What’s Aspirational for You?

February 11, 2015

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1 (Copy)
Today I break new ground in the world of automotive journalism. Today, I make fun of yuppies. Yuppies that have no idea about what they buy other than the fact that every single one of their mates owns one.

Every generation has had their own particular breach of young urban professionals with a lust for money and a care for nothing else. Usually highly educated, not understanding or caring of why poor people simply don’t get more money. Dressed in expensive tailored clothing that’s so up to date that it’s completely indistinguishable from what everyone else in their circle is wearing. That’s the image of yuppies that we’ve been presented with since the eighties. American Psycho is perhaps the finest example of yuppie criticism around and based partially on Bret Easton Ellis’ Father. Although I’m going to go ahead and say that the more graphic scenes depicted on the book and the movie are really made up. The one thing that it doesn’t touch about yuppiedom of the eighties, however, are the cars (at least in the movie version).
Yes, after all, nobody has more of a second to see your exquisite Armani suit and the amazing Jean Paul Gaultier tie you’ve chosen to contrast it when you’re driving along. You needed a set of wheels to show your style and class to the unfortunate masses. In the case of the average ‘80s yuppie, it was mostly two cars: The Porsche 944 and the Mercedes 560 SEL. Nothing like a couple of German icons of excess and over engineering to keep the man who needs to make sure everyone knows where he’s standing in life.
Happy.
Or at least not suicidal.
2 (Copy)
Nowadays things like the BMW M4 and the BMW 6 Series fill that niche in the U.S and in Europe. When the guys from Top Gear asked stockbrockers what cars they owned, they all answered with a BMW alphanumeric. Latin America is different however, as our bonuses aren’t nearly as opulent and our standard of living is considerably lower. So what do you buy when you earn an excellent wage for your country (read: A mediocre American wage) and you want to buy a car to show that you are upwardly mobile? In my neck of the woods, you buy one of these.
3 (Copy)
This is the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. Better known to people stateside as the Lexus GX. New ones can go for upwards of $90,000.00 in this neck of the woods. Amazing when you consider that this is a vehicle that was supposed to take the place of the normal Land Cruiser Amazon but instead decided to move upmarket and chase the Range Rover. This is what the Central American yuppie covets to convey some class and prestige to other motorists. The same vehicle used by UN commissions when they have to go deep into the deserts and jungles around the world.
Not a BMW, not an Audi or a Mercedes, not even its Lexus counterpart which, incidentally, you can buy cheaper. No, they want the diesel Toyota Body-on-Frame SUV. If you can figure why it became so popular, do let me know, it’s as nonsensical as suddenly deciding that fancy restaurants are out and going to McD’s for a fancy dinner is in. Something that I could really see becoming trendy because people do it “ironically”.
4 (Copy)
All I can think of is the ever present sense of paranoia that the well-off feel in a region as troubled as this one and that they think buying something with a Toyota badge will mean they’ll be less likely to be targeted. It’s not like everybody in a position of power has one already. Me? I’d buy a BMW 3-Series, save myself forty thousand dollars and know that I’m driving something that’s actually worth what I paid for it.
Then again, I can’t tell a suit’s brand just by looking at it.

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Gerardo Solis