Can a car have soul?

Imo a car's soul transcends to it's driver. In the case of the Italia she wears her heart on her sleeve and lets the world know it

 

It is metaphorical, of course. A car literally cannot have soul; I am not even sure a human being can have soul but let's not go there.

But a car can stimulate the senses and create an overall feeling that it is an extension of your body, your arms, legs, and mind, that with it you can enter a realm that seems more than just guiding a machine. It is a human thing entirely, but it is not soul.

 

Drive something like this (see below) at speed and when you find yourself approaching a corner a bit too fast and you find yourself talking out loud to the car ... "oh ****, come on baby, come on, we got this" and you make that white-knuckled turn off apex as you settle the ass end back in, and then you get on the accelerator out of the turn and again you start up with the "come on baby, go, go, go..." (not so white-knuckled), then you know what it means to say a car has soul. How do you know? You just do.

It's a bond that for me happens with older cars easier than newer ones. That being said, F-cars just have something about them ... an intangible that pulls us in and we throw logic to the wind and will suffer through ownership to have a chance to grasp that intangible. Plain and simple, No other modern car has that intangible you refer to.
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Absolutely!
My Fiat Ritmo 75CL back in 1981 had some electronic gremlins that would disable the car in the middle of a busy intersection (never in a safe place).
When technician tested the car it would run perfectly, no matter how long the test drive.
I would pick it up from service and it would promptly stall at the first intersection but only when I was the only occupant in the car.
It must have hated me, sold it cheap to a friend of mine (he knew it had a problem but couldn't pass the price) and it never stalled again.

 

I don't drive aggressively in the city, ever. But to me, it seems more dangerous in the city at crawling speeds than when letting loose in the country ... I'm more nervous when driving in the city with all the people jockeying for position to get cell phone pics, etc. I avoid the city as much as possible.

Every car ("car" in this instance means a vehicle you actually desire, not a "modern day transportation device" like a Prius, etc., that has no personality whatsoever IMO ... go to minute 6 of this video http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/bill-burr-smoking-past-the-band ) is different and has it's own "personality".... which is why I was so disenchanted with a number of them after growing up reading car mags and their descriptions and then when I finally drove the cars and could afford them. Some cars I longed to own were a total disappointment, while others were a real pleasant surprise.
Get seat-time. That's what it's all about.

 

The word "soul" is defined by how it is used within language and does not exist outside human language. (Old school Wittgenstein.) In language, it is a romantic term of wishful thinking, uncorroborated by fact or reproducible experience. However, since it is nonsensical, soul can be attributed to cars as well as your favorite old Rolex, or dog, or humans with an equivalent lack of authority. So your 458 has soul.

 

If you say so ... back up the train
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I think it's subjective. For me, a car has personality and charisma, not soul. Is it a person? No, but describing a cars personality, is just a way to put words on the feeling a car gives you. I've also wondered about how many people actually love their car, when they say "I love this car". To me, that's nuts. I like my cars, but I love my wife. If you love your car as much as you love your wife, you A) Love your car VERY much - TOO MUCH. Or B) You don't love your wife enough. In either case, you have your priorities mixed up imvho.

Apologies about the sidetrack. The topic just made me think a bit

 

When you learn to control the car on a track with CT Off, hitting that perfect apex, saving it from a really bad apex, using the throttle to give you a little over steer to save your bacon from hitting a wall.. learning to drift through an auto-x .. just because it's fun.. you ARE talking to the car, the car is talking to you.. you are dancing together in a tight embrace that only you can understand.. a passenger would be having fun but wouldn't understand the conversation you are having... of course it has a soul.. don't be silly

 

"Soul Train" was such a beautiful linguistic construct.
I loved watching & "getting down" with that show.
Though, I find the adrenalin of tracking a Ferrari much more addicting.

 

Soulful might be better, as in emotionally engaging.

 

Yes it can...even my '73 Buick Century with a 350 and double pumper had soul!

 

I think its about how the car you're driving inspires your soul. My 458 has inspired me more than any car I've ever owned!

 

You know when something doesn't. Best

 

Yes, mine has the soul of my dead uncle Guido...

 

Personality, character yes. Soul no. A car doesn't evolve. That is why new models keep coming out.

 

My Spider stirs the soul by evoking passion and emotion. This is different from saying the car possesses soul.

My 911 had the personality of a surgical scalpel.

 

This reminds me of a story.

A man and a woman doctor meet at an AMA convention. The male doc asks her if she would join him for a drink after the meeting.

She replies: Sure but I'll have to wash my hands first.

After some drinks the man asks if she would like to go out for dinner.

She replies: sure but I'll have to wash my hands first.

After dinner he asks if she would like to come up to his hotel room for a nightcap.

Sure she replies but I'll have to wash my hands first.

After drinking he asks if she would like to go to bed with him

Sure she replies but I'll have to wash my hands first.

After sex he says: I'll bet I can guess what kind of doctor you are.

She says: okay go ahead and guess.

He says I'll bet you are a surgeon.

That's right she says, how did you know?

Because you wash your hands all the time.

Right she says. I'll bet I can guess what kind of doctor you are.

Okay go ahead and guess.

She says: you are an anesthesiologist.

He says that's right. How did you know?

She replies: I didn't feel a thing.

 

A long way to go to get to the point. But, point well made.

 

No. This concept was made up by baby boomers many of which embodied mindless consumerism and tend to identify themselves by their things, which somehow became living.

 

Yeah, and Kim Jong-il, former "supreme leader" of North Korea claims:

"Official records reportedly show that Kim learned to walk at the age of three weeks, and was talking at eight weeks. While at Kim Il Sung University, he apparently wrote 1,500 books over a period of three years, along with six full operas. According to his official biography, all of his operas are "better than any in the history of music." Then there's his sporting prowess. In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that the first time Kim picked up a golf club, he shot a 38-under par round on North Korea's only golf course, including 11 holes-in-one. Reports say each of his 17 bodyguards verified the record-breaking feat. He then decided to retire from the sport forever."

And your point is?????
(Maybe his claims are more legitimate than Acura's.....probably so)