class=article-title data-tb-title id=articleTitle>Motor Mouth: A le…
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작성자 Luis Morice 댓글 0건 조회 40회 작성일 24-04-29 05:04본문
Normally, I avoid "Top Ten" news stories like the plague. They're just cynical clickbait, the title almost always more intriguing than the content.
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But as I was out testing Maserati's new MC20 — and what a delightful ride it is — the headline "Top 20 Countries with the Most Supercars" popped into the top of my email inbox. OK, I'll bite. Just this once. Especially since the subhead claimed to be listing the propensity of supercar ownership by country and job description. In other words, we're looking at the concentration of wealth as measured by supercars, Klaudena Sitzkissen Scam both by nation of origin and source of income. Now I'm fully intrigued; I'll peruse those numbers.
And said first perusal — I was gassing up the bright blue Maser while scanning emails on my iPhone at the time — certainly piqued my interest. The first country atop the list was Singapore. That's interesting; maybe wealth trumps the fact that it's an island city-state with nowhere to exercise all these excess horses. Consider me now doubly fascinated. And indeed, the rest of the world's top ten — as measured by supercars per 1,000 people — read like a who's who of indiscriminate wealth: Hong Kong (China's increasingly illiberal piggy bank); Saudi Arabia (home of the Petrodollar); and Switzerland (where almost 10 per cent of its eight-and-a-half million residents are millionaires) leading the charge.
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Oh, look, there's Canada in ninth place. Isn't that cute? And we're ahead of the United States — at least on a per capita basis — even though, according to the study, America has almost as many "super-wealthy" as the rest of the top 20 combined? When I get back to the hotel, thought I, I'll really take a deep dive into this data. Finally, a study that measures the two primary catalysts of supercar ownership — wealth and sexual insecurity. By country, no less. Won't this be fun!
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Except that it turned out to be a complete crock of you-know-what. Oh, the charts supplied were incredibly detailed — the number of "supercar % of total cars per 1,000 people" calculated down to the hundredths of a percentage point — and the population data (the number of the "ultra-wealthy" that live in each country) seemed pretty spot-on.
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But the numbers simply didn't add up. So, while at first — remember, I was gassing up the Maserati with one hand and peering at four-point type on my iPhone with the other, all while fending off gawkers at the first MC20 in all of California — I thought it indeed possible that six out of every 100 Honk Kong residents owned a supercar, on further inspection, that meant that Hong Kong's "supercar % of total cars per 1,000 people" worked out to 38.51 per cent.
I've never been to Hong Kong. But, by reputation, it's enormously wealthy, and the local well-to-do are not shy about flaunting fiscal endowment. But could 40 per cent of all the cars there be supercars? How did I miss that?
A reflection (L) mirrors a scene of offices and shopping centres in Hong Kong on March 19, 2011. Photo by Antony Dickson /Getty
The only solution was to call Driving's resident statistician, the calculator that walks like a man, Timothy Cain, author of Driving By Numbers. Within about ten seconds — his fingers really do fly over numeric keyboard — he was cackling like he'd just heard the reason that accountants stay so cool, calm, and collected was because they "have strong internal controls" for the very first time. "According to the numbers in this study," says the proud Prince Edward Islander, "even if we cod fisherman and potato farmers only own half as many supercars as our pretentious Toronto brethren, it would mean there are 5,760 Ferraris, McLarens, and Lamborghinis here on the Garden on the Gulf."
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Then he points out — in a tone my accountant usually reserves for me when I try to deduct Sassafraz's Bad-Ass Mojitos as a business expense — that, if America's entire 331,002,651 population really did own supercars at a rate of "66 per 1,000 people," there would be no fewer than 21,846,175 of those aforementioned Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and McLarens prowling America's streets.
According to the numbers in this study, even if we cod fisherman and potato farmers only own half as many supercars as our pretentious Toronto brethren, it would mean there are 5,760 Ferraris, McLarens, and Lamborghinis here on the Garden on the Gulf
Timothy Cain
Now, as I mentioned, I have never been to Hong Kong. And I haven't been to P.E.I. since Anne of Green Gables was a thing, so there may indeed be almost two supercars for each of the 3,348 miles of highway on the entire island. But I do get to the United States quite often — actually, I'm in California as I type this — and I've not seen anything resembling a traffic jam full of Trofeos, Huracans, and MP4-12Cs.
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Indeed, even here in tony Santa Monica where the conspicuous display of gluttonous consumption is actually a bylaw, supercar sightings are relatively rare. Hell, my Maserati — the MC20 that I've been mentioning is so super — is the only exotic in the valet parking of the Fairmont Santa Monica, a hotel so "in" that no less than former governor Schwarzenegger just showed up for fish taco Wednesday, an "event" he supposedly hasn't missed in some 20 years. What I'm trying to say is that, if there really were 21,846,175 supercars in America, I think I might have noticed.
So, what's this all about then?
Supercars gathering for the start of the 2015 Diamond Rally. Photo by Diamond Rush Rally
Well, as it turns out, despite the officiousness of its presentation and the detail of the data, the whole study turns out to be something of a hoax. Perpetrated by a car dealership — the editor is forbidding me to mention the name of said dealer on the basis that, for a used-car salesman, there's no such thing as bad press — it intuits all of its research on Instagram. Or to quote the company's publicist, the number of supercars per 1,000 people "was based on the number of supercar brand mentions per country on Instagram."
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Oh, Lord, sweet Jesus, I had fallen for the fatuous "Likes." How embarrassing. I don't even have an Instagram account. In fact, I've never used Instagram. Hell, I'm not even sure that Instagram has "Likes." Oh, the ignominy. Especially since I had already called up Driving's sub-editor - the poor sod who edits Motor Mouth — to tell him I'd have a brilliant exposé on supercar ownership to accompany the Maserati story. It was all a little more than humbling, the left side of my brain seduced by that most beguiling of numerics — the exactitude of the decimal point.
So yes, even we numerates can get fake-news'ed, percentages and statistics as easily shammed, as it turns out, as political opinion. Hopefully, I'll try to remember that humility the next time some convoy gets hoodwinked by such seemingly obvious charlatans.
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Motor Mouth: A lesson in fake-news humility Back to video
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But as I was out testing Maserati's new MC20 — and what a delightful ride it is — the headline "Top 20 Countries with the Most Supercars" popped into the top of my email inbox. OK, I'll bite. Just this once. Especially since the subhead claimed to be listing the propensity of supercar ownership by country and job description. In other words, we're looking at the concentration of wealth as measured by supercars, Klaudena Sitzkissen Scam both by nation of origin and source of income. Now I'm fully intrigued; I'll peruse those numbers.
And said first perusal — I was gassing up the bright blue Maser while scanning emails on my iPhone at the time — certainly piqued my interest. The first country atop the list was Singapore. That's interesting; maybe wealth trumps the fact that it's an island city-state with nowhere to exercise all these excess horses. Consider me now doubly fascinated. And indeed, the rest of the world's top ten — as measured by supercars per 1,000 people — read like a who's who of indiscriminate wealth: Hong Kong (China's increasingly illiberal piggy bank); Saudi Arabia (home of the Petrodollar); and Switzerland (where almost 10 per cent of its eight-and-a-half million residents are millionaires) leading the charge.
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Learn more about the cars
PREV
2024 Maserati Ghibli
3.25
out of 5
MSRP $133,500 to $201,800
Add to Compare Remove Vehicle
2024 Maserati GranTurismo
3.38
out of 5
MSRP $202,500 to $261,000
Add to Compare Remove Vehicle
2024 Maserati Grecale
3.50
out of 5
MSRP $79,000 to $133,000
Add to Compare Remove Vehicle
2024 Maserati Levante
3.00
out of 5
MSRP $127,000 to $213,800
Add to Compare Remove Vehicle
2024 Maserati MC20
MSRP $275,000 to $300,000
Add to Compare Remove Vehicle
NEXT
Oh, look, there's Canada in ninth place. Isn't that cute? And we're ahead of the United States — at least on a per capita basis — even though, according to the study, America has almost as many "super-wealthy" as the rest of the top 20 combined? When I get back to the hotel, thought I, I'll really take a deep dive into this data. Finally, a study that measures the two primary catalysts of supercar ownership — wealth and sexual insecurity. By country, no less. Won't this be fun!
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Except that it turned out to be a complete crock of you-know-what. Oh, the charts supplied were incredibly detailed — the number of "supercar % of total cars per 1,000 people" calculated down to the hundredths of a percentage point — and the population data (the number of the "ultra-wealthy" that live in each country) seemed pretty spot-on.
Advertisement 4
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
But the numbers simply didn't add up. So, while at first — remember, I was gassing up the Maserati with one hand and peering at four-point type on my iPhone with the other, all while fending off gawkers at the first MC20 in all of California — I thought it indeed possible that six out of every 100 Honk Kong residents owned a supercar, on further inspection, that meant that Hong Kong's "supercar % of total cars per 1,000 people" worked out to 38.51 per cent.
I've never been to Hong Kong. But, by reputation, it's enormously wealthy, and the local well-to-do are not shy about flaunting fiscal endowment. But could 40 per cent of all the cars there be supercars? How did I miss that?
A reflection (L) mirrors a scene of offices and shopping centres in Hong Kong on March 19, 2011. Photo by Antony Dickson /Getty
The only solution was to call Driving's resident statistician, the calculator that walks like a man, Timothy Cain, author of Driving By Numbers. Within about ten seconds — his fingers really do fly over numeric keyboard — he was cackling like he'd just heard the reason that accountants stay so cool, calm, and collected was because they "have strong internal controls" for the very first time. "According to the numbers in this study," says the proud Prince Edward Islander, "even if we cod fisherman and potato farmers only own half as many supercars as our pretentious Toronto brethren, it would mean there are 5,760 Ferraris, McLarens, and Lamborghinis here on the Garden on the Gulf."
Advertisement 5
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Then he points out — in a tone my accountant usually reserves for me when I try to deduct Sassafraz's Bad-Ass Mojitos as a business expense — that, if America's entire 331,002,651 population really did own supercars at a rate of "66 per 1,000 people," there would be no fewer than 21,846,175 of those aforementioned Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and McLarens prowling America's streets.
According to the numbers in this study, even if we cod fisherman and potato farmers only own half as many supercars as our pretentious Toronto brethren, it would mean there are 5,760 Ferraris, McLarens, and Lamborghinis here on the Garden on the Gulf
Timothy Cain
Now, as I mentioned, I have never been to Hong Kong. And I haven't been to P.E.I. since Anne of Green Gables was a thing, so there may indeed be almost two supercars for each of the 3,348 miles of highway on the entire island. But I do get to the United States quite often — actually, I'm in California as I type this — and I've not seen anything resembling a traffic jam full of Trofeos, Huracans, and MP4-12Cs.
Advertisement 6
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Indeed, even here in tony Santa Monica where the conspicuous display of gluttonous consumption is actually a bylaw, supercar sightings are relatively rare. Hell, my Maserati — the MC20 that I've been mentioning is so super — is the only exotic in the valet parking of the Fairmont Santa Monica, a hotel so "in" that no less than former governor Schwarzenegger just showed up for fish taco Wednesday, an "event" he supposedly hasn't missed in some 20 years. What I'm trying to say is that, if there really were 21,846,175 supercars in America, I think I might have noticed.
So, what's this all about then?
Supercars gathering for the start of the 2015 Diamond Rally. Photo by Diamond Rush Rally
Well, as it turns out, despite the officiousness of its presentation and the detail of the data, the whole study turns out to be something of a hoax. Perpetrated by a car dealership — the editor is forbidding me to mention the name of said dealer on the basis that, for a used-car salesman, there's no such thing as bad press — it intuits all of its research on Instagram. Or to quote the company's publicist, the number of supercars per 1,000 people "was based on the number of supercar brand mentions per country on Instagram."
Advertisement 7
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Oh, Lord, sweet Jesus, I had fallen for the fatuous "Likes." How embarrassing. I don't even have an Instagram account. In fact, I've never used Instagram. Hell, I'm not even sure that Instagram has "Likes." Oh, the ignominy. Especially since I had already called up Driving's sub-editor - the poor sod who edits Motor Mouth — to tell him I'd have a brilliant exposé on supercar ownership to accompany the Maserati story. It was all a little more than humbling, the left side of my brain seduced by that most beguiling of numerics — the exactitude of the decimal point.
So yes, even we numerates can get fake-news'ed, percentages and statistics as easily shammed, as it turns out, as political opinion. Hopefully, I'll try to remember that humility the next time some convoy gets hoodwinked by such seemingly obvious charlatans.
More in Motor Mouth
Motor Mouth: Will the economy or environment decide the future of cheap EVs?
Motor Mouth: China might be pivoting away from America — that's not good
Motor Mouth: Tesla's stock is in the toilet and it's Elon's fault
Motor Mouth: Is 'Rob The Mechanic' the smartest person on TikTok?
Motor Mouth: Is GenAI the antidote to auto theft?
See more
Share this article in your social network
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