Originally Posted by BayouRover

Why are you so critical about how or why others choose to spend or might want to spend their own money on cars?

I like fast street/highway cars for driving because for me they are fun to drive, but I've never fantasized about being a Formula 3 racer. To each their own.


Not critically condescending, but maybe critically thinking. I had "fast street/highway" vehicles and I thought critically about that. I mean, I used critical thinking. Again, the point of that criticality isn't to condescend what you think is fun, but to ask myself, "what's the point?" "Is there something to this other than a simple amusement?" If you've ever had a really fast vehicle, you've probably been confronted with the dearth of skill to use it anywhere near its potential. It's a kind of absurdity. I never fantasized about just possessing a race car, but I long ago decided I would rather have the skill to drive what I have than a more impressive vehicle without the skill to use it to any meaningfully different effect.

There's nothing remarkable about Formula 3. I suppose I could have posted a Formula 1 car but my point wasn't about some ultimate race car. I could have just as easily posted a kart, a Formula 500, or even a Sprint Car. To me, the racing ethos is more meaningful than mere baubles that middle-aged, middle-class men lust after in a pursuit to make their dull life more "fun." The problem with it, that is the racing ethos, is that it tends to be all-consuming.

"Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting." - Michael Delany (Steve McQueen), Le Mans

If you ever spent more than a little money on cars, you'll be thinking pretty critically about it too. Thinking about why you do that and whether it makes any kind of sense is not something that's easy to get out of such a one's mind.