While many agree that a vehicle can be “Possessed” or have a “Personality”, some enthusiasts also infer that a vehicle may have a “Soul”. As preposterous as it may sound to many, a vehicle can indeed possess “Soul”.
Webster’s defines soul as “the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.” In this sense a vehicle can obviously not truly have a soul. Case closed for those that believe in spirituality only.
If you delve a little deeper, you also can see that a vehicle can indeed embody a soul by possessing the alternative meanings of soul using the following definitions:
“being the animating principle; the essential element or part of something spiritual”, or
"a deeply felt emotion, as conveyed or expressed by a performer or artist” (the vehicle being the artist).
Taking these definitions to heart, imparts a soul like quality to any medium that may impart a deeply felt emotions. Weather it be a Rembrandt, a Stradivarius or a BMW, if the medium imparts strong emotion, or is considered an animating principle to strong emotion, then it has soul.
The rabid defense of many of the German marquees by their owners, suggests that a vehicles can indeed possess a soul by empowerment and strong emotional effect. This common bond is through an evolution or “Heritage” that builds upon the knowledge of prior generations. This combined wealth of knowledge, both written and unwritten are reflected in the overall execution of the design. This is why a blindfolded person can sit and ride in a car and be able to tell you they are in a Porsche. The smell, the synergy, and sensations all add up to impart the Porsche’s character or “Soul” that is unmistakable. This is a rarity in mass production, and can not quantified by simple surveys or analysis. It is merely a series of intangibles that refuse to be categorized much to the dismay of others and can not be copied. This is the soul of a vehicle.
If your car doesn’t inspire you, then you are the one losing out.