5 ms·

This is akin to the ability to "de-badge" a car, offered by German manufacturers, where the manufacturer logo is visible but the specific model is not. I.e. a M

This is akin to the ability to "de-badge" a car, offered by German manufacturers, where the manufacturer logo is visible but the specific model is not. I.e. a Mercedes SL could be a $80,000 V6 or a $160,000 twin-turbo V12 and unless someone was clued into the differences (like the exhaust pipes) they wouldn't know. I've noticed anecdotally that in the US, most of the de-badged cars are the low end models -- people don't want to be known as driving the cheapest end of the range. In Northern Europe, the de-badged cars are generally the highest end models. Wonder if there's a deeper learning to be found there.

bschne 5y ago
Funny, I always thought people did that for aesthetic reasons because they liked the cleaner look.
- pc86 5y ago
  That's certainly part of it, and if I was going to buy a car at the SL level I'd probably debadge regardless of the trim level. But I'm sure there are people on one end of the spectrum who don't want to advertise their $150-200k car, and people on the other end who want to make others think it's a $150-200k car.
alexanderchr 5y ago
> Wonder if there's a deeper learning to be found there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante
fy20 5y ago
The whole indirect signalling of cars is very interesting. In my country (North/Eastern Europe) you pay more (€500-€2000) for a license plate that has certain combinations of numbers such as 123 or 747. I've noticed that pretty much every Porsche has a plate like that. It's kind of silly, because people who have no clue that exists won't care at all. You can also go full on custom plates, the funniest I saw recently was someone who had H0DL... on a Toyota RAV4 :D I guess the plate cost 20% the price of the car. I used to live in a Middle Eastern country where the plates were simply Latin numbers, combinations didn't matter, but if you wanted a shorter plate you had to pay more. If you had a 1 or 2 character plate (which is at least $500k) supposedly girls would just leave their phone numbers on your car, regardless of what car you had.
- w0de0 5y ago
  We call "latin" numbers "arabic" in English, because Europe received them from the Maghreb. "Latin numbers" is actually closer to "Roman numerals," what we call the old Latin system (V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, &c)
  - trompetenaccoun 5y ago
    I call them Indian numerals because they're from India.
filereaper 5y ago
>Wonder if there's a deeper learning to be found there. Yes, Europe generally has Tall Poppy Syndrome and the Nordics have socially accepted norms like Jantelagen. - https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191008-jantelagen-why-swedes-wont-talk-about-wealth https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191008-jantelagen-why...
- thomasahle 5y ago
  Do people in the US really talk about how much they earn? I had the impression that doing so was socially awkward.
  - spoonjim 5y ago
    They do, and in circles where doing it is gauche, the signal it through other means. The more elite you are, the more indirectly you signal it.
    - thomasahle 5y ago
      > The more elite you are, the more indirectly you signal it. I don't see how that's so different from de-badging the highest end car models then. People can still see its expensive, it's just more indirect.
      - agustif 5y ago
        Larry David's 'The Anonymous Donor' on Curb Your Enthusiasm exposes this masterfully https://curb-your-enthusiasm.fandom.com/wiki/The_Anonymous_Donor https://curb-your-enthusiasm.fandom.com/wiki/The_Anonymous_D...
neilv 5y ago
I debadge a lot of products. That said, I would really like to own a red ~1980 Ferrari 308 GTS, including all the emblems, even if it's actually a Prius under the hood.
mywacaday 5y ago
In Ireland/UK any debadged cars are in the boy racer scene, I always found it interesting that without the badges it can be difficult to distinguish the make if the car.
- bozzcl 5y ago
  I see that a lot in America as well. Very typical on modded Subarus and Infinitis.
firecall 5y ago
One idea why: In the US cars are perhaps more of a status symbol? (not that they arnt elsewhere...) So people remove the badges themselves from their cars. Maybe the Europeans like a simpler design aestehtic? I checked and it's a no cost option to debadge your Porsche when you order it. I say this as a European living in Australia, and my tastes in cars are different to my friends in all the ways you would expect! I like Porsche, and have a 911. My Aussie mates like big V8s! (who doesnt like a V8, but you get what I mean!) And please no one get offended by my generalisations. Take it in the spirit intended :-)
somedude895 5y ago
Funny you say that. We have a lot of $100k+ debadged cars in Switzerland, and I never even noticed until my Kiwi friend started pointing it out.
captainmuon 5y ago
Here in Germany, I know some people debadged their cars so they wouldn't get stolen so quickly.

bschne 5y ago

Funny, I always thought people did that for aesthetic reasons because they liked the cleaner look.

pc86 5y ago
That's certainly part of it, and if I was going to buy a car at the SL level I'd probably debadge regardless of the trim level. But I'm sure there are people on one end of the spectrum who don't want to advertise their $150-200k car, and people on the other end who want to make others think it's a $150-200k car.

alexanderchr 5y ago

> Wonder if there's a deeper learning to be found there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante

fy20 5y ago

The whole indirect signalling of cars is very interesting. In my country (North/Eastern Europe) you pay more (€500-€2000) for a license plate that has certain combinations of numbers such as 123 or 747. I've noticed that pretty much every Porsche has a plate like that. It's kind of silly, because people who have no clue that exists won't care at all. You can also go full on custom plates, the funniest I saw recently was someone who had H0DL... on a Toyota RAV4 :D I guess the plate cost 20% the price of the car. I used to live in a Middle Eastern country where the plates were simply Latin numbers, combinations didn't matter, but if you wanted a shorter plate you had to pay more. If you had a 1 or 2 character plate (which is at least $500k) supposedly girls would just leave their phone numbers on your car, regardless of what car you had.

w0de0 5y ago
We call "latin" numbers "arabic" in English, because Europe received them from the Maghreb. "Latin numbers" is actually closer to "Roman numerals," what we call the old Latin system (V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, &c)
- trompetenaccoun 5y ago
  I call them Indian numerals because they're from India.

filereaper 5y ago

>Wonder if there's a deeper learning to be found there. Yes, Europe generally has Tall Poppy Syndrome and the Nordics have socially accepted norms like Jantelagen. - https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191008-jantelagen-why-swedes-wont-talk-about-wealth https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191008-jantelagen-why...

thomasahle 5y ago
Do people in the US really talk about how much they earn? I had the impression that doing so was socially awkward.
- spoonjim 5y ago
  They do, and in circles where doing it is gauche, the signal it through other means. The more elite you are, the more indirectly you signal it.
  - thomasahle 5y ago
    > The more elite you are, the more indirectly you signal it. I don't see how that's so different from de-badging the highest end car models then. People can still see its expensive, it's just more indirect.
    - agustif 5y ago
      Larry David's 'The Anonymous Donor' on Curb Your Enthusiasm exposes this masterfully https://curb-your-enthusiasm.fandom.com/wiki/The_Anonymous_Donor https://curb-your-enthusiasm.fandom.com/wiki/The_Anonymous_D...

neilv 5y ago

I debadge a lot of products. That said, I would really like to own a red ~1980 Ferrari 308 GTS, including all the emblems, even if it's actually a Prius under the hood.

mywacaday 5y ago

In Ireland/UK any debadged cars are in the boy racer scene, I always found it interesting that without the badges it can be difficult to distinguish the make if the car.

bozzcl 5y ago
I see that a lot in America as well. Very typical on modded Subarus and Infinitis.

firecall 5y ago

One idea why: In the US cars are perhaps more of a status symbol? (not that they arnt elsewhere...) So people remove the badges themselves from their cars. Maybe the Europeans like a simpler design aestehtic? I checked and it's a no cost option to debadge your Porsche when you order it. I say this as a European living in Australia, and my tastes in cars are different to my friends in all the ways you would expect! I like Porsche, and have a 911. My Aussie mates like big V8s! (who doesnt like a V8, but you get what I mean!) And please no one get offended by my generalisations. Take it in the spirit intended :-)

somedude895 5y ago

Funny you say that. We have a lot of $100k+ debadged cars in Switzerland, and I never even noticed until my Kiwi friend started pointing it out.

captainmuon 5y ago

Here in Germany, I know some people debadged their cars so they wouldn't get stolen so quickly.