I might be buying a car which will confirm the views of many of you about me. I am not yet naming it but it isn’t the one I was planning to buy.

This is a more general question about other peoples attitude towards car owners.

I am sure lots of us have made instant judgements about people based on their belongings. It is a natural process that the human mind has evolved over millennium so that it doesn’t have to do a full analysis of every thing it sees. If you see something with big teeth and claws running towards you, you don’t need to work out if it is a male or female lion to know that you should be elsewhere.

We do the same with with people. If you see a middle aged woman in a sports car you are likely to perceive them differently to a middle aged woman in a Nissan Micra.

So, back to the question.

A bloke in his 40’s in a desirable car. Do you see him as

A) Knob
B) Lucky Git
C) Successful fella in a nice car
D) Drug Dealer
E) Other

I’d be asking the Q “if you think a 40+ guy in a flash car is a tool, why can’t you get over yourself?”

But then I am over 40.

Oh please let a troll thread last a bit longer!

I must be losing my touch. I used to be able to get to over 100 replies before people got bored.

Sorry, I will go eat now.

🙁

I might think he was odd though to buy a car worth 100 X more than his bike.( Afan + 10 year old tyre content )

Depends on what you mean by desirable. A friend of ours has recently got himself a gleaming white Range Rover sport with black wheels, and he isn’t a drug dealer…

WGAF? Drive whatever you enjoy, don’t worry about what people think. The people with an opinion on what *other people* drive are tools by definition.

You can be in a BMW X6 rolling on chrome 22inch rims, with the latest Chris Brown abomination blasting out of your stereo, vanity plate and some jizz receptacle from TOWIE in the passenger seat for all I care…just as long as you don’t jump out on me at roundabouts.

Ah I’d be more worried if you rode a ten year old carbon scot………oh…. 😆

A) If you drive 8cm behind the car in front on a packed motorway.
D) If it is a massive 4×4 with low profile tires and blacked out windows.

B or C in most other cases.

Its not what you drive its how you act in it.

Although if you anything BMW with an X in it without being able to fully justify it, your on your way to a enforced persona change anyway.

What need is a closet under the radar fast car, let me think…… Audi S5? BMW 335d, 3 litre Merc C class? Something that says Successful Dad to jnrs Nursery girls / Teacher lady.

You would need to drive considerately at all times to get away with it, unless you found a nice car that’s understated, or quite old, then you become a connoisseur, not a ****.

Can you have a flash bike in your 40’s without riding like a ****?

I’ll tell you in october.

Although if you anything BMW with an X in it without being able to fully justify it, your on your way to a enforced persona change anyway.

you can’t justify it, they’re no good off road. The only ones who can get away with them IME is the armed response unit of West Yorkshire Police. Bloody hell do you get out of the way when they’re coming…

watching this thread with interest currently 41 years old and also thinking about buying the sports car i could never afford when i was a lot younger. but midlife crisis

My mum was a nurse, and obviously got to hear some interesting stories.

Policeman, in hysterics(laughter) during tea break at hospital, they’d been touring and seen a flash car parked with somebody in it, tints, motor running, revving really highly, so a quick lap, still there,getting revved up really highly, then idling, another lap, same again, another lap, same again, so they stop a bit back, sneak up behind and yank the doors open – inside is a middle aged bloke with his knob out, tied to the gear lever with a bit of string

Just but a merc SLR and be done with it!

What will it look like with a bike rack on the back/roof/towbar?
And far ,far more importantly what bike will be on that rack?

I’m gonna make that assumption about everyone I see in a sports car with tinted windows from now on…

surely it does depend on what the car is,so come on what is it ?? 😉

Yes, provided that you don’t actually give a flying ****** (insert profanity of choice) what anybody else thinks.
Which is my way of thinking. If I actually had the money, I’d buy the car that excited me, that fulfilled the rôle I asked of it, and looked good to me. Sod anybody else.
And the horse they rode in on.
For me, a Bentley Continental GT, an Audi RS6/RS5, Disco 4, Chevvy Comaro would be top of my list given appropriate funds.

Is the hypothetical car a convertible…?

Let’s be brutally frank about this Flashy lad… Any bloke over 40 is generally looked on with a mixture of pity and contempt. If you’re one of these unfortunate creatures, then Everyone else thinks you’re a cock. It’s just the degree of cockness that’s in question

There are varying degrees, but 40+ year old in a flash car represents the equation

B + N x P = C (BE)

Where B = baldness, N represents naffness, P is paunch and it all adds up to Cock to the power of Bell End

Good mate of 45 has just sold his nissan gtr, he worked hard for it and only had it for 6 months. He loved every single mile he did in it, but its impracticalaties reared their head a few too many times so he’s now bought a 450 quid diesel 406. I and others who know him thought no more or less of him then or now!

I think its inevitable that most middle aged blokes in fast cars look like nobs. Having said that, I certainly won’t let it stop me buying a Porsche when I can afford one

Mind you… Could be worse. It could be a huge Harley Davidson. At which point you might as well have an enormous phallus surgically attached to your forehead. People would probably snigger less. And ultimately you’d not have to go home and rock gently back and too, as you cry yourself to sleep, wondering if this is it?

A friend of ours has recently got himself a gleaming white Range Rover sport with black wheels, and he isn’t a drug dealer…

He must be dickhead though?

Do
It

You’re old enough to afford it and young enough to enjoy it

There’s no cashpoint in a coffin.

Who gives a monkeys what the plebs in your rear view mirror think?

They’re driving Peugeot 206s and enduring disappointing lives. 😀

there’s a Jensen Interceptor on my commute. Seen it a couple of times this month dropping junior off at the local high school so I assume the driver somewhat matches the demographic.

cool car.

if it was an Audi R8 I’d be a lot less impressed

We need a picture of the car and one of you to form a valid opinion 😉

I look like a @~%$ regardless of what I drive 😀

Mate of mine in his 40’s had a 350z which we called midlife crisis he then went to a merc with tinted windows so we called him a dealer now he has a range rover with tinted windows so still gets called a dealer, does he care does he f*$*.
Just buy what you want but remember a maserati or some flash sports car doesn’t have to be practical if you still have your truck, buy and enjoy.

I like nice cars, I don’t make assumptions about the owners. The only thing that annoys me is super old people in fast cars who drive them slow enough to keep Miss Daisy happy & those who drive like they’re 17…

maserati

maybe not, they’re rather fragile as a chap I know’s one used to ‘lose’ parts at a rapid rate along with various electrical ‘issues’ (GT 3 door one) sounded and looked amazing though when in one piece 😉

Just to fair and balanced (and honest) :- ample money would result my taking ownership of a 1987 Aston Martin V8 Vantage in charcoal grey as soon as I could find one. It is an old car, a classic, a model of style and decorum, which I honestly believe, would exempt me from stereotype.

I must be losing my touch. I used to be able to get to over 100 replies before people got bored.

Sorry, I will go eat now.

Another chin is not going to help with your new image is it?

BB

When do you get to drive a flash car to it’s full potential so you can really appreciate it and stay within the law?
Not on the school run or work commute that’s for sure and if I had enough free time to go driving then I’d rather be riding.
Much rather have the right car for the right job.
Big 4X4/Sports car/Hummer for your weekly trip to Sainsburys = ****

I had a Porsche, mainly because I love them. While not the catalyst for selling it I got the most insane amount of abuse when I was in it. People assume you are lots of things and know nothing about you – fascinating. I drive an RS4 now and nobody bats an eyelid.

I have this to cart around:

so my next car is most likely going to be something like this:

or perhaps one of these:

sexy eh?

I agree with unklehomered entirely.

If I could I’d have a Jensen Interceptor MkIII in midnight blue with a white leather interior.

I wouldn’t care what anybody thought I appeared to be.

SB

I looked at hiring a jensen for my dad’s birthday about 10 years ago – he always wanted one when we were kids

saw several really quite cheap ones to buy. I’m guessing they’d be in a poor state but I did consider it for a week or two