I hear ya loud and clear. It dominates his very existence. Conversation, money, weekends…it all revolves around the fuckin’ car. I’m glad he has something that interests him, but he’s become single-sighted about it.
I’m a guy, and I couldn’t care less about cars. They’re convenient tools to be used for transportation. They must have wheels and a roof. Of course, some might be more comfortable, or have a more pleasant color. But besides that… IOW you’ll never get me to be awestruck by any car.
There are tons of other things I’ve no interest in. And many things I’m interested in and tons of other people couldn’t care less about.
You’re into cars, your wife isn’t. There’s no great mistery here, and no solution to this non-issue. Sometimes, you can explain the reasons of your passion to someone who will eventually understand and even share your interest. Quite often you can’t, and since apparently you failed to sprakle her interest until now, it probably won’t happen.
Pick anything you really don’t care about (miniature trains, soccer, kniting, bonzaîs, Inuit dialects…) and ask yourself what it would take for you to be interested enough in this thing to like people making all the time comments about this topic, no even speaking of becoming yourself deeply interested in the subject.
Bastard. 
It’s a '73 Mustang convertible. And no, I don’t know what engine it has in it! Aiieeee!
It’s not a gender thing, because I am not enthused by cars, and I’m a guy. My ignorance of cars is so extreme that I can’t tell them apart.
One day I will witness a major bank robbery and the police will ask me “What kind of getaway car were they driving?” and I will answer “Green.”
Y’know, that’s a gorgeous Mercedes coupe in Phlosphr’s link. I can certainly appreciate its beauty and design, but sometimes I get so sick of traffic and driving generally I don’t know if I could appreciate owning one.
I cheked your link just to know what this extraordinary car looked like, and all I thought was : “it has an ugly shape”. Just to let you know what someone with no interest in cars can have in mind when looking at one. There are certainly a lot of reasons why one could find this car extremely interesting. But what I personnally see on your link is mostly “a big, not aesthetically pleasing, blue block with four wheels”. I don’t perceive whatever you perceive when looking at this car, it doesn’t give my any feeling, I don’t have any background or knowledge about what makes this car special.
Basically, everything on that vehicle is top of the line. Including the assembly - by hand. Thats all.
It’s probably a lost cause, Phlosphr. Though I prefer Jeeps and trucks to cars, I do have a fondness for classic and antique autos. Whatever the case, I have found it impossible to convince my fellow females that vehicles are interesting. Not many even appreciate the trivia aspects – for instance, knowing the two-letter model designations for every Jeep vehicle manufactured by Willys and its successors (or knowing the three ways to pronounce “Willys,” for that matter). Heck, my next door neighbor (also a woman) thinks it’s crazy that I enjoy driving my parents’ 1964 Ford Galaxie 500.
On the other hand, I can’t understand outright hatred for cars in general. Hatred of a car because of its looks, such as anything bearing the Scion badge, I can understand. But beyond that, you’ve lost me.
Another guy who doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about cars checking in here. When I’m buying, I’m looking for price, reliability, warranty, and how comfortable it is to sit in and drive. I don’t much care what’s under the hood, whether it’s the new cool design, or whatever.
My cousin (female) absolutely loves cars, and was once asked to race them professionally :o ! (She declined.)
Me? Car goes from point a to point b, I’m happy.
This made me laugh out loud because it would be exactly my response.
One more thing, **Philosphr ** - I *love * driving. I just don’t really care what I’m driving in, beyond looks. The only car I ever enjoyed driving in because of what it was was a Toyota Prius, and that was because it was very smooth, the gas mileage really was a lot better, and there were about a zillion cool buttons to play with while I was being passenger.
I’m actually pretty excited about the new Toyota Highlander hybrid coming in 06’.
Call me cynical if you must, but i’m not impressed with hybrid technology at all, combine a small gasoline engine with an electric motor and a very heavy array of batteries, so what, color me unimpressed
the fact that the prius is only available with a sludgebox tranny is also another point against it to me, at least the Civic Hybrid has a manual tranny option
of course, if i was in the market for a new car right now (which i’m not), i wouldn’t be looking hybrid, the issue with the battery array (how long it lasts in cold weather, the expense of replacing it) is a big drawback, i’d go with a proven technology that can get 50 MPG +, the diesel engine, specifically the VW TDI (the fact that it can be run on biodiesel/vegetable oil with a few simple mods is an added benefit…)
right now, i’m waiting for hydrogen fuel-cell technology, it’ll be nice to drive a car that only emits water vapor as it’s only exhaust product
yet the gearhead in me still loves the thunder of a big block V-8…
Hey now, when did I say anything about the technology? I only had three things to say about it:
[ul]
[li] It drove smoothly.[/li][li] It really did have better gas mileage. We did the same trip to Boston we always do, so we were quite sure of this.[/li][li] Who doesn’t like pushing fun buttons? [/li][/ul]
Guy here. I couldn’t really care less about cars. Well, no; I do like some cars more than others, but the details don’t concern me.
When I was 5 years old, my grandfather bought a Cadillac with electric windows (which was a really big deal back then - 1966-67).
Coolest thing EVAR when you are 5.
It’s not a gender issue, it’s a “there are two types of people when it comes to cars” issue. You’ve already seen them in this thread: the afficionados (horsepower/aerodynamics/car history buffs) and the point-a-to-point-b crowd. It is (as far as I know) next to impossible to convert the latter to the former, so please be considerate to your spouse and do not try to convert her by showing her more impressive vehicles or rattling off more stats etc. A little restraint in this will probably be greatly appreciated by her. Presumably you two have other interests in common, so you don’t need this to cement the relationship and might as well chant “infinite diversity in infinite combinations” when the differences chafe.
Stranger on a Train scooped me - I would’ve replied something like that, if it hadn’t already been done.
I am a big fan of typos. I love to find typos and comment on them. I really liked this one, “sprakle” - I’m not even sure what the word is supposed to be. “Spark” perhaps?
I am also a big fan of cool-looking cars. But I know absolutely nothing about engines or other parts of the cars. I just like the shapes and colors. And the shininess of new cars. I think of a car as a big pretty sculpture.
Definitely not a gender issue. I’m a chick who subscribes to Car & Driver, and love watching cars on the road. Some people are used to their SOs rubbernecking at attractive people on the street – my girlfriend is used to my constant “Hey, that’s the new Ridgeline!” “Oooh, Maserati dealership!” “HOLY CRAP is that a Lincoln Blackwood??” She was even kind enough to use her cel phone to take a picture of a particularly nice looking Elise when my phone camera was complaining about the lighting.
She may not know much about cars, but she can smile and nod and vaguely follow my monologues about the upcoming V6 Hybrid Accord, and I can do the same when she discusses the latest Linux distro.
I’m a guy who cares very little about cars. I just want mine to work. I do kinda like Mustangs though.
Be careful when you try to get somebody interested in something you like. Its easy to go careening into asshole territory. I suppoe a little encouragement is OK, but don’t push it and become a jerk.