January 15th, 2010 by cloud

Volvo drivers have regularly been tainted with a rep of taking care, slow and decidedly unexciting. Quite where this has come from I’m not sure, but even if it’s correct, is it a bad thing? Quite honestly, I’d like anybody driving a pile of metal at a velocity quicker than I’m able to run to be on the careful side. Obviously, the game of motor racing is encircled by the requirement for speed and has a name for being horny, dangerous and exciting. But are Michael Schumacher and company basically as thrilling as we like to think? Anyone that can drive a formula one vehicle at 200mph obviously doesn’t spend plenty time doing anything apart from driving. Road geeks, as I believe I shall collectively name all pro drivers, don’t commit much of their free time to doing exciting things, or non exiting things either. Eddie Irvine doesn’t crochet; Jensen Button has not got a fondness for playing the recorder and David Coulthard has not perfected the art of calligraphy.

They do all drive well and are famous for their ever so careful driving on the general public roads and byways. Are these pros of the road ridiculed for reasonable behavior and charged with being ‘Volvo drivers’? I believe not. The comprehensive antipode of the Volvo driving reputation is something known as Boy Racers.

These young kids (and lassies) are also road geeks, but of a wholly different calibre. Just like F1 drivers, all of these folks do is live and breathe driving. Sadly, they have taken the fun of motor racing and attempted to inject it into their street cars thru vehicle alteration and a perspective like a three years old after a bag of Haribo; dangerous! What appears to have been overlooked on their part is the true geek nature of those concerned in motor sports. What the Boy Racers have done is attempting to copy the likes of Lewis Hamilton, but instead missed by a mile.

Actually, James May is a lot closer to imitating the giants of racing than the guy with a Burberry cap and matching Peugeot. Mr. May is also the apex of what the public visualize when they think about a common Volvo driver. So how could we narrow this opening in opinion and create a name where road geeks and boy racers combine. I believe the key lies in car alteration.

Here, the 2 sides combine.

The execs can only achieve their standing as road gods thru the mechanical genius behind automobile parts, and the newbie’s try to have a piece of the action by adding skirts and lights to make their hot hatch go quicker. If there might be some kind of mass celebrity endorsement by pro road geeks to bling up a Volvo and then drive realistically, would the street racers take notice? It is a long shot, but possible. Volvo parts would be used to add style and class, and better performance at a steady 60mph. Lights would be avoided in favor of extremely good center caps ; spoilers would be denied but extra safe brake discs would be fitted. The sheer irony of it is the pros live and breathe in the driving, and are orientated to enhanced performance, quality and comfort. These elements are supreme, and a real sign of a road geek looking for excitement the sophisticated way. On the other hand, those that spend each waking moment selecting the next shade for a re-spray and fitting additional turbo exhaust features to a lackluster motor, are spending valuable time not driving whilst pretending to be exciting. This is a bit lifeless in my viewpoint.