Gay Men Like Cars Too

Cars are all about power, strength, metal. Creating explosions (admittedly tiny explosions entirely within the confines of an engine) for fun.

Power, strength and metal

Pushing yourself to the mental and physical brink, as higher speeds put your bravery to the test. It’s unashamedly manly.

Or at least that’s what a lot of people would have you think. Hypermasculinity still looms large in the car-enthusiast community, meaning it can feel pretty hostile to anybody who isn’t a proudly heterosexual man — or, of course, a good-looking girl happy to be seen with the cars, but not actually driving them. I definitely don’t remember ever being given the impression that the car scene was a good place to announce an interest in anybody other than women.

The gayness of cars

Look again, though, and don’t you think there’s something downright gay about it all? About passionate men forging strong bonds with each other? Men obsessing together over the tiniest aesthetic detail and openly admiring inanimate beauty? About men escaping everyday reality and retreating into their own communities with other men who ‘get it’? Yup, seems a bit fruity to me.

Taking my first steps into both the car and gay scenes (thanks to my Saab 900-obsessed then-boyfriend), I couldn’t exactly miss the parallels between the two. I could see a young man, just finding his way in life, clinging onto two different groups of like-minded men. Men he could share his passions with, who he could go to when times got tough, who he felt understood him in a way so many others didn’t. Even I didn’t really understand the Saab, but seeing how intensely attached he was to it, how proud he was for it to be admired by other men, how powerful he seemed when the turbo turned that admittedly rather feeble engine into something a little mightier… well, anybody would be captivated by that dynamic, potent but ultimately delicate masculinity.

Liking cars can be homo-erotic

Perhaps the fact that the car scene is so close to collapsing into a strange kind of homo-eroticism (or at least as close as the intimate female friendships straight men like to fantasize are ready to burst out into steamy lesbian romances) is what drives so many straight men to aggressively assert the masculinity of their hobby. Letting gays waltz in unopposed would ruin the charade, right? Suddenly the straight man’s love of beautiful cars and the gay man’s love of beautiful… I don’t know, tablecloths or whatever it is we’re supposed to be into nowadays, would end up looking like one and the same thing.

Some cars are just gay

This exclusion is everywhere. I had no idea cars could have sexual orientations. Then I learned that “everyone knows Miatas are gay.” Like Miatas? You have two choices. Accept its “gayness” and get excluded from the real car community. Or deny it and claim you love its “nimble driving experience” (which sounds pretty gay too). Meanwhile, nobody questions your sexuality when you drool over a vintage Mustang’s sculpted body and thrusting power.

Fast track changes

Fortunately, things are starting to change. LGBTQ+ people are gaining broader social acceptance. We’re entering spaces that were once closed to us. The car scene is one such space. Toxic masculinity still exists here. Yes, it persists in shows like “The Grand Tour” with Jeremy Clarkson. But its grip is weakening. A new generation is emerging. These younger enthusiasts care about different things. They value progress; champion environmentalism; and support LGBTQ+ rights. This marks a clear break from the reactionary attitudes of the past. The car scene was always a tight-knit male community. Now it’s finally welcoming young men who most need this camaraderie.

Now we only have to figure out how to start letting women in, too.

Written by Daniel, a writer for bvzine.com.