Can I hand you this tiny violin? I feel like we should play a little number in sympathy for people who drive modern supercars on the road.
I know it’s an unusual minority group to garner support for, but they have it tougher than you think.
For one: there’s the lack of sympathy and understanding for them in the first place – the UK’s peculiar brand of envy politics sees to that. People’s first thoughts when they see a supercar are that it’s being driven by a footballer, banker, exploitative capitalist, someone with a rich dad, or a foreigner who doesn’t pay any taxes. Basically, then, drive a supercar and already not a lot of people are on your side.
And because they’ve been bold enough to drive a Lamborghini wrapped in silver, people are similarly unafraid to tell them what they think. Driving a supercar is like having YouTube comments piped direct into the cabin.
None of which matters, of course, because they’ve got the supercar, and those pointing and swearing the Prince of Sweden is at the helm haven’t, correct? Which means they’ve got the smugness of untold performance and motoring nirvana, anywhere, at any time.
Well, they haven’t. Driving a modern supercar on the road is a crushingly frustrating experience.
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ou701
I agree with Matt!
I haven't found much agreement with Matt's recent opinion pieces - his enthusiasm for EU mandated GPS speed limiters and his latest assertion that the car and motoring are now close to perfection made little sense to me. However, his fact or fiction observations about the frustrations of super ownership, and I would add, their utter pointlessness in this day and age are spot on. It assumes though that people buy supercars because they like driving fast and I tend to believe they don't. Not at all.
Surely, they are bought for the prime purpose of strutting peacock-like down the road, to attract attention, make lots of noise, to be seen and heard. They are instant celebrity wheels, that inform anyone who cares, I'm rich, 'I'm special,' look at me!'
For proof, just look at the number of YouTube followers who slavishly follow many of these rich show-offs who produce vlogs about their latest supercar, usually another trinket in their collection. Like the owners, the followers don't care about driving ( just read their vacuous comments), they're just wannabees who worship the new millennial concept of money and fame.
No, the people who actually enjoy driving buy hot hatchbacks, fun-to-drive classics, or take part in motorsport. Supercars are for posing, polishing and 'collecting.' Driving fast? Only if there's a crowd watching, with their iPhones at the ready.
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