I hate to admit it but I do secretly enjoy the attention my cars garner. My girlfriend drives most of my vehicles as well and it's even worse for her. Rarely do we go somewhere and someone doesn't comment on whatever we're driving. The funniest was I had slapped a gopro on the fender of the trans am and at a stoplight you can hear what had to have been Tommy Chong belt out, "What is that thing, man!?"
In reply to yupididit :
I knew they were popular but it's just mind blowing how much people love Foxbody Mustangs. Every time we park somewhere people want to know who owns it.
ShawnG said:-Me, driving a 1956 Continental MkII-
Lady at the intersection: "My dad had a Thunderbird just like that!"
Yup...
You can see the family resemblance but you can fit one inside of the other.
And speaking of early T-Birds, one time a guy was checking out my 57 (which is blue) and said "My dad had one just like it, except it was red and it was a Buick."
Will said:ShawnG said:-Me, driving a 1956 Continental MkII-
Lady at the intersection: "My dad had a Thunderbird just like that!"
Yup...
You can see the family resemblance but you can fit one inside of the other.
And speaking of early T-Birds, one time a guy was checking out my 57 (which is blue) and said "My dad had one just like it, except it was red and it was a Buick."
I've experienced similar things. "Polite me" simply responds "oh yeah" and do a mental facepalm.
Back around 2000 I was working for the regional office for Lexus in NJ. Most of the other OEMs were in the general area and when a new vehicle was being offered by one of our competitors, we would contact that OEM's office to see if we could borrow that new car for a week so we could see what the competition was offering. In return, when you were given that request, you could ask for anything in their fleet for the same week. Every few months there was a competitor's car in our fleet and we could drive it. It was always shocking to me the number of non- car people who work for an OEM. There were days when a cool car would just sit there because no one wanted to drive it.
So, we had traded Jaguar and got an XK8 Coupe to flog for a week or so. Gorgeous car. I normally drove a new Lexus as a company car and was used to being pretty much ignored by the motoring public. Driving this Jag definitely got me (actually the car) noticed. As I was driving down I-80 there was a Mazda Millenia ahead of me. The lady driving was pretty deliberate in looking in her rear view mirror and as a zipped past her she was checking me (the car) out. A few miles up and she ends up just ahead of me on the off ramp and we are now stopped. She rolls down the driver's window to adjust her outside mirror. Now, the Millenia was supposed to be sold in Mazda's new luxury division that never came to be and as such, most definitely had power mirrors. Here was this pretty left hand with a perfect manicure, big rings, no wedding ring, taking all of the time in the world to manually adjust this power mirror while the driver was staring at the Jag through the inside mirror. I am about to die laughing. I zoomed past her and waved. Yes, she was gorgeous. Nobody ever looked at me and so deliberately flirted with me in anything I have ever drove. This is just like high school.
PFA
Scott_H said:Back around 2000 I was working for the regional office for Lexus in NJ. Most of the other OEMs were in the general area and when a new vehicle was being offered by one of our competitors, we would contact that OEM's office to see if we could borrow that new car for a week so we could see what the competition was offering. In return, when you were given that request, you could ask for anything in their fleet for the same week. Every few months there was a competitor's car in our fleet and we could drive it. It was always shocking to me the number of non- car people who work for an OEM. There were days when a cool car would just sit there because no one wanted to drive it.
My brother's nephew got a job at Ford when he graduated from engineering school, and ended up at their testing grounds. This was back when Ford had a majority stake in Aston Martin, I saw a photo of him with a new Vantage he took home for the weekend one time...I imagine he did a little cruising on Saturday night.
Tom1200 said:In reply to yupididit :
I knew they were popular but it's just mind blowing how much people love Foxbody Mustangs. Every time we park somewhere people want to know who owns it.
THAT is the Mustang you bought?
...wow, that looks really, really nice.
Somehow I had it in my head that it was some trackabeater and not something that creampuff.
mfennell said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to Patrick :
I deliberately wanted a nice car that was fast and reliable and didn't look like anything special, no slats or spoilers or wings or anything, which is how I ended up with an S60R (it was that or a Passat W8). When driving somewhere, in the middle of a weird road construction/multi interchange combo near Pittsburgh, I saw someone in a S60 2.5t do all the haulassing up through traffic just to give me a thumbs up "in person". That was amusing - that was someone who Knew.
I sold my V70R to a local guy who was apparently looking for additional maintenance thrills he wasn't getting owning a fleet of BMWs (he showed up at my house in an AWD 6MT E60 wagon). I see it from time to time and it looks SO good. I hope he worked through its million issues and is enjoying it.
Oddly enough, I went with it because I worked in a shop that did a lot of Euro cars and I noted that the P2 Volvos only ever needed oil changes, timing belts, and the occasional PCV system rebuild. (But it wouldn't suck all the oil out of the crankcase in two blocks like a 325/525, it would just set a MAF code because the throttle was open at the wrong angle)
For a while it had an appetite for wheel bearings, touch wood it's been over 30k since I had to replace one. It's been a good 155k miles so far 
I feel very fortunate that VW decided to discontinue all of the W8 specific parts before I bought one. That forced my hand.
My experience was different in that the interest in my cars was more (entertaining to me) puzzlement about their origin. The conversation would go something like:
Them: what is that?
Me: It's a one-off car I built
Them: Where did you get it?
Me: I built it from scratch
Them: Yeah but where did you get the kit from
Me: It's not a kit. I designed it, bought the steel, and welded it together
Them: Pauses... yeah but who sells the kit?
Me: No one
Them: How much horsepower does it have?
Me: Depends, 350-530hp and weighs 1,800 lbs with me in it
Them: eyes just blinking...
I have a Cayman S, and no one ever notices it except for other Porsche owners. I also once had a Miata that got some attention, mostly from people that I figured had been living under a rock for at least ten years or simply never paid any attention to cars. But one time I pulled into a drive up window at a bank in the Miata, and the teller seemed blown away by the car. "Wow! That is such a cool car car! What is it? I've never seen one of those before!" So as I'm coolly answering all of her questions about it, her head suddenly snaps to the side and her mouth drops as a fly yellow Ferrari 348 Spider pulls into the spot next to me. Figures, the one time someone seems excited about my car, a Ferrari has to show up!
I stopped noticing Porsches after they started putting too many doors on most of them.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Dude it's really nice. I was shocked how nice the interior was when I picked it up.
We will autocross and track day it but we will not be pounding on it the way I do the Datsun.
By a huge margin, the car I had that got the most thumbs up and attention was my $2000 Challenge Integra. With and without stickers, people really dug it. Which was kind of shocking for a Rusty 94 automatic LS
In contrast, my foxbody, which is about 10x cleaner and twice as loud gets nearly no attention. One Cletus McFarland wannabe gave me a "Hell yeah brother!" At a gas pump, but that's been about it. Maybe it needs more exposure
My 911 gets lots of compliments. My wife's Macan S, black with red interior has gotten likes everytime she drives it even though it has 4 doors. My son and I was in his red Cayman S in a taco bell drive thru and some lady stopped and jokingly wanted to trade her Subaru for it.
This is also a funny one. My friend's PV544 is a pretty tame old car and honestly just a nice driver. It gets a ton of positive attention whereever it goes but nobody can figure out what it is. 49 Ford? Mercury? Then they see the badges, "oh, it's a sport?" One little girl, obviously embarrassed by her dad pointed to the license plate after he asked what it was. The front plate is 62 PV 544.
Related, I highly recommend TotD with drum brakes, high profile tires and limited horsepower.
Came out of a store and found somebody taking pictures of my 924s in the parking lot. Said he always liked them.
Feeling all puffed up, I went to start the car with the guy now doing video, but forgot I left the AC on and the belt is a little loose, so I got massive belt squeal on start-up, completely ruining the "moment." Not my finest performance...
I have never built a car for someone else's approval but I gotta admit, getting a thumbs up or seeing a camera get whipped out felt pretty great. When we had our Baja bug, we always said that it was impossible to be in a bad mood while driving it because so many people reacted positively to it that their happiness in seeing it got transferred to those who are driving it. That car was king of the thumbs up. Then we sold that to put a motor in the Camaro, which also gets a ton of attention and approval but it's a little different than the Bug. The Camaro crowd tends to be older, more male and more knowledgeable about cars.
I had a friend receive a compliment from someone on his Miata his first time driving it after months of restoration and modifications. He said it made him feel even more proud of all the hard work he did and made him want to do more. Since then I have made sure to always compliment cool or unusual cars when I see them.
The other day I was getting gas when a really clean E28 M5 pulled in next to me. I complimented the driver, and he looked startled. He told me that no one ever notices it, and they have no idea what it is if they do.
It's not why I have them but I do enjoy getting compliments on my vehicles.
The one that sticks in my mind the most was when I was sitting at a light in a not very nice part of Albuquerque when a black Escalade with dark tinted windows glides up next to me with the bass thumping so loud I could hear it over the loping 498. The windows on my side of the Cadillac go down and four Hispanic dudes turn and look at me through their dark sunglasses. The music gets turned down and the guy riding shotgun yells "Bad ass car man!" in heavily accented English before the windows and music go back up and they roll through the red light like they own the neighborhood.
Will said: "My dad had one just like it, except it was red and it was a Buick."
More than once I got.
"What is that"
"It is a Fiat 850"
"Cool, My mom used to have a Datsun just like it"
I really miss driving this car. I met more interesting people in parking lots with it than any other car. People in tears telling me about abandoning their beloved Fiat/Seat while fleeing their home country, Stories about their childhood in Italy, tales of bravery and stupidity of a group of teenagers taking a poorly maintained 850 across the European continent on a spur of the moment holiday, talk of growing up in a family of 6 with a Fiat 500/600/850 as the only car. The passenger seat back pocket was stuffed with notes left on the windshield, lots of "If you ever want to sell this" but also a lot of "I just wanted to let you know that seeing this made my day better" kind of notes.
Tom1200 said:In reply to yupididit :
I knew they were popular but it's just mind blowing how much people love Foxbody Mustangs. Every time we park somewhere people want to know who owns it.
They have a pretty huge following. This car has been in my family since brand new and I remember when I was 4 or 5 years old riding in it in the early 90s. Now its in my hands, I see why people like these cars. I never personally wanted to go own one but, I get it now. It being red helps with the attention getting, and its loud lol.
What surprised me most when driving a very different looking car was how many people were completely oblivious to it, with seemingly complete lack of spacial awareness, caught up in their own little worlds. It was a reminder to assume most drivers simply aren't aware of anything around them.
Yes, it does.
I've had several cars over the years that always seemed to get attention. I like driving stuff that is different.
In no particular order.
The most common comment on this is I didn't know Hummer built a truck! That's awesome!
SanFord never failed to draw comments and thumbs. Anywhere, any time. It's really cool when someone walks up to you at the track and tells you they've been following the build since day one.
The Abomination was a car person and kid magnet. Everyone wanted a turn in the seat. We used to call it the whore of the autocross.
The Samurai was another one that was always good for a gas station comment. It also frequently got the Jeep wave.
The REO gets waves in the neighborhood. A gas station stop is always good for a question, picture, or two.
The Jet Boat always gets a double take when they realize it doesn't have an outboard on it.
Everyone loves a shark-nosed BMW.
This one also never failed to attract attention. This was a long time ago and I have almost zero digital pictures of it. My kids called it the Banana.
Yeah, it's funny cause I try to not let it get to me since it's simply a thing I own and put not one iota of effort into designing or building, but you called it: it feels good.
Probably the most memorable was one time exiting a park but a soccer game had cropped up out of nowhere and I had to idle through the crowd. I put it in 2nd for that deeper sound on the 3.0 and the top was down. I never saw the woman but I heard her say "that's my dream car"
Mine, too, lady.
The very first time was back in high school when I was driving down a side street in my primer gray 2nd gen Camaro with steelies up front and tall Cragar SSs in the back. The air suspension was jacked all the way up. A couple jr high kids called out "COOL CAR!" I felt every bit of that.
I definitely give a wave or thumbs up to any other cool cars out there, no matter what car I'm in.
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