What sparks automotive brilliance?
My countless hours spent downloading and watching Top Gear seasons 1 through 8 has gotten me somewhat confused. What is automotive brilliance? What are the ingredients in creating an automobile that is utterly, stunningly, jaw droppingly brilliant?
The common battleground for arguments and debates exist in a world where we only talk of such exotic beasts but may never in our lifetime touch one let alone drive one. I used to believe that only cars that made it to a 10 year old kid’s bedroom wall deserved such worthy title. But brilliant automobiles deserve more than our average cars because they were made to be brilliant. They were built to shock and awe the world. They are fueled with the saliva dripping from people’s mouths. Perhaps it is also because whenever a new Ferrari or Porsche flashes us with their vulgar looks, we as a society go crazy.
But what has Ferrari or Porsche done that is so brilliant? I say, heritage. Its cars with heritage that live on and become legends and are as influential as global warming. Ferrari and Porsche are brilliant because they have understood the importance of heritage and have made it their central ingredient in the creation of automobiles. The degree of engineering and ingenuity has allowed for acts of over 250mph in cars like the Veyron, magnetic suspension and grip like gravity itself in cars like the 599 GTB and full carbon fiber chassis in cars like the Ascari KZ1. Designs that defy human comprehension helps too because these so called uber cars are just clowns. They are cars you drive as often as you visit a circus. They are carbon fiber wrapped candy-corns with massive servings of horsepower, smoke in your face and rubber on your pearly whites. But brilliant? Yes please. With price tags above most single houses with a 2 car garage, these toys are parallel to those hobbies that we just can’t afford. This psychological epidemic dictates that the more we can’t afford something, the more we want it. Thats why there are posters on sale at Barnes and Noble for $10.99.
Being the love of millions is not an easy role to fulfill either. These cars are the pantheon among automotive brilliance. They are the top of the food chain because they have proved themselves worthy to harness V12 engines, breakneck amounts of torque and still weighing in at the average weight of an econo-box. This is of course not to say that these cars lack deficiencies because like everything built by humans, they are flawed in one way or the other. The Ford GT has proven that there are not enough gas stations. The Zonda has proven that it cannot go over anything taller than a frog and the Aston has proven that world class service via helicopter is not good enough. Maybe that is why so many of us own these cars only in the two-dimensional world of posters. But these biblically, stratospherically, and crushingly brilliant automobiles are just that exciting to look at and daydream over.
So what sparks automotive brilliance? Our love for cars we may never be able to afford, the hopes, expectations and envious stares fuel automotive brilliance. The dream of owning the car that made us wet ourselves as kids drives automotive brilliance. Because automotive brilliance is not only physical but mental and the rewards for satisfying both are just incomprehensible.