Home brew car snobs
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 3:49 pm
In this instance a surprisingly large number of American car owners in the U.K. I decided to have a look at some American car owners sites, groups and clubs. The one make one model places seem to be a genuinely friendly bunch of people just trying to enjoy their cars. The mixed groups where they "welcome" all American cars seem to be full of people who make snide, venomous remarks about people who don't meet their "criteria", some going as far as trying to get car shows to ban whole groups of vehicles which they choose not to like.
Some examples of what I mean are them choosing to slate a particular owner because their car isn't "American" in their eyes, for example a Jeep - an I'm just picking on this as the first car that comes to mind - that is in the U.K. Is not an "American" car to these people "because it's right hand drive". Doesn't matter that it's been designed and built in the States then imported by Jeep U.K., it makes the owner cannon fodder for these people who take great delight in dishing out some abuse when all they did was say hello or ask for some advice. Ironically a left hand drive version of the very same car that's been imported and then converted to right hand drive by someone other than the manufacturer does count, even if they use the manufacturers RHD parts.
It goes on, even when it's pointed out that some of the muscle cars and pick up trucks these folk idolise aren't actually built in the US and that a RHD Jeep is more American than the car owned by the person throwing the abuse they put the blinkers on.
One very strong ideal that is flawed is that any American car imported to the U.K. by the manufacturer - even if it's designed and built in the US - doesn't count as an American car. For example the Ford Edge or the Mustang, yet the Camaro which is also imported into the U.K. by the manufacturer and sold on, just like the Fords, does count as American. Take the Ford GT, if you bought it from Ford UK in the first place, doesn't count as an American car. If you bought it from the states and imported it yourself, it does count. What's the fucking difference?
When browsing through I found Mustang owners receive a special kind of abuse. The level of hatred is beyond the usual RWD/RWD, ricer/muscle car levels of tosh and in to serious insult swinging. They hate that the car has been such a success staying in continuous production for 50 years and selling a large volume, because it's been a genuinely good enough car to keep renewing, unlike the direct competitors. One particular post was "Time to ban all RHD Mustangs from American car shows because they're still in production, available in RHD and not actually an American car. Classic Mustangs should also be banned because they're common place in Asda car park and nothing actually special", from someone who owned a catfish Camaro. Staggering.
Worse still this level of shite is openly spouted at some of the American car shows where they also hope to trade their cars and "get new people to join the scene". As a (what appears to be debateable) American car owner I t would embarrass me if some poor joe bloggs had been on the receiving end of this shit because he happened to say he liked or owned a car they disapproved of and they felt I'd give them the same treatment.
TL:DR; mixed make American car owners clubs/forums are on a completely different level of shittiness compared to the classic one make forum folk.
Some examples of what I mean are them choosing to slate a particular owner because their car isn't "American" in their eyes, for example a Jeep - an I'm just picking on this as the first car that comes to mind - that is in the U.K. Is not an "American" car to these people "because it's right hand drive". Doesn't matter that it's been designed and built in the States then imported by Jeep U.K., it makes the owner cannon fodder for these people who take great delight in dishing out some abuse when all they did was say hello or ask for some advice. Ironically a left hand drive version of the very same car that's been imported and then converted to right hand drive by someone other than the manufacturer does count, even if they use the manufacturers RHD parts.
It goes on, even when it's pointed out that some of the muscle cars and pick up trucks these folk idolise aren't actually built in the US and that a RHD Jeep is more American than the car owned by the person throwing the abuse they put the blinkers on.
One very strong ideal that is flawed is that any American car imported to the U.K. by the manufacturer - even if it's designed and built in the US - doesn't count as an American car. For example the Ford Edge or the Mustang, yet the Camaro which is also imported into the U.K. by the manufacturer and sold on, just like the Fords, does count as American. Take the Ford GT, if you bought it from Ford UK in the first place, doesn't count as an American car. If you bought it from the states and imported it yourself, it does count. What's the fucking difference?
When browsing through I found Mustang owners receive a special kind of abuse. The level of hatred is beyond the usual RWD/RWD, ricer/muscle car levels of tosh and in to serious insult swinging. They hate that the car has been such a success staying in continuous production for 50 years and selling a large volume, because it's been a genuinely good enough car to keep renewing, unlike the direct competitors. One particular post was "Time to ban all RHD Mustangs from American car shows because they're still in production, available in RHD and not actually an American car. Classic Mustangs should also be banned because they're common place in Asda car park and nothing actually special", from someone who owned a catfish Camaro. Staggering.
Worse still this level of shite is openly spouted at some of the American car shows where they also hope to trade their cars and "get new people to join the scene". As a (what appears to be debateable) American car owner I t would embarrass me if some poor joe bloggs had been on the receiving end of this shit because he happened to say he liked or owned a car they disapproved of and they felt I'd give them the same treatment.
TL:DR; mixed make American car owners clubs/forums are on a completely different level of shittiness compared to the classic one make forum folk.