Like almost any group of diverse people connected by a common interest — people erotically drawn to tacos, cat lovers, those tiny house people who now own Facebook — there’s a lot of sweeping generalizations made about those of us who love cars. What are the (usually wrong) assumptions you hear most often?
I think perhaps the biggest misconception is the assumption that global gearhead-dom is a pretty monolithic bloc, and the same things appeal to everyone. And usually that same thing is the worst of inane street racer/Fast and Furious-derived culture — insipid, jargon-heavy talk, idiotic bravado, and an only interested in the same three basic fast cars.
In reality, gearheads love a vast variety of cars and types of cars, and that’s one of the things that makes a community like ours great. I’m interested in what hypermilers, rallycrossers, off-roaders, microcar-o-philes, or whatever are doing. There’s a huge range to this interest, and I often feel like people just assume the one aspect that’s been made into a crapload of movies.
So, I know there’s more of these — tell me tell me tell me!
Contact the author at jason@jalopnik.com.