There is a plan to merge a school in middle-class Lytham St. Annes with one in working-class Blackpool. A website protest from Lytham fears their area will be swamped by Blackpool students arriving with "caravans, Kias and hoop earings."
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My state grammar school was merged with a nearby secondary modern/comprehensive.
It was not a happy marriage.
We didn't like their pupils, whom we considered intellectually inferior.
And they didn't like us, not least because of the above attitude.
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What image do other posters think is conveyed by their cars? I think my Hyundai i10 says "first car" which is wrong for me, or "old codger" which I fear is correct.
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Well, I'm clear in my mind that a car only speaks to it's owner. No one else particularly cares or is listening.
However, by way of a straw poll, if I were a potential supplier of goods or services to you and turned up to visit you for a meeting, would your attitude to the deal be swayed positively or negatively by the brand or age of vehicle I arrived in provided it appeared to be clean, tidy and suited to the purpose?
Or would you ( as indeed I hope I would ) be more concerned as to whether my solution to your business needs was the best one?
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Humph - good question.
Some of our salesmen drive Porsches and one even has a Ferrari (no company cars even for salesmen).
Our salesman get huge bonuses. They often get a sale by making promises that our products have certain features. We, the workers, then have to work our socks off to quickly add these features to the products. (And we don't get bonuses)
This colours my answer somewhat, but if a Salesman turned up in a seriously expensive car I would think that the customers have to pay over the odds in order to fund such a motor.
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>>I think my Hyundai i10 says "first car" which is wrong for me, or "old codger" which I fear is correct.
The i10's around my neck of the woods seem to be driven by a mix of age groups. The Jazz would appear to be the car of choice for the "old codger".
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>>
>> The i10's around my neck of the woods seem to be driven by a mix
>> of age groups. The Jazz would appear to be the car of choice for the
>> "old codger".
>>
That's certainly the case round my way, with its high 'old codger' population, although the Nissan Note seems to be becoming increasingly popular.
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Across the road: I10. Old codger.
Down the road : Hunda Jazz: old codger.
In our house: Toyota Yaris d4d. Intelligent person who values economy coupled with engineering prowess and the finer points of life. Also : old codger.. :-)
Next door: Mercedes 300E and Honda CRV : old codgers..
Last edited by: madf on Fri 18 Nov 11 at 13:02
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Anyone who judges me by the car i drive is not someone whos opinon is of the slightest interest.
I'd rather someone was an individual who chooses the vehicle they like and suits their needs, but sadly a marketed image of success display has been imprinted on the consumer generation, from cradle to the grave....if you don't wear this or eat that or drive the other you haven't quite made it have you and the brainwashed impressionable plebs won't like you, it starts with putting designer trainers on kiddies in pushchairs.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Fri 18 Nov 11 at 13:02
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Difficult one to judge. If a salesman turned up in something overly expensive compared to the type of industry they were in then that would concern me, same as if they turned up in some old nail.
I guess the middle ground would be a Mondeo :-)
Not sure what the C5 says about me. Guess I'm one to not follow the crowd, however they are now a fairly common sight
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>> Anyone who judges me by the car i drive is not someone whos opinon is
>> of the slightest interest.
>>
Although I try not to pre judge people its sometimes very easy to look at an individual and draw conclusions based on their choice of transport, and in some cases that's what the individual wants, for example I dont imagine premier ship footballers buy certain vehicles to blend in.
In the other extreme you have Stephen Fry driving around in a black cab to "blend in"
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I met Stephen Fry once in a parking garage in Soho. He was in a Galaxy that day. Uninterestingly enough.
Don't the royals tool around in fairly anonymous cars for similar reasons?
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The Duke of Edinburgh was said to use a London taxi, and I'm sure I saw the Queen driving herself in a green Granada near Harley Street in the mid-80s.
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Noel Edmonds tootles around Bristol in a black cab to avoid the traffic
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He used to have a Capri. Not sure why I know that. Quite worrying really.
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Some motors, of course, cry out to me ' pretentious pfd '. Plenty of footballers pass here with lotsadough and little taste.....their choice.
Next door has a Multipla, often with a roof box......you'd think ' family man, wife, 3 kids and a dog. Likes camping.
You'd be right !
I don't know what the Vitara says about me. I like to think ' Square jawed, big-bottomed, dependable, roustabout sort of guy, excellent drinking companion and first class in any crisis .'
Well, the big-bottomed bit is right, at least !
Ted
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 19 Nov 11 at 19:39
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There is a well known nationwide firm of estate agents who have liveried up BMW 1 series as their reps cars and my thought is that they could have liveried up something either cheaper or English and their fees must be quite high.
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British car ! They'd have to get an Allegro out of the scrappie for that ! BMW lease rates are very good....and probably got a very good deal as well.
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My car is way too loud for my liking, I dont WANT 18 year old mates who try and make small talk about the car, all I wanna do is tell them to pull their blinking trousers up.
I do like a car that most people dont know what it is, because then its harder for them to catagorise me. I have a strong draw towards a Fiat Croma atm, but im sure it will pass...
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Well I've got a Jazz, and fit the "old codger" age group, but I also have a Smart Roadster, so where does that place me?
I don't actually give a Tinker's cuss what other people think about me and the car I choose, I buy the ones that suit my needs, and I like.
The Jazz would really be a super car for families with small children.
It's as big inside, and with the same size luggage space and legroom as a Focus,Golf, etc, but about 18" shorter, so easier to park, and the back seats fold down properly horizontal, or can be lifted to give a large space behind the front seats for dogs, buggies, etc.
Funny how people are swayed by "image".
And we think we live in an age of rationality.
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I'm an old hairdresser then - according to my cars apparently, though to be fair that is half correct.
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>> its harder for them to catagorise me. I have a strong draw towards a Fiat
>> Croma atm, but im sure it will pass...
I hired one in Turin. It was a very nice motorcar indeed, and is a bargain second hand. It was on my shortlist of cars and was only pipped because the slightly better priced Lancer cropped up.
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Fiats in the UK have an undeserved poor reputation - largely because of the folk memory of rusty ones from the 70s and early 80s - shame really. Mentioned the Fiat 131 on here before - fine looking with good of dynamics.
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I'm moved to say again, what makes anyone think that others are even slightly concerned by what car they drive? Does anyone decide to make a judgement about a complete stranger based solely on their car? Maybe, just maybe in extreme circumstances of uber-bling or outrageous tattiness but if you happen to be sitting in traffic next to someone in a "normal" car do you really waste mental effort trying to decide on their personality traits, income level or social standing? Surely not? To me they are just a person in a car who I hope is competent enough to drive it without causing me a problem. Simple as that. I coudn't give a toss or second thought as to who or what they are beyond that.
Car status only really exists in the mind of the occupant, it's irrelevant in the main to the observer. Ironic really given the amount of time effort and money some are prepared to expend on achieving the right "image".
That's not to deny for one moment the pleasure to be gained from owning or driving a good car but it's a fool's errand to believe anyone else gives a stuff what you're driving.
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Very true Humph - I gave someone a lift a few weeks ago - "nice car this, is it an Astra ?" was the comment !
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Well, I do claim some real experience here. The nature of my chosen career path has as a side effect caused me to lurch on a reasonably regular basis from abject poverty to relative wealth comfort and back again several times over and no doubt that pattern will continue. As a result I've been in a position to drive or own quite prestigious vehicles sometimes or been forced by circumstances to use the most basic of chariots. None of my "real" friends have ever noticeably re-positioned their attidude to me nor I to them in any of those events I'm bound to say.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sat 19 Nov 11 at 10:46
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Its so nice to have you validate my choice of car Humph, I look forward to lengthy periods of relaxed calm on here, buoyed by the thought of you choking down the japanese taxi remarks.
Tum Ti Tum - time for a toodle out and morning coffee I think,
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There are of course always exceptions to prove every rule....
:-))
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I drive a black Holden Astra (read Vauxhall or Opel if you're in the UK or Europe). I don't have a clue what that's supposed to say about me.....
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>> I don't have a clue what that's supposed to say about me.....
>>
That you're Australian?
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...That you're Australian?...
Just to make it easier for Fran to read:
¿uɐılɐɹʇsn∀ ǝɹ,noʎ ʇɐɥ┴
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>> I drive a black Holden Astra (read Vauxhall or Opel if you're in the UK
>> or Europe). I don't have a clue what that's supposed to say about me.....
>>
Black = miserable git with no colour sense
Holden = drunken digger with no taste and an appalling laugh.
Astra = poor with no taste..
If I can think of any more insults, I'll add them later...but you did ask what it said about you.. You're a poor drunken Australian with a loud voice and no taste..
Retires to end of room , cowering and waiting for electronic boomerang :-)
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Queen Juliana used to go for a walk in Vondelpark and had a natter with people.This happened regulary.
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Brand Image - Iffy
