This is another one of those personal ramblings regarding to the car scene that I'm personally involved in. Sometimes I still ask myself: why the hell am I still involved? Sure, I love cars, don't get me wrong. But as highlighted in my previous article, the communities are just garbage, one that's riddled with toxicity that just kills the fun.
It is inevitable, that different people have different tastes, and it's these differences that has allowed such a beautiful diversity in not just car culture, but everywhere. However, it has also provided room for endless disagreements, bitter feelings and conflicts. Considering that this happens internally, it can be almost impossible to ignore. Sure, everyone has their own opinion, but what gets very troublesome is when they're so persistent that theirs are right and EVERYONE around them has to share the same opinion or else they're wrong.
If you've been following my blog for a while, you would know that I have had a mix of different cars - ranging from local to European cars. I am fine with all of them, though I tend to lean towards the Euro cars, and more specifically, old Mercedes-Benz of the 1980s and 1990s. Sure, I have been critical of my W124 220E previously, but that doesn't mean that I hate it, and it certainly didn't sway me from European cars.
However, there's always an annoying crowd who will always preach about how "Continental cars are a waste of time and money" without any form of rationale being put to it. What's worse is that they base their arguments merely on hearsay, and would only take in opinions that align with theirs. What's often ironic in this case is that they themselves have spent an unimaginable amount of money onto their "supposedly more sensible" Japanese/local cars just to make it "as fast as possible." I remember my dad's friend - an avid BMW enthusiast - telling me how stupid that is and while I certainly wouldn't have worded it that way, he does have a point when I think about it now. However, sometimes it is down to personal passion, and that's something that cannot be argued.
Look, I am also guilty of having spent more than what my Wira is worth just to get it to what it is - although that was because I've made countless of mistakes in the past four years of owning the thing. I honestly couldn't care less if anyone wants to spend upwards to a million dollars just to make their cars the fastest cars on the road. But to shit on other people for "wasting their money"? That's just low. The hypocrisy and irony is simply too great for me to comprehend.
Sure, my current Continental cars are less than perfect, but it is the part and parcel of old car ownership, and even vehicles like my Wira or Spectra are not invulnerable from faults as they age and wear and tear parts break. But to simply say Continental cars are nothing but a complete money pit while ignoring that all types of cars suffer from wear and tear as they age is just ignorant. If Continental cars truly are a money pit, we would have never seen a single one on the road today.
Look, I'm not saying that everyone should go out and buy themselves a Continental car because in the end of the day, it's down to personal preference. I am still on track to restoring my Wira before shifting my focus on the W124 220E - both of which don't really require much to be honest. However, my point in this post is, let people enjoy whatever the hell they want, and if you're gonna call them out for wasting money, then you should look at yourself on a mirror of your overly-modified car and see how stupid you look for not even coming close to practicing what you preach. As a Malay saying goes - sukahati dia la nak buat apa... Which roughly translates to "let them do whatever they want."
That's all for today. See you in the next entry!
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