Unexpected driver demographics of vehicle models
Discussion
I've always found amusement in glancing into the windows of cars that typically have a specific demographic of driver (i.e. Rover, old man's car etc) and being pleasantly surprised when the driver isn't the type of person you'd expect. It makes me wonder at what sparked their interest in owning a car that you wouldn't usually associate with the age group they are in.
I write this post as I believe I am now this source of amusement for some other folk on the road. I'm 22 and have recently purchased a 1993 Mitsubishi Pajero LWB. It's an old, tatty, agricultural truck. My impression from the owners groups and other pajero owners I've seen out and about is that young pajero owners are few and very far between, and the rest are retired.
I imagine people must find it amusing that young people have started enjoying k11 micras, starlets, corsa b's etc, despite for years those models being labelled just as cars your nan would drive.
Does anyone think like this, or just me? Anyone else drive a car that doesn't typically suit your demographic?
I write this post as I believe I am now this source of amusement for some other folk on the road. I'm 22 and have recently purchased a 1993 Mitsubishi Pajero LWB. It's an old, tatty, agricultural truck. My impression from the owners groups and other pajero owners I've seen out and about is that young pajero owners are few and very far between, and the rest are retired.
I imagine people must find it amusing that young people have started enjoying k11 micras, starlets, corsa b's etc, despite for years those models being labelled just as cars your nan would drive.
Does anyone think like this, or just me? Anyone else drive a car that doesn't typically suit your demographic?
siskiuslide said:
I've always found amusement in glancing into the windows of cars that typically have a specific demographic of driver (i.e. Rover, old man's car etc) and being pleasantly surprised when the driver isn't the type of person you'd expect. It makes me wonder at what sparked their interest in owning a car that you wouldn't usually associate with the age group they are in.
I write this post as I believe I am now this source of amusement for some other folk on the road. I'm 22 and have recently purchased a 1993 Mitsubishi Pajero LWB. It's an old, tatty, agricultural truck. My impression from the owners groups and other pajero owners I've seen out and about is that young pajero owners are few and very far between, and the rest are retired.
I imagine people must find it amusing that young people have started enjoying k11 micras, starlets, corsa b's etc, despite for years those models being labelled just as cars your nan would drive.
Does anyone think like this, or just me? Anyone else drive a car that doesn't typically suit your demographic?
It's just you, people drive what they can afford and what they need for personal transport. Why do you need a Pajero ?I write this post as I believe I am now this source of amusement for some other folk on the road. I'm 22 and have recently purchased a 1993 Mitsubishi Pajero LWB. It's an old, tatty, agricultural truck. My impression from the owners groups and other pajero owners I've seen out and about is that young pajero owners are few and very far between, and the rest are retired.
I imagine people must find it amusing that young people have started enjoying k11 micras, starlets, corsa b's etc, despite for years those models being labelled just as cars your nan would drive.
Does anyone think like this, or just me? Anyone else drive a car that doesn't typically suit your demographic?
I was probably one of those people you saw in the car and thought “wtf”…
My first car was a Jaguar X Type V6. I loved the cream leather, wood dash, and clear glass, and it was in a proper blue colour.
Every car I’ve ever driven or lusted after since has been according to that formula - clear glass (NEVER privacy, ever), light coloured leather, wood dash, and lots of chrome if possible.
It completely goes against the grain of every mate I have , who constantly call me old man and they probably have a point
They’re all in their early 40s and most are driving large SUVs with black packs, privacy glass (all of them have it) dark two tone wheels, matrix lights etc.
Luckily we’re not in secondary school anymore and they respect my quirks just as I respect their right to own nice new cars that have a lot of social cache in the UK.
My first car was a Jaguar X Type V6. I loved the cream leather, wood dash, and clear glass, and it was in a proper blue colour.
Every car I’ve ever driven or lusted after since has been according to that formula - clear glass (NEVER privacy, ever), light coloured leather, wood dash, and lots of chrome if possible.
It completely goes against the grain of every mate I have , who constantly call me old man and they probably have a point
They’re all in their early 40s and most are driving large SUVs with black packs, privacy glass (all of them have it) dark two tone wheels, matrix lights etc.
Luckily we’re not in secondary school anymore and they respect my quirks just as I respect their right to own nice new cars that have a lot of social cache in the UK.
And sorry should explain the context - I’m mixed race, sadly haven’t really got myself out of tracksuits most days as I WFH, and tend to listen to Travis Scott or whatever is on my gym playlist.
So I guess that’s where the “incongruous” factor might come in when someone looks through the window and doesn’t see a tweed wearing old boy or a 80 year old shuffling to get the morning papers.
So I guess that’s where the “incongruous” factor might come in when someone looks through the window and doesn’t see a tweed wearing old boy or a 80 year old shuffling to get the morning papers.
What an absolute load of nonsense.
People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
Johnspex said:
What an absolute load of nonsense.
People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
Disagree. I suspect a huge number of vehicles are bought due to their image and the perceived message that it sends. Not everyone buys purely on utility. Whether it is rufty-tufty Defenders which never leave tarmac, or powerful M-cars for powerful directors, hot hatches which have only ever lapped a McDonalds drive through, quadruple-black SUVs designed to intimidate or boring retired overweight golfers cosplaying 007 in an Aston. Of course people buy cars to portray an image, just like they chose clothes, shoes and watches.People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
The Honda Jazz is a funny one.
In the UK, although they do appear in showrooms and classifieds, you actually can't buy a Honda Jazz. For arcane reasons probably involving the Stonemasons or the Rotary Club, the full production run is randomly allocated to the elderly population using the Liliput Lane customer database. When the allocated beneficiary eventually perishes, slumped over the wheel and circling at 15mph on full lock in a garden centre car park on a Tuesday afternoon, a local Jazzmaster is summoned, a long pole is used to extract the key from the ignition, a dignified ceremony is performed, the box of tissues on the parcel shelf is replenished, and the car is transferred on to someone else of a marginally less decrepit age.
But elsewhere in the world it's called the Honda Fit and it's driven by teenagers who think it's cool.
In the UK, although they do appear in showrooms and classifieds, you actually can't buy a Honda Jazz. For arcane reasons probably involving the Stonemasons or the Rotary Club, the full production run is randomly allocated to the elderly population using the Liliput Lane customer database. When the allocated beneficiary eventually perishes, slumped over the wheel and circling at 15mph on full lock in a garden centre car park on a Tuesday afternoon, a local Jazzmaster is summoned, a long pole is used to extract the key from the ignition, a dignified ceremony is performed, the box of tissues on the parcel shelf is replenished, and the car is transferred on to someone else of a marginally less decrepit age.
But elsewhere in the world it's called the Honda Fit and it's driven by teenagers who think it's cool.
To pass the time on a long motorway drive to a stag do many years ago, we devised game where we took it in turns to pick a car ahead and guess the gender of the driver. You'd think there would be some obvious ones but nope, there was basically no correlation at all.
The only exceptions were vans being relatively safe bets for blokes, and we decided if you identified a female lorry driver then you instantly won the game. Otherwise it seemed to be completely random.
The only exceptions were vans being relatively safe bets for blokes, and we decided if you identified a female lorry driver then you instantly won the game. Otherwise it seemed to be completely random.
Have a quick search of the definition of ‘Pajero’ in the Spanish language.
I do dislike it, when someone categorizes people by the car they drive, there are applicable stereotypes, but mostly they’re just rubbish.
“MX5’s are driven by……..”, pointless claptrap; unnecessary 4X4’s on the other hand ……!
I do dislike it, when someone categorizes people by the car they drive, there are applicable stereotypes, but mostly they’re just rubbish.
“MX5’s are driven by……..”, pointless claptrap; unnecessary 4X4’s on the other hand ……!
At one time every van you saw had a newspaper on top o the dashboard, and it was always, without exception, either the Sun or the Mirror. I appreciate they were the most popular papers back when people bought papers, but I'd expect at least an occasional Mail or Times, and council vans to have the Guardian.
Johnspex said:
What an absolute load of nonsense.
People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
To be fair, a lot of them arePeople choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
A couple that spring to mind from recent memory...
- an elderly lady I see driving very sedately locally, piloting a 71-reg BMW M5 Competition of all things; not once have I seen it exceeding 30MPH, cracking choice of car though
- another lady I met who was probably late-50s, getting in to her Mini Cooper GP3 (or whatever the most recent GP-model was called), said that she'd upgraded from a Cooper S and aside from the harsh ride was loving it
Heartening to see people still using specialist cars regularly.
- an elderly lady I see driving very sedately locally, piloting a 71-reg BMW M5 Competition of all things; not once have I seen it exceeding 30MPH, cracking choice of car though
- another lady I met who was probably late-50s, getting in to her Mini Cooper GP3 (or whatever the most recent GP-model was called), said that she'd upgraded from a Cooper S and aside from the harsh ride was loving it
Heartening to see people still using specialist cars regularly.
Johnspex said:
What an absolute load of nonsense.
People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
No, it’s not twaddle. Stereotypes, however much you dislike them, are generalisations founded on experience. However, there are many exceptions: You may inherit or be gifted a car; you may be issued with a works car; you may be driving a family member’s car, and so on. People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
Lester H said:
Johnspex said:
What an absolute load of nonsense.
People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
No, it s not twaddle. Stereotypes, however much you dislike them, are generalisations founded on experience. People choose the kind of car they need/ can afford, not what type fits with their image.
I bet that you're one of those idiots who think anyone who drives a BMW or Audi is a cock.
Well, you're only 22 but I expect with a little more life experience you will appreciate how ridiculous this kind of twaddle is.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff