Middle class chap car of choice in your manor

[troc]

I do find it fascinating how important it is to some people - especially in the UK - that everyone is pigeonholed into different ‘classes’ and ‘cliques’ and how irritated and upset those people can become if other people refuse to accept the pigeonhole to which they have bee assigned.

[jamei303]

Volvos here, including mine. Although the slightly less well-off or less car-interested have older Passats, invariably black.

[CDP]

jamei303 said:

Volvos here, including mine. Although the slightly less well-off or less car-interested have older Passats, invariably black.

Is a Passat really that much different to a Volvo? Both transverse engine FWD or AWD 4 pots. Similar size. Comfortable. Inoffensive. Reliable. Better in estate form.

[nickfrog]

troc said:

I do find it fascinating how important it is to some people - especially in the UK - that everyone is pigeonholed into different ‘classes’ and ‘cliques’ and how irritated and upset those people can become if other people refuse to accept the pigeonhole to which they have bee assigned.

Yes I agree, it's funny how simplistic some people's approach is, particularly about what other people do when in reality they haven't got a clue what "class" those people belong to, not that the class system means anything anymore. But making sweeping statements and silly generalisations perhaps help make them feel a little better and a little less bitter.

[Blu3R]

How strange and bitter this thread has become.

Of the friends and acquaintances I have who are middle class (choose your definition), you would never have any idea of their wealth as they'd never be so vulgar as to utter a single word to indicate it. Other than one, who has a collection of cars so outrageous that you couldn't not notice.

[MyV10BarksAndBites]

hungry_hog said:

MightyBadger said:

These threads always make me chuckle, amazes me how everyone can tell the class of somebody as they drive past in their car. Its an amazing talent.

So if someone drives past in an S3 at 50 in a 30 with a pop pop remap, stinking of weed and 'sat' horizontal I guess you assume it's the vicar?

Why would that have anything to do with him being class tho... My posh friends do it in there Lambos and the like all the time... And yes, also sti king of weed!!!

It's fun, should try it sometime...

[austinsmirk]

Ye all being too serious. Years ago it was simple

Capri. Young man trying to pull

Mini. Young lad

Escort. Poor but got a family

Cortina/ cavalier. Poor but got a slightly bigger family

And amongst that it was easy: everything was L. GL. gls or Ghia. You knew where you were.

Granada/ rover. Life’s good

Volvo/jag/ Mercedes. The boss and or retired.

I’m not daft but I can’t barely distinguish all the 1000’s of models manufacturers produce now. Nearly every Mercedes looks the same: bloody ugly jelly molds. Audi and bmw have a bewildering range of cars. Everyone is churning suvs out now. Given nearly everything is on finance literally nothing screams wealth or class now other than blinding obvious expensive stuff that probably isn’t a company car or financed.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

MyV10BarksAndBites said:

Why would that have anything to do with him being class tho... My posh friends do it in there Lambos and the like all the time... And yes, also sti king of weed!!!

It's fun, should try it sometime...

I suspect that most of your friends aren't actually that posh.

[Rob 131 Sport]

austinsmirk said:

Ye all being too serious. Years ago it was simple

Capri. Young man trying to pull

Mini. Young lad

Escort. Poor but got a family

Cortina/ cavalier. Poor but got a slightly bigger family

And amongst that it was easy: everything was L. GL. gls or Ghia. You knew where you were.

Granada/ rover. Life’s good

Volvo/jag/ Mercedes. The boss and or retired.

I’m not daft but I can’t barely distinguish all the 1000’s of models manufacturers produce now. Nearly every Mercedes looks the same: bloody ugly jelly molds. Audi and bmw have a bewildering range of cars. Everyone is churning suvs out now. Given nearly everything is on finance literally nothing screams wealth or class now other than blinding obvious expensive stuff that probably isn’t a company car or financed.

Great piece. However were do those who bought a continental car in the 1970’s fit in, for example a Lancia Beta or Renault 30.

[nickfrog]

Rob 131 Sport said:

Great piece. However were do those who bought a continental car in the 1970’s fit in, for example a Lancia Beta or Renault 30.

In a coffin by now, mostly. And sadly.

[DonkeyApple]

Rob 131 Sport said:

Great piece. However were do those who bought a continental car in the 1970’s fit in, for example a Lancia Beta or Renault 30.

Sex people and Socialists.

I agree with the earlier poster's sentiments but I do think much has to do with us being older and simply not interested in that stuff any more.

All generic cars have always looked the same. The general fashion changes but 99% of people don't like to be different so 99% of general cars always look the same. Rolls made a larger copy of a Lada, the Hillman Avenger looked like a Datsun.

We have more options because in 2021 there is spending power (say double national average income) across the planet unlike back in the 70s when it was a startlingly low number confined to a limited number of countries.

However, I think the big game changer and the change that has actually jaded most of us isn't anything to do with the generic cars on sale which have always been legion and always looked similar. I think that our opinions in reality stem from the end of supercars being remotely super.

It's actually among this genre that was once the pinnacle, the rarity and the excitement of our interest in cars that ubiquity, commonality and just the plain dullness of them due to their frequency and homogeneity means we no longer have much interest in them.

Not only are they legion and all looking the same like tarts in a low end, regional nightclub but they no longer own performance. Generic utility boxes can now be had which can travel on roads as quickly as a supercar, if not quicker due to better visibility. The sheer number of them and their ease of obtaining just means they are no longer magical and I suspect that if their exhaust isn't shouting enough or the wrap garish enough then we're at a point today where you almost wouldn't notice them. You can see this on PH where threads on these cars barely receive any posts. People have lost interest with them because they are no longer 'super' in any way!

[DonkeyApple]

nickfrog said:

troc said:

I do find it fascinating how important it is to some people - especially in the UK - that everyone is pigeonholed into different ‘classes’ and ‘cliques’ and how irritated and upset those people can become if other people refuse to accept the pigeonhole to which they have bee assigned.

Yes I agree, it's funny how simplistic some people's approach is, particularly about what other people do when in reality they haven't got a clue what "class" those people belong to, not that the class system means anything anymore. But making sweeping statements and silly generalisations perhaps help make them feel a little better and a little less bitter.

It's always been a strange British trait to define someone by a chattel and then adjust how you treat them so starkly.

However, all humans do this in one form or another and outside of Britain the majority of countries use skin colour rather than chattels.

Given that humans are genetically programmed to pigeonhole, I do tend to think it is more civilised to randomly assume someone is a dirty, thieving oik based on their short colour than their skin colour.

Britons will treat me differently on the road based purely on what car I am driving from either spaffing their pants in obsequiousness to the next day the same bloke trying to run you off the road for being beneath them. Imagine being somewhere where this isn't done by chattel but by the colour of the skin you were born with.

I'll mock the British ttism of chattel obsession and how they fabricate these imaginary worlds in their minds of how people with middle incomes live all day long but I think the clueless, bitter bellend in this country is notably more palatable than their cousin abroad.

In short, we have a better and superior form of ttism in the UK.

[MC Bodge]

JmatthewB said:

I'm in the leafy suburbs on the Cheshire/Manchester boundary, most of the housing is small detached or semi-detached. Most of the houses have a Nissan Qashqai or some other dull crossover on the drive. So I guess this would be considered a working class peasant area on here.

I presumably live within a few miles of you, in a tree-lined Victorian-1930s suburb. The residents are quite varied in their affluence and the the cars on the drives also vary a lot.

There are small hatchbacks, crossovers, saloons, estates, large German and JLR SUVs, some sports cars (including some with the engine at the back) and some classics. There are a few electrically powered cars.

There are a few Kia/Hyundai, but I don't notice that many Qashqai parked on drives(although they are probably there). There are actually a few GT86s about -and even an Alpine A110 a couple of miles away.

It is very difficult to generalise.

Edited by MC Bodge on Wednesday 23 June 09:34

[otolith]

The two seaters or 2+2 cars tend to be DINKYs or second cars, so there’s a demographic factor too.

[Pixelpeep Z4]

would depend on if the 'middle class chap' was a car enthusiast or not, wouldn't it ?

[Mikee19]

troc said:

I do find it fascinating how important it is to some people - especially in the UK - that everyone is pigeonholed into different ‘classes’ and ‘cliques’ and how irritated and upset those people can become if other people refuse to accept the pigeonhole to which they have bee assigned.

It's an evolutionary developed flight or fight instinct. Your brain needs a quick way of looking at a group of people and decided if they are a threat to your survival.

[swisstoni]

I frequent the local golf club. A ‘Middle Class Chap’ hub I think we’d all agree.

I’m always surprised at the variety of stuff in the car park. There will be the stereotypical Cayennes and Range Rovers but there will be some classics and other interesting vehicles of all ages.

[austinsmirk]

At eureka in Halifax they have a play garage for children. It has a metal tyre pressure chart: remember them ?

Bear in mind it lists every make/model of car.

It’s unbelievably short !

[Lester H]

Lester H said:

I think you will go a long way to beat a Range Rover, provided it’s not new, or ‘blinged’ in any way.

I’ve looked round a little more now since the thread gained traction. I still suggest Rangie but also Golf GTi which absolutely must be unmodified and not too new!

[jezcunningham]

It just has to be a Jaag!