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I'm talking about those paycheck to paycheck folks you see driving into work in an 80k truck.
There are a lot of those people who live in the white trash section of my town, walk down the street and you will see all kinds of duplexes with a lifted pick em up truck in the driveway, bad teeth and tattoos are prevalent as well.
Car culture in Texas is weird, It felt like people judged you if you weren't in a truck. If you're walking along the side of the road, you're really a weirdo- I had a job where I had to do that and I could just feel the energy coming from people.
I could never confirm this, it was something I just sensed.
California for sure. Was born and raised in NorCal, and I have not seen such a strong car culture anywhere else, although Florida probably rates close - it’s a showy kind of place with long swaths of flat, straight roads great for highway pulls.
Texas is definitely truck culture, but it’s more about how big it is than having a certain image to go with a brand or modifications. Genetically, a lifted Cummins with a 6” exhaust tip and bigass tires gets you street cred here. In Texas’ defense, a lot of these trucks do get used for truck things though.
My instant answer to the question was Detroit - obviously (after you read my answer).
But when I looked at the poll list I could see why other people would answer the "what do you drive" question a bit differently than I did.
I live in Metro Detroit, which means car manufacturers everywhere. For the older generations (in their 70's +) it's still a big deal if you drive an American car. (It seriously used to matter what kind of car a political candidate drove.) But less so with the younger ones - it's really okay to drive your Japanese imports. (and we all realize that most autos these days have a mixture of foreign/domestic parts/manufacture, so it's not as clear cut as it was in the past whether you are actually driving an "American" or an "import" automobile.)
There's also an employee culture "I work for Ford, I drive a Ford" is a common license plate holder here - and getting your "friends/family" employee discounts for one of the big three. And a lot of car people love to attend the Detroit auto show every January. "What do you drive" and "do you have a union sticker" on the vehicle are important social markers.
But there are two camps - there are the people who are into "status" high-end cars, but then there are those who are loyal to one of the big 3 (GM, Ford, Fiat/Chrysler). And it's not too surprising to find people who fit into both groups. Because car people love well made cars - and the luxury brands do have a lot going for them, if you are into that sort of thing and can afford it. But for the most part, a lot of people in the region are brand loyal to their brand - even if the brand makes horrible cars - because it's the company where they, their family members and/or friends have worked.
A lot of times, it's the "new rich" where you find the question "what do you drive" as being more associated to what luxury "status" brand vehicle (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc) you are driving.
We went down to Toledo last summer and because they are a big Jeep Manufacturer, they it happened to be Jeep fest weekend and the downtown area was just packed with people celebrating the Jeep and all of its glory. A lot of people love their Jeeps. I really had no idea this was a thing until last summer.
So, I just had to go with the Midwest.
You go to other places in America and they generally don't care what kind of car you drive.
However, I can understand why the people who said California gave the answers that they did. That makes a lot of sense too!
Ppl don’t care about cars in Baltimore or Boston either. No one care about what car you drive until you get to Maryland and that’s just because all the military people buy chargers Camaros and chargers
There are tons of people with nice cars around here, including in my part of Baltimore. Funny thing is: the spend all this money on these luxury and sports cars, and then they putt-putt slow as molasses on the expressway. I feel like I'm always passing their slow butts, and I drive an economy hybrid!
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