Zen and the Art of Car Enthusiasm

‘Even though quality cannot be defined, you know what quality is.’

Wise words from Robert Pirsig’s bestselling 1974 novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which wasn’t as concerned with fouled spark plugs as it was with philosophy. Motorcycles being merely the chosen lens to focus on some fundamental questions about the way we view the world.

Now, half a century on, I suggest we should reassess the most prescient of Pirsig’s questions, as the automotive world lurches through paradigmatic transformation. As someone who enjoys cars enough to want to read about them daily (that’s you)… what is quality? And what room is there left for those enthusiasts amongst us to indulge our ‘classic’ or ‘romantic’ personality?