Cars: the expression of the soul

America’s love affair with automobiles is well-documented and accepted. For the last several decades it has been the norm for most families to have at least one car, with many having two or more to love and care for.

Many teenagers feel one of the rites of passage and signs of freedom and independence is acquiring wheels as soon as possible after getting a driver’s license.

A status symbol for many families is buying a new car every two years, or at least before the warranty runs out. When energy costs are down, preferences may run to large cars with big engines since speed and luxury often are equated with success.

I’ve noticed that the type of vehicle chosen and the acquired driving habits of Americans often reveal a great deal about their personalities. Take the so-called yuppie (young urban professional) who drives an expensive foreign import. This seems to correlate with the yuppie’s strong motivation and striving toward a display of material success.

Let me hasten to add here that I am not attempting to make value judgments on this type of behavior or lifestyle. I am simply trying to illustrate how the auto correlates with certain personality types and certain stages in life.

Take me, for instance. I readily admit that my acquisition of a convertible several years ago filled a need for this stage of my life. I was partially motivated by a desire to recapture some of the feelings of fun and memories of good times in my college days when I drove a convertible. Now, as a middle-aged man who finds himself balding, I wanted another period of life available when a cool evening with the top down the wind could blow though my hair while I still have some hair to blow.

It is often said that some people use the automobile as an extension of their ego. Look at the entertainment industry where expensive and unusual automobiles are the rule. The entertainer who rides around in a limousine with a driver in locations where he is sure to be noticed and placed in the spotlight seems to illustrate this point. Or consider the fun high school graduates have hiring a limo to drive them to the senior prom.

Then there is the case of the housewife who, after years of car pooling in a pragmatic and functional station wagon, suddenly throws off the shackles of these duties and opts for a sports car with its freedom and excitement.

Or watch the business executive who deals in a verbal abstract, ideas all week. While confined to his office dressed in a coat and tie, he looks forward to the weekend to escape to an earthy concrete and tangible type of lifestyle in the country driving his pickup truck.

And have you wondered why a luxury-loving playboy will choose a no-frills economy model? Or why the ultra-conservative family down the street suddenly buys and decorates a van?

Next week I will continue the discussion of the love affair of automobiles and talk about driving habits, which also reveal individual personality traits.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1986