One Man’s Guide to What Women Really Want

Well, a study out of the United Kingdom shows that, if nothing else, men are indeed from Mars, and women are from Venus because they have drastically different — almost diametrically opposed — definitions of what “cool” means.

Apparently on Mars, sports cars are the big thing, and on Venus it’s all about electrics and hybrids. That’s all well and good, but the men from Mars — like any men from any planet, I imagine — clearly have no clue what women want. Forty-eight percent of men surveyed thought that buying a sports car would woo a gal into the passenger seat.

But, according to the survey, 53 percent of women perceive men who drive sports cars to be arrogant, wasteful and wreckless, while men who drive a Toyota Prius hybrid or a Nissan Leaf electric are keepers because they are “conscientious” and “intelligent.”

There are some obvious holes in those statements, beginning with the notion that men who drive sports cars are, in fact, not exactly conscientious or intelligent, but the absolutely hilarious contrast is that I don’t know of one guy who drives either of the two cars that women apparently like. Zip. Zilch. Not a one.

So, for the guys reading this, your hot-looking Mustang convertible or Corvette ZO6 really isn’t earning you any points with the ladies (53 percent of them, anyway). In fact, just the opposite. So, be “intelligent” and “conscientious,” and immediately rush out and get a nice Nissan Leaf, right? No, you say?

Don’t worry, I’m with you on this one. I’ve owned various sports cars for a lot of years, and I will say that the survey is correct in one respect: not one time has what I drove ever aided a relationship. When I was 16, I really thought it would help, but after spending most of my cruising time alone, it was apparent that I had to actually get out of the car and talk to women to have any chance at a date.

If you start young enough with the car hobby, you realize this right away and avoid becoming that 50-year-old divorcé who goes out and buys a sports car in hopes of being more attractive.

Me, I’m very wary of any woman superficial enough to like a man for his possessions, but the inverse of that is, do you really want to be with a woman — or a man, if you’re a woman reading this — who judges you at all by what you drive, whether a sports car or Nissan Leaf? We all should have learned by now that buying things simply to please other people or make them like us is a foolish waste of money.

You would be better off giving the cash to charity for someone who really can benefit from it. Otherwise, buy items that you like, items that you use, and items you enjoy and make you feel good.

That’s why I own sports cars. The sound. The beauty. The capability. And if any woman were actually to ask me, that’s what I would tell them. So pay no attention to this survey and drive what you like — on Venus or Mars — because you like it. Use your intelligence and conscientiousness on their own.

Jeff Melnychuk is Wheelbase Media’s managing editor. He can be reached on the Web at www.theoctanelounge.com byusing the contact link. Wheelbase supplies automotive news and features to newspapers across North America.