Bark's Bites: My Favorite Truths of 2015
Twenty-fifteen is all done and junk.
We had a lot of change around here, didn’t we? Everywhere that I’ve ever worked in my entire life, somebody has taken me aside and said something to the effect of, “If you don’t like change, this isn’t the place for you.” In fact, there’s so much change in the world nowadays that there are actually people who make six-figure salaries as “Change Management Specialists.” They do things like give you safe spaces to discuss your grief and then send you large bills to fund their vacations.
The only thing that any of us can really count on in 2016 is more change. In order to maintain relevance in this space, TTAC has to continue to evolve. There are people who’d like TTAC to be timewarped back to 2005, to the time when our austere founder and his band of merry men took on the giants of the industry — and won. I’d like to think that spirit still exists here. I, personally, do the very best I can to bring you my unfiltered opinion on this business, and I trust the others who share the responsibility of putting their names below the masthead of TTAC to do the same.
That being said, there is often a difference between The Facts and The Truth.
The Facts about a car are often quite distant from The Truth. If I want The Facts about a car, I can simply go to the OEM website and read the statistics and the dimensions for myself. So can you. That’s what passes for “journalism” in several of the automotive press outlets one finds on the web — taking the meat of the press release, rewriting it ever-so-slightly, and then clicking “submit” — but only after sending it to the OEM’s PR department for approval first.
The Truth is about opinions. The Truth demands perspective. It demands experience. It demands that we not only ask Who, What, Where, and When, but most importantly, it demands that we ask (and answer) Why.
While my Facts and your Facts cannot differ, my Truth might differ greatly from yours. Every time that one of you clicks on words “See More” to find out what my Truth is, I am humbled and honored that you’ve done so. You don’t have to like my Truth, and you definitely don’t have to agree with it. When you don’t, I appreciate that you often take the time to tell me what your Truth is. Although you may not know it, your Truth often shapes and defines what my future Truth becomes. Thank you for that.
So, with all that being said, here are the six times that I gave you my best Truths in 2015:
The Genesis of Something New: Yes, this piece was fiction, but I often feel as though fiction can be even more truthful than reality. This story rang true with a lot of you, and I suspect that many of us have found ourselves entangled in relationships with broken people who simply cannot be fixed. Here’s my personal Truth: I miss writing fiction here. If you miss the Sunday Stories, too, let us know.
Sure, I’m Happy To Have You Ignore My Recommendation: All of us have experienced this, right? Our friends ask us for advice, which they then blatantly ignore at their own risk.
Subaru, We Hardly Knew Ye: This one was particularly full of Truth, mostly in showing just how little I really know about the mechanical problems of dealing with an old car.
Why Does The Public Accept Car Reviews From People Who Can’t Drive?: Every once in awhile, this one gets a spike of traffic when somebody prominent finds it. I don’t claim to be a great racing driver — I’m still very much a student of racecraft — but there are literally writers out there who can’t drive a stick.
Ask Bark: Should I Lease a Jetta?: Send me your questions, people! I’m not one who’s prone to quoting himself, but I think I told a Truth here that’s entirely fundamental to my philosophy on car ownership: “Life is too short and money is too precious to spend a freaking cent of it on a car that ‘doesn’t excite’ or of which the reviews ‘aren’t terrible.'”
Nissan Doesn’t Make a Single Car You Want to Buy: Probably my most popular post of the year, and the one that’s closest, in my opinion, to the Farago-approved vision for TTAC. Plus, it has a Matt Farah cameo. What else could you want?
For 2016, I want y’all to tell me this: What can Bark do for you? What sorts of Truths are you most interested in hearing about? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram and let me know, or just tell me below.
One last request: If you’ve been a silent reader for a long time (the percentage of readers who actually comment on articles is often less than one percent), sign up and say hello to us sometime soon. The loudest voices here aren’t always representative of the silent majority. Tell me what you want to read, and I’ll do my best to write it.
Happy New Year
More by Mark "Bark M." Baruth
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Why Does The Public Accept Car Reviews From People Who Can’t Drive? Unless you are literally referring to writers for the NYTimes* who don't have a drivers license, because it makes more sense. Reasons you care for a review by a "real race car driver". 1. You plan to take the thing to a track, and that drives the majority of your purchasing plan. 2. You plan on street racing and killing a few people before going the way of Roger Rodas and Paul Walker. Of course, if you wanted a "track car" you would probably be much better off buying something like a built spec miata, spec E-30, formula ford (do they still exist?), or other such car. Buying a street car (with all the regulation it entails) when you want a track car doesn't make sense. Buying a track car for the street makes barely any more sense. Of course, TTAC probably does have its share of drivers with racing experience/HPDE/Jack's personal instruction and they can benefit from your instruction. For everybody else, how would Walter Mitty know the difference?
I missed most of 2015 over here at TTAC because well, I did not know. To cut a long story short I am looking to buy a secondhand car sometime in the next six months and I am determined to get a better grasp on this automotive racket before I do. TTAC seems to be the place where one might do that. Mainstream automotive press is not. Happy new year :)