Interesting Road and Track Magazine Article

[rothwem]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a33393/the-4000-car-that-all-the-millionaires-love/

I think its kinda funny, it seems like appearing thrifty is cool now, even for rich people.  MMM, what have you started?

[big_slacker]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a33393/the-4000-car-that-all-the-millionaires-love/

I think its kinda funny, it seems like appearing thrifty is cool now, even for rich people.  MMM, what have you started?

It's a ski town thing, it's the same back home in tahoe. Cars get beat to shit in the winter and you're not driving very far anyway. Also when a lot of your friends are ski bums and drive beaters it's kind of a dick move to drive up to the BBQ in a porsche.

Outbacks are always a good choice cause they're cheap, fairly reliable and can haul 4 people and all their ski, climbing, camping gear, bikes, etc. But you see a lot of older toyota tacomas, jeeps, and nissan xterras as well.

[Chris22]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a33393/the-4000-car-that-all-the-millionaires-love/

I think its kinda funny, it seems like appearing thrifty is cool now, even for rich people.  MMM, what have you started?

Saw this column the other day, meant to post it here.

LOL @ thinking MMM has something to do with this.  There has always been a contingent of extremely wealthy people who don't believe in showing it off automotive-ly.  These are the people who buy something nice and new and keep it for a long time.  A lot of them used to buy Volvo station wagons, and then when Volvo ceased to be (relatively) inexpensive and bulletproof, they moved on to Subarus, especially in New England and apparently in Colorado and other ski areas.  These people otherwise might buy large American or Japanese SUVs (Grand Cherokees, Tahoes, Land Cruisers) and eschew flashier European brands.  This is a "buy new and hold a long time" group, not a "buy the absolute cheapest thing you can find used" group like MMM pushes. 

[spokey doke]

Just one of many similar expressions of group identity in that community...much like the clothes you wear and the beer you drink.  It is often more about knowing the symbols and partaking/expressing them, than their actual content (although the content usually has some significance too).  And for the wealthy, they often want to identify with the people who are ski bums (or just great skiers, or kayakers, or climbers) in their community, so those symbols need to be accessible to all, and so they often adopt what their (climbing/skiing/etc.) peers identify with...drinking Rainier and wearing duct-taped Patagonia or Flylow (or whatever...).

It can be pretty funny at times when rich folks go out of their way to look the part.

[Chris22]

A lot of the theoretical frugality is also a roundabout way of showing off.  In certain areas, such as New England, it's not enough to have money, it's how old your money is.  So if you have a house on Nantucket, and you keep a 1984 Grand Wagoneer there, you're saying "not only do I have a house here, but I've had a house here for a long, long time, as demonstrated by this ancient car I bought to keep here decades ago."  Or it's "I've had money so long I'm no longer interested in showing it off, so I continue to drive this Mercedes 560SEL I bought new back in 1989."  Amusingly, an entire cottage industry has popped up selling restored Grand Wagoneers and Land Rover Defenders (sold new here 1994-1997) so that people can, for mind-boggling sums of money, purchase the appearance of old money.  It is honestly a fascinating dynamic.

Source: I grew up in and around the old money parts of CT (without having any real significant money, old or otherwise)

[L8_apex]

Here in Bozeman, we've got a humorous dichotomy with respect to cars.  There is definitely the Subie crowd, which is the same as the author noted in Jackson (plus many of lesser financial means).  I live in an upper middle class neighborhood where the most popular new car is the Escalade/Yukon.  Every time I see one, I just think "realtor", as we've been in a housing boom and the numbers of agents have been ramping up and up.

There is a very small dealership in town here that only sells used Subies.  I happened to meet the guy that runs the shop.  He goes to auctions all over the west, brings them to Bozeman, fixes, and resells them.