Preppy Cars

I’m in a preppy place in New England and I notice the cars are different here than in prole parts of the New York metropolitan area.

The quick summary is that European cars are preppy, American cars are not preppy (except for Jeeps which are preppy), Korean cars are not preppy, Japanese cars are neither preppy nor unpreppy, except for Subarus which are preppy.

A longer answer is that there are three types of wealthy people:

1. Those who show off their wealth with an expensive luxury car. Especially European luxury cars.

2. Those who can afford an expensive car but choose not to own one because they are gauche or nouveau riche.

3. Those who are culturally preppy but not actually that rich.

Between category 1 and 2 are people who drive Volvos. I’ve seen lots of Volvos around here.

Especially popular SUVs are Range Rovers and Jeeps.

Other popular luxury brands are the Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Porsche. You see Japanese luxury brands, but they are not as popular as the European brands.

You see a lot more MINIs around here than in prole places.

Japanese cars are like the NFL, they cut across all social classes. But one Japanese brand in particular is preppy, and that’s Subaru.

Of course you do see Toyotas and Hondas, but you see as many Volkswagens as you do Toyotas, while in the rest of America there are three to four times as many Toyotas on the road as Volkswagens.

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I forgot to mention electric cars. Teslas are not preppy. Electric cars are not preppy.

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So the bottom line is, that if you want to drive something preppy, and you can’t afford a Volvo or a Range Rover, get a Subaru or a Volkswagen.