What does it mean to be an automotive enthusiast to you? 

"Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ" (doge-supreme) 07/16/2015 at 18:30 • Filed to: None

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I’m working on a paper for writing who’s topic is to define what it means to be an automotive enthusiast, and want some opinions on what it means to you.

To me an automotive enthusiast is someone who has an appreciation for all cars regardless of make, model, price-tag, performance, ect. But someone who appreciates all cars for their character, design and engineering that went in to making them. Their looks, the layout of the drive-train, the quirks they may have, and the ways the original engineers got them to do what they wanted them to do and how the owners took them and made them their own.

Ford GT40 replica from the Portland Vintage Racing Festival for your time and opinions.

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 18:33

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For me, I think it’s being able to appreciate a car/truck for what it is. It doesn’t have to be a hypercar for you to like it, if that makes sense.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 18:38

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By that definition, held the people on here who will only buy a certain type of car/always hate on a certain type of car wouldn’t count as enthusiasts.

Actually, never mind, carry on.

Your boy, BJR > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 07/16/2015 at 18:39

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Yeah fuck those people!

Fuck German cars too!

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Your boy, BJR 07/16/2015 at 18:43

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Aaaaand as if on cue...

AntiSpeed > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 18:52

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I’m not sure this answers your question directly, but it’s been rumbling around in my head recently so I’ll throw it out there for discussion.

I’ve come to realize that there are two different types of car person. On one side, there are racing fans. I include myself in this group, and we’re passionate about racing cars, follow different racing series and news religiously, and road cars and street driving are sort of a secondary consideration, if any at all. For us, the art is in the driving, racecraft, and competition, and the car is little more than a tool used to express those arts.

On the other is the automotive enthusiast. To them, it’s the opposite. The art is in the engineering, design, and craftsmanship of the car, and driving is little more than a tool to experience the car. For these people, racing is little more than a curiosity.

And there’s not as much cross-over as non-car people might expect. Using myself as an example, my knowledge of road cars is very limited. I have no idea what the difference is between a BMW 328i and an M3 (or if there even is a difference?), all Porsches look the same to me, and when friends ask me for advice when buying a car I just kinda shrug. I haven’t owned one since 2006.

Jay Leno would be the ultimate example for the automotive enthusiast. He’s basically got unlimited money and has built an unbelievable car collection. He could easily be a gentleman racer, or own his own team, but he simply doesn’t care. He’s happy cruising the highway and California roads, just enjoying the quirks of each machine without worrying about perfecting driving techniques.

S2Konstantin > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 18:53

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For me, its much broader. They just have to enjoy cars in some way. Track rats count as much as donk “drivers”.

Now no one ever said all enthusiasts have to like each other. With something so broad as cars, there will always be different groups that have opposing opinions on their rides. I think your very P.C. definition tries to describe a utopian car enthusiast. And we all know how those go....

With this said, I am not promoting hate between groups of different enthusiasts, we should be informing people on the other types of enthusiasts therefore decreasing hate. Utopian definitions that gloss over the huge variety of reasons why people love cars do not do this.

S2Konstantin > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 07/16/2015 at 18:55

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No they definitely still count as enthusiasts.

But no one ever said they were GOOD enthusiasts!

El Rivinado > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 19:04

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I think for being an enthusiast it means finding a niche (or niches) and studying up on them and having those niches be your interests. I think anybody can be an enthusiast even if you don’t follow the norm. I may not like German cars over bigger American land yachts or British stuff, but I can respect them even if they’re not my thing. I’ll take a classic muscle car, but I also recognize the potential of corner carving machines. I even would rather have a bigger older sedan than a station wagon, but again there is at least appeal from a mechanical sense (stylistically I still don’t get it)

Now as this site proves, there are some people who will tell you that to be a “true enthusiast” there are some cars that you must blindly follow without exception, even if they are slow, cramped, ugly, hateful little things that are vastly overrated by people who just like being different for the sake of it (Hint Hint), but I will still call myself an enthusiast because an enthusiast is in all of us, even if the enthusiast says he would rather have some massive Lincoln Mark V or a 67 Cadillac Eldorado than a BMW E30 M5 or a Mercedes Benz, he still loves cars and he still loves the culture (for the most part)

RallyWrench > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 19:04

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Being an automotive enthusiast means having an open mind towards other automotive enthusiasts, and the ability to look past a badge or price point, to appreciate a machine on merit.

ly2v8-Brian > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 19:05

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Any passion regardless of how narrow or broad will do.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > S2Konstantin 07/16/2015 at 19:07

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Fair point.

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > AntiSpeed 07/16/2015 at 19:14

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I like both

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 19:23

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Sorry for this mini-essay, but your question happened to make me feel like writing it at the moment! :)

For me, being an auto enthusiast means enjoy cars in any manner. I love ALL cars, but, as with most people, I have my preferences. I’m a big fan of European and Japanese rides, especially smaller and quirky cars.

To me, what does it mean? It means I should be able to enjoy cars without harsh criticism about my choices, likes or dislikes. Like American muscle? Sure! Respect Hyundai/Kia for their massive quality strides and now-reliability? Of course! Own a car and don’t necessarily performance-mod it? That’s ok! Put NOS on something completely batshit insane? Good on ya! Drive a beigest of beige Camry or a Minivan? Nothing wrong with that!

It’s about how cars make YOU feel and what you enjoy in relation to them, whether by yourself or with friends or family.

I daily drive a 2009 Hyundai Accent base model with NO extras (no A/C, no Cruise Control, no power windows, no power mirrors, no ABS and it has a standard transmission). It’s not a performance machine. It has no “mods” (other than some 1998 Ford Escort alloys I bought cheap that I use as summer rims with custom 3D modelled and 3D printed center caps I designed), but I just enjoy the feel of driving it and the motions of driving a stick, no matter what it’s in. It doesn’t matter if I am taking a short 10 minute trip to get milk, or a long 2 hour drive to visit somebody, I just enjoy opening the door with that key, sitting in that seat, turning the key and pulling away to SOMEWHERE. It’s a release or a freedom for me, I suppose....nothing like a sunny day with the windows down and your favorite tunes coming through the speakers. I respect the car for what it is and the reliability and practicality it gives me, even though I can still have a little fun with it here and there. I don’t have the money to get a second project/’fun’ car, nor do I even have my own place or a full-time permanent job yet, so my Accent “Humdrum” will do for now, haha!

For me, there’s also the mechanicalness of it all. Being able to know from the sounds your own car makes when things are working right or wrong. Knowing the little niggles of your own personal ride that nobody else would know that aren’t the same on anybody else’s car. I don’t have my own garage, nor do I have all the tools, knowledge and experience to work on my own car, but I still enjoy being able to do little things myself, like changing spark plugs, changing air or cabin filters, checking light bulbs and changing them once in awhile (just about to head out and install my newly-arrived LED reverse light bulbs!), checking and filling and changing the oil if needed, checking the tire pressures to make sure they are in spec (no stupid TPMS here on my base-est of base model Accents, haha! - I keep an old, faithful tire pressure gauge in my glove compartment that used to be my grandfather’s! :) ).

Can’t think of a philosophical well-written ending, so I’ll leave it at that, hope it’s useful somehow! :)

JeepJeremy > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/16/2015 at 22:20

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For me: the enthusiasm for “the car” is quite the romantic thing. A car is an embodiment of man’s mechanism for power. The control of the ROAD. The feeling one gets while behind the wheel of a machine that’s designed to propel us forward. Forward into the future, forward into freedom, forward into the unknown...it’s the most carnal thing. A rolling piece of art that is both form and function. From the classiest land yacht to the shit-box, barely hanging on bucket of bolts....if a person can get behind that wheel and move...it’s a precious thing. It links us to our fathers and our mothers, to Sunday drives, to epic road trips to see our family. That first drive as a learner and that drive into work on a regular Tuesday. Enthusiasm for the car as a vehicle: an instrument that is a rolling memory creator and a tool of transportation. The sound, the smell, the FEELING.

-Pontification over-

wafflesnfalafel > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/17/2015 at 00:12

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The ability to appreciate the automotive experience as art - whether that be the line of a body shell, the scream of a motor, the accomplishment of a perfect 2-3 shift just shy of redline, a good 3-2 downshift while braking into a corner.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/17/2015 at 00:27

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Know and recognize the 4 different Mks of the GT40.

Your boy, BJR > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 07/17/2015 at 02:05

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In my defense, I don't claim to be an automotive enthusiast. I'm a Cadillac enthusiast who likes some other cars.

Nauraushaun > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/17/2015 at 07:57

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You can’t really exclude people like that. By this logic, anyone who hates a car (who doesn’t hate the PT Cruiser?) could be excluded.

X37.9XXS > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/17/2015 at 08:10

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Being able to use a manual transmission with a high degree of skill

DisplacementForDayz, ironically lusts after a Honda Grom > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/17/2015 at 09:55

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I believe that an enthusiast is one who gets excited about or enjoys things that the average person doesn’t give a shit about, and I would consider this true for all types of enthusiasts. For car enthusiasts these things include manual transmissions, foreign market cars, and even just the act of driving. Like in your definition, a car enthusiast appreciates things that that the average person doesn’t. Where my opinion differs is that car enthusiasts don’t have to appreciate every car in the world to be considered an enthusiast.

Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ > Nauraushaun 07/17/2015 at 13:56

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Yeah I should have included some exceptions like the PT and the Prius.

wiffleballtony > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 07/17/2015 at 15:53

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To me, it’s that I care about what I drive and how I drive. I care about the condition of my vehicle and I want to make it better. I choose to spend more on my vehicles as a past time instead of minimizing cost.