From the thought in my Volvo thread, is your choice of transport influenced by the reaction you think it might get at your regular destinations? For example, I feel that while a big BMW or Mercedes estate would combine the space we need with the comfort we want, at my un-car conscious workplace it might look like trying too hard. I don't feel that way about my old Volvo, but maybe I'd feel differently about a new one.
Conversely, I can't think of anywhere I go where I'd worry my car might not be up to it - although I might give it a vacuum if I knew I'd be showing anyone the inside. No doubt plenty here profess not to give a damn what anyone else thinks, but who else here is New Man enough to admit to a little automotive status anxiety, natural or inverted?
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If they are un-car conscious in your workplace, WDB, they probably won't even notice.
If they do, and have the damn cheek to comment, just tell them to STFU and add a few choice words for the sort of person they are.
New man? Status anxiety? For heaven's sake man. Grow some goolies, or forget about them as the case may be.
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Thanks, AC. I kinda hoped you'd be around to pick this up, and you didn't let me down.
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Would have liked to have kept the pick up if only for this reason, depending on destination i've been known to adopt a slightly stronger family Irish lilt and address them as sorr.
If my choice of car caused raised eyebrows i'd be chuffed to bits, surely no one takes such things seriously any more, if they do they need to get out more.
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>> is your choice of transport influenced by the reaction you think it might get at your regular destinations? >>
I have thought about taking the BMW to Mercedes Benz World, been regularly and never gave it a thought in the Focus ST or Mondeo.
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It's such a pity that GM ruined Saab. A Saab was the ultimate 'non-image' car which wasn't looke down on by people in so-called 'prestige' brands, nor eyed enviously by those less fortunate.
I've a feeling that Skoda is gradually getting that image, now that the 'shed' jokes are a thing of the past. At the moment VW is perhaps the brand that best occupies that middle ground. Honda would like to, I suspect, but the average age of their customers stays resolutely high, and bringing in the supposedly trendy-looking Civic just put customers off as you can't see out of the back of it.
That said, WdB, drive the car you want to, and refer anyone at work who quibbles to a taxidermist.
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Never cared what anyone thinks of the status of my car, it is what it is, ill take it anywhere.
In all honesty they are far more likely to be staring at me than my car, as with a flat cap, 2 wks beard, glasses with selotape on them, garnished with an Armani watch, an apparently posh Sussex accent and £300 of jewellery, I cut a rather unusual figure for most.
Id be suprised if they can form any solid opinion of me other than Im abit eccentric, which then opens me up to a wide variety expected behaviour as who knows what an eccentric will do.
This avoids any firm need to conform. So id go anywhere in anything, I care not.
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Stu, you are DJ Talent, AICMFP!
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Haha, not quite, more like a country gent who appears to have been living rough for a while.
My sister called me posh tramp. I take that as a compliment :-)
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>> A Saab was the ultimate 'non-image' car which wasn't looke down on by people in so-called 'prestige' brands, nor eyed enviously by those less fortunate.
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Agreed, and I think they still fit the bill even if the product is not cutting edge.
>> I've a feeling that Skoda is gradually getting that image, >>
Disagree, not while VRSs are available in Subaru Impreza WRX blue. There is an image to up hold there, sporty Saabs were, are even, much more subtle, too subtle for some including me I guess. Perhaps a 9-3 Aero estate could fit the bill in a few birthdays time.
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I've noticed my 11 year old daughter is more inclined to ask me to take her to friends' parties, events etc since I got rid of the Escort. I don't suppose it did her image much good!
A Mondeo isn't anything special, it's just an average "dad" car, but the Escort was, I suspect, slightly embarrassing in company. It's all about fitting in, not standing out, at that age.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Mon 20 Jun 11 at 23:05
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I used to happily accept lifts in the 10 year old Lada. Even though all the blue smoke probably poisoned half the school and it was a comedy item in similar vain to the Trotters Reliant.
Your Escort would have been a Rolls Royce in comparison.
I don't know why the last generation Escort had such a bad reputation really, they ok cars, refined (with the Zetec engine) and very comfortable but now they are just seen as a joke.
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First you have to decide to care what anyone else thinks, what actually means something is what you think of yourself.
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>>Thanks, AC. I kinda hoped you'd be around to pick this up, and you didn't let me down. >>
I felt that it could have perhaps been put more forcefully and decisively than this limp wristed response....
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>> could have perhaps been put more forcefully and decisively than this limp wristed response....
I was toying with the idea of twitting Stu for boasting that he is covered in bling and has a posh Sussex accent (what that?).
But I won't because it's probably East Sussex where the Scientologists and young persons' prison are... and because he likes cars and I'm sort of used to him.
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>I was toying with the idea of twitting Stu for boasting that he is covered in bling and has a posh Sussex accent (what that?).<
Apparently a Sussex accents sounds posh to locals, I get rather fed up with being told it, I dont think its posh, but I dont know how I sound.
West Sussex as it happens, Horsham to be precise, apparently quite posh if one believes what ya read although it never struck me that way when I lived there.
I wouldnt say covered in bling, its old bling, collected over many years.
Last edited by: FoR on Tue 21 Jun 11 at 00:42
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>> West Sussex as it happens, Horsham to be precise
Both sides of Sussex are surprisingly wide in the East-West axis. We aren't (or wouldn't have been) neighbours exactly, but Horsham's not too far, 20 miles perhaps... It's a place where I always get lost, like a Frenchman in South London at 2 in the morning.
Old bling is best of course Stu. I have a Trinidadian friend in London who wears so much bling that they put him in a TV ad for some sort of financial service. Mind you he really goes in for it, teeth and all. When the ad first came out he said drivers used to stop their buses to call across the street to him. Naturally he quite liked it, but it wasn't really new to him. He's what they used to call a Face, often seen in his part of town, and quite hard to miss.
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AC, the old bling is mainly what ex's bought me over the years and the watch, well thats a sign of when times were better, the strap is a bit worn out now, but I cant quite stretch to the £25 for another these days, bills to pay! Ive always thought that when wearing jewels, best to just a couple of reall expensive bits rather than cover yourself in £20 of Argos' finest.
Horsham isnt what id call a structured town, its very sprawling, esp on the edges, although I understand that in the 9 years ive been gone, its changed so much I may not recognise it anyway. I dont have much love for the area though, I never looked back once we moved up here, not ventured back since we moved.
I rather liked Midhurst though, that was my kind of place.
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...I rather liked Midhurst though, that was my kind of place...
I had a very rich aunt who lived in Billingshurst.
Although lots of people in Billingshurst were much richer.
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A sprinkling of 'I don't care' inverted snobbery in this thread.
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>> A sprinkling of 'I don't care' inverted snobbery in this thread.
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Damn right!
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending...) I don't have much choice in the matter, having to drive all kinds of cars for reviews.
However, the kids - 8 and 11 - are the yardstick for 'coolness' when they see whatever offering I've got this week, and take great delight in pointing out to their friends 'daddy's new car' when it is 'cool', and sneaking up and leaping into the back when it isn't.
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I can't go there in this - Armel Coussine
