Abstract
This research responds to claims that status motivates car use. It extends understandings of what status is and of how status influences car use practices. The paper begins with a theoretical exploration of the concept of status and continues with a case study exploring how individuals in Christchurch, New Zealand, relate to status concerns associated with cars. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research, the paper finds that participants conceptualised status in terms of multidimensional hybrid assemblages of meaning. Further, a car had to match a person's wider social and cultural context in order to perform as a status symbol. Cars that symbolised a sense of intentional accomplishment or progression were most often associated with desired dimensions of status. The paper concludes by noting that status symbolism reflects a complex interplay of social dynamics, and that status is more than a characteristic of a material object.