Moto Luvr: I have a thing for beaters

I have heard that one aspect of Japanese Shintoism is the belief that all objects have their own souls or spiritual essence. (although I don't know a lot about the concept). If that is the case, what kind of battered souls do beaters have? To some extent, I DO think of cars as living things. How can you be a car lover, and NOT feel that way?

This is about beaters, generally.
I would be picky about what kind of beater I would want to drive. I like beaters with an even patina, and age, showing throughout the car. Like selecting a pair of new jeans that are ripped... just so, and weathered to look like you've had them forever.

I did buy my own beater. (to view that post click here) I was quite picky about getting my own beater. After all, how do you approach buying a beater, that should look like a beater, when you can afford to go buy a new car? The instinct would always be to buy the best looking car for the money. There was no good reason behind the purchase (i.e. I'm getting something cheap for my 16-year-old to drive.) My criteria was: it had to be dirt cheap, look cool, and be as reliable as possible.

A gray man's beater

What makes a beater? High miles, Body damage, mismatched panels, Peeling paint, duct tape, hefty bag windows, donut wheels? In one way, I feel beaters can be cars that are not in bad condition, but rather, they are obsolete looking. Not desirable at all, even when they were new. They are the automotive equivalent of "gray man theory". Inconspicuous. The perfect private investigator car. To be driven when you want to blend in with the surroundings.

Steve Buscemi from Fargo. "tan Cutlass Ciera!"

Han from Fast Five

"A chameleon. Someone who can blend in anywhere."

If The Walking dead Zombies drove...

I would not want to own a beater with serious body damage. But I DO like to look at such cars. Not sure why. Maybe it’s like the morbid fascination of watching a train wreck happen. A train wreck that is the owners life. I mean really... how bad is your life if you’ve been driving around with caved in doors and a hefty bag window for a year, or driving around on your donut for a month?

Pretty bad.

One thing all beaters have in common, is what they say about the owner…”Struggle”

Here are some examples of cars that have a very beat up appearance, body damage, corrosion, decaying flesh, etc...

Rockin' the donut!

Real Craig's list cars for sale.

Private party sales on Craigslist say a lot about the owner. A dealer will know enough to wash the car before taking photos. Some owners don’t know or don’t care. They are not going to lift one finger to make this sale happen. These were pulled right from Craigslist ads. These photos were meant to function as "advertisement eye candy" to lure in a buyer. No attempts were made at tire shine here. Notice ad picture of car buried in snow. Helpful.

I love how telling the environment is, in some cases. A wasteland environment.

Right at home in the trailer park.

Sometimes just sticking the camera out the front door, and snapping a pic of it in the driveway, complete with garbage strewn around, and run over toys.