Posers Versus Enthusiasts

[Pete Kraus <Pete_Kraus@Emory.Org>]

Bill Elliott quotes me . . .

>Pete:  <<We, of all people, should understand the pleasantly irrational
>(if not mildly insane) vicissitudes that afflict our choice of vehicles and
>make generous allowances for those whose attractions inexplicably
>differ from our own.>>

. . . then asks: 

>....so you're saying it's okay that I own a Trabant?.... ;-)

Bill, I said mildly insane, not raving loony!  However, it's my contention
that in the hypothetical event we found a Trabant enthusiast, at some
level we could relate.  If that puts me in the raving loony category, so be
it.   I'm more at home at old car shows than on the track and have
enjoyed conversations with owners of all sorts of off-the-wall cars.  A
cheerful fellow with an air-cooled, rear-engined V-8 Tatra sedan comes
immediately to mind.  Had he been the custodian of, say, an early ur-q
or  911,  I'd more quickly have understood the attributes of the car, but
the pride, enthusiasm and challenges of ownership would have been
comparable.

Posers are best avoided regardless of what they drive, not because
they are inherently superficial or arrogant (although they have to be
pretty judgmental almost by definition), but because we have little in
common with their peripheral automotive interests.

Pete
Pete_Kraus@emory.org