Maybach driver chatting on cellphone

Some rich people think they can do anything. And if they get a ticket, they just pay for it. Oh well....

 

Hmmm, must have been driving a 57...

My goodness. The owner, actually operating the automobile...the poor, poor man.

Real money rides in a chauffeur driven, long wheelbase 62.

 

Thanks for making me look up what a Maybach was! I had no idea what you were talking about...and now I know all about them. Wow. Don't see many of those in dear ol' Richmond VA. And as far as his driving goes...the car has ten air bags, and I'm sure he's insured up the wazoo. He probably doesn't give a good gd what he does with it. Of course, I'm stereotyping.

 

next time you're in such a situation, call highway patrol and report him as a possible drunk driver.

(I was born in '57. wife in '62, so, destined to own a Maybach?)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Oct 23 2006, 03:13 PM) [snapback]336914[/snapback]</div>

Maybe it was the chauffeur rushing to meet the owner. Or the Merc salesman delivering the car to the owner.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(onerpm @ Oct 23 2006, 04:43 PM) [snapback]336978[/snapback]</div>

...or something with fins!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JackDodge @ Oct 23 2006, 05:23 PM) [snapback]337017[/snapback]</div>

This makes some sense since the Maybach is a Mercedes-Benz product. Although technically not made by Daimler-Chrysler (probably won't see alot of Dodge Caliber parts in a Maybach), it is still closely related enough that whatever the reason for the abundance of Chryslers may somehow be connected to the low-flying Maybach in the area (some sort of DC exec with Mercedes connections, maybe).

Maybe it was Dr. Z, himself...

 

$375,000 For a car that doesn't even look any better than a Honda Accord??? Okay, so it has more rear leg room, and goes from zero to sixty in three gallons of gas (okay, I made up that part). But still, sheesh!

From their movie: " The customer can view his dream car [on their virtual-car display] long before completion." In other words: you pay over a third of a million dollars and then you wait a long time for it.

A tzero, a much cooler car, costs less than two-thirds that much.

I met a guy once who had a BMW and was having a new engine custom built for it because he wanted a more powerful engine than was available from the manufacturer. I asked him why he wanted so much power. His reply was, "If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand." In other words, the guy was a lunatic who couldn't explain to himself why he wanted the monstrosity. (He specifically said he does not race. So it wasn't for that. It was apparently just to be able to pass in less space.)

 

The Maybach's target market was originally hoped to be Fortune 100 CEOs and other leaders in business, finance, technology, etc., but instead, they were all bought up by rap artists and NBA players. In some ways it's an embarassment for them that their cars are now identified with the nouveau riche.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 23 2006, 08:31 PM) [snapback]337170[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Oct 23 2006, 07:13 PM) [snapback]337064[/snapback]</div>

No, that's actually a very valid statement. More power IS necessary. If you DO have to ask then you defninitely DON'T understand!

Serisouly though, it really is something that some people get and some don't. It's the same for lots of things that cost lots of money. WHy would anyone spend $100,000 for a wrist watch? Why would someone spend $millions for a house? Why do many things here. SOme things make sense to some people, but not to others. IF I was there, I would not have asked the guy why he needed more power. It would be understood. Similarly, there are probably things that each one of us do that makes perfect sense to us, is absolutely and totaly obvious to us, but still people ask why. That's life.


As for the Maybach driver... It's funny how if he was driving some old clunker people would not speak so vehemently against him, and there would be no post here about it. Because he has money, he's suddenly a bigger jerk, and deserves a whole new post just to tell about something that happens every day...

 

$375,000 just so you can pick the exact color of the leather in your car? And it's a car that only an afficianado would even know was "special" and I bet it's no more reliable than the Accord it resembles (though, as before, I admit it has more rear leg room).

Note that the guy who was buying the upsized BMW engine did not say, I want it so I can pass in half the distance your car takes. He didn't say, I want it because I love the feel of acceleration. He didn't say I want it so I can just know I have something special. He gave no reason at all. He just said You wouldn't understand. Instead of giving a reason, he just insulted my ability to understand his motivation.

It's a lot like "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it." Well, how is someone supposed to know if they can afford something if they don't know the price??? Similarly, "If you have to ask you wouldn't understand" is not an answer: it's nothing but an insult, given in answer to an honest question. When someone asks me why I wanted a Prius I talk about its low emissions, its fuel efficiency, my fascination with the cool technology, the fact that it has no clutch and can go while the engine is stopped, etc. I don't tell them they would not understand.

Nope, this was just a creep with his head stuck where it belongs.

 

The term most applied to those who purchase a Maybach (or similiar vehicle) as their mode of transportation is 'conspicuous consumption' (at its most glaring). I don't think there are a lot of regular production vehicles priced higher than a Maybach (this includes the rarified league of the most expensive cars from Ferrari and Rolls-Royce).

Ironically, I suspect a variation is applied to those who drive Priuses, and is the root cause of Prius-hate or the 'smug factor'. People flying around in Maybachs (or any vehicle in that price class) are likely a good deal more smug than a Prius driver, though.

Atleast a Prius gets much better gas mileage than (and is priced at a fraction of) a Maybach...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Oct 24 2006, 04:14 PM) [snapback]337565[/snapback]</div>

No offence meant here but I think the guy with the BMW was right. There is no rational justification to his engine swap, he just wants to do it and can afford to. If your asking him to explain that I think it's understandable why he thought you wouldn't get it.

Ask the owner of a horse that won the last Kentucky Derby how much it would cost you to do the same and I think you might get annoyed at the answer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rudiger @ Oct 24 2006, 02:41 PM) [snapback]337622[/snapback]</div>

I don't know about that. I'm pretty smug. (But I give a straightforward answer when I'm asked why.)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(koa @ Oct 24 2006, 02:45 PM) [snapback]337626[/snapback]</div>

I wasn't asking him the existential "why," I was just asking him why he wanted a bigger engine. He could have very easily said, "Because I'm an impatient driver and I'm willing to spend X number of thousands of dollars to be able to pass other cars sooner."

People have reasons for the choices they make, and an articulate person can state those reasons. Telling a person he would not understand your reasons, without stating them and giving him a chance to understand them, is insulting.

The comparison to the horse is not valid, because one cannot win the Kentucky Derby merely by spending money. One can, however, buy a Maybach, or a souped-up BMW engine by spending a very specific and published amount of money.

Now if you asked the horse owner why he spent so much money racing horses, and if he did not choose to be insulting by telling you you wouldn't understand, he'd probably talk about his love of horses, and the excitement of competition and the thrill of the race, and perhaps the finer points of breeding and selecting horses and methods of training, and deciding when a horse is ready to enter which race.

I suspect that a person who says "You wouldn't understand my reason," is probably ashamed of his reason.

 

People are definitely funny about what they'll spend their money on. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Here is a collection owned by a friend of mine. He's not wealthy, but he loves his collection of Aibos. In round numbers its worth somewhat more than $100K.

 

I'm wondering if the phrasing of the question somehow closed down the guy's want/ability to communicate. Daniel, perhaps your tone might have inadvertantly reminded him of his wife or significant other, who also asks the same thing...?

In my opinion, it *is* a bit of a loaded question, won't you admit, since there is no real *need* for so much horsepower on the street.

I think he knew immediately that you weren't there to stroke his ego, asking something like that in that manner. It sounds to me more like a defensive reaction.

Tell me true, wasn't this a subtle attempt at expressing your disapproval? I suspect that, if you had to name the emotions you were feeling at that moment, envy and appreciation probably wouldn't be on the shortlist.