Comments on: Carspotting

By: Henna Hämäläinen

Henna Hämäläinen — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:45:21 +0000

Totally late to the party here, but I finally had the time and energy to do as I promised I would and take a look at your works here, and as a writer I wanted to leave a comment as well.

I share your love for cars, even though I’m the Backseat Blonde type whose knowledge on them is on the level of “I love the color and the shape so it must be a good car” and how to drive to the closest mall. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to learn more, and I really enjoyed reading this article, especially since it was written by a girl. The funny, easy writing style helped, too! :D

By: Sampo Rassi

Sampo Rassi — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:23:57 +0000

For me the appeal of cars-as-objects is rooted in my love of machines and mechanisms. I love all kinds of convoluted and weird things, from pocket watches to steam engines, and if there’s metal gubbins in there that can be polished to a mirror sheen, all the better.

By: Ballard

Ballard — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:49:39 +0000

“Personally, I happen to love brands and everything about them.”

Everything? Sorry, but that’s just sad and ignorant. Nestle is a brand – never mind the whole baby milk fiasco and all the babies dying as a consequence – they buy cocoa from the Ivory Coast where children are regularly kidnapped to work on plantations. Amazon is a brand – in 2008, it was “making its staff work seven days a week and threatening them with the sack if they take time off sick” in Britain no less (Sunday Times). Etc. Etc. Personally, I’d reserve my unconditional love for something with a bit less potential to damage human lives and the environment, but again, that’s just me.

By: Ballard

Ballard — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:56:04 +0000

“a mix of prestige that comes with money AND good taste.”

Here we disagee. The people you see coming out of the most “prestigious” Mercs, Porsches and BMWs don’t need good taste for anything, for that there are highly paid car designers and salesmen (and, going further, stylists and interior decorators, etc.). In general, the more expensive the car, the better it looks to the average eye, no? Give a dog a big lump of cash to get a car with, and it’ll end up with the same car as the crass nouveau riche and the person with supposed good taste shopping at the same place.

I like the car as an idea – pushing down the mythical road, the physicality of driving a thing that challenges our own physical limitations – but once you start bringing big brands into it, you’re treading in shallow waters.

By: Kristiina Nieminen

Kristiina Nieminen — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:41:11 +0000

Well, Ballard, seeing that BTSB’s theme is ‘brands’ with the recent posts, it was pretty natural for me to bring it up. Personally, I happen to love brands and everything about them.

Joe, thanks for your lovely comment. And the jibe about the dog thing, you hit the nail right on the head. And the videolink! I might not be able to get this song out of my head anytime soon.

Sampo, thanks for commenting. I took a very light-hearted approach to the whole car thing. But what is so fascinating about these metallic things? Nothing and everything. Maybe it’s just the potential of cars to make us feel something, anything, no matter how vague it is.

By: Joe McVeigh

Joe McVeigh — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:52:24 +0000

Great article, Kristiina. I love Top Gear, but I’m glad I don’t own a car. A lot of my feelings towards driving have been influenced by the first car I owned, which was a Ford F-150 with a V8, 5.8L engine. That meant I stopped at just about every gas station I passed (the damn thing had two gas tanks). It was fast as hell, I’ll admit, but not as fast as the money coming out of my pocket to pay for fuel.
Ballard, when it comes to dogs and cars, I think we’d be hard pressed to get a dog to think about anything else but hanging its head out the window.
But all this talk about prestige and fancy cars got me thinking of Adam Sandler’s “Ode To My Car”. Classic.

By: Sampo Rassi

Sampo Rassi — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:47:36 +0000

It’s an interesting way to look into what’s become one of the cornerstones of Western identity (especially masculinity). For me I’ve always seen cars as aesthetic objects (a Rolls-Royce is beautiful, a Skoda less so), but I’ve never entertained the notion of driving one, so I often get to wondering “What is it that people find so fascinating about these things?”

“If life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car. And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.”

By: Kristiina Nieminen

Kristiina Nieminen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:01:27 +0000

To each their own. A Merc or a Porsche or a BMW has more prestige than, say, a Honda Prius. True, prestige can be looked at from various points of view, I’m simply offering mine which is a mix of prestige that comes with money AND good taste.

Thanks for commenting, it’s always much appreciated.

By: Ballard

Ballard — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:42:47 +0000

“And it doesn’t hurt if the badge on its front oozes with prestige.”

Prestige of what kind? The type of prestige you can buy with money? I think I’ll pass, thanks.