Re: DeLorean's Soul

[Farrar Hudkins <fhudkins@xxxx>]

/comes out of lurk mode for a little philosophy/

> In fact, over the course of 50 years I could go through the car and
> practically replace EVERY part of the car, and yet she would retain
> the vin 4009. Putting aside such trite things as "the law" or "common
> sense"; why is it that a car that (hypothetically) 50 years ago
> consisted of completely different parts... is still consider by the
> owners and world at large to be the SAME CAR?

James, 

Look at it this way: If I had my kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, and upper
intestine replaced, and had a few prosthetic limbs, wouldn't I still be
me? What matters is that if it's your car, it's your car, and what
others think of it isn't really that important. If you're going after it
from a VIN point of view, then you'd have to say you still own VIN XXXX
because your plates still say that, and even though not everything is
original, what's left of the "original" car is still intact, which is
more than you could say for any of the parts you've replaced, destroyed,
sold, melted, whatever. So it's your car, and it's the same VIN it
always has been. And if you're a pantheist or have a similar belief that
your car has a soul, who's to say you're wrong or right? Believe what
you believe; it certainly won't hurt anyone to believe that cars have
souls. But of course the most important thing is that a.) it's your car
and b.) unlike some of us, your girlfriend doesn't say "I still like my
Mustang better." :P

Kind regards and all the best for the holidays,
Farrar in New Orleans

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