In the last weeks I have realised that there are things about cars that are important to me, and this must have been the case for years. Until now I have seen my attitude to them as one of general disinterest. As a child I rarely played with toy cars, and later, unlike some of my friends, I was never a car fanatic who knew all their names and features. In keeping, the makes and looks of our various family cars have never been a priority – for us, choice has been determined primarily by our needs and finances. What has happened recently has demanded a rethink; not just in the way I see cars generally but in how I relate to the one we now own. 

In London, the path in front of our house leads to a narrow street with parking spaces for six cars. Odd though it may seem, everyday as I walk past them, I look at the cars and ‘check them over’. Importantly, most are ‘regulars’ that are there each day. None are particularly clean, most have the occasional scratch and on some new scratches appear, and on one over recent weeks a narrow band of moss has grown around a rear window frame – what on earth has happened to its owner? 

Key to my ‘reviews’, is to check the brand logo of each car – for some reason I want to know the car’s provenance. But there is more:  with my knowledge of the car’s logo and it’s manufacturer, I find myself having feelings about the vehicle. So in our road I love to see, and identify with, a Jaguar with its iconic emblem of a leaping, outstretched wild cat. Similarly, I feel warm to see the car displaying the superimposed ‘V’ and’W’ of a Volkswagen, and love seeing a tiny car with its neat, white-on-red ‘Fiat’ badge . 

One day recently there appeared a wonderful surprise. Before we left for our Easter stay in France, an Aston Martin found its way to our street bearing its elegant, understated and discreet winged emblem (see illustration); interestingly, its print and form have changed little for almost one hundred years. For me, seeing and marvelling at such a luxury niche car behind the logo with its celebrated links to James Bond – his Aston Martin first appeared was in the film ‘Goldfinger’ in 1964 – gave me great pleasure. 

With all this it has become clear that, odd as it may be, the make of the car is very important to me. On the days I walk to the gym, I pass a whole row of parked cars and checking their logos is now an obsession. Sometimes I get an ‘Aston-Martin’ moment as I did recently when I saw the badge of a luxury niche Italian Maserati. At the same time there are moments of intense dislike as cars announce their provenance by displaying, for instance, the hideous, spiked and mean ‘T’ logo of Elon Musk’s Tesla cars, or the wonky snake-like ‘DS’ on the spin-off luxury cars of the new Citroen Automobiles.

Turning now to my new relationship with a car. As our family commitments have changed and as key parts – such as the gear box – of our old ‘utility’ car had begun to fail, it became clear that we needed a replacement. After much discussion and research we decided to part-exchange ours for a new, albeit small car that was more comfortable and had an automatic gear change. 

For me, our new Dacia has been wonderful and one reason is that when I drive I feel I am being looked after. I am sure other ‘modern’ cars do the same, but I love the fact that the steering wheel gently nudges me back to my lane if I drift towards oncoming traffic or the curb, that it beeps loudly if I exceed the speed limit, and that it announces with a message on the dashboard that I should stop and take a rest if it calculates that I am becoming drowsy. It would also apply the brakes if the car ahead suddenly stopped. 

Interestingly, while I love these features, surveys show that some see ‘advanced driver assistance systems’(introduced under EU regulations in July 2022) as variously intrusive, annoying and bossy, and accordingly are often turned off! 

My ‘rapport’ with cars has recently changed. The origin of my quirky quasi- obsessional interest in car brands, and why it has only now come to the fore, is beyond me. But no matter, recognising the brand of a car offers me a surprising amount of pleasure, and my feeling that a car wants to take care of me gives great relief.

The illustration shows a photo of the brand logo on the Aston Martin recently parked in our road.

For helping write this blog I would like to thank Joshua, Rohan and Vivien.