nah, i totally agree with him because his next point is so true: “this one has license plates on it. that’s really cool.” bear with me here, i’m not making a self-righteous point about people who buy cars as investments instead of driving them “like they should”
my fundamental problem is that we’re sort of expected to gawp at the 2fiddy because it’s The Most Valuable Car In The World. and i mean, it’s cool, but it’s not ten million cool, you know? the GTO’s presence is colored, by no fault of its own, by its ever-increasing value. you cannot be appreciating (pun intended!) a 250GTO without being aware of its value, and your perception is influenced by that.
a $10m valuation means many people out there think this car is worth a lot, and i think it sort of ends up feeding back into the question of “is it beautiful”. to me, it doesn’t really stand out that much! and i think a lot of people end up assigning more value to the car’s beauty or capability than it deserves because it’s worth a lot, and that makes itworth more, etc. so when Raphael Orlove says “this one has license plates on it, that’s really cool”, i read that as meaning: “the owner of this car cuts through its overvalued nature, with all that implies.” hence, “that’s really cool.” he hasn’t got any beef with the 250GTOs, or even with the owners who never drive them. he’s got beef with what they represent, the automatic reverence they generate when maybe we should question that a little more.
again, what i’m getting at is not, “buh buh buh it’s a car not an asset! buh buh buh if i had the money i’d drive it all day!” bullshit. of course i wouldn’t. i think the car should be used however the owner wants. but that ginormous value taints the car in a way, makes it harder to appreciate without questioning oneself.
it’s the same with the E-Type. it’s very pretty, but i just don’t for a minute think it’s The Most Beautiful Car Ever Made. that’s some hyperbole that got made into automotive legend and now we have to drool all over ourselves when we see one. being aware of that makes me feel uncomfortable about the E-Type – i like it, even though i don’t love it, but i just feel like such a dipshit when i say that, and that’s what i hate. when anything is overvalued – whether as a financial asset or as a piece of culture – it becomes impossible to question without sounding like a contrarian.
or maybe…..raphael orlove is dumb. i don’t know. but the rest of the video was great and i agree with him about the 250GTO.