I am a regular reader of the CCFS (Classic Cars for Sale) newsletter and really like the way that Phil Cooper writes, I have reproduced here, with his permission, a recent blog entry about what the opposite sex thinks about your classic car. The original can be found here
Yesterday I was sent to a seminar to understand how Google works! I can only assume this was the result of some drunken strategy meeting by the senior management of CCFS. Several times I tried explaining that I would much rather have spent the day driving someone else’s E-Type or a Healey 3000 but my plea fell on deaf ears.
Apparently, as I work on a website it is deemed important that I have a vague understanding of how the internet functions. As a result of this I have not found enough time to do a proper road test this week. (My friend took me out in his ‘immaculate Capri’ but it was dodgy even for a Capri - and I’m not willing to write about it Steve you massive charlatan).
But Steve was refreshingly honest when I asked him why he had bought one of the worst Ford Capris in the history of shoddy workmanship. His ‘women like them don’t they?’ answer got me thinking.
It transpires my friend had bought a Ford Capri with the expectation of using it to pick up women. Rather interestingly he is still single. If however, Steve had tried harder at university and got a proper job, then rather than buying a really rusty Ford Capri he may have purchased something that women actually do like.
This conversation came up again a couple of nights ago when I had a few friends round to my flat and we all vaguely agreed that a consideration when buying our cars had been what women think of them.
One of these guys has been married for 20 years but he still believes that his Lotus Elan is one of the things his wife likes about him. And this works both ways, one of my female friends believes that men look at her differently because she drives a Eunos Roadster.
How many times have you finished cleaning your car and gone into the house and looked at your; wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, etc and announced that your freshly polished beauty is ready for inspection? Every time I expect you get the same response to this, ‘yes it looks very nice dear but did you mow the lawn?’ – I guarantee though that in your mind this is not what you hear. I usually hear, ‘Wow Phil, that may be the most amazing car I’ve ever seen, you’re quite a guy, I’m the luckiest girl in the world.’
Deep down when we look at the situation logically, we know that our partners are probably not with us because of the car we own. But that should not stop anyone from probing further into this fascinating anthropological study.
I decided that in order to investigate this matter further I should conduct a scientific survey. As roughly 20% of our readers are female it was suggested to me I should write a balanced survey of both men and women. However as it is yet to be proven I am capable of being balanced in anything I do, I decided not to do this. Instead I just e-mailed my survey with pictures of the cars mentioned to 5 of my female friends aged between 25 and 40.
Q1. This is a Ferrari 250 GTO. It’s worth millions. Are you so shallow that if a guy owned one of these you’d be more likely to date him?
Answer. Three said yes- two lied.
Q2. This is my Mini. A common view of the Mini is cute and troublesome much like my good self. Would you agree?
Answer. One agreed, reluctantly. My favourite comment from those that didn’t was, ‘Ah, now I understand why we’re doing this survey. Size does matter Phil’.
Q3. The Jaguar E-type has been voted the most beautiful car of all time on more than one occasion. Would you be worried if you dated someone that owned one, that their car would be more attractive than you?
Answer. All five said no. But four of them should be worried.
Q4. A man tells you he has a classic car because using a recycled car is good for the environment. Do you believe this quite obvious lie and find him sensitive and thoughtful?
Answer. One said yes. Two of those who said no pointed out that I’d tried that line on them.
Q5. Do you think there is something romantic about classic and vintage vehicles?
Four said yes. Result.
I’m reasonably certain that as a result of this survey I have yet again failed to really achieve anything. But then that’s not really unusual for my blog, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
Next week I’m going to decide what to write about either by consulting a Ouija board or opening Yellow Pages on a random page and somehow connecting classic cars to whatever I land on.
Until then have a great week.
Phil
philcooper@classiccarsforsale.co.uk
Apparently, as I work on a website it is deemed important that I have a vague understanding of how the internet functions. As a result of this I have not found enough time to do a proper road test this week. (My friend took me out in his ‘immaculate Capri’ but it was dodgy even for a Capri - and I’m not willing to write about it Steve you massive charlatan).
But Steve was refreshingly honest when I asked him why he had bought one of the worst Ford Capris in the history of shoddy workmanship. His ‘women like them don’t they?’ answer got me thinking.
It transpires my friend had bought a Ford Capri with the expectation of using it to pick up women. Rather interestingly he is still single. If however, Steve had tried harder at university and got a proper job, then rather than buying a really rusty Ford Capri he may have purchased something that women actually do like.
This conversation came up again a couple of nights ago when I had a few friends round to my flat and we all vaguely agreed that a consideration when buying our cars had been what women think of them.
One of these guys has been married for 20 years but he still believes that his Lotus Elan is one of the things his wife likes about him. And this works both ways, one of my female friends believes that men look at her differently because she drives a Eunos Roadster.
How many times have you finished cleaning your car and gone into the house and looked at your; wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, etc and announced that your freshly polished beauty is ready for inspection? Every time I expect you get the same response to this, ‘yes it looks very nice dear but did you mow the lawn?’ – I guarantee though that in your mind this is not what you hear. I usually hear, ‘Wow Phil, that may be the most amazing car I’ve ever seen, you’re quite a guy, I’m the luckiest girl in the world.’
Deep down when we look at the situation logically, we know that our partners are probably not with us because of the car we own. But that should not stop anyone from probing further into this fascinating anthropological study.
I decided that in order to investigate this matter further I should conduct a scientific survey. As roughly 20% of our readers are female it was suggested to me I should write a balanced survey of both men and women. However as it is yet to be proven I am capable of being balanced in anything I do, I decided not to do this. Instead I just e-mailed my survey with pictures of the cars mentioned to 5 of my female friends aged between 25 and 40.
Q1. This is a Ferrari 250 GTO. It’s worth millions. Are you so shallow that if a guy owned one of these you’d be more likely to date him?
Answer. Three said yes- two lied.
Q2. This is my Mini. A common view of the Mini is cute and troublesome much like my good self. Would you agree?
Answer. One agreed, reluctantly. My favourite comment from those that didn’t was, ‘Ah, now I understand why we’re doing this survey. Size does matter Phil’.
Q3. The Jaguar E-type has been voted the most beautiful car of all time on more than one occasion. Would you be worried if you dated someone that owned one, that their car would be more attractive than you?
Answer. All five said no. But four of them should be worried.
Q4. A man tells you he has a classic car because using a recycled car is good for the environment. Do you believe this quite obvious lie and find him sensitive and thoughtful?
Answer. One said yes. Two of those who said no pointed out that I’d tried that line on them.
Q5. Do you think there is something romantic about classic and vintage vehicles?
Four said yes. Result.
I’m reasonably certain that as a result of this survey I have yet again failed to really achieve anything. But then that’s not really unusual for my blog, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
Next week I’m going to decide what to write about either by consulting a Ouija board or opening Yellow Pages on a random page and somehow connecting classic cars to whatever I land on.
Until then have a great week.
Phil
philcooper@classiccarsforsale.co.uk
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