Thug Bird's Personal Unpopular Petrolhead Opinions, Part 1 out of 6
As petrolheads, we all have our own perspectives and philosophies when it comes to being one, no?
As petrolheads, we all have our own perspectives and philosophies when it comes to being one, no?
Believe me, I love CarThrottle and the community for it’s constantly positive, helpful, and overall friendly community and the aura of carmaraderie that promotes such attitude, but then, even as I stay in this website, I have some negative opinions towards some major fads in this community.
Am I aimlessly posting this to generate controversy? By no means. I am merely voicing out my own opinion on some otherwise popular things that constantly get positive reception. I’d appreciate it if you’d read through this.
1. I Don't Believe in the "Built, not bought" Mentality.
Most petrolheads I hear about live by the famed mantra, “Built, not bought.”. Meaning, they only resolve to deal with cars by tuning it to the way they want, and resenting any car that is merely purchased, stock, or already upgraded like new Ferraris or Lamborghinis.
This is among the kind of petrolheads fads that I disagree with. Yes, tuning can always make a car better, but is it absolutely necessary to take away the virginity of every car you get your hands on? Some cars are often better left stock.
And this mentality often leads to the resentment of supercars, which are well known for being the kings of car performance without the need for modifications, much to the chagrin of the more conservative car enthusiasts. Also, with supercars being accessible mostly to rich snobs, this would further deteriorate the reputation of these kind of cars towards most petrolheads, which often make them make vows to not buy these kind of cars and continue to buy tuner cars to, “express their aesthetics as a car enthusiast.”
“Oh, but Thug Bird! I hate new cars because they’re complicated, they look too extreme for my liking, too expensive, and too many people like it!”
Are you kidding me with that? You hate them because they’re complicated to work on? Like I previously mentioned, is it absolutely necessary to work on a car simply to fulfill a craving in your heart? Supercars are already graceful, poised, and powerful on their own. Is 200+mph and premium luxury just not enough for you? And too extreme? Why, do you want all cars, super car or normal to be conservative and only completed by modifications? That would get old too quickly.
Too expensive? Work harder if you desire it. Too many people like it, that’s why you hate it? Oh please, then why don’t you go hate on the BMW M3 or the Toyota Supra or something? Those are among the most liked cars among the petrolhead community, right?
…No? You wouldn’t because its good as it is? Then why don’t you think of new cars the same? That right there is borderline double standards. Is it because the M3 or the Supra is affordable and tunable? That’s why you refuse to talk bad about it? That’s not being reasonable. You’re merely siding with the conservative side because you’re more at home in that way. By no means is that a bad thing. Of course! We have our own tastes as petrolheads.
Whether you like tuner cars for being affordable and fun to work with is perfectly fine, but if your heart’s desire is to aim for the finer things, like luxurious new cars, then don’t deny yourself if you’re truly determined to get them.
But my point in here is this; Don’t persecute all new cars as tasteless simply because they’re modern, expensive, and complicated to work on. Isn’t respect for all petrolheads something you lot preach about as well? If so, why do you still have passive contempt for “bought” cars?
I am perfectly fine with an older, tastefully modified car as much as the petrolhead next door, but I’d also be equally happy to own a modernized performance car as good as it is left alone. I’m also perfectly aware that personally modifying a car is a petrolhead’s way to express his art to the world, and that is a wonderful thing to do. However, we should also be more considerate towards the future offspring of performance cars as artworks in themselves. The personal art of the makers themselves.
This is part 1 of 6 rants I have that are unpopular opinions. Am I wrong in some of these aspects? If so, do freely express it. I’m open to corrections.
I know I’m not perfect. I’m just an ordinary bird with a big heart for cars as much as all of you. This is merely just my personal opinion, nothing to take seriously. Every man (in my case, bird) to himself, right?
Thank you for reading this! I hope to make more content for you all. Thug Bird, out. chirp chirp
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Comments
You’ve missed the point of “Built, not bought”, and you missed the point of why most tuners do not like modern cars, or the fact that owning a supercar exactly the same like every other supercar (orange lambo… woooooow, there’s 3 in my village of a town alone. Red Ferrari - don’t get me started) would rub anybody who likes their cars to be a reflection of themselves the wrong way.
In short - you’ve missed most of the point of “Built, not bought” and managed to equate passionate mechanics and tuners with a good way to express themselves to poor hipster ricer crowd. Good job!
No, he’s saying that if you believe in the built not bought credo, you shouldn’t hate on Lambos and Fezzas just because they’re “bought not built”. Cause in the end, it’s undenieable that they’re good cars that can be bought by a true petrolhead, simply because he loves driving
I agree.
Also that part where he said about how it’s stupid to like older cars for their simplicity because they are easier to work on. Op here doesn’t seem to know that working on a car doesn’t only mean about modding. Maintenance and rebuilds, that’s also working on a car. And to me, being able to do all those two things is very important, and that’s why I enjoy older cars and their simplicity.
Honestly I mostly agree with your points. Personally, I respect the technology and capabilities of modern-day performance cars, as it is in all honesty mighty impressive. BUT, I could never bring myself to buy one, even if I did have the money. There is just something about the image it gives off that doesn’t fit with who I am as a person. Don’t get me wrong, i wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to drive one, but for my own personal use, I think I’ll stick to some old banger I’m not scared to knock around a bit.
As for built, not bought, I half agree. My built not bought is slightly different to most people. Most people see it as enhancing performance, which don’t get me wrong, is cool, but my version is simply getting the bloody thing road legal. I currently am in the middle of rebuilding a Mini, and have completely stripped it down to a bare shell, or what was left of it. it’s almost ready for reassembly.
Finally, I don’t care that this car might not be the quickest in the world, (It won’t be, the engine only has half of it’s components new) but it will have been built entirely by me, from the ground up, and that is something worth having.
Is it wierd that i would buy a noble more than an aventador + F12?
If you prefer hardcore, analogue cars, then no it isn’t
Why is this not an Editors Pick yet? And btw I would never buy an Aventador even if I had the money! I would buy a Huracan….
( ° ʖ °)
Or an R8 with full optionals
Think they’re waiting for an insert generic question post in the ‘ask CT section’.
Well i’m okay having the latest F80 M3 alongside older E30 M3 gen. That would be a great spectacle. The reason “true petrolheads” hate towards modern cars is,there’s a driving aid interfere and in the tracks your own driving skills matter the most.
I personally dont think there is anything wrong with someone buying a built car.. dont get me wrong personally would love a project. But if someone has built it, and you bought it, you obviously like the way it was built. So why not enjoy the effort they put in.. (aswell as adding your own touches of course)
I hate when people preach “built not bought” That’s basically saying that you’d rather work on your car than drive it. Personally, I choose the latter. I just want to get to my performance goals and then drive it like I’m supposed to.
The way I understand that saying is that some people would rather modify the car themselves to certain performance level, than buying it like that from the get go. And I’m one of those people. Sure I appreciate driving more, but I also enjoy working on a car, and when I get enough money to buy a project car for modding I’ll go for it in a heartbeat. Makes me feel more proud when I have a slow econobox or something like that, which beats faster stock cars on a track or traffic lights, than just buying that faster stock car and be done with it. Imo that feels a bit boring :/
I couldn’t agree more to what you just said…
squawk
That’s a nice article. I love it! Should also add those pesky people who preach the built not bought mentality and then go and buy stuff off the shelf and hand it to their tuner. They never turned a wrench in their lives. Would rather see a car maintained with love than a car modified with money any day!
You are absolutely right thug bird. I feel you man/animal
I like cars