by Robert Mcmartin

Created on: April 21, 2009   Last Updated: April 24, 2009

Is it your heart, or your head?

When you buy a car, what is more important, practicalilty, or emotion?

Look around you at the cars on the road, let yourself judge the people driving the cars. Are the cars making a statement about the driver? Look at the sports car, is this car saying that the driver is an extrovert, someone rushing through life in a hurry, someone who loves driving and driving fast, feeling the way the car handles into corners and accelerating away? Look at the Minivan, is this saying this person has a family and has given up on life, not for them the stirring in the loins from the handling and acceleration, this person is happiest most picking up the kids from school and taking them to soccer practice, is it saying practicality over all? Look at the luxury car, is this saying that the driver has worked hard, or had an easy life and they have everything they need, but still have a high level of insecurity that makes them need to lord their good fortune over others?

While practicality is important, emotion is what drives people to buy cars. The brain and the heart battle it out for supremacy over the right to decide what is important to the car buyer.

If practicality was the most important component of car buying, every car would be the automotive equivalent of a swiss army knife, with the ability to change into a variety of uses whenever necessary. Need to pick up the kids, strech the car to a 7 seater, just need a quick runabout, push it into a compact 2 seater, removable roof for sunny days, hard roof for rainy and snowy, all wheel drive for bad weather, two wheel drive for fuel economy.

Thank heavens practicality isn't an emotion, or this could get really difficult.

Maybe the emotions are related to the seven deadly sins

Gluttony - Feeling greedy, afraid the worlds oil is running out and you want to make sure you get your share. Best way to burn up fuel is a big, heavy, fast car, that move at 160mph and gets 1 mile to the gallon, yes and baby whale leather seat covers. Gluttony personified - Cadillac

Wrath - Feeling vengeful, afraid people will cut you off in traffic, people won't let you in on the freeway, buy a hulking brute of a car. The sort of vehicle that you can crush and destroy anyone who so much a looks at you the wrong way. Wrath personified - H1 Hummer, or any other military derived vehicle.

Lust - Feeling horny, want to pick up, get laid, be attractive to the opposite sex. The sort of car that gets girls and boys wanting to climb into

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