IML: Gays car culture

["Hugh & Therese" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>]

Gay car culture exists, which I find fascinating.  I've toyed with 
mentioning this here before and may end up being substantially killed for 
expounding on this thread, but the subject is actually very interesting, 
from a number of perspectives.  It is commonly assumed that being involved 
with cars is one of the ultimate macho activities.  NASCAR dads were one of 
the most courted voting groups in the last election and the sophistication 
with which they were approached was very enlightening.  The kinds of cars 
involved are the go fast, muscle cars, of course.

Gay car culture, though hardly a monolithic category, has a large element 
dedicated to large, powerful, showy land yachts.  Some Imperials are, in and 
of themselves, totally outrageous, particularly the 57 - 62 era.  The 1960 
and 1961 are way, way out there, but other years are hardly shrinking 
violets.  At a certain local Mopar car event, probably a year or so after I 
joined, my wife and daughter actually showed up, and I was surprised at many 
people's reactions.  I found out that it was assumed by more than a few that 
I must be gay, since here I was, with this exuberant luxo-boat, a 1958, 
named Mrs. Blueberry of all things.  In any group I am rarely the quietest 
person either, and this, along with a liberal streak wider than the car, 
induced this opinion among fellow club members.  My wife could not care less 
about cars and I am not the kind of person who is the slightest bit upset if 
she takes part in my activities.  We are both fiercely independent, and we 
married late as well, so we often go our own way and this seems to work for 
us.

I once attended an Imperial gathering where I think I was the only 
"straight" person there.  I found this experience to be hilarious as I was 
probably the loudest person there.  I think I was weirding out some of the 
people who came, too.  I have always been a tee-totaller as well.  I 
surmised that other people had to drink just to be able to catch up with me. 
Of course, this was in my younger, wilder days.

Sometimes, after I post, I get a off-list hate message, from list members 
who at least have the decency not to waste the time of the whole list with 
their bigotry.  I have been called the choicest of names over the years, 
been accused of being comprehensively unintelligent, and any number of other 
calumnies that might percolate through the evidently less than balanced 
minds of the senders.  Harmless stuff all, since name calling to me is the 
surrender flag of those whose argument has collapsed.  Apparently, to a few, 
I am pursuing a virulent gay agenda.  I must assume this is something of a 
coincidence, since, like someone else who posted to the list, I have not 
received the memo stating what it is.  On this list, which I cherish, are 
some people I would not care to meet and of whom I feel obliged to have a 
very low opinion.  Disliking someone for their skin color or their religion 
or their sexual preference seems so strange to me, banal if it wasn't so 
pervasive and frequently dangerous.  Choosing to ignore a common interest in 
Imperials to focus on perceived differences which are not even relevant, let 
alone correct, is wasting time and energy.

I am a slob who likes his cars to be suitably ragged.  My role model would 
be Nick Nolte in '48 Hours' who describes himself as a ragtop man and whose 
cars are one beating away from the scrap heap.  Or Columbo and his Peugeot 
403.  I am not interested in preening cars in the slightest.  With me, the 
hobby is all about the driving experience.  If it rolls right and feels 
good, I am sorted.  No need to polish and buff and vacuum and shine.  I 
taught myself to work on my Imperial because I could not find anyone who 
could do a good job on it and I figured I could do a better job myself and 
save not only money but the intense frustration of being at the mercy of 
incompetents and indifferent so called mechanics.  My Imperial looks so bad 
that even I think I should do something about it.  The fact that the seats 
need to be re-padded is something I can no longer ignore.

I am fascinated by the attention to detail that some men go into on their 
cars.  The car has to be just right.  Folks who don't seem to know one type 
of cloth from another go into rapturous detail over what was used in car 
seats, doors, dashboards, parcel shelves and trunk interiors.  The subtlest 
difference in paint shades and which is correct fill up intense 
conversations that leave me agog.  Wives and girl friends at these events 
only wish the man in their life would spend a fraction of that enthusiasm of 
their house or clothing and their own personal appearance.  Apparently, it 
is OK to be so fastidious when its something manly, like a car.

The car hobby, once examined, is far broader than it appears on the surface. 
It is certainly a lot more than a simple exercise in macho.  It attracts a 
very broad spectrum of people.  If gay people want, in addition to the 
mainstream list, to have a mailing list of there own, what harm?  If women 
want one too, why not?  As the lyrics go in a satiric National Lampoon song, 
I am a member of the oppressing class, language, race and sex.  If I wasn't 
so poor I would be obviously be dangerous.  The Imperial list is for a very 
small sub group of a sub group of a subgroup.  Many of us felt isolated in 
our Imperial enthusiasm before we found this place.  What's one more 
sub-group?

Hugh 




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