Re: IML: Gays car culture

["Jerry hesch" <jerryhesch@xxxxxxx>]

Hugh,
" been accused of being comprehensively unintelligent, and any number of 
other "
Not true!  I wrote you maybe 2 years ago.  You write so well I always read 
your posts.  I knew there was something unique about your education given 
how well you write and of course found out your education was across the 
water.  Sad, but true that a plain 'ol American like me can spot a foreigner 
on the basis of "they write so well or they have better command of the 
language" but truth is truth.  There are exceptions though.....somewhere.
I know I write well, but a one page letter takes 8 re-writes!
I agree with the rest your post.
Best Regards
Jerry
53

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hugh & Therese" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Imperial Mailing List" <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 10:49 AM
Subject: IML: Gays car culture


> 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,
> > 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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