Has modern supercar ownership become NAFF and irrelevant?
Discussion
Murcielago_Boy said:
What is that even all about? I go into (central)London quite regularly and have yet to see that kind of thing happening.I like my supercars but I don't spray my shorts like those kids do every time I see one. I don't get it. I have no idea what's going on with some people these days. Anything and everything seems to get them reaching for their bloody phones and they seem convinced that everything they post on social media will go 'viral' and is incredibly fascinating.
Murcielago_Boy said:
5. Also, when did every supercar owner in the world suddenly become such an attention w
e? The whole instagram thing, making videos as if you're Jeremy Clarkson is all a bit naff. I find it quite distasteful. Seriously, taking pictures of yourself driving or the "gold hublot watch with steering wheel" pic is just shameful status whoring. I love it when people share their ownership experience but a pic of you at the wheel of your "Lambo" with "ma new Gucci belt innit" is just toe-curlingly tacky and that's what's changed. Supercars were once glamorous.
Now the whole supercar thing is just a bit "Yiannimize" - a Ferrari 512TR was once, rare, exotic, sexy and a bit South of France. A Ferrari 488 Spider is "Chingford" with a satin purple wrap, a youtube channel documenting delivery, driving, your new watch, your girlfriends new Laboutins and your steroid cycle. It's all desperately naff, more to do with fake self promotion, vulgarity, and the supercar has become the de facto instagram and social media accessory.
If you've got it, flaunt it they used to say but this is ridiculous and worse than the worst of the 80's. You've got grown men taking pictures of their outfits and looking for "followers" and likes...dear oh dear.....
I can't relate to supercar ownership but as a 43 year old, I've never known such an attention seeking, show off culture that I'm currently seeing. People constantly bigging themselves up on social media with SnapChat/FaceTune tweaked selfies and boring waffle about themselves #SomeLoadOfbe? The whole instagram thing, making videos as if you're Jeremy Clarkson is all a bit naff. I find it quite distasteful. Seriously, taking pictures of yourself driving or the "gold hublot watch with steering wheel" pic is just shameful status whoring. I love it when people share their ownership experience but a pic of you at the wheel of your "Lambo" with "ma new Gucci belt innit" is just toe-curlingly tacky and that's what's changed. Supercars were once glamorous.Now the whole supercar thing is just a bit "Yiannimize" - a Ferrari 512TR was once, rare, exotic, sexy and a bit South of France. A Ferrari 488 Spider is "Chingford" with a satin purple wrap, a youtube channel documenting delivery, driving, your new watch, your girlfriends new Laboutins and your steroid cycle. It's all desperately naff, more to do with fake self promotion, vulgarity, and the supercar has become the de facto instagram and social media accessory.
If you've got it, flaunt it they used to say but this is ridiculous and worse than the worst of the 80's. You've got grown men taking pictures of their outfits and looking for "followers" and likes...dear oh dear.....
ks. It really is getting a bit tragic.I blame over-population. People less sure of themselves are increasingly desperate to stand out from the crowd, perhaps?
Yes to so much of what you said, OP.
As for the cars - be careful what you wish for springs to mind.
Buyers want faster, bigger numbers, more tech, and that is what manufacturers gave us.
Unfortunately bigger numbers and more tech don't equate to more fun, I guess any Airbus has far more tech and definitely bigger numbers than a supercar, but is the most mindblowingly boring and safe means of transport that I know of.
As for the cars - be careful what you wish for springs to mind.
Buyers want faster, bigger numbers, more tech, and that is what manufacturers gave us.
Unfortunately bigger numbers and more tech don't equate to more fun, I guess any Airbus has far more tech and definitely bigger numbers than a supercar, but is the most mindblowingly boring and safe means of transport that I know of.
Completely agree op. The sooner the status lovers find something else to boast with maybe the stratospheric bubble they've created will collapse. I've always thought it such a shame watching talented engineers spend years making something amazing to see some wealthy plonker stuffing it into a wall at low speed showing off. I hope to see these engineers turn their talents towards things that benefit all of us instead of the very few that can blow £1M on a shiny dick with wheels. Of course, I'm not painting everyone with the same brush, I know some brilliantly humble supercar owners.
Edited by lestiq on Monday 1st August 14:13
Agree with all the London nonsense, excruciating, but you can still have a lot of fun in a Supercar if you pick your spots. I get over to France or Germany a couple of times a year and there is still a lot of good driving to be had if you get up early.
The cars are pretty impossible to drive near the limit now, my current car is just too quick to keep your foot down but I still love the feel and handling of the car even at normal pace.
Apart from PH I'm not on any social media, so aside from a few pics on here when I go on a trip my cars have never been posted all over the internet (well, not by me anyway!).
The whole "spotter" thing is unfortunate, I think a lot of people see Supercar owners as total knobs these days, it's a shame.
The cars are pretty impossible to drive near the limit now, my current car is just too quick to keep your foot down but I still love the feel and handling of the car even at normal pace.
Apart from PH I'm not on any social media, so aside from a few pics on here when I go on a trip my cars have never been posted all over the internet (well, not by me anyway!).
The whole "spotter" thing is unfortunate, I think a lot of people see Supercar owners as total knobs these days, it's a shame.
SuperchargedVR6 said:
I blame over-population. People less sure of themselves are increasingly desperate to stand out from the crowd, perhaps?
I don't blame anything, what I can make as an observation is that there at this time what I perceive to be a disproportionately high amount of people with the means to provide great wealth to sons, daughters, through actual money to employment. These people then only see Instagram views, facebook likes as a means of social validity in a time when they probably don't have that much real social interaction. I see it more of a symptom of how imbalanced society has become.I've never owned a supercar but I've driven a few, every time I got out I thought how amazing they were. I tried to rationalise buying one but if I used it properly I'd be in prison inside a fortnight and mileage/costs/enjoyment/prison was too much for me to stomach as I'm not a company director, powerfully built or otherwise.
99% of the time it would be a difficult to maneuver, I'd worry about it constantly, would be too harsh for the roads I drive on, I'd have to make effort to drive it etc
I remember going to buy an M3, the BMW sales guy took me out to start with, we were constantly catching up to slower stuff and looking for an overtake. He kept complaining about you never get a clear run now a days. I think he had it right 15 years ago.
Classics however may well make more sense.....
99% of the time it would be a difficult to maneuver, I'd worry about it constantly, would be too harsh for the roads I drive on, I'd have to make effort to drive it etc
I remember going to buy an M3, the BMW sales guy took me out to start with, we were constantly catching up to slower stuff and looking for an overtake. He kept complaining about you never get a clear run now a days. I think he had it right 15 years ago.
Classics however may well make more sense.....
Edited by Backtobasics on Monday 1st August 14:36
Agreed.
Money aside I'd far rather a Singer 911 than a LaF, P1 or 918. Supercars do work if you take them on Eurotrips but you have to be increasingly careful there. On the spot bans and massive fines are common place in France now.
Instagram is horrendous. It's basically just e-showing off. Look at my car, house, watch, etc, etc. There seems to be a lot of spoilt kids who have access to Daddy's cars and pretend that they own them. Don't say anything negative though or you'll be labelled a 'hater'
Money aside I'd far rather a Singer 911 than a LaF, P1 or 918. Supercars do work if you take them on Eurotrips but you have to be increasingly careful there. On the spot bans and massive fines are common place in France now.
Instagram is horrendous. It's basically just e-showing off. Look at my car, house, watch, etc, etc. There seems to be a lot of spoilt kids who have access to Daddy's cars and pretend that they own them. Don't say anything negative though or you'll be labelled a 'hater'
InductionRoar said:
I admire supercars/hypercars but I don't desire one (which is very handy as I can't afford one).
I like to see and hear other people's but the sheer size and attention would grind me down very quickly. If out on a nice drive you come across a Lambo or suchlike it elevates a very nice drive to a memorable one. I would imagine I am having more fun though.
I like to see and hear other people's but the sheer size and attention would grind me down very quickly. If out on a nice drive you come across a Lambo or suchlike it elevates a very nice drive to a memorable one. I would imagine I am having more fun though.
Unless I suddenly became amazingly wealthy - in a way I didn't have to work or do normal things because I could pay minions to do them for me - a Porsche 911 GT3 (or Audi R8 Plus, 570S etc.) is about as "super" as I'd want to go.
I have to agree with OP. He DOES come across as a bit of an old fart, but he makes relevant points.
Imo, this new age of "Traders" or "Shisha lounge owners" or "Dessert lounge owners" spanning the age of 21-28 from certain areas in the UK have killed off all supercar ownership fantasies.
Supercars rarely had a stigma attached to them but its like these douches have ruined the entire supercar scene by making them appear so accessible.
Imo, this new age of "Traders" or "Shisha lounge owners" or "Dessert lounge owners" spanning the age of 21-28 from certain areas in the UK have killed off all supercar ownership fantasies.
Supercars rarely had a stigma attached to them but its like these douches have ruined the entire supercar scene by making them appear so accessible.
Hopefully, when all this filters down, we will have a return to subtlety and restrained style from supercar and super-luxury manufacturers.
Failing that, there is the classic market where style is almost guaranteed versus today's output. I'm assuming these tossers and their audience are oblivious of old cars innit.
Failing that, there is the classic market where style is almost guaranteed versus today's output. I'm assuming these tossers and their audience are oblivious of old cars innit.
Oof. Even associating something with the word 'scene' makes it sound repugnant.
There does seem to be a growth of groups seeing supercars as a way of life rather than something to appreciate from a driving perspective,
Hey ho, not my cup o tea however I'm sure blasting up and down crowded urban streets, burning copious gallons of lambo-fruit-juice whilst being videod/shaken-headed/swooned is glorious fun.
There does seem to be a growth of groups seeing supercars as a way of life rather than something to appreciate from a driving perspective,
Hey ho, not my cup o tea however I'm sure blasting up and down crowded urban streets, burning copious gallons of lambo-fruit-juice whilst being videod/shaken-headed/swooned is glorious fun.
Buy a motorbike, classic or lightweight (Caterham/Ariel) all cheaper than your average Supercar, more fun in the real world, many are quicker on the track, less attention from Chav Camera knobbers and thieving sods and ownership is a joy rather than perpetual fear of damaging your investment.
TREMAiNE said:
I agree completely.
I drive a Boxster S and sometimes I even think that has too much power to have fun on the road (having loved my MK1 MX5 which you could safely and legally push)... I can't begin to imagine what a Supercar would be like on the streets.
I save most of my 'spirited driving' for the track where I can just have fun.
This is why I've kept my mk1 MX-5 whilst a Boxster S passes through the household. During the first year, I thought that the MX-5 was hands-down more "fun". Then I realised that the Boxster is also "fun", but the limits are so much higher so it takes much more to reveal the fun side. The mind boggles at what supercars today must be like on today's roads. Won't stop me getting one if I am lucky enough to do so one day.I drive a Boxster S and sometimes I even think that has too much power to have fun on the road (having loved my MK1 MX5 which you could safely and legally push)... I can't begin to imagine what a Supercar would be like on the streets.
I save most of my 'spirited driving' for the track where I can just have fun.
That YouTube video was eye opening. When I've been in London I've never seen that kind of marauding! For all of the bad press that the drivers have been given, I'd say the bigger danger is the spotters who act so unsafely. (Darwinism?) For example, the Bugatti that slowed for the epedestrian crossing because they didn't have a clear view around the adjacent traffic; if the papers were to be believed he would have been hovering there, waiting for somebody to run voer while accelerating to 160 mph.
(I know that there are still many who abuse the speed available to their right foot, but I feel a little better for having redressed the balance a little.)
(I know that there are still many who abuse the speed available to their right foot, but I feel a little better for having redressed the balance a little.)
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