Comment I heard form these "kids"

I don't think they meant it in a negative way. I think they used the word "thing" because as newer cars get more and more bland and unattractive our old Detroit muscle made out of sheet steel and cast iron looks even more like something from another time or place. They probably thought in their heads, "Wow, that's a CAR??? That thing is nuts!" When I drove my friends around on Halloween night in Boulder (basically a carnival of drunk CU students, LOL) I got nothing but thumbs-up from passers-by and lots of guys yelling, "Do a burnout!!!"