Comments on: Sunday lunchtime in the pedestrian zone near the Valletta market

By: David Farrugia

David Farrugia — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 16:53:00 +0000

In reply to Jozef.

For a supercar I have to stick to red, as almost all 1000 units of the best supercar ever produced were red. Mr. Paul Bailey would have been better off without his ‘trinity’ and find one of the few remaining F40s for his collection.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qxe2v8kzc5M/maxresdefault.jpg

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 16:12:00 +0000

I think it’s directly caused by what historians have called the Crisis of Masculinity and the Feminisation of Society.

Time was when a man was a man, and didn’t need gadgets to show it. Now it’s all about the gadgets you own, and, among the geeks, the TV shows you follows.

By: Jozef

Jozef — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 15:34:00 +0000

I think Daphne has every right to criticise harshly. It’s the criticism of somebody who doesn’t drool over cars – and that’s the vast majority of people.

Which happens to be a problem for car makers, who insist on throwing everything at us to entice us into an overcooked dream.

Fake and nothing to do with intelligence or, dare I say, flair. Which is why the car is dead as a product.

Mercedes opted for two concepts last year: a driverless carriage and something designed by Playstation game designers. They are extremes denoting how the car as we know it is over.

Much as people refuse to consider motorbikes, which are now the exclusive realm of centaurs.

The same will happen to a product which does not respond to needs but just wants.

Malta had over 8,000 motorbikes in the early 70s, but numbers dwindled to less than 3,000 in 35 years. It was the same everywhere else.

When the car is the premier representation of a whole continent’s industrial prowess, the implications are enormous.

Less IS more.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 14:31:00 +0000

I assume your (anonymous) brother is an adult and perfectly capable of explaining himself.

Whoever owns it, it remains a hamalla car regardless.

Maltese taste is very Middle Eastern, I’m afraid, and not just in cars.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 14:21:00 +0000

I hardly think so. I’m actually quite good on the subject of what are known as status markers.

This is nothing new – there are whole volumes dedicated to the subject, and people who actually make their living by specialising in it.

Your mistake is that you think something which costs a lot of money and is very well made must perforce be a status symbol or a style-marker. But that’s not the case at all.

Some things are just considered vulgar.