I'm not exactly sure what this says about our world, but I feel like it's an indicator of something important. Right at this moment, the current state of human life on Earth has progressed to a point where a 2-cylinder Citroën 2CV costs $10,000 more than a long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. This is meaningful, I'm almost sure of it. Somehow.
This is, of course, some kind of insanity. A $25,000 2CV vs. a $15,000 Rolls-Royce. And this is coming from a man who loves 2CVs. In fact, of the two cars, I would much rather daily drive that 2CV, no question. It's just a car I feel more affinity with and would be more comfortable in. That doesn't mean, even for a second, that I think the car is "worth" more than a Silver Shadow.
Look at these two cars. They're both in great shape, both would make fantastic daily drivers, interesting and engaging in two very different ways. But let's be honest here — the inside of one of the Rolls' door panels probably is about four times as sophisticated as that whole 2CV.
The 2CV is like half a Beetle, on paper— half the cylinders, half the HP. It is, by it's very design, about as basic and crude a car as you can imagine. It's a brilliant design — an icon. And, even as rare as it is, and as good a shape as this one is in, is in no way worth $10 grand more than that Rolls-Royce.
The Rolls is a long-wheelbase, 8-cylinder oblong of cowhide and expensive, laquered wood and the sweat of careful, painfully English craftsmen. Hell, it even has an absurd leather-embossed panel that says "Nothing is Impossible" in the interior — and it costs about as much as a new Mirage.
So, I put this question out to you now: what do we make of this? What sort of world are we living in where a motorized tin snail is being sold for $10,000 more than the distilled dreams and ambitions of the British Empire? Is this good or bad? Or neither?
I'm so confused. Help.