What’s the ideal car for the best first impression?
Welcome to According to You, a weekly prompt on Hagerty Media where we pose a question, collect the answers, and share them the following week.
This time around, we want to know: What’s the ideal car for the best first impression?
My inspiration for this question comes from my work as a mentor at my alma mater’s business school. They have a fantastic entrepreneurship program, with students always looking to make the ideal first impression. That said, what you drive doesn’t necessarily matter in those circles. Elevator pitches in high-rise office buildings, business plans on a big marble desk, and anything else that gives you Shark Tank vibes are what’s in play here. Nobody cares if these students are leasing a BMW or driving a wicked muscle car.
To the contrary, an interesting, outstanding, or stereotypically cool car is a red flag when making an impression in these situations. Students need to show their value to investors, and many cars suggest poor financial decisions on their part.
While we all do our best to judge people on their merits, sometimes the vehicles themselves really drive home a point—intended or not, because it’s always in the eye of the beholder.
For instance, if a potential house painter rolled up to a suburban home in a Ferrari Purosangue, would they be seen as the best value and the most trustworthy steward of your down payment for services? Such a vehicle gives pause, far more than arriving in anything nicer than an F-150 Lariat, Ram Laramie, or Silverado LT truck. But would said Ferrari give the right vibes at the massive Cars & Coffee event just a few miles away from the business school where I mentor in my spare time?
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My goodness, yes! At Cars & Coffee you’d be mobbed the moment you parked. When you want (need?) attention, this big V-12 Ferrari will deliver. Which is why I chose such a polarizing example.
And this is also why the question is so vague: Consider it a feature and not a flaw. We want to hear your perspective, as varying viewpoints is what makes this series so interesting. So give it to us, Hagerty Community: What’s the ideal car for the best first impression?
It’s not the “what” so much as it is the “how”. In other words I’m often more impressed by how a person keeps their car than necessarily what they keep. If someone pulls up in a late model Porsche covered in road grime and brake dust embedded on the wheels I’m not impressed, conversely someone pulls up with a 20 year old (average any car) all original perfect mechanics and bodywork I’m impressed.
With the possible exception of certain Volkswagens, almost any German car of any model year. With the possible exception of certain Fiats, almost any Italian car of any model year.
A 1970 LT-1! 44 years later and we’re still married!
IMO if a car makes a strong impression on a toddler, then it’s going to make a strong impression on an adult….of any age.
Fur me there are a few cars that made strong and lasting impressions on me as a toddler and still do to this day.
The Jaguar XKE is #1 for sure. I was 3 when it hit the US. It made an indelible impression on me.
Ferrari GTO tied for 1st.
The MGTC would be another.
The Model A Roadster with a rumble seat.
A ’63 Split Window Stingray
And lastly a Willys army or civilian Jeep.