Quote:
Originally Posted by Tcoat
I hate that word "enthusiast" with a passion anyway. Or at least the way it is used by many on this (and other) forums and social media. It is usually used to describe the speaker's priorities and preferences while excluding anybody that disagrees with them. The coal roll crowd are "enthusiasts" as are the stock car detail fanatic, the Prius mileage seekers, the classic car restorers, and so on. Anybody that likes cars are an "enthusiast" but more often than not if you don't track, attend meets or heavily modify your car you are looked down upon as a bad "enthusiast".
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I am guilty of this, but I think you and I are mixing up adjectives. You are probably thinking vehicle enthusiast, which is more general, and I am thinking driving enthusiast. Specifically, car driving enthusiast and not the off-road driving enthusiast or the cross-country-touring enthusiast. Like how ‘sports car’ is now overused, muddling the definition and requires a nuanced explanation, so does enthusiast, as you have highlighted.
I tend to think of the car enthusiast in articles as often referencing the driving enthusiast who wants a lightweight, great handling, analog, quick car that has a communicative chassis that makes the car engaging for spirited driving. If I was reading a truck magazine, a truck enthusiast would bring to mind the same thing for that genre, so a rugged, engaging and capable truck for off-roading, mudding, rock crawling, trail driving, etc. The high-mileage and cross country driving enthusiasts could be driving on cruise control or in the passenger seat, so I don’t know how much of an enthusiast they are for driving—more like they just enjoy getting out on the open road whether that is in a Winnebago or whatever.
I think we hear and read of enthusiasts being referenced in the vein that I described because we have seen a precipitous drop off in the models and production of sports cars and of the features classically enjoyed by the driving enthusiast: cars are heavier, DBW, electric steering, less or no manual transmissions, etc. I don’t think it is a matter of us just being in our bubble or echo chamber.