Last weekend in Seattle I saw an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, a Bentley Continental Flying Spur, a Maserati GranTurismo, a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S. All on the same day.
These are cars that scream for attention. People don’t drive these cars because they appreciate the ease of transporting themselves from one point to another. These cars are driven because they invoke some kind of primal response and demand that passers by take notice.
These cars are not humble.
These cars are loud. They are obnoxious. They are fast, over-the-top playthings for adults with money to burn.
These are cars the pope would advise against.
Depending on who you are, that will either make you want them more, or cause you to wonder what kind of car the pope might approve.
Yes, car culture has reached the point where the pope himself has weighed in, and he has one word of advice:
Humble.
Pope Francis declared that priests and nuns should drive humble cars, if they must drive cars at all. What he didn’t say is what exactly constitutes a humble car, other than saying his heart hurts when he sees a priest in “the latest model car.”
We can assume that Aston Martin, Bentley, Maserati, Lamborghini and Porsche also do not qualify as humble. Of course, priests and nuns probably don’t make a salary that could afford any of those. In fact, it seems a little crazy that the pope would even need to address this issue. Is there really a problem of priests driving flashy cars?
A humble car to one person would be flashy by another’s standards. Maybe a guy who wanted a Ferrari but bought a Porsche instead would think he’s being humble. Maybe a gal who bought a used Civic instead of a new Mazda would think she’s being humble.
A humble car is a simple matter of perspective. Since the pope offered no clarification, other than suggesting used cars are good, let’s bring the issue to you:
What do you think constitutes a humble car?
-tgriffith
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Used Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Used Bentley Continental Flying Spur
Used Maserati GranTurismo
Used Lamborghini Gallardo
Used Porsche 911
Used Honda Civic
How about fifteen years of Grand Marquis? They’re faster then they look.
I really like the badgeless BMWs. They say “here’s my car, but it doesn’t matter to you what model or trim it is. I know, and that’s good enough.”
There’s an air of mystery to cars like that. It’s humble!
A humble car is one that:
a) Has performance underpinnings but doesn’t tout them. Think a debadged AMG Mercedes or SS Chevrolet. Bonus points for non-flashy colors like white.
or
b) Was advertised as being reliable, economical, and/or practical. Even the best copywriter wouldn’t bother trying to tout an 80s Volvo station wagon as being “sexy” when the tagline should read “Boxy but good”.