{"id":5918,"date":"2011-06-28T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=5918"},"modified":"2013-05-31T16:17:28","modified_gmt":"2013-05-31T15:17:28","slug":"secret-diary-of-a-female-petrolhead-does-this-warranty-come-in-pink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2011\/06\/28\/secret-diary-of-a-female-petrolhead-does-this-warranty-come-in-pink\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret Diary of a Female Petrolhead: Does This Warranty Come In Pink?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve just read a book on cars. It’s called The Girls\u2019 Car Handbook: Everything You Need to Know about Life on the Road<\/strong><\/a>. It was pink, and had a purple convertible on the cover.<\/p>\n

On the surface of it, I am this book\u2019s target audience. I passed my test recently (send plaudits and flowers to the usual address), and was immediately filled with the urge to run out and buy a car. Not a simple, sensible car that can lug my marshalling gear from racetrack to racetrack, or even a smart, neat little city runabout to get me to meetings on time. \"Cover<\/a> No, I wanted a swooping, curving, monstrously beautiful beast of an Alfa 4C<\/a>. It\u2019s not even out yet. They’re only making a handful of them, and they’ve probably all already been sold. I wouldn\u2019t be able to afford the deposit, let alone the monthly repayments, let alone the insurance, let alone keeping it fed and watered on UK oil prices. It\u2019s not a car, it\u2019s petrolhead pornography.<\/p>\n

Couple the above unnatural lust with a penchant for heels and pearls, and surely I would jump for joy at a book with a back cover featuring a girl in a miniskirt and thigh-high purple boots bending over a car? Why, add a tasteful hair accessory or two and it could even be me!<\/p>\n

Anyway, the pertinent point is that I did indeed read it (albeit borrowed from the library rather than sending my hard-earned cash to the pink publisher). Not just little bits. The whole damn thing, cover to cover. And I hate to say it, but I think the writer has been stitched up.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read Maria McCarthy<\/strong>\u2019s columns in the Telegraph<\/strong>, and went in, despite the cover, expecting much the same: sensible journalism with an eye to problems faced by female drivers. It’s… not that. It’s actually rather like\u00a0 \u2013 and when I say \u2018like\u2019, I mean \u2018this is what I reckon happened’ \u2013 someone took McCarthy\u2019s manuscript, looked at the proposed cover, and said, \u201cthis should have more \u2018girlie\u2019 things in it.\u201d And then picked up the editing pen and wrote in said girlie things, whether they made sense or not.<\/p>\n

For example, McCarthy opens her chapter on car insurance thus:<\/p>\n

Sorting out car insurance can be a bewildering experience for many of us.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Except she doesn\u2019t. What actually opens the chapter, in full, is:<\/p>\n

As far as disagreeable but necessary obligations go, sorting out your car insurance is right up there with filling in tax returns, going for gynaecological check-ups or visiting dreary in-laws. But as with all these experiences, the best approach is just to grit your teeth, remind yourself that it\u2019ll be over soon and plan a nice treat for afterwards.<\/em>
\nSorting out car insurance can be a bewildering experience for many of us.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, that\u2019s right. It reads like someone went back in and added in an additional, wholly unnecessary introductory paragraph. It doesn\u2019t stop there. On choosing a new garage:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bit like trying out a new hairdresser \u2013 you\u2019d probably go in for a trim or maybe a few highlights first and check out the way the hairdresser worked before asking to have your waist-length chestnut hair transformed into a blonde urchin cut.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On using car magazines to research a car before buying:<\/p>\n

Unlike Autotrader<\/strong>, which feels like something your dad might read, What Car?<\/strong> is an attractive glossy that\u2019s easy to flick through when you\u2019re having your highlights done.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On washing your car:<\/p>\n

If you want to experience the Middle England lifestyle to the full then you\u2019ll hand-wash your car every Sunday morning. If you want to live out your boyfriend\u2019s fantasy then you\u2019ll do it wearing your bikini while he watches, nursing a cold beer.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this from a writer who recently wrote about the benefit of PassPlus courses for older female drivers returning to the road after a separation or bereavement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or is it? Because the thing is, I\u2019m not convinced the above extracts of pink vomit are actually McCarthy at all. Maybe, at a stretch, it’s McCarthy under duress; McCarthy with a metaphorical editorial gun to her head to make the book more appealing to young women browsing in Waterstones. Certainly the ridiculous inserts drop off mid-way through the book, and by the time you\u2019re on Chapter 8 (presumably having shelled out the \u00a37.99) with a car in your driveway and insurance to secure, they\u2019re largely gone.<\/p>\n

The question is, why on earth are they there in the first place? The book is screamingly successful, rated 10,102 in Amazon (which is pretty impressive for a specialist manual). Once you get past the purple passages it\u2019s also \u2013 whisper it \u2013 really rather good. It has typical labour rates in major cities in the UK. It has suggested insurers if you want to be added to someone else\u2019 insurance and still rack up a no-claims. It has helpful suggestions on how to avoid being ripped off when buying a used car. All of these things are useful for any novice, and I was making notes whilst reading. No wonder it has garnered such glowing reviews!<\/p>\n

And yet\u2026 click on the Amazon page<\/a>. Go on, I\u2019ll wait. Click on it and scroll down to\u00a0Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought<\/em>, and tell me that at first glance you didn\u2019t think they were showing you little girls\u2019 toys. The Pink Car Wash Kit<\/a>. The Pink Fluffy Furry Dice<\/a>. The Pink Toolbox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I have a strong feeling that if Maria McCarthy is ever presented with any of these items and told to change a tyre, the pink wrench from the pink toolbox will disintegrate the first time it is used. The pink car wash kit will be useless in actually washing a car, unless used when wearing a bikini, and the pink fluffy furry dice will distract her from safely driving her lovely new Alfa 4C and she will plough it into the back of a horsebox on the M4, whereupon everyone passing will tut and say under his breath, \u201cbloody lady drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

There's just no excuse.<\/p><\/div>\n