their owners are and we would not stereotype based on such criteria. In reality, most of us do; and in many cases, they ring true if one knows the real differences between makes, models and year. But that’s not to say that such assumptions are always accurate.