CAR n AGE

I bought a car today (well to be honest it was a few weeks ago).
It is a ....umm....a B.., no a G... bugger me, it's something I'd never heard of before being  out of the range of my normal aspirations (which are dominated by Maserati by the way).

In the past, in blog posts I have entertained, informed, written, banged on about cars I've owned. This latest addition isn't one that I'll rave about being a bit of a grandma's car - safe, boring, small engine and low performance but will probably run for years and years.
I bought it for a few reasons:

• help out the tenants of our house up North
• have a reliable car that has to sit undriven for weeks at a time
• have a car that I'll only use to get me from Whangarei to McLeod Bay and back on the odd weekend.

Not the usual reasons I'd buy a car.

So, what do we need cars for?

Living in Toronto for the last year without a car was a bit of an eye-opener for me.
I didn't need a car and I didn't want a car. I walked. When I couldn't or didn't want to walk because of distance or inclement weather I used public transport. I actually preferred this to driving. I was much more aware of my surroundings and it was a hell of a lot cheaper.

Now that I'm back in Godzone I don't really feel that much different. Admittedly the public transport isn't as good, having got used to the integrated subway/tram/bus system they have in Toronto (and other North American cities),but in Auckland I still walk or use public transport before considering using a car - even the company car I have.

So, what's this post really about?

For the last few years I've been getting pissed off with the way car companies have been advertising their product.
In the past they had real technological things to say about their brand - ABS braking systems, safety features, transmission advancements etc and of course performance.
A lot of this had to be put into a geo-political context e.g. post WW2 German car manufacturers used the humble and inoffensive Volkswagon 'Bug' for penetration into US of A marketing it as small, cheap to buy and cheap to run etc. no threat to the good ol' boy's gas-guzzling Fords and Chevies.

 It wasn't until the '60's that the krauts felt safe enough to market their big arrogant Mercedes Benz's and their sexy Porsch's and Beamers.

Today, with almost all car manufacturers meeting and exceeding engineering, safety and environmental standards it's a bit of a problem for marketers to differentiate their product apart from price.

That's why, in recent years we've got all this 'lifestyle' crap in the promotion of new cars.

If it's a 4WD then we get some macho fool barrelling along high country roads setting up clouds of dust that just have to settle on some farmer's crops or pastures.

If it's a 'metro' car then some silly, grinning bimbo is racing through narrow city streets racing her idiot bike-riding and metro sexual boyfriend to their favourite latte shop.
Fun. Fun. Fun. Bugger the safety aspects.

Give me a break.