Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Blur
That is why we have car enthusiasts. We all have an enthusiasm for an automotive product. I like GM products, but I can respect your Mustang as a competing product in my segment. These Volt guys aren't in our segment, but I can respect the pride they have in driving something different, just like my Firebird is different from roads and lots filled with family sedans. This sort of pride keeps car companies going.
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I understand what you are saying, and that we all have pride in our respective cars. And for the record, I'm not a fanboy of any particular brand, I'm just a fan of cars in general and take each on a case by case basis. If Ford or Chrysler, or anyone had built the Volt instead of GM, my opinion of the car itself wouldn't be any different.
However, what I was trying to point out is that there is a difference between merely having pride in one's car or a car company and having a sense of personal superiority about oneself based on what one chooses to drive.
I've had several conversations over the years with hybrid owners who clearly feel that driving a hybrid makes them a better person than me to the extent that I'm not worthy to be in the same conversation with them, but they tolerate it because they feel my simple mind needed to be lectured. Sure, Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger guys poke fun at each other, and often think their cars are better, but very rarely do I get a sense that any of them think they themselves are better than me as a person in conversations.
A great example of this was the youtube video a while back (I think it was actually posted here on C5) of the woman who got out of her hybrid and went crazy on a guy sitting in a heavy-duty diesel truck over how bad the truck was for the environment. Muscle car guys may have pride in their cars, but I bet none of them would ever take time out of their day to walk up to a stranger and harass them about their Volt, or Prius, or Leaf, or whatever. That is the difference.