world automotive

Some things on Planet Earth just seem to exude a natural kind of effortless class and effervescence; I, however, am not one of them. Every morning I wake up looking like a bag of chips, get out of bed and trip over my slippers. It turns out that I am as elegant as a severely injured Water Buffalo and about as presentable as one. I know on some authority, that I am not the only human being who feels this way, in fact I would say about three quarters of the Western world are similarly inflicted by the 'Morning Effect'. What I and people of my ilk require, is to encase ourselves in something that makes us look and feel better; a kind of shell of pure cool and class. Please join me in saying a big "thank you" to Volkswagen for inventing the Polo then.

The legacy of the VW Polo's popularity is essentially threefold; you have the reliable engineering, affordable running costs and then there is the 'cool factor'. A few years ago the cool factor would have been the only thing a large portion of consumers would have considered when buying a car, but the global economic climate has altered that irrevocably. Now the buying public are squeezing every penny and ensuring they get the maximum amount of quality for the minimum amount of expenditure. This is where a car like the Polo really begins to stand out from the crowd.

The Supermini market is saturated with all kinds of manufacturers, all vying to create the vehicle that will dominate in a lucrative sense as well as winning over the hearts and minds of the critics. Like every competition in life; some succeed and some fail. During the VW Polo's 30 year existence it has changed aesthetically as well as mechanically, but has retained that seemingly effortless class that is still associated with the brand. Ask yourself this; how has it managed to achieve this?

Let me put this dilemma to you in another way. During the 1970's your average man could be seen walking down any high street, adorned in an luminous polyester shirt, corduroy flares and a waistcoat decorated with a pattern that could have easily belonged on your great grandmother's bedroom curtains. At the time, this man would have been considered 'cool', as he would clearly be hitting the wave of the (albeit hideous) fashion zeitgeist. In the present day, this man would be labelled a fool and castigated roundly by everyone in his periphery. He may even be sectioned under the Mental Health Act. The crux of my point is that fads and trends very rarely age well. The VW Polo has maintained its popularity by evolving with the times, whilst maintaining that traditional standard of immense reliability and cost-effective motoring.

Whilst driving the VW Polo, I felt liberated. Not to the point where I would remove my clothing and dance in a field with a gaggle of maidens in a drum circle, but slightly removed from the humdrum of my existence. I felt, to put it rather bluntly, better about being me. I felt swathe, sophisticated and considerably cooler than I did as I fell out of bed that very morning. My identity had been adopted, adapted and improved by the metallic shell of moving parts I was sat in. It was around this time I had my epiphany of sorts.

Never before had I bought into the myths and pratfalls of fashion. I have always been perfectly happy staying well away from trends, as they have absolutely nothing to do with a man like me, but just for a brief moment I knew how those who are constantly chasing fashion feel. The knowledge that you are slightly more 'on the button' than the majority of those around you is a huge spirit-lifter and one that can easily give birth to a terrible superiority complex. Those who work in the fashion industry can often seem horribly conceited and self-absorbed (and I'm sure virtually all of them are) but I would highly recommend stepping into the world of stylish superiority every once in a while and for me, that is as achievable as driving a Volkswagen Polo.

About the Author:
Pete J Ridgard is a writer and a car enthusiast. He currently writes for the automotive industry. Here he discusses the merits of the Volkswagen Polo.