What happened to genuinely posh cars and their targets?
Discussion
Petrus1983 said:
I blame rappers. Seriously - every single rapper/wanna be producer drives the most expensive Bentley they can get their hands on. Now the gentry look like wannabe rappers.
yeah but the gentry probably don't fit 24 inch rims, 3D number plates and matt paintI used to tutor in London and one pupil had a huge detached house in North London. Very nice people, they would always insist I had some food before the lesson.
The Dad had an old 911 (964) and a Corolla. He didn't use the 911 much as he said it was "expensive to run"
House probably worth about 20m even in those days...I think cars are (for many) a status symbol and when your status is assured you don't need to show off with them, You probably get the best car for the job, rather than the flashiest car. So Bentley, FFRR, Disco maybe the odd Porsche (or Morgan!) for a bit of fun. And plenty of Japnese cars which do the job and last a long time.
Ferrari, Lamborghini don't make a lot of sense unless it's vintage and they are racing them.
Love the binary curmudgeon outlook on here. If you dare to buy something you like some old Victor Meldrew type will always roll out the tired old line ‘wealth whispers’. This will soon be followed by shouts of ‘oh how vulgar’. Only in England are we so crushingly boring and deeply jealous of a lack of inhibition would these comments be made.
Honestly?
The only family I know that is properly, epically loaded - we're talking 10+ houses around the world in various tax havens and ski resorts - have so many different cars at different houses that the dealers basically organize it for them.
Apart from a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead coupe which is the daily driver, Range Rover concierges just turn up to their properties, pick up the cars for service etc, and swap them for new ones when the lease is up. The cars are mostly RR autobiographies, I don't even think they choose the spec, the dealer just ticks the boxes. I'm sure they are getting fleeced...but the money doesn't matter. I think they have a few X5s as house cars (staff, guests etc), too.
The luxury isn't in the car itself, it's in it always being brand new, always fully fueled, always clean, and available at any time, wherever they are.
The only family I know that is properly, epically loaded - we're talking 10+ houses around the world in various tax havens and ski resorts - have so many different cars at different houses that the dealers basically organize it for them.
Apart from a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead coupe which is the daily driver, Range Rover concierges just turn up to their properties, pick up the cars for service etc, and swap them for new ones when the lease is up. The cars are mostly RR autobiographies, I don't even think they choose the spec, the dealer just ticks the boxes. I'm sure they are getting fleeced...but the money doesn't matter. I think they have a few X5s as house cars (staff, guests etc), too.
The luxury isn't in the car itself, it's in it always being brand new, always fully fueled, always clean, and available at any time, wherever they are.
RMDB9 said:
Petrus1983 said:
RMDB9 said:
Name one. Gentry, not fast food tycoons or "celebrities".
One of whom?Name a few who do. Not just one.
RMDB9 said:
Loaded for sure, but doesnt. that apply to many oligarchs, self-made men etc?
Loaded is not posh.
Posh is not only a daft term, it’s a negative association as far as I’m concerned. All the wealthy people I know are not ‘posh’, they’ve done that thing of making money themselves. Why would they then want to mix in ‘posh’ circles where all anyone is interested in is your family tree? Loaded is not posh.
RMDB9 said:
Find a better word for people who are not cornershop billionaires but from a different sort
Its not an either / or you know. Theres plenty of people in this country with really serious amounts of money who have had it for some considerable time and / or through family who wouldnt meet your definition of "posh".Frankly your definition of it seems to come from the slang for "upper class", which is part of a class structure thats pretty much is gone now.
Edited by Deep Thought on Monday 5th April 18:18
Until recently my wife worked for a company owned by a genuine ‘old-money’ family. Big family trust, places in Scotland, London, Tuscany lots of hunting, shooting, fishing etc.
She dealt with quite a lot of the family members and often remarked that it was weird that they pretty much all drove Audis. Not a ‘flash’ car among them. The A6 was the car of choice.
A lot of it is to do with discretion- they genuinely don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Partly this is about not seeming vulgar, but it’s also about personal security. Additionally they are all as tight as fishes’ arses. It’s been absolutely hammered into all of them since birth that preserving the family’s wealth is the number one priority. As a result there’s very little ostentation in the family.
She dealt with quite a lot of the family members and often remarked that it was weird that they pretty much all drove Audis. Not a ‘flash’ car among them. The A6 was the car of choice.
A lot of it is to do with discretion- they genuinely don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Partly this is about not seeming vulgar, but it’s also about personal security. Additionally they are all as tight as fishes’ arses. It’s been absolutely hammered into all of them since birth that preserving the family’s wealth is the number one priority. As a result there’s very little ostentation in the family.
hungry_hog said:
yeah but the gentry probably don't fit 24 inch rims, 3D number plates and matt paint
I used to tutor in London and one pupil had a huge detached house in North London. Very nice people, they would always insist I had some food before the lesson.
The Dad had an old 911 (964) and a Corolla. He didn't use the 911 much as he said it was "expensive to run" House probably worth about 20m even in those days...
I think cars are (for many) a status symbol and when your status is assured you don't need to show off with them, You probably get the best car for the job, rather than the flashiest car. So Bentley, FFRR, Disco maybe the odd Porsche (or Morgan!) for a bit of fun. And plenty of Japnese cars which do the job and last a long time.
Ferrari, Lamborghini don't make a lot of sense unless it's vintage and they are racing them.
This makes more sense, I’ve observed high net wealth individual’s go through a few exotic cars but quickly find they’re a bit pointless (unless vintage or racing them) and they end up with premium mass produced cars mainly because of convenience.I used to tutor in London and one pupil had a huge detached house in North London. Very nice people, they would always insist I had some food before the lesson.
The Dad had an old 911 (964) and a Corolla. He didn't use the 911 much as he said it was "expensive to run"
House probably worth about 20m even in those days...I think cars are (for many) a status symbol and when your status is assured you don't need to show off with them, You probably get the best car for the job, rather than the flashiest car. So Bentley, FFRR, Disco maybe the odd Porsche (or Morgan!) for a bit of fun. And plenty of Japnese cars which do the job and last a long time.
Ferrari, Lamborghini don't make a lot of sense unless it's vintage and they are racing them.
If they drive across Europe it’ll be Porsche or top end Merc / BMW / Audi; if UK based then a Range Rover.
I asked a chap in Verbier (on the drive of his Prince Andrew shaming chalet), who drove a few times a year from London why a Cayenne? He said, he prefers driving to short haul flying as he has friends in Paris and Geneva and drops in on them.
He found in anything other than a mass produced car with an extensive dealership network, when you have a fault, the journey gets exponentially delayed whilst the Lambo, Ferrari etc gets towed, waits for parts /gets repaired.
jimbobs said:
Until recently my wife worked for a company owned by a genuine ‘old-money’ family. Big family trust, places in Scotland, London, Tuscany lots of hunting, shooting, fishing etc.
She dealt with quite a lot of the family members and often remarked that it was weird that they pretty much all drove Audis. Not a ‘flash’ car among them. The A6 was the car of choice.
A lot of it is to do with discretion- they genuinely don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Partly this is about not seeming vulgar, but it’s also about personal security. Additionally they are all as tight as fishes’ arses. It’s been absolutely hammered into all of them since birth that preserving the family’s wealth is the number one priority. As a result there’s very little ostentation in the family.
Hunting, shooting and fishing, all notoriously cheap and cheerful pasttimes. Yet preserving wealth is their number one priority, so they all drive Audis. She dealt with quite a lot of the family members and often remarked that it was weird that they pretty much all drove Audis. Not a ‘flash’ car among them. The A6 was the car of choice.
A lot of it is to do with discretion- they genuinely don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Partly this is about not seeming vulgar, but it’s also about personal security. Additionally they are all as tight as fishes’ arses. It’s been absolutely hammered into all of them since birth that preserving the family’s wealth is the number one priority. As a result there’s very little ostentation in the family.
This made-up nonsense here is just getting funnier and funnier.
jimbobs said:
Until recently my wife worked for a company owned by a genuine ‘old-money’ family. Big family trust, places in Scotland, London, Tuscany lots of hunting, shooting, fishing etc.
She dealt with quite a lot of the family members and often remarked that it was weird that they pretty much all drove Audis. Not a ‘flash’ car among them. The A6 was the car of choice.
A lot of it is to do with discretion- they genuinely don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Partly this is about not seeming vulgar, but it’s also about personal security. Additionally they are all as tight as fishes’ arses. It’s been absolutely hammered into all of them since birth that preserving the family’s wealth is the number one priority. As a result there’s very little ostentation in the family.
Of course hunting and fishing, all perfectly legitimate trust fund / tax deductible activities whether from the maintenance of the estate or a business expense.She dealt with quite a lot of the family members and often remarked that it was weird that they pretty much all drove Audis. Not a ‘flash’ car among them. The A6 was the car of choice.
A lot of it is to do with discretion- they genuinely don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Partly this is about not seeming vulgar, but it’s also about personal security. Additionally they are all as tight as fishes’ arses. It’s been absolutely hammered into all of them since birth that preserving the family’s wealth is the number one priority. As a result there’s very little ostentation in the family.
Remember the rich spend their money first and they’re taxed on what’s left; the rest of the world pay tax fkrst and get to spend what’s left!
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