Who do you know with a cool car that's totally not a car person?

"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg) 12/19/2015 at 16:10 • Filed to: None

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I have a friend who’s an incredibly crunchy-granola, down-to-earth hippy type. A self admitted huge nerd with a penchant for all things green and for despising all things fancy and wasteful, he is the sort of person who would keep a tiny little 1st generation Insight or something and only use it when he absolutely needed a car. Unfortunately, his parents are not crunchy granola people, and when his dad got a new car, he got stuck puttering around town in the old V8 LR3, identical to this one. This is a car which gets 12mpg around town if you’re gentle on the throttle, which he is. He hates it. Absolutely abhors it, never mind the fact that it has the capability to take him far into the wilderness to examine nature and do science-y things. Now, an LR3 is cool, but it’s not so awesome or rare that it’s some sort of huge loss. Who do you guys know (personally, anybody can come up with celebrities) who doesn’t know or care about the neat set of wheels they own?

I somehow imagine that this post is going to descend into a bunch of people bashing their rich ex-boss who drove an 911 Turbo just because it was expensive, but that’s a risk I’m prepared to take.

Leon711 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:20

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There’s an accounts lady at work who sometimes drives a well patinated Porsche 924 to work. I love it, even if it is the least respected Porsche. It’s awesome.

JR1 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:24

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Really good question!

I can't think of an answer. Everyone I know own pretty vanilla cars except for few car people I know

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > JR1 12/19/2015 at 16:26

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I knew a kid who bought a manual 9-3 bodied 900 simply because it was the cheapest car he could find.

djmt1 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:28

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My mother. Her car history includes a Type 3 VW van, a Rover V8, and a Lancia Coupé. She gave up driving a few years after I was born. It makes me wonder what was next. Damn you free public transport!

JR1 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:29

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That's awesome. It is unfortunate such rare unicorns get into the hands of apathetic people however

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:32

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Well it’s not his car, but it’s his Dad’s, but my friend always questions why I get upset at their fully restored ‘69 Chevelle SS collecting dust. It’s not even numbers matching, or even stock for that matter. They just don’t drive it. It’s in Alabama, besides tornados, weather isn’t really an issue.

jkm7680 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:35

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My step grandmother used to drive a Lancia Fulvia. But now, she drives an automatic Opel Corsa.

JGrabowMSt > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:38

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For once I can really say that the people I know with cool cars are actually into their cars.

When I was in high school there was a kid who’s parents gave him some second hand Porsche (don’t care, nor remember the model, but it was a year 2000+), but he would park it in the fire lane just so that it would be called over the PA system for the “porsche to be removed from the fire lane before it gets towed.” Joke was on him though, after the 3rd or 4th time it was just towed. I don’t think it ever happened after that.

Vicente Esteve > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:40

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There is an old lady that lives on my street who wanted an automatic Seat.

Her automatic Seat is a 210 hp Leon FR with DSG like this since base model Leons only come in stick:

Wobbles the Mind > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 16:42

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There is a girl that’s maybe 22 that works at one of the grocery stores I stop in to. We’re talking about what we drive and she says, “a Datsun, which is a like an old Nissan.” Of course I ask if it’s a Z and of course it is. She then mentions how she wants a newer car because it has some old, loud Chevy engine and she is sick of having a stick shift. I kid you not! She is very aware that guys are into her car of course, she just isn’t into it though since it was her brothers or something. Like all girls out here though, she wants a Challenger, Tacoma, or Jeep.

marshknute > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 17:34

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A college buddy drives an Audi A3 3.2, which is just a rebadged mk5 Golf R32.

Oh, and there’s my dad’s boss who drives a 911 Turbo S just because it was expensive! :P Actually true, but still sorry to tell you what you don’t want to hear! He apparently just traded it in on a 650S.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 17:58

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I had a coworker/friend who bought a BMW 323 just to have a BMW. She drove in the slow lave 5 under all the damn time. It was expensive to maintain so she traded it in for a honda civic and didn’t notice much difference. I drove it a couple of times and even though it was BMW’s lower offering at the time I really liked it.

touring the brook - now with ZHP! > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 18:03

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Back at my Middle School, an English teacher drove a Cayman, and it was dented and ALWAYS dirty.

There’s also a guy at my high school who drives a red Ford pickup from the late 70’s, he’s also the “granola-hippy” type of guy.

Under_Score > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 18:16

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Does a rare car count, as there’s a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer wagon on my street. They bought it from someone; I don’t think they realize how rare it is.

wkiernan > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 18:51

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I’m not naming any names here but I know someone who once had a Porsche 944 and, having heard that all Porsches are air-cooled, made the assumption that the 944 was air-cooled. In other words, I know someone who owned a Porsche 944 and never even once opened up the engine compartment and looked inside.

I also know a guy who owned a Prius for several years. When I met him and he told me about it I was getting all car-nutty about the Atkinson-cycle engine and the Aisin power-split transmission (yes, I am one of the rare Jalopnik regulars who thinks Priuses are awesome) and he told me that he too had never opened the hood of his car. But you don’t necessarily presume that a Prius owner is going to be into cars, whereas a Porsche owner who doesn’t open the hood? wtf? and we’re not talking about a Cayenne owner or some wealthy show-off who drives a 911 for status points only, but a 944 owner?

smobgirl > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 19:20

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I actually can’t vouch for whether or not he’s a car person, but this guy in my office building drives a 60s Chevy wagon (I haven’t been able to get a good look at it without creeping) and it doesn’t fit what I know of his personality at all.

911e46z06 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 21:11

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My buddy’s mom needed a car and ended up buying one from a client. My buddy didn’t know much. Said it’s nice inside and it’s an Audi. I was expecting an A4. It’s an S8.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/19/2015 at 22:00

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I used to know a lot of people I’d describe like this, but in the last decade or so basic cars have come up in appointments to such an extent that you don’t need the top spec for the nicest interiors.

The only one I can think of right now is my girlfriend’s grandpa’s wife. She bought a Mustang GT because she wanted a bright red car and it was the only red Mustang they had. I kid you not. They drive it like the little old people they are, too.

Now, when I was a kid in the 80s-90s, this was a totally different story. I remember people that had little-to-no interest in cars (or as little as you could have in Los Angeles - cars are more than just transportation there) that drove like Grand Nationals and such.

RobG-ADV > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 12/24/2015 at 14:03

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I don’t know anybody personally (anymore) that fits that bill, but I what I hate are when people who ARE car guys go out and buy a fancy car and then let their wives drive it while they drive a lesser car to work... in the interest of keeping miles off of it.

WTF? Why buy a nice car if you aren’t going to appreciate it? Conversely, I knew a guy years ago who bought a then-new ‘94 Camaro Z28 and drove it to work every day, 180 miles round trip (from Antioch to San Jose and back for people who know the SF Bay Area). At 300,000 miles, it started using a bit too much oil so he turned it into a race car and bought a C5 Corvette to be his new daily driver. See, THAT’s how you do it. :)