Love thy car
It's now uncool to be a petrolhead. Why is that? I must have missed the memo.
Cars are just not in fashion anymore. Tell anyone you're a car nut and you'll be seen as a recluse. Say that you're a gadget freak on the other hand, and you'll be idolised.
Our car reviews do, perhaps more than everything else, focus on the things that matter to a driving enthusiast. But does any of it even matter to the general public? You know, the ones that see a car as a mere means of transport and nothing more — those that are attracted the Toyota Camry, Honda City, Nissan Sentra, etc. I think not.
Today, cars need eulogising. Not only is the car under threat from environmentalists, but car and car people also don't get featured intelligently in mainstream media anymore. We're a non-subject. We're analogue in a digital world, hardware in a software economy. We're trad.
When was the last time a new car launch made the front page of the papers? I'm beginning to think that showing up at a Sunday drive meet or a car club TT session constitutes a political act. Rather than simply sipping coffee and sharing your driving anecdotes, you are aligning yourself with the I Love Cars Party.
Car lovers should take note of how motorcyclists position themselves — dispossessed, individualistic, misunderstood and vilified by other road users. Go to a bike meet and read the T-shirts - "Cars suck, bikes defy gravity" - to understand how motorcyclists engender a sense of community among themselves.
We don't. we're snobbish and flaky. Just because you watch a grand prix on TV doesn't mean you talk up cars as a good thing, a life enhancement. It should. That's why motorists get trampled each Budget day. Because we don't praise the car. And because we allow the outside world to commodify the thing we love.
For all of us, I propose that the task ahead is to evangelise the car, starting now. You love cars or you don't. You're in. Or you're out. Easy.
