Auto enthusiasts have existed ever since the creation of the car. There’s something about the rumble of an engine, note of the exhaust, and smell of burning rubber and fuel that brings people together—well, most people. Not everyone appreciates the glorious noise made by a straight-piped V8, and understandably so. It’s a big and cacophonous world out there. Still, this video of a neighbor confronting the owner of a loud 1965 Chevy Nova SS has managed to punch through the din online, drawing millions of views and thousands of comments on Facebook. So who’s in the wrong?
Captured by a doorbell camera, the clip shows a woman walk up to the front door of Michael Markus’ Chicago-area home and open up a conversation about his ’65 Nova II Super Sport, which she claims rattles the windows of her house whenever Markus comes and goes. Markus is immediately on the defensive and, well, the little chat devolves from there.
Their arguments can be summed up thusly. It’s the woman’s position that driving a car with an excessively loud exhaust is akin to being a bad neighbor—at least, if you don’t take any steps to be considerate to those living around you. Markus’ stance is basically “It’s my car, and it’s not going to change. I’ll do what I want.”
We don’t doubt this Nova makes some noise—it’s got a 548 big block motor feeding into Hooker headers and a side-exit exhaust, according to a YouTube video Markus made about the Tangelo Orange car. It looks like a really solid build, the kind of poster muscle car you’d see on the wall of a kid’s bedroom.
We can all relate to loving and defending a machine like that. Perhaps less relatable are Markus’ blunt responses. “It’s gonna be like that every time I come in and out… What do you want me to do, blow up the car? Throw it away? I just paid $40,000 for the car. What do you want me to do with the car?” Doesn’t help that he undercuts his own argument by saying that he himself doesn’t even like the sound, and that his wife also complains about the Nova rattling their windows.
“I’m gonna drive the car. I just bought the car, I’m gonna have fun with it. It’s my toy,” He says, later adding, “The car is loud, there’s nothing I can do. It’s not like I can muffle the sound. It’s a straight race car.”
To be clear and fair to both parties, we don’t know what exactly led up to this interaction. The woman claims loud cars have been an issue with Markus for “years,” while Markus says no one has ever brought it up to him before. Their interactions make it seem like this clip is indeed the first time the two parties are meeting, so it doesn’t appear that this is the result of existing bad blood. And without knowing exactly where they live, we can’t cross-check noise ordinances to see if the neighbor’s threats about potential legal action are even feasible.
Still—we’re all here because we enjoy cars, and while that commonality might make it easy to brush off a neighbor complaining about a loud exhaust, we also have a responsibility to rep the enthusiast community to regular folks. So we have to ask: who do you think is the bad guy here?
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