Is themotormag.com's Land Cruiser the Ultimate Sleeper?

The loudest one in the room, is the weakest one in the room. This isn't just a quote by American Gangster's Frank Lucas, but an ideology themotormag.com is living by as we build our ideal 200 series Land Cruiser. Just like the drug kingpin, our online magazine's project car thrives in hiding in plain sight.

In the Emirates and broader region, luxury is sometimes mistakenly associated only with outwardly distinctive or 'flashy' goods, but our built cruiser takes a more sophisticated approach; one prioritizing the journey and experience rather than lavish visibility.

The aim is to appear to be just a regular Land Cruiser roaming through the sand until just a few moments later when with a drop of a few gears and waves of sand being spit out of the 18" Dunlop street tires, the full-size SUV disappears into the distance, gliding through the dunes and taking jumps that gravity says we can't.

This of course, is made feasible through this list of subtle modifications, hidden among the factory wheels and stock bumpers:

Drivetrain

• 2.5 King Shocks

• 700 lbs front springs

• Total Chaos Upper Control Arms

Body

• Fabricated Rear Skid Plate

• NSV Sequential turn signals

Electrical

• NSV 13.3" Super Audio System

• Kenwood TMV71A CB Radio

• 20" Baja Design S8

• Baja Design S2 Chase Light

That's why it's called a sleeper, a car that is high performing but with an unassuming exterior.

We've covered how our project cars are tools of freedom, self-expression and individualism, opposing a strikingly collective society. And with a list of off-road, electrical and exterior modifications, unnoticeable at first glance, this car also symbolizes a more refined, inconspicuous way of spending and overall style many car enthusiasts have lately grown fond of.

Today, inconspicuous spending stretches far beyond cars. It's represented by peoples' shifts to experiences and self-development, away from conspicuous consumption, a term coined by American Economist, Thorstein Veblen referring to spending on purely visual luxury.

Writing amid poverty in 1899, Veblen believed that people spent lavishly on visible goods to prove that they were prosperous.

“The motive is emulation—the stimulus of an invidious comparison which prompts us to outdo those with whom we are in the habit of classing ourselves,” he wrote.

Race is often a determinant of consumption habits and is illustrated when a racial group of a lower income find more value in demonstrating their personal buying power.

University of Chicago economists Kerwin Kofi Charles, Erik Hurst along with Nikolai Roussanov of the University of Pennsylvania all conducted research that proved conspicuous consumption as a symbol to establish a positive affluent status, ridding negative perceptions that the owner is poor.

This was true for the African-American families they studied who spent 25% more of their income on jewelry, cars, personal car and apparel in comparison to a white family that had the same income and family size. The same habit applies to Latinos and it seems we've seen this amongst the Arab, and namely Gulf community as well, emerging from rather humble beginnings.

Veblen was right when he concluded that nobody wants to look poor, but he missed the fact that conspicuous spending is a developmental stage that many of us are now abandoning, particularly in the Arab world.

I believe even our cars, which can easily be a conspicuous signal of wealth, are now shifting to less of a public status symbol and more of a means to personal pleasure. Something that can be truly experiential more than just visually lavish. And this is evident from not only themotormag.com's Land Cruiser, but the online magazine's purpose as well:

To enlighten Abu Dhabi’s community with rich and meaningful coverage on local culture and lifestyle that uses cars and motorsport as a thread that connects us to our country's meaningful stories, which shed light on essential topics including collectivism, societal stigmas, relationships, nationalism, addiction, and identity.

We'd love to hear you story. For business collaborations, content sponsorship or to get coverage on your project car, reach out to us at our Instagram, @builtcruiser.