Well, I'm poised at the moment to buy a new car, and I want a sports car. Something that's fun to drive, isn't too expensive, and is reliable. And a convertible. I've been driving a Chrysler LeBaron for a while, and I was seriously thinking about a Ford Mustang.
Then someone showed me a picture of a Miata for sale. And my first thought was "girl's car" or "Gay car". But then I looked at the reviews. It's won the "best car" top spot for ten years running, and is considered to be the best selling sports car, ever!
Miatas sell like hotcakes, and they keep their price, because they're damned good cars and people love them.
I mentioned to a friend I was thinking of getting one. "Chick's car", he said. But why is it? Why should anyone think that? Because women have the brains to know a good car when they see one? Is it some propaganda put out by Ford or the muscle car people (or the oil companies) that we should buy gas guzzling monsters?
I know a woman of 40 who just bought a new Mustang GT. Five liter, V8 with incredible torque, black, burns rubber like you wouldn't believe. So is she a lesbian, or weird, for having bought such a "guy's" car? Is she more of a guy than any guy with anything less than that car?
Of course not. The car you drive doesn't define you. And the way I look at it, if you have such an issue with image that you really need to show that you're a man by the car you drive, you very likely are the one with the issues about your gender or sexuality.
So I'm almost certainly going to buy the Miata.
And yes, I'm likely to get some flak from people who have bought into the image thing. I think what I'll do is get some shots of gay men and straight women driving Mustangs and trucks. In fact, I know a gay man who drives a Mustang as it is.
Imagine: not having a car that you'd really enjoy just because what other people thought. Other people who have bought into the marketing nonsense that you didn't...
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
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1 comments:
One of the things you find out, once you have a Miata is all about miata.net. There's an incredible community of Miata owners out there, and it's one of the 2 or 3 top forums in the auto sphere. This "it's a gay car" comes up on the forum every so often, and always generates a lot of laughs. As I see it, in my case I'm A: retired B: comfortable with my vision of myself, after 60 yrs.
The other thing you'll soon find out about the Miata is that there are MANY Miata clubs everywhere, some specialize in touring trips, others in Autocross events, and still others in Modding up the cars. The collected opinion at Miata.net is that the car itself, no matter what year it is has "bulletproof" reliabilty.
Go for it, you won't be sorry. And a true measure of the man is that he's comfortable with himself, no matter what he drives.
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