Count

2/09/2008

Only in Hong Kong...

I saw a Ferrari parked on the side of a busy street. And then another Ferrari not far away. And then a Porsche (okay, it was "only" a Carrera) on another street in a few minutes.

Only in Hong Kong do you have people who are rich enough to shell out dough for fancy cars and too cheap to pay for fancy parking. I mean, seriously, aren't you a bit worried that your nice little race car would be scratched in an accident? Can you pay for valet parking (and I do apologize if those parked cars ARE a result of valet parking - if I were the driver, I'd be furious now)? Too much? Park underground and you can annoyingly take up two spots so no other car will even try to squeeze in. I have hundreds of solutions that won't cost you more than HKD200. All to insure damage against the 1M+ cars.

Why so cheap?

Cynical as I am, I believe it's because these guys (or gals) bought the race car because of the price tag. The car is to say I can afford a car, not that I have taste in cars. In this small city of 6 million, I guess people are desperate to stand out from the crowd. Guess what, you succeed: you stand out as a moron putting your lovely car in harms way.

Sigh.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe they just want to practise parallel parking... :D

Justin said...

You don't get it?

They park on the street to show off. They're not car lovers. Their proudest moments are getting in and out of their flashy cars while everyone stares (or scoffs) at them in awe.

Justin said...

...in addition:

When you go to an underground lot, look at what's parked there. GT-Rs, NSXes, antique Porsches, perhaps an Elise or two. Not to mention they have 10 types a locks on them and a complex method of starting the car.

AKA car owners (nuts) who care.