Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One
hpmctorque
Member Posts: 4,600
in General
Oh, no, anything but that thing!
What car(s) were you, or would you be, too embarrassed to drive, or even be seen in? How would you respond if your favorite aunt asked if you would drive her to wherever in her '86 Eldorado Biarritz, with prodigious amounts of gold trim, vinyl roof, custom Rolls Royce grille, and rear mounted spare? Sure, you could offer to take her in your car, but what if she insisted on please driving hers, because it needed to be driven, in broad day light (to recharge the battery), etc., etc.?
What car(s) were you, or would you be, too embarrassed to drive, or even be seen in? How would you respond if your favorite aunt asked if you would drive her to wherever in her '86 Eldorado Biarritz, with prodigious amounts of gold trim, vinyl roof, custom Rolls Royce grille, and rear mounted spare? Sure, you could offer to take her in your car, but what if she insisted on please driving hers, because it needed to be driven, in broad day light (to recharge the battery), etc., etc.?
Tagged:
0
Comments
Or if it's just something that seems easily intimidated on the road, like an Aveo or Tracker or Echo. I've driven my buddy's Tracker a few times, and its one saving grace is that it's black with a tan top and some gold trim and nice alloys, so it's about as tough looking as one of those things can get!
And anything with too much aftermarket bling, like the aforementioned '86 Eldo with all the add-ons (same applies to Escalades and their ilk that get overly blinged) would tend to embarrass me.
Or a bad color. I wouldn't drive any modern-day car that's pink, lavender, or any hint thereof. Although I guess a new Charger SRT-8 in pink, with blackout trim would be a hoot! Another color I hate is that school bus/taxi yellow that often ends up on sporty cars. C'mon kids, you spent 10-12 years of your life riding to school in something that color...do you really WANT to keep doing it?
Still, I'd ride in any of these vehicles without putting up TOO much of a fuss. I don't think I'd actually flat-out refuse to ride in one! For instance, if my best friend suddenly showed up in a hot pink Miata that was his dream come true, I wouldn't rain on his parade.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I kept looking around to make sure no one I know saw me. The thing was so low people were definitely looking at us. I did not have the heart to tell him how embarrassed I was in it. All I could say was how cool it was and could not wait for him to do the engine swap.
A hearse?
Been there, done that. Our radio station used to have a '76 Caddy Hearse we used as a rolling billboard/station wagon.
They aren't very nice to drive but I guess it's preferable to a ride in the back.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Been there, done that. Our radio station used to have a '76 Caddy Hearse we used as a rolling billboard/station wagon.
They aren't very nice to drive but I guess it's preferable to a ride in the back.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Anything Buick,just too old an image for me. A used one yes, they are good values.A new one is saying you are old and don't care.
VW Beetle, too girley, and I already have enough vases.
PT Cruiser/ HHR ,are just trying too hard to be retro.
As for Andre's comments, I used to borrow my father-in-law's Miata regularly and it never occurred to me that I should feel like a girly man.
Now that I think back about that, I wonder what people think when they see two men riding around in a Miata.
There's a guy at work who drives a Miata, and has been for years. He's anything but a girly-man. Now I'm not saying he's a "man's man" either (whatever that means...I guess that could have interesting connotations in and of itself :P ) But he's like my height, 6'3", but must weigh around 250. Older guy too, like mid-60's. And British. He seems like someone who would drive like a Jag or BMW or Benz, or maybe an Acura, Infiniti or Lexus. But he drives that Miata. And it's his only car, too! He says that winters can be a real interesting experience!
As for hearses, I think it would be way cool to have one! At least, and older one like from 1976 or earlier. The downsized ones just don't have the same mystique for me, and the ones they make nowadays are a joke!
To take that a step further, my father-in-law has a 92 Miata in the sunset yellow color (not really a manly color). His is pristine with 30K miles on it, as well as a set of wheels, exhaust system, and cold air induction. When we visit, he will often insist that he and I take it for an ice cream run. I feel kind of fruity riding in that bright yellow car with him, but we always have people stop us to ask about the car and to look at it.
I rationalized that people would notice the roll bar and such and realize that my FIL and I were in a real sports machine.
I felt far more uncomfortable when my boss and I went to lunch in his rental PT Cruiser. I would have rather ridden in the cargo area covered by a blanket.
- - LOL
"I rationalized that people would notice the roll bar and such and realize that my FIL and I were in a real sports machine."
- - I have used the same logic with his exhaust, wheels, and he has roll bars as well.
Another one I wouldn't be caught dead in: VW Golf convertible. There never was a more consummate chick car than that. Might as well pile a few friends in there with you, people are going to think you're gay either way. :-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
A few years later, I was driving a '68 Dart and one of my buddies thought it was the coolest thing. It was primer-black with an aftermarket sunroof and had these little dog-dish hubcaps. It also sat up a bit in the back. It looked downright evil, like it could make "Christine" wet her panties! Anyway, we worked together and I used to give him a ride to work, as he didn't have a car. Well, I bought a '69 Bonneville from my cousin for $400. Big, gaudy gold thing with a black vinyl top and fender skirts. He was actually embarrassed to be seen in it! No lie...he rode to work ducked down in the back seat of it! :surprise:
It died on me the next time I tried to drive it to work, and I had it towed home and didn't mess with it for a few years. My buddy and I had a falling out (not over the car, but other things) so he never had to suffer the "embarrassment" of riding in the Bonneville again!
...and you have a problem with aging white guys because???
Any beautiful woman. They're trophy wives for aging white guys.
Yeah, it really was. So much so that bad guys would go to gym parking lots and pop the trunk open with an ice pick because they knew there was always a purse in there!
Ross, I knew a guy who had a Cabrio...and he NEVER kept his purse in the trunk! :surprise:
So what I did was: convinced my girlfriend to buy one, so now I get all the fun of driving the car without having to tell people "yeah, that's my Miata."
Interestingly, she thinks it's a proper chick car, and is suspicious of men who own them. :P
An Aztek could be hard to stomach, especially if driving in an area with lots of mirrored glass buildings to catch your reflection. Nauseating...
Some small SUVs like RAV4 and CRV can be just as girly as the VW too, IMO
And some Corvettes are OK....vintage ones anyway. 80s ones with cheesy ground effects and gold wheels are the worst.
I love Vettes, but I think nothing ruins them quicker than putting a spoiler on the back. I hate that. :mad:
I think the actual pacecar got the 320 hp Adventurer engine slipped in though, while the pacecar replicas available to the public had tamer 255 hp engines.
Olds paced the 1977 Indy 500 with a modified Delta coupe. I guess by that time the racecars were tailgating the pacecar to hurry up and get it out of the way!
No Mercuries for me. They're the new chick cars.
I'd be embarrassed to drive an automatic BMW. My girlfriend's RSX is automatic and driving that makes me feel like a poseur too.
I'm saving up for a Miata though; that car just feels too good to pass up. I tell myself I'll be fine once I change the wheels.
I'm 28. I have a few decades to go before I need to buy a Corvette to pretend I'm not getting old.
A souped up Honda or equivalent (fart can, retarded sheet metal spoiler, bodykit etc) is also very much not me.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Humorously, I sometimes notice upstanding-looking, middle-aged types at the wheels of these. Makes me think they handed down their old sedan to their teenage son, and needed to borrow it back for some reason. "Son, we're canceling your subscription to Superstreet magazine!" :P
I've pissed off a few F&F Type-R kids with my '79 NYer, because ever since the exhaust pulled loose behind the catalytic convertor (and ahead of the exhaust), my car makes enough noise to drown most of theirs out! It's also good at setting off car alarms in the parking lot. :shades:
Oh, and of course I picked up another 50 hp or so when that exhaust pulled loose. :P
There was a car where I used to work that fit this description - a c.92 lowline Subaru Legacy with a big sheet metal spoiler. No other mods, not even wheels. LAME
There's a car in my garage thats also like this...a c.2001 Civic LX, with hubcaps and all. It has nothing but a fart can, and is driven by a very airheaded looking and acting young woman. LAME
I still think it would be funny to get a really outrageous streetracer style Civic and put an ancient Mercedes diesel engine in it.
When I had my Grandma's LeSabre, I had given some serious though, years down the road when its 307 finally got tired, of slipping an Olds 403 or maybe even a 455 under the hood, instead of just another 307. But alas, the 307 was the LAST thing on that car to die!
Oh well, I still have the NYer, and there's always hope...but its 360 is still running strong (well strong for a '79 unit)
If not, I'd do it to something heavy and sturdy like a W126 (80s S-class), certainly one with diesel badging.
I'm thinking of a unit like an AMG twin-turbo V12. I'd make the streetracers wet themselves.
The salesman showed it to be mentioned a price to which I replied "Are you going to give me that much to drive that thing?". The salesman was telling me they were having a hard time selling it and told me I could have it for a price that was something like 60% of MSRP.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Ex - I saw a guy at Lowe's the other day driving about a '99 red Toyota Tacoma (2wd, regular cab) with every accessory known to man on it. We're talking semi-truck style chrome exhaust pipes sticking up behind the cab, chrome grille push bar, matching painted bedcover, ground effects with the integrated running boards, chrome wheels, chrome handles mounted to the cab to hold on to as you enter, and painted deflector over the windshield (with integrated parking lights). I am sure I missed something, but even the Lowe's employees were going out to the parking to check it out. It was clean too.
Great...nitwits speeding around in large unstable vehicles. Still, will be more entertaining to come across accident scenes that feature a truck on its side, rather than ones dominated by cheap, shattered fiberglass body parts...
I don't think drivers should worry about what somebody else thinks. Drive what you like.
Well, in 1992 he bought a '55 Fireflite Coronado (spring special model with one of the industry's first triple-tone paintjobs). It was a much more youthful, "cooler" car than the '50, because it was slicker looking and had a 291 Hemi with 200 hp, but it was still just a 4-door sedan. I think he was always a bit envious because my '57 is a hardtop coupe.
He sold the '50 in 1994, and soon thereafter bought an early 80's LeBaron convertible, in the hopes of catching some fun in the sun type of driving. It ended up being a disaster, and he ended up selling it and buying one of those little Australian Capri convertibles.
Finally, around 1996 or so, in true midlife crisis fashion, eh said upchuck on all of it, and bought a '72 Vette. It wasn't a convertible, and just a 350, no big-block, but it was a 4-speed, and pretty cool. He sold the Coronado soon thereafter and I think the Capri, too.
I think the last time I saw him was around 2000, and they sold their house in 2003, so I don't know if he still has the Vette or not. Finally though, it seemed like he found an old car that he really liked and really suited him.
I've thought about re-joining the DeSoto club. I wonder if the demographics of it have changed any? I just checked online, and the same old guy who used to be president still is. And the VP or treasurer or whatever he is, he's still alive. I know, because he has a cousin that works here.
I'm 35 now, and my taste in cars really hasn't changed much over the years. I wonder what kind of mid-life crisis I'll end up going through?