Cars and Car People: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

The car world is one of wide variety and deep passion. It’s a fascinating world, and there’s always something going on somewhere, and it never seems to stop shifting and evolving. It’s one of the things that keeps me interested and curious about the various goings on in this world. The passion runs deep too, sometimes too deep I would venture to say. I’ve noticed that some people tend to get so entrenched in their respective vehicular niche that they are at least indifferent to other car groups, and actively criticize and hate other groups. This is something that needs to change.

Before going any further, I want to say that having a favored niche is perfectly all right and in a number of ways is beneficial to the greater automotive community. Without people focusing on a certain style, region, make, or model of vehicle, we wouldn’t have the passionate and ever changing environment that is needed to keep the culture, the industry, and the excitement alive.

However, there is clear distinction between healthy enthusiasm, and harmful closed-mindedness. The latter is something I see far too much of. I find many people of every automotive background–muscle cars, tuner cars, factory correct vintage cars, and far more–and in every group there are people that can’t seem to accept other styles and cultures as legitimate in their existence. I find restoration guys that cringe at anything modified. I find muscle guys that hate anything foreign or low displacement. I find tuner guys that think domestics can’t do anything other than go in a straight line. It comes from all sides and while a little gentle joking is fine, it all too often is a result of genuine hate for that group’s favorite car or style.

This really is a shame. The automotive is too big, too varied, too exciting to restrict oneself to one area of the automobile. I personally have a fondness for tuner cars and imports, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only thing I’m interested in. I love seeing exotics, pre-war cars, muscle cars, heck I even get a kick out of bad cars like Yugos. It’s all great to see. I feel that people that can’t appreciate other types of cars are missing out on so much!

And for the skeptics, appreciate doesn’t mean that you like it. There’s a reason that there are so many kinds of cars out there. It’s because there are so many different people with different tastes, but none is less legitimate than the other, or done with less passion and love.

To appreciate the work, the passion, and the strengths of different people and automobiles is something that is so important to enjoying cars to their fullest. It’s also important in building the enthusiast community. If we can learn to appreciate and accept the diversity the automotive world has, the stronger we will be. It will be more welcoming for the new people, friendlier and more accepting of those already in it, and more enjoyable for everyone.

There are simply too many reasons why learning to enjoy a wider array of cars not do so. For the sake of ourselves and the hobby we all love, let’s put aside our prejudices and embrace the diversity the car world has to offer.

This lack of respect isn’t really that of individual to individual, it’s a lack of respect to all the niche groups and variations on the car hobby that exist in this world. People on the outside might not realize this, but “car guy” is a really broad term. When you break down the automotive world, you discover that there are probably hundreds, maybe thousands, of different car cultures all within the vehicular globe. You have people that are interested in specific makes, models, styles, regions, the list goes on.

These groups are often fairly tight-knit, even when they span across the country through online forums. They usually take time to help each other in fixing problems, finding parts, and just spending time with each other or participating in car related events. But these specific groups rarely spend much time with each other, and can sometimes borderline hate people of different car scenes.

It is at this point that I should say that everyone naturally has their own likes and dislikes of different scenes, and the occasional, playful bantering between traditionally opposite ideas on cars. I will readily admit that my personal preferences have always been toward Japanese imports, often modified, and an example of something that I’m not crazy about would be donks. I and some of my friends also have some playful banter back and forth about our preferred cars. This is all fine, and can even be fun when not taken too far. But what I’m talking about is the stereotyping, ignorance, and disrespect shown to car culture that people don’t care for.

Being a modified import guy on a campus that consists of primarily domestic people and beyond factory perfect vintage automobiles puts me in a very small minority. And I have heard no shortage of disrespectful things said about Japanese cars and modified cars. Broadening the genre a little further, and modified cars get plenty of disrespect as well. It’s understandable that a place that is focused on restoration will not be terribly excited about modifying cars, but modification shouldn’t be viewed as evil or disrespectful to automobiles and automobile culture.

Some people might say, “Well, if you don’t like the stuff that is focused on and is the majority, you should go somewhere else.” I’ve actually heard something similar to this before. But here’s the thing, I have nothing against proper restoration, old cars, or domestic cars. I like them too! Why can’t there be at least some acknowledgement that modified, Japanese, and other auto cultures are legitimate and interesting too?

I also don’t want anyone to take this as targeting the vintage restoration crowd. I know plenty of people from my preferred car fanbases that also don’t have a lot of respect for others. I know that it’s a long running rivalry between import and domestic people that rarely sees any mixing or respect. And that’s silly too. Cars of all regions, eras, and levels of modification are all great and they all deserve recognition. No group is any better or worse than another.

I want to see a world where you can have a pristine Bugatti Type 57 parked next to a twin-turbo 20b RX-7, a rat rod with a Cummins diesel, a 70s Monte Carlo jacked up on 30″ wheels, a new Lamborghini Aventador, a murdered out Escalade, a bosozoku Corolla TE72, and many, many, many more. And then, all the owners of all of those cars would be interested in everything that showed up.

You see, the car world is too big, too varied, and too exciting to limit oneself to one area of cardom. By no means should one avoid specializing, if it weren’t for specialists we wouldn’t have such fascinating cars. But get out there and see what else there is. Lowriders, tuner cars, muscle cars, hot rods, rat rods, trail trucks, and more all are brilliant and all are done with the same passion for the automobile that everyone has. Even if you don’t like something, take the time to at least appreciate the unique piece that that person created and loves as much as the things you like.