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homeforsummer -- Whether or not
"how much of a bell-end the drivers are" is something that even matters is subjective, too. Frankly, it's kind of wild to see otherwise upright GTP members engaging in what resembles schoolyard talk. It's not wrong, and it's the sort of thing that makes these threads colorful and interesting, but I decided this particular car (with all the "douche" comments it generated) was a good opportunity to talk about why I don't agree with it.
When your vote on a car "
may be affected by those that drive them," you're making a subjective call. Personally, I find it an untenable one, because I have a very unfavorable view of people in general and I could make excuses for or against any car if I wanted to. But I try to be positive, and I try to be open-minded about cars. I'd rather vote favorably on a car with nice qualities than dwell upon the dickwads that are associated with it. There's an awful lot of dickwads out there.
I agree that a wider view is important. I just don't agree with the "owners who ruin it" criterion. I think about a car's history, the effort that went into it, how well it achieved its goals, whether it's exceptional/unique or nothing special, how it was advertised, and so on. Not all of that all the time, but whatever seems relevant, of course. This week's Ford GT poll is a good example. I've never been very fond of that car, but thinking about it in context I had to award it "Cool."
I treat these polls almost as if it were an open-air car show, with my vote roughly corresponding to how much time I'd spend taking a closer look. To be clear, that's regardless of whether I'd like to own/drive the car.
Nothing is immune, but not everything is equally affected.
Which stereotypes are pertinent depends on who you ask. Also where you are, apparently. It seems to me that our UK members have strong sentiments about douchebags in BMWs, but in Madison I'd sooner expect to see a douchebag in an Oldsmobile Aurora or some other large Detroit-made "drug dealer" car.
So? Who says my criteria has to be the same for every car? Just like not every car suffers from its stereotypes to the same extent, not every stereotype is necessarily even a negative quality on a car's image.
I'm usually one to point out that everyone has their own definition for what "cool" means. If someone wants to base their definition on what the ignorant masses think, or the prevailing stereotype about a car's owners, or change the criteria depending on the case, it's an open poll.
It wasn't my intention to tell others what they should or shouldn't do.
), then simply compare this thread to the M5 E39 that was voted cool and you'll see why this car of the same era lost to it's bigger sibling in cool factor.
