Quote:
Originally Posted by ntgarage44
In my experience, public opinion varies by manufacturer and model.
When I was in high school, my cousin had a G35 coupe. Everybody and their brother made fun of him when he took the Infiniti lettering off the trunk and put on a Skyline badge to replace it. Regardless of the fact that it indeed was a Nissan Skyline in Japan, it didn't matter to anyone. Yet nobody I knew made fun of those who had a 350z and swapped the badge for a "Fairlady Z" other than for the name being a little strange in the US. Once explained, it clicked, and they moved on.
Nobody thinks twice when someone swaps a BRZ/FR-S badge for a GT86 badge, even though this is the exact same situation as the G35/Skyline thing.
And now this brings me to BMW. BMW themselves are putting M badges on non-M models, so this emboldens people to slap them on themselves. I had to hold myself back from correcting my brother in law who was looking at a 7 series and said it was the M model (as in a M7). In that case, I just come off as condescending if I say anything. Laymen car shoppers actually believe these M sport lite models are full on M cars, and BMW is to blame for this. I don't get bent out of shape over it - it really doesn't bother me that much. But when I've tried correcting people to inform them, in most cases it just ends up being an awkward conversation that I wish I didn't start.
Now I just let them live in blissful ignorance. It doesn't bother me, but it sure makes them feel a whole lot better about themselves.
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I like the examples because it's a good showcase of the fact that it's REALLY a small percentage of car enthusiasts that are truly "in the know" with this stuff.
Your friend got hate from people for putting a Skyline badge on a chassis that is (overseas) a Skyline.
Your BIL is probably going to get razzed for the opposite. People in the know will correct HIS ignorance to what the car truly is.
It is interesting to me how much the letter "M" itself is the center of controversy. Lots of 1 series folk put on replica 1M bumpers and no one bats an eye. Run ARC8 wheels that are essentially knock off 1M wheels and no one minds. Stick an M stripe or letter somewhere on the car though and the gates open. Haha