There is really nothing wrong with an uncluttered and less complicated lifestyle.
However, a piece written by a self-proclaimed minimalist attacked the car guy philosophy and warranted a response.
I discovered the article by accident and it fired me up.
Some “Writer Guy” named Colin Wright wrote a piece entitled ‘You Should See My Car’ and his opening paragraph is a pot shot at “Car Guy“, a cartoonish character who owns a car with “rims bigger than his neighbor’s rims, a big ‘ol fin on the back, a massive muffler that makes it really loud, annoying everybody for miles, but it sounds heavenly to Car Guy.”
Wright then tackles an existential point when he asks what is “Car Guy” without his car.
Wright’s assessment; “The thing I wondered about “Car Guy” is this: when he’s not with his car, who is he? He’s invested everything of himself into a thing, so what’s left when that thing is not around?”
Eventually he talks about a stripped-down lifestyle and provides this philosophical gem; “You should, solo and naked in the woods, be just as epic and impressive as you are fully tricked-out with all the accoutrements of modern society.”
There are so many things wrong with this clown’s simplistic hippy-esque look at the car hobby I barely know where to begin with his superficial view of something he does not understand, even at a minimalist level.
Wright appears to be a young guy who wants to embrace the hippy past instead of the hot rod past from the 60s. He also decided to mock the car culture, even though its roots run much deeper than communal life in the sticks popularized in historical counter-culture movies like ‘Easy Rider‘.
He also decided to make a blanket statement about car guys and their need for cars to define them. Wright concluded cars are simply a compensation for losers who would have no personality without their cars.
This bozo has zero understanding of the many reasons behind the old car hobby. He does not understand the emotional connection between the owner and his or her ride.
It may be a car their father or grandfather owned in the past; one that provides a warm and fuzzy childhood memory every time they get in the car.
It may be a childhood dream fulfilled later in life when they were able to purchase the car of their young dreams. Wright chooses to crush their dreams with his smarmy, dismissive style about the car hobby.
Wright appears to favor minimalism, yet he does not understand the minimalist philosophy behind hot rods and rat rods.
“Writer Guy” also does not understand the minimalist approach to vehicles like the Model T, a simple car that was a fundamental part of the North American culture in the early 20th century.
Wright fails to understand the incredible creativity behind a custom ride and how they are works of automotive art. None of this occurred to Mr. Minimalist when he attacked car guys.
Worst of all, the guy knows absolutely nothing about cars.
His opening attack talked about a “fin” on back was one fin short of the normal fin count on cars from the 50s. He mentioned “big mufflers” and yet he was unaware that a big muffler would mean less noise-not more noise.
This guy is a minimalist and that includes his actual knowledge of the car hobby.
Maybe he should stick to tree-hugging and back pack vacations in Amsterdam.
Jim Sutherland
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