Alright, we’ve had some fun on Autopian Asks but now it’s time to get serious. There are deep questions we need to ask, things along the lines of “what is the meaning of life” and “what exactly does qualify as yacht rock” but in automotive terms, and you are just the group to answer them.
Certain terms tend to set me off with automobiles, and there’s one that I’ve been chewing on recently. The other day somebody here on the site used mentioned that we are an “enthusiast car” site, and for a moment I realized that I don’t have any idea what that term really means. I mean, I kind of do but I don’t like the accepted definition.
Oh sure, things like a MGB or a BMW E30 3-series easily fits into any description that you might come up with for that term, but there are plenty of others that fit into a grey area or, worse yet, into territory that many “car enthusiast” gatekeepers would say don’t belong.
A great example would be a LeBaron GTC convertible, a car that our own S.W. Gossin owns, loves, and lavishes an immense amount of time, energy and money on to make it one of the better surviving examples out there. I asked AI if that was an “enthusiast car” and got this:
As you can see, even AI doesn’t seem to know, which probably shouldn’t surprise me.
Actually, that AI statement is sort of self-cancelling, claiming that a car with a “small, nostalgic following” isn’t really a “traditional enthusiast car.” I would think that might be the perfect definition of an enthusiast car. Besides, it’s an open-topped turbocharged coupe with styling that even Giugiaro allegedly admired, and it’s easily the best-looking example of any historically significant Chrysler-saving K-platform cars. Love it or laugh at it, that’s some credibility there in any book.
I know stories of people who collect Saturns or even Daimler-era Chryslers that are extremely enthusiastic about these cars that don’t fit into any traditional “enthusiast” category. Personally, I always got sick of people asking me why a “car guy” like me isn’t driving an “enthusiast car” when I was running anything from my old Town Car to the Lexus RX. So, I guess I need a “sports car” (whatever that is these days) and wear driving gloves to be an “enthusiast” now? I’ve never wanted a damn Miata for the decidedly un-sports-car task of driving around the Chicago suburbs or on midwestern highways, and never will.
Thankfully, I saw that the “enthusiast car auction site” Cars & Bids run by our buddy Doug DeMuro now has listed some LeBarons; maybe the world is changing, or is it?
Exactly what is an enthusiast car to you? Does such a thing even exist, or should the term itself go away in the same manner that we no longer talk about “gifted and talented” kids in school? Apologies for asking questions that require essay-like responses, but what other car website has better readers to answer it?
Top graphic image: S.W. Gossin
Source: www.theautopian.com
