Built vs Bought

"TheSpeedAmbassador" (thespeedambassador) 11/02/2014 at 19:38 • Filed to: None

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What kind of cars do you like? Why do you like them? Do you find yourself walking past very nice cars at car shows saying "My car was built not bought." and scoffing at the guy who paid a very skilled professional car builder to make him a beautiful ride? When you visit a friends house do you berate them for not having built their house by themselves? Have you actually made every part of your car by yourself? Did you assemble your engine? Why do people like a car that is built by the person instead of one that is paid for? Do you have ambitions of building cars for a living someday? If so, you better get over the "built not bought" mentality pretty soon.

Bought

I watched the movie Transcendence a while back. Great movie. Of course I wondered how I could link this with cars. People and machinery are rebuilt with nanobots in the movie. Every problem is solved very quickly with the knowledge of the a deceased Dr. Will Caster's character living in a computer and nano-bots.

What if this type of technology was realized? It is certainly progressing that way with 3-D rapid prototyping technology and 3-D machining. Have you seen the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ? I thought it was incredible. Does this technology remove some of the "know how" from skilled trades? Like welding, metal forming and engine tuning.

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I really don't think so. I think a lot of contempt people show for bought not built cars comes from feelings of inadequacy,which I think are unfounded. Most people don't walk around and make negative comments about your built cars. "Oh you built that and didn't buy it, how crude" is not often heard at car shows.

Likewise, people often enjoy dissing cars of a different style, cars from a different continent or cars that have questionable (to the "seasoned" enthusiast) modifications. I'll be the first to share. I had red windshield wipers and red lighted gas and brake pedals in my car when I was 16. I have since moved on from those mods. I also fantasized about all manner of distasteful modifications when I was younger, most of which never came to fruition because of lack of money.

Built

My overall point is, lets stop the judgement. Just because you don't care for another persons car, doesn't give you free reign to chastise them for their choice. Live and let live.

Maybe if the car culture was more inviting and less exclusive, we'd have more young kids wanting to join it instead of gravitating towards other hobbies.

What was the most distasteful mod you made to your car ever?

Think about that the next time you see a car you don't like.

They are still a car person, whether you like it or not.

You can find more ramblings from The Speed Ambassador on his site !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

E30Joe drives a Subaru > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 19:45

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There are some things that your average joe just can not do.

Widebody fabrication, engine building, tuning, swaps, auto to manual conversion, so on.

Sure some people can do that, but it's not easy and takes a special skill set to do so.

TheSpeedAmbassador > E30Joe drives a Subaru 11/02/2014 at 19:49

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exactly!

E30Joe drives a Subaru > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 19:53

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I'm about skilled enough to do anything to my car that isn't electrical or relating to removing large portions of the engine. Trans swap, no worries, STI brembo swap, no problem, but if the head needs to come off the engine I'll leave it to the pros. Or if my harness gets messed up or something similar.

deekster_caddy > E30Joe drives a Subaru 11/02/2014 at 19:56

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While I didn't cast the iron myself, I did assemble the engine after having a machine shop review all of the parts and specs. I did make a few parts for the engine myself (fuel pump and EGR blockoff plates, for example - as my engine is not very common, these parts were not off the shelf available). I have had to fabricate parts over the years because I drive old Buicks that nobody makes parts for. I had to go to auto body school to figure out how to repair my quarter panels because nobody makes a replacement part. I learned how to weld in the process. It's still not "finished" - the whole car that is. I didn't buy it, my grandmother gave me the car when I started driving so it was "free" 20+ years ago. It had no resale value then and has little to none today, even though it's solid and reliable. I cannot possibly afford to pay somebody to fabricate the parts required to make the car the way I want it to be, so I have had to learn how to make them. I consider my car "built". However, I do not scoff at "bought" cars, or "built by somebody else" cars. I eye them with a little bit of jealousy and respect that their owners have enough money to play, and like to see how different owners show their pride in their ride. Best experience I had recently was a Tesla owner at a show. He had the car proudly spotless for the show, and yet had no qualms letting my kids climb all over it (under a watchful eye of course) and let me take a picture with them in the frunk.

My car:

Some of the work I've been doing:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/6509315…

TheSpeedAmbassador > E30Joe drives a Subaru 11/02/2014 at 19:59

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and that's fine. it's also how you learn. learn by doing! but if you aren't comfortable that's ok also. I've just had enough of the built not bought guys

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > E30Joe drives a Subaru 11/02/2014 at 20:01

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Which is why I have great respect for people who do that, but much less for people who claim "built" on a car they never did any significant work on. Oh, you paid a guy to make you a new exhaust? BUILT, SON! You paid a guy to port and polish your intake and exhaust manifolds? SO BUILT. You paid an auto body shop insane amounts of money to widebody your 1997 Ford Taurus? BUILT NOT BOUGHT, SUCKERS.

I don't mind built, I don't mind bought, but I mind when people make it seem like they put a lot of work into a car that was the result of throwing money at other people.

E30Joe drives a Subaru > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:02

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I don't care personally, if you paid someone to turn every bolt on the car it doesn't make it less cool. If I could afford that I'd go that route.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:03

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This is always my response

Arben72 > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:04

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People put others down to justify their own purchases/egos. I have both built and bought cars and I love the character of all of them in their own way. Never will I put someone down for their own cars unless it compromises my safety on the road (I'm looking at you shitty hid retrofits). I can appreciate the time someone has either put into their car or the time they put into paying for it.

The Transporter > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:18

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I take Matt LeBlanc's approach to cars: "Why would you want the same car that everybody else has?" The McLaren P1 is an amazing piece of engineering, but except for the paint job each P1 is essentially identical to every other one.

 > E30Joe drives a Subaru 11/02/2014 at 20:20

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That's still built though. Whether you build it yourself in your garage or pay someone else to build it it's still built. Bought is going to a dealership and buying a car like a Charger Hellcat that has all the power from a showroom floor.

CPT Speedbump > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:21

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I look at it like this - if you like cars, atleast know a bit about how they work, and if you're skilled enough to build a awesome car,and have the time, and aren't lazy, by all means, go ahead, that's awesome that you did it yourself. But if you payed someone to do it all, thats cool too, as long as you actually respect it. Myself, I lean towards bought, because I'm lazy, and also because I don't trust myself doing much on my baby. I'd rather pay someone who knows what they are doing to build it so that I can trust it to not fail.

shop-teacher > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:21

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I'm totally fine with people who buy instead of build. Some people have more money than they do time. The only people I can't stand, are those who claim to have built it, when really somebody else did.

ihm96 > The Transporter 11/02/2014 at 20:24

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I didn't realize everyone had P1s...

The Transporter > ihm96 11/02/2014 at 20:28

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Don't be pedantic. Even after you spend over $3 million on a car, it's still just like Jay Leno's P1 except for the paint.

Iheartmy365kHonda - Car enthusiasts do like FWD > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:29

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WHO CARES?!?! Drive whatever the hell you have and quit mouth-breathing!

ihm96 > The Transporter 11/02/2014 at 20:31

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You're the one being pedantic. Your claim was why have something everyone else has, and well, basically nobody has P1s so its not likely you're going to run into someone else with a P1 except at a car show or mclaren meetup. Who cares if you have something thats the same as everyone else? Do you also fashion your own appliances, or clothes, or phone so that nobody could possibly be the same as you? Some people don't feel the need to be constantly different than everyone else because they aren't trying to be hipsters shouting "But MINE IS DIFFERENT GUYZ"

E30Joe drives a Subaru >  11/02/2014 at 20:34

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I don't think that's the point the original post was getting at.

crowmolly > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 20:58

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It's nowhere near a black-and-white deal.

A lot of cars are a mixture of both. You may build the engine and suspension yourself but send the car out for paint. Or buy a rebuilt auto trans.

Even the professional "builders" farm stuff out!

Granted, I am in the "build" crowd but within reason. Not everybody is going to TIG weld their own custom headers, etc. But I do not really care for the 100% "bought" cars as (to me) it seems like many owners are taking credit for a car that they didn't build. I like to admire the hard work and craftsmanship in addition to the finished product.

JR1 > The Transporter 11/02/2014 at 21:04

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While I agree with you I prefer the stock cars simply because of nostalgia. Looking back 30 years from now you'll think of the P1 as a masterpiece the name will likely have a certain amount of weight to it that makes the P1 extra special. If one was to modify the McLaren P1 however, the car would be fundamentally changed therefore the car wouldn't have the same nostalgic appeal as a stock P1.

The Transporter > ihm96 11/02/2014 at 21:04

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The point of bringing up the P1 was to bring the argument to its logical extreme to see if it still held up. Hardly anybody owns a P1 but the handful of people who have the $3.4 million to buy one all have the same car at the end of the day. Hardly anybody has that kind of money, but a 911 or even an M3 is still a little too pricey for most people. If they want a cheaper car that can go that fast, then the only option is the aftermarket. People who like to wrench on their own cars take pride in the sweat equity that they put into them. To them, they have something more invested in their car than just money.

ihm96 > The Transporter 11/02/2014 at 21:08

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And nobody here is putting down people who wrench on their own cars, they are putting down people who put down other people's cars just because they didn't "build" their own car

The Transporter > JR1 11/02/2014 at 21:24

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Those that buy six and seven figure cars are in an entirely different league from the rest of us. Barring the exceptions that prove the rule like Jay Leno, most car enthusiasts at that level look at cars the same way that people look at trading cards or other items of arbitrary value. They're wrapped in plastic, treated with kid gloves, and only taken out to show off to other people. While its good that there is an economic reason for keeping these historic artifacts from returning to the Earth, I often wonder if the people who are bidding a million+ dollars on some classic Ferrari are doing it because they have something emotionally invested in the car or are they doing it because everybody else thinks that the car is valuable. Do they see it like stock options and orange futures? Having met a few of these people, the answer is more often than not yes.

PardonMyFlemish16 > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 21:27

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I never understood this slogan. Unless you made your own tools to mine the metal and pump the oil out of the ground, and then forge/cast/weld and test all your parts, eventually you bought something too.

High key the whole "built not bought" is just a way for broke jealous teenagers to try and not feel bad for having to drive rattle can stickerbombed POSs at the same school where rich kids have nicer cars. It's infantile

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 21:35

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I don't really subscribe to the whole build not bought thing, but it holds some truth. Yah, I like cool cars, M3s, Zo6s, etc., but you can't really expect me to be interested in your ride when I'm at a car show. Hell, plenty of times I've seen Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and other exotic machines, yet I'm checking out the clapped out 1950,60,70,80? piece of shit wondering why it's still running. I have no interest in anything that was bought (from a dealership) mainly because there is nothing special about it. I lurk on Jalopnik and OPPO to know everything I wanted to know about the car. It might as well be a picture. But, if I see something out of the ordinary, I will just stand there and stare. Now, when I say bought car I mean relatively new. I've looked at a Dino from every angle for about 30mins at a C&C. I look for the stuff with rust, chances are it has a story. In essence, this:

JR1 > The Transporter 11/02/2014 at 21:42

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That is the said truth of most collector car owners. It's disgraceful for the car and the cars loyal fans.

My argument for the nostalgia of stock can still hold true though for the 2012/2013 Boss 302. Or a 2008 Challenger SRT-8. Not just hyper expensive collector cars. The stock cars represent the collective imagination of a generation far better than a modified car. That's why I like bought not built.

The Transporter > ihm96 11/02/2014 at 21:52

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A lot of the "built not bought" attitude comes from the fact that because these people are so emotionally invested in their cars, they see their cars as an extension of themselves. They have a hard time separating criticism of their car from criticism of them. It's as if you insulted on3 of their kids. You see this attitude through the car community as a whole, but even more so in this crowd.

ihm96 > The Transporter 11/02/2014 at 22:41

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Nobody's insulting them or there car here though it's about the people who go around insulting other people's cars just because they didn't build them

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/02/2014 at 23:05

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I agree but am inclined to scoff at "built" cars. I've seen what they look like underneath and what their "builders"/owners consider to be acceptable methods. Many cars that aren't built by professionals have a lot of things going on underneath that are downright scary. I'm not saying they're all this way, but many are. Conversely, I'm sure there are some amateurs who can do some things even better than myself or other professionals.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/03/2014 at 00:18

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Amen. I see some distasteful mods, but while I may joke at their expense, I always remind myself that they are still car people.

Bro-trucks/ricers are a prime example. I used to think of these vehicles as an obnoxious middle finger to civilized society. But then I talked to some kids at my high school who drive jacked up diesel trucks or fart-carn Civics, and I realized: they love their cars just as much as I love my snobby, unmodified Euro-car. They were thrilled to have someone who knew about cars (trucks) and was willing to talk about them. They may have different tastes, but they don't drive those vehicles just to piss people off. They really do love them, and I have to respect them for that.

As for people who like to brag about, "Built not bought" or "Not paid for by mommy and daddy", I just roll my eyes at the hypocrisy.

dr861 > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/03/2014 at 00:25

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While one day I wish to have built a car, I will not have it built by me, I will have a it be built by someone else, so that can also qualify as bought. I've got nothing against people who buy, most don't have the time to build their car themselves. Anyone who thinks buying a nice car is copping out, is just jealous, or not mentally capable enough to see the validity of another persons opinion. I have a ton of respect for people that build their own cars, it's personalized, it shows your talent, and it's cool, no matter what it is, but don't give me shit just because I haven't built one myself. People like that are just as bad as pompous assholes who can't comprehend liking cars, and think they are only good for A to B travel.

In general, we all need to take the pomp out of liking cars. It doesn't show well, and it gives non car people an excuse to just say, "Oh you're a car person? How dreary and elitist." We should be welcoming teachers. Period.

TheSpeedAmbassador > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 11/03/2014 at 09:06

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Agreed. While it can be tempting to be judgemental of others, if we have the dialogue you ususally find more in common than not. Sometimes if you build the relationship you can even influence them to behave what you consider more civilized.

PardonMyFlemish16 > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/08/2014 at 15:23

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If someone makes an ugly car and asks for my opinion (i.e. by posting it on a site where I can comment) I will say something.

Getting angry about how someone completed their build is pretty silly though. It is just something a broke high school kid came up with to rationalize his jealousy for rich kids who either bought builds or just had their daddies buy them nicer cars. "I sticker bombed and rattle canned this POS all by myself yo! Gimme my props!"

aneightballandtwohookers > TheSpeedAmbassador 11/27/2014 at 19:44

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I feel like some people like working on cars and some people like owning cars. It's more of a statement about your own personal hobbies and tastes. Personally, I like to work on my own cars but that doesn't mean I "look down" on people who had a shop do all the work for them.

If telling yourself "I built this car with my hands and he just paid someone to do it" helps you sleep at night after a losing a race or your car doesn't get the attention you feel it deserves and someones car is then more power to you but working on machinery and driving cars, in my opinion, are two different hobbies.

Now that's not to say people who work on cars don't like to drive them, because I have never met anyone like that, but I don't feel just because you didn't work on your car you can't enjoy them as much as someone who does.

This was a great post that got me thinking, thanks for sharing!