Opinion: Car enthusiasts tarred by 'boy racer' brush

The roar of an engine revving is a thrill for some. Photo / File

The roar of an engine revving. The smell of burning rubber as smoke pours from spinning tyres.

For some people, this is the stuff of nightmares - the car scene can be a noisy, smelly, dirty environment.

But for others, it's a thrill.

The term "boy racer" has become has become synonymous with "criminal". People driving modified cars are often suspected to be up to no good.

Sometimes they are. I doubt there's a modified car owner out there who hasn't tried to redline their pride and joy at some point.

But it's not often that car lovers become antisocial. There's a few bad apples on the tree, just like in any community, and it's these people that give the rest a bad name.

In the Bay of Plenty Times on Monday, Sergeant Wayne Hunter said: "They [boy racers] are doing a lot of damage ... causing damage to the roads, to people's properties. When residents have gone to confront them, they've been met with aggression."

The ones who are threatening other people and causing damage are ruining it for everyone else.

I know many car lovers who spend every dollar they earn on their vehicles.

Their cars are in pieces more often than on the roads. Their weekends are spent under the bonnet rather than behind the wheel, tinkering and fine-tuning one thing until it's perfect, which then uncovers the next problem to be fixed.

They're not the kind of people who get a kick out of antagonising others in the community.

Those who act like hooligans, anger their neighbours and drive unsafely are the ones who have given car enthusiasts a bad rap, and genuine car lovers face unfair scrutiny because of it.