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A classic car enthusiast took to Reddit for advice after a normal shopping trip went sideways. He asked the /r/Autos forum, “Tips for removing graffiti ? Found this on my car today after a quick trip to the grocery store for my wife, gotta love people today.”

His post included a picture of his white Pontiac GTO hood. Next to the snorkel intake, with its legendary GT-455 H.O. callout someone has scrawled, “Climate Change is Realll (sic).”

The car’s owner added some details:

“Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off and they had no security camera In the far end of the parking lot, I tried some pre-wax cleaner and it didn’t work. ’m not sure what it is. It looks like some kind of permanent marker or something. I have a old school lacquer finish.”

Reddit user Sekreid

One Reddit commenter raised an excellent question: “I would assume that the resources to repair this would do more damage to the environment than the car’s emissions.” It’s true that repainting a car is not an environmentally-friendly process. If the GTO’s owner can’t get the permanent marker off the hood with simpler methods, the vandals may have done more damage than good.

Despite a politically-loaded topic, most of the commenters were sensible folks with nuanced contributions. Examples include, “Driving old cars is recycling” and advice to remove the marker such as, “Try coloring over top of the ink with a dry erase marker. Then wipe the dry erase marker off and the permanent ink should come off as well.”

Commenters invite a discussion about climate change

At least one commenter even agreed with the vandals—but protested their methods. “Climate change is real, but felonious property destruction is a sure way to get individuals not to care about it. What an a——.”

The original poster actually replied to the above comment with a take that might surprise some people: “I would rather have them give me a discussion about it. I imagine the 50 year old car that’s driven less than 2000 miles a year contributes much less to climate change than most people think.”

I wonder if the vandal knew the car’s owner is open to having a constructive conversation? Would they have waited for him to finish shopping and talked with him?

Obviously, this sort of vandalism is not activism. Such property damage is illegal and a poor way to spread a message. It risks increasing polarization and making enemies of people who could–through intelligent debate–become your allies instead. But it’s far from an isolated incident. Vandals in the U.K. recently spray-painted private jets at London’s Heathrow airport and even tagged the stones of Stonehenge with bright orange chalk.

Tips for removing graffiti ? Found this on my car today after a quick trip to the grocery store for my wife, gotta love people today.
byu/Sekreid inAutos
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Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.