One of the most annoying things about being a car enthusiast is that non-car enthusiasts automatically assume you like Bugattis and Lambos. I’d take a decades-old Toyota any day of the week. Many people who don’t know much about cars — as well as many who purport to — default to exotics as the “best” cars, as if price was directly correlated with goodness, quality, and driving pleasure. And yet, these same people usually look upon with disdain the cars readers here hold in high regard. There are cars that take a truly cultured car enthusiast to recognize, like a Toyota Cressida, Nissan Sentra SE-R, or any double-wishbone Honda. Appreciation for such machines is the mark of a connoisseur.
What car separates seasoned car enthusiasts from the superficial?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which Japanese tuning house would you most like to visit?“.
There are countless great tuning shops in Japan to immerse oneself in. Many of you chose manufacturers’ in-house tuners, like NISMO for Taylor C. or Mugen for dankan. Ian N‘s pick of Yamaha could be considered a tuner, considering the work they’ve done for other OEMs (and musical instruments). For Ian G., it’s the Tomica Shop and their interpretation of Japan’s cars that would get his attention.
For independent shops there’s even more variety. streetspirit picked widebody pioneer TRA-Kyoto. Franxou‘s choice of Mitsuoka has certainly left its mark on the automotive world. And ynori‘s choice of off-road specialists JAOS is an excellent option. In the end, this week’s winner this week was TheJWT, who named one of the great OGs of the tuning world:
I always meant to visit Top Secret but never had the chance when I was living there. I visited their booth at the Auto Salon, but I’d mostly just want to meet Smokey and thank him for making some of the coolest cars on the planet. Tuning culture in Japan wouldn’t be what it is without him
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
miata
It’s the love.
A younger me once approached a guy with a mini-truck to ask him about his ride. You know the style, right? Compact pick-up truck impossibly low to the ground with air suspension and… let’s say fancy paint? I really did not like that style back then, but I was curious, why chop up a perfectly good old pick-up truck to make as unuseable as possible, it can’t be just for style’s sake?
He explained it to me. While I still did not like it, I felt the love he had for his ride, and I now get it. I get the hellaflush, the fart-can kid in a beated-up Civic, I get it all, it is all about the love for something, some style, it can be the unobtainable exotics, it can be your first car, it can be a diagonaly-lifted mini-truck painted by an amazonian-loving glitter pooper… If you love something, you are an enthusiast.
Superficials will see something and say “oooh, shiny, fancy, expensive, me likey!” and never get deeper into anything.
And I still like to meet people with rides I do not like to chat and try to understand the choice!
People who are into cars superficially will brag about how great/fast/expensive their car is. People who are actually into cars will brag about how much their car sucks.
Sincerely, someone with a slow old Toyota which can’t go over potholes or up slopes greater than 5°
The car that separates the seasoned enthusiast from the superficial one is the car that you love and work on. Seasoned car enthusiasts understand the mechanical aspects of their cars and are more than willing to work on them whether it is to fix or improve them. I think that’s one of the reasons why Jay Leno is often viewed as the quintessential seasoned car enthusiast.
Anything that doesn’t shout. Anything interesting beneath the sheetmetal and outside of the realm of horsepower. Cars that draw you in with interesting engineering, history, or nostalgia.
Ben!, did something happen over the weekend where someone was dissing your car? You seem to be on a killer rant with this QotW!
Since we’re all drinking the Hatorade, I’ll spend a quick paragraph to rip on those posers as well: the ones who get their oil changes done at the dealer, the ones who like to trash talk other cars’ technical specifics as if they have first-hand experience (but only know from their internet research), the ones who solely buy to flip (many of those on “that” auction site).
I could go on, but I believe you’ve already had a QotW focused on what separates a true enthusiast from a poser; therefore let me elaborate on how the Miata is the car that differentiates the reals from the posers. It is the most raced car around, it has one of the lowest horsepower ratings around, it is celebrated by a diverse age range (high school kids clapping them out to retired couples doing their Sunday drives, and everyone in between), it is fun out of the box or correctly modified, it’s an excellent car to learn how to wrench, it’s not a car people take pictures to maintain their social media presence, the car doesn’t get bought to be flipped (as far as I know), the Miata community (no matter what region) is definitely down to earth and meet-ups are more to share and less to show off, and the Miata humbles you.
Btw, that “enthusiastic” driver in the Cressida picture sure looked to be leaning hard, but the car’s not even moving!
Haha, no. This is something that’s been brewing. Having people assume that if you’re a “car guy” that you must like high-end supercars gets pretty old.
It’s easy for someone to like a 300ZX, a Ford Mustang, or a Porsche because those are the cars that society at large expects an enthusiast to like. A true seasoned enthusiast can articulate love and passion for the unexpected car: the Toyota Camry, a Buick LeSabre, or a Volvo 240. When you can enthuse over the most mundane, reliable sedan and see the beauty in a vehicle that is viewed as boring by many, then you’re a seasoned enthusiast.
Posers call boxy short-hooded cars dorky. True enthusiasts respect clever space utilization. This applies to keicars, Honda Fits, ’80s tall wagons, all the way up to the latest model Sienna.
The cost of a car or horsepower and performance numbers don’t make an enthusiast. Like someone above said, if someone can articulate their love for a car, there is an indicator.
But I recently heard something I don’t remember from where, but I echo it: Wanna know if someone is truly a car guy/gal, ask them how they feel about the Honda Fit!
Toyota Starlet. It’s a 4 banger hatchback with a girly name, and most (in the US anyway) have probably never even heard of it. Very few truly appreciate it.
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It all comes down to the money and status involved. I doubt a superficial car guy would bat an eyelid at the Honda City, but you an I all know that Honda never cut corners with their suspension and handling back then.
a seasoned car enthusiast if you ask me is the most open.
be it kaido racers, pre war open wheelers, the brand new hypercar you can start with your apple watch or a big body sat down low on elbows, a seasoned car enthusiast can see the fun in everything, regardless of your own style and preference.
I’m not saved yet but maybe one day I’ll appreciate those tech heavy hypercars…
I think the ethos ultimately is “respect all builds”. there’s plenty of subculture I don’t get at all or have minimal interest in (Jeeps/offroading, supercars, muscle cars). But I won’t yuck their yum and can find things to appreciate still.
As for the car that separates folks, being able to see and appreciate the beauty & excellence in something mundane. Therefore I must say the Toyota Previa 🙂
I agree with some of the others on here in saying that the ability to appreciate the “regular traffic” or “cheap, throw away cars” separates the seasoned from the superficial car enthusiasts. Some examples that come to mind immediately include the Geo Metro, the Chevrolet Cavalier, the (had to look it up) E110 Corolla, Suzuki Samurai, Toyota Tercel, Nissan Maxima, and the Ford Escort.