View Full Version : stigma
sickrabbit
04-08-05, 09:05 AM
Most folks who,ve I,ve chatted with and have asked my form of transport have reacted in the same way " what - a vauxhall nova - you a boy racer then" ? and at times this has really got on my nerves . Sadly tho , it seems as tho some of this label rings true in my home town. A nearby nieghbourhood lad ( 18 at the max ) wrote his first nova off 3 weeks after passing his test - I generally did feel sorry for him, but as I,m informed his parents just went straight out and got him another. I,ve witnessed him several times charging about ,but last night was just plain stupid. The wife and I were returning from visiting my folks and I witnessed some of the fastest and most inconsiderate dangerous driving I,ve ever seen performed by this young man . His speed was just crazy as he swept from lane to lane without any signalling , cutting cars up on a very busy stretch of road - the limit down this road is 40mph . He must have been 70 at the least . Cars were slamming up and blue smoke was everywhere.I really couldnt believe what I saw. We eventually passed him as he was parked up in a layby near some shops , the wife looked over as we passed by and she saw the car was full of young lads( obviously enjoying themselves and I dont blame them ). Now I dont want to come across as a killjoy , or someone on a soapbox , but arent new drivers warned of the perilous danger of new driving and that the first 2 years are the most important ?Due to SOME peoples driving I can certainly see why the Nova has this label I could just imagine what all the other motorists envolved in this lunacy were saying ie " sh*t - did you see that stupid little prat in that Nova "!!.The Nova ( and other small cars ) make a brilliant first car , as all the benefits of tax insurance and miles to the gallon can be a money factor of owning one . My examiner asked me after passing my test my type of car . He replied " good choice - cheap to run , reliable , and it,ll teach you the true experience of handling a car in safety - and I say that because at your age ( 36 back then ) you shouldnt be a boy racer "!! :o
And then you meet guys on the road like last night . I just wish that there wasnt idiots like this on the road ( NO MATTER THE VECHILE TYPE EITHER ) as there does seem to be a lot of speed freaks out there with no consideration for other road users or themselves . I suppose to end this ranted thread if someone asks me the question of my cars type and am I a boy racer , I,ll reply " no I,m not gay - but willing to learn "!!
STAY SAFE .
Sad but true, there is a similar stigma attached to many cars of the genre..
So how old are you??? lol
Adam Moran
04-08-05, 09:28 AM
"vauxhall nova - you a boy racer then"
Had that comment for years :roll:
Driving fast does not have to be dangerous, its when you take "risks" and you dont have the control of the car to sort it out if something goes wrong.
Harsh fact but we will never loose the stigma of being boy racers so i dont tell them i have a vauxhall nova :wink:
Its unfortunate that loons like that get hold of Novas and give people like us a bad name. Its funny how other small cars - AX's, 205's, Uno's etc - which in my area for sure are worse treated than Novas, don't have as bad a reputation.
My g/f doesn't want me to get another Nova (even though I'd keep it tidy - the days of evo bumpers are gone :P - and its a cheap/easy car to work on, purely "because its a Nova". She ever owned one? Driven one? Nope...). Although Novas are starting to rust away and there's a lot less of them about than there used to be, and the current Chav Car of Choice is more the Saxo, Novas have stuck with their boy racer reputation.
BigRuss
04-08-05, 09:46 AM
There dertainly are some idiots on the road!!!
Don't get Me wrong, I used to be one of the silly little idiots that used to do the very thing you have mentioned. Even to the point that if stuck behind someone long enough with no room to pass, I used to overtake on the pavement!!!!!! It has nothing to do with owning a Nova, it is the person.
But the Stigma effect is the exact opposite now, I don't use a Nova as an everyday car, My options are the Shogun or the Transit, I generaelly go for the Transit tbh...
When new employees start in the factory and find out I do rallying they inevitabley ask "What car do You rally then?" When I say "a 1400 Vauxhall Nova" that generaelly ends that topic of conversation :o :o
I think they all want me to say a Subaru or an Evo :lol: :lol:
how willing to learn are you? lmao
"im building a track car, its a nova" most people walk off or change the subject lmao
I get the same stigma. I'm 27 and get looked down at once I say I drive a Nova.
Believe me, there are a lot of cars I would rather be driving about in, but without wanting to blow my own trumpet, there isn't a car out there thats as fast as my Nova that I can afford.
I won't have this car forever (especially if my girlfriend has anything to say bout it) so I'm going to enjoy whilst I have it. If people wish to mock and ridicule me then so be it, I won't lose any sleep over it.
Jim
Aragorn
04-08-05, 12:20 PM
there isn't a car out there thats as fast as my Nova that I can afford.
this is my main reasoning too
u can build a car from scratch for about 2-3k that will run 14 second quarters and handle well while its there
aint really many other cars for that kinda money that are going to be as drivable, as cheap to run and as easy to work on
sickrabbit
04-08-05, 03:01 PM
Then theres the other comments that follow - " you spent how much on it - why dont you put all that stereo gear in a decent motor"?? People make me larf when they want a lift home tho , normally get congratulated on the tidyness of thecar and its interior and thanked for the ride . I think its nice t have a bit of pride in your motor , and respect any individual who has worked hard on keeping it looking good . I also agree with the razor ...the other smaller cars Saxo,s ect that are out there have earned themselves the badge of boy racer , due to some idiots reluctance of consideration in favour for the gas pedal. Some people have to learn the hard way. Some never learn.
I,ll bet when that lad reduces this Nova to a pile of collided scrap ,I wouldnt be surprised if his old dears will stump up another motors funds for him.......if he walks away from it .
As for asking my age , I,ll bet I,m the oldest bloke on this site -37 , nearly 38 .
charles still wins then lol
I hate it when people ask me how much I've spent. The first reaction you get is "You could have bought a (insert car here) for that much" They fail to realise that I have not suddenly been given a lump sum of cash and injected it all at the same time into the car, but the money that's been spent on it has been spread over the last 5 years :|
Jim
how willing to learn are you? lmao
"im building a track car, its a nova" most people walk off or change the subject lmao
i get that at work, yeah theres a few of the technicians at work who have had a nova, which is good, but theres a few who have the brand new hatchbacks i.e corsa's and golfs and slate my car when i mention that it is a nova, and they take the piss even more when i mention i'm rebuilding it into a track car
i know what there thinking, there thinking why spend money on a car, in there opinon is a lump of scrap.
i say stuff em
Can you imagine what they say to ME at the Volkswagen dealership where I work? I'm 32, with a 7 year old son!
No-one understands my obsession for a 1982-designed Vauxbox when I get to drive ?40k Touaregs and Phaetons, ?20k Passats and Golf GTI's in a days work (I also have to test drive granny's in lupo's-not quite as glamorous!!)
glorified skodas, wow, my hewo lol
now a "supercar" dealership, you could see the comedy in saying "yeah i like to claim to be god of novas" but a VW place..... nahhhh not that eliteist
how willing to learn are you? lmao
"im building a track car, its a nova" most people walk off or change the subject lmao
then you tell them it's a 1.2 and they give you a slap with a wet fish lol only joking.
I get the same , however i get a bit of a kick really when you see somone laughing or making a comment - I find it pretty sad how people amuse themselves by trying to take the piss out of people, it shows massive insecurities in their own life. Also when my engine is in they'l be laughing at a car that's just as nippy and well handling as 20k brand new cars. I'm going to love taking it the pod and wasting saxo's, new corsa's , clio's and other much much more expensive new cars owned by people who think they are the shit.
and yes, i could go out tommorow and buy a clio 172 182 e.t.c but i'd rather be driving something a little more special to me.
I have 5 seats, the heating works, it's comfortable ride is alright - got all the "luxuries" i need - so who's the Mug/muppet ? the only real advantage of going out and buying a 16k civic type-r is for the performance, when you can achieve it for 2k in a nova.
Best thing to do, is find these little Joyriders, pull them from their car in front of their mates and tell them what you'd like to do to them. I find this works. For anyone with young kids, it really gets my back up. Driving fast is only acceptable if its safe and the driver is experienced and in controll. The last wee pricks that were at that up and down my road ggot a garden fork through their rear window.
Driving fast is only acceptable if its safe and the driver is experienced and in controll.
driving fast - i.e above the speed limit is only acceptable on a private road IMO
Driving fast is only acceptable if its safe and the driver is experienced and in controll.
driving fast - i.e above the speed limit is only acceptable on a private road IMO
driving fast on a public road is irrisponsible, thats what track days are for
ANDYRACER
04-08-05, 10:22 PM
Yep i get that now and i don't even drive. They ask what car u got i say a nova and instantly iam a boy racer. And the fact i have had 2 does me no favours. Ah well i dont care cracking little cars and for the money the only other car in my price range is a fiesta and imho they look crap.
Yep i get that now and i don't even drive. They ask what car u got i say a nova and instantly iam a boy racer. And the fact i have had 2 does me no favours. Ah well i dont care cracking little cars and for the money the only other car in my price range is a fiesta and imho they look crap.
you haven't got a nova you sold it
Yep i get that now and i don't even drive. They ask what car u got i say a nova and instantly iam a boy racer. And the fact i have had 2 does me no favours. Ah well i dont care cracking little cars and for the money the only other car in my price range is a fiesta and imho they look crap.
when i was 15 my mates used to ask me what bike i had.
does everyone have cars now ?
^ when I was that age a kid at school had a Tractor
shut up dunova lol
yep, one guy turned up for GCSE's on a tractor - how cool was he lol
he was as cool as a real cool thing made out of ice :lol:
an ice cube !
tractors are fun tho.. tremendous machines - 0-30 is quite nippy really !
my uncles got a tractor lol :lol:
anywho how the hell did the stigma attached to the nova become 15 year olds going to sit there GCSE on a tractor :?
ANDYRACER
04-08-05, 10:43 PM
Yep i get that now and i don't even drive. They ask what car u got i say a nova and instantly iam a boy racer. And the fact i have had 2 does me no favours. Ah well i dont care cracking little cars and for the money the only other car in my price range is a fiesta and imho they look crap.
when i was 15 my mates used to ask me what bike i had.
does everyone have cars now ?
I have 2 bikes aswell. :lol: I have a job so i can afford these things.
tractors are fun tho.. tremendous machines - 0-30 is quite nippy really !
Yeah; its just anything over that which is the problem :lol:
Altho don't some of they JCBs do like 60 or something silly?
ANDYRACER
04-08-05, 10:45 PM
Yep i get that now and i don't even drive. They ask what car u got i say a nova and instantly iam a boy racer. And the fact i have had 2 does me no favours. Ah well i dont care cracking little cars and for the money the only other car in my price range is a fiesta and imho they look crap.
you haven't got a nova you sold it
Dont depress me. I miss my novas :cry: But might be getting another one sometime next week. :D
they'll do more than 60 off a vertical drop
sickrabbit
05-08-05, 08:11 AM
Did you know old Eric kung -fu Cantona owned a Nova ? Apparently all his other team mates had top line motors and they couldnt believe it when he arrived in his motor for training at MUFC. He could only just squeeze into the drivers seat ( big garlicky fecker - good footballer tho ) , and this caused much mirth in the dressing room ( all hushed behind his back tho )....I read this in Beckhams biography last week , praps thats why he attacked that Coventry supporter a few years back - you can hear it now - " Oi frogs legs are you a boy racer then "? "Zat iz eet you engleesh basterd , I keel you "!! as he lept into the crowd bruce lee fashion......
Next time I,m cut up Im gonna try a french accent - worked for Eric..... :twisted:
End up being known as a french boy racer - now that is a problem !! :cry:
what kind of job do you have? rent boy? feck when i was 15 i eartn enough in a month to buy a few VHS videos (do you know what they are?) and CD's. But now kids can afford to buy cars??!?!?!?! WTF!
JCB fastraks can do 70mph+ with limiters removed lol and they stop pretty damn fast too! If i won the lottery id buy one just for messing about with. I love em! tractors in general are pretty cool, we had a load of massey 375's (i think) they were 40+ years old but would do 28 and get there more or less instantly! plus they were like go karts the way you could slide them lol
" Oi frogs legs are you a boy racer then "? "Zat iz eet you engleesh basterd , I keel you "!! as he lept into the crowd bruce lee fashion......
LMFAO!
tractors in general are pretty cool, we had a load of massey 375's (i think) they were 40+ years old but would do 28 and get there more or less instantly! plus they were like go karts the way you could slide them lol
Wasn't there a video posted up on here a while back with some guys sliding their tractors around in a car park in the snow? :lol:
ANDYRACER
05-08-05, 10:47 AM
Yeh Jack there was a video of tractors doing drifts, i think it was in like Switerzland or somethnig like that.
And i can afford a car coz i work damm hard for my money and dont have a mortgage or debts. :lol:
TBH i love the fact the Nova is laughed at.
Theres a double set of traffic lights in my area, about 1/4 mile between them, no pavement (so no pedestrians), no side roads and its duel carriageway wide enough for 4 cars, so its safe (to a certain degree) to have a lil traffic light grand prix now and again from one set to the next.
Ive lost count of the times ive pulled up next to scooby's, 'scort turbo's, 205's, ST200's, Civic Type R's etc etc and had a cheeky face laughing at my nova as they sit there revving their engine.
The funny bit comes when im sat at the next set of lights about 5 seconds before they are, and you look at THEM with a cheeky face.
Funny how most of the time theyre looking straight ahead and wont make eye contact. As long as I can keep the worm away from my Nova, ill be keeping it :lol:
what kind of job do you have? rent boy? feck when i was 15 i eartn enough in a month to buy a few VHS videos (do you know what they are?) and CD's. But now kids can afford to buy cars??!?!?!?! WTF!
LMAO
i got my first car when i was 15, it was a F-reg VW polo, my mum and dad gave me it because it wasn't worth owt :lol:
tractors are fun tho.. tremendous machines - 0-30 is quite nippy really !
Yeah; its just anything over that which is the problem :lol:
Altho don't some of they JCBs do like 60 or something silly?
The JCB Fast Track does 100mph Flat out, FACT. When you consider, not all that many cars do much more than that as standard, its pretty impressive.
Aragorn
06-08-05, 11:42 AM
problem is that at 100mph they are gonna be doing about 2mpg and even at 60 they'd be doing 9-10mpg at most
and u cant run them on red diesel on the road unless your actually doing summat FOR the farm, nipping to the shops for your messages running red diesel is illegal even though its a farm vehicle and an article i was reading in a farming magasine recently seemed to suggest that the police/customs were cracking down on it at lot more these days
i dont care how many mpg it returned lol, id still ahve one if i had the money :D
the straight 6 100bhp 5.7litre massy 3080 chucked back about 10mpg at best when loaded with corn lol
JCB fastraks can do 70mph+ with limiters removed lol
some of the big big tractors can do 70mph as well
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