Some women Rattlers on “The Hill” say a man can look attractive and have a good personality, but without a nice means of transportation, starting a relationship could be difficult.
Brittany Barriner, 19, a freshmen general studies student from Lakeland, said she would not date a guy without a car.
“If I don’t have my car up here and if he doesn’t have a car, then what could we do?” Barriner asked.
Barriner said she would talk to a man with a luxury vehicle such as a Mercedes or Lexus over a guy with a pimped-out Chevy Impala or Caprice Classic.
“(The luxury car) makes them look like they have more money then if they were to have an Impala with rims,” Barriner said.
Other students agree that appearance is everything. Adeola Adefala, 18, a general studies student from Orlando, said women in general are attracted to guys with a nice car.
“(Having a nice car) gives the impression that the (guy) has money,” Adefala said. “(If the girl) were to ever obtain that person (with the nice car), she could probably benefit from their benefits.”
While some guys attract attention from women by driving a nice car, others guys use the biker boy approach to draw the ladies closer.
Jason Montgomery, 26, a graduate engineering student from Dallas, said women surround him when they see him on his bike.
“(The reaction) is nuts,” Montgomery said. “I was going to Chubby’s and passed through FSU’s campus and some girl started screaming and flashed her thong.”
Montgomery drives a 2003 Kawasaki ZX6R 636.
Even with women chasing after him and asking for rides on his motorcycle, Montgomery said he could not care less about the attention.
Christine Jackson, 20, a sophomore philosophy student from Orlando, said she is not attracted to guys with nice cars.
“If you’re not cute in the car, then (the car) is not that nice anymore,” Jackson said.
She said she believes personality is the first criteria in determining whether a guy is attractive or not.
“If you’re yelling things out of the nice car, that’s a turn off,” Jackson said. “But if you approach me properly, then it doesn’t matter what car you drive.”
Jermaine Shaw, 22, a 2005 psychology graduate from Chicago, said he receives a lot of attention because of his ride. Shaw drives a 2001 Ford Expedition with 22-inch rims, an MP3 player and two 12-inch speakers in his trunk.
“We call them ‘car booties’ where I’m from,” Shaw said. “Car Booties” are girls who show interest in a guy because of the vehicle that he is driving.”
Johnathon Sellers, 24, a graphic design student from Jacksonville, said he doesn’t talk to women who are only interested in a guy because of the kind of car he drives.
“Whenever I do meet women, I’m on foot,” he said. Sellers drives a 1997 Camry sedan that gets him “from point A to point B.”
Sellers said women who do talk to men because of the car they drive are shallow. “They are probably not interested in the guy anyways,” Sellers said. “They are just interested in the material.”