Does it bug you when a writer makes a dumb car reference?

[Passport1]

Ian Fleming's Bond novels have very keen and accurate descriptions of cars in his plots. For example, he described this nifty white Lancia Flamina Spyder to a tee. It was adroitly driven by Countess Tracy diVicenzo who became Bond's wife.

So not all writers are sloppy scribes.

 

[MCompact]

It's amazing that Fast and the Furious was able to be filmed. Craig Liberman had to use a number of his own vehicles including the Nissan Maxima, VW Jetta, and I think the dc2 Integra. Apparently a numbers of manufacturers and dealerships wouldn't give them any cars to use for filming. Once the first movie make crazy money at the box office future movies had no problem getting vehicles. NOS brand nitrous oxide went from a fairly obscure company known to drag racers to not being able to keep up with demand. It's weird how car manufacturers forget about free marketing. The James Bond movie that has the lotus that turns into a submarine is a good example. Aston Martin was reluctant to give them cars. They called Lotus who has always been a low volume niche manufacturer. Lotus agreed to give them 3 or 4.

A Lotus PR manager parked the Esprit outside Pinewood Studios to generate interest. It did catch the attention of the producer Albert R.Broccoli and the rest is history.

 

[John105]

If the writing were fiction, I think it’s ok.

In this example, the 928 was made iconic. I know I was super excited the first time I drove one (circa 1985) and it was thanks to the movie. I recall driving a 911 and thinking the pedals are like a beetle

 

[fdcg27]

Has anyone considered that some of these authors are showing casual contempt for both car culture and gun culture?
We have a significant number of people who take these things very seriously, while the writers may consider them jejune and therefore not worthy of being taken seriously.
OTOH, fiction writers rely upon what is called suspension of disbelief among their readers and many readers may find that difficult to sustain when a writer gets matters of simple fact wrong.

 

[John105]

Has anyone considered that some of these authors are showing casual contempt for both car culture and gun culture?
We have a significant number of people who take these things very seriously, while the writers may consider them jejune and therefore not worthy of being taken seriously.
OTOH, fiction writers rely upon what is called suspension of disbelief among their readers and many readers may find that difficult to sustain when a writer gets matters of simple fact wrong.

If an author imagined what a modern distribution center looks like and wrote about it, as I am typing today, how accurate would their description be of self guided vehicles, given how rapidly this changes? Secondly, if they are trying to write a best seller, how exciting would it be to a reader, to read about how an SGV actually worked? To me, it would be like having a job in this field. That's the last thing a reader would want if they are looking to relax with a fictional book. It may not be as exciting and futuristic as they may want it to be, in real life. Is that contempt? Why?