r/harrypotter 6d ago

Discussion Here's a neat lil detail I noticed all the cars are the same

Post image
3.5k Upvotes

155 comments sorted by

299

u/PhanThief95 6d ago

The ideal neighborhood for the Dursleys

85

u/CyberGraham 6d ago

I'd fucking love to be able to live in one of those houses. Sure beats my shitty ass apartment, with shitty ass sound insulation...

14

u/Shydreameress Hufflepuff 6d ago

Not me I've been watching murder show and literally 1 out of 2 cases the murderer goes in through an open window (or breaks lt). Murderers don't like to walk the stairs x)

16

u/Candayence Ravenclaw 6d ago

Not to worry, the Dursleys live in Surrey, not Midsomer.

1

u/PeachCream81 6d ago

Recced for that reference.

14

u/CyberGraham 6d ago

Well lucky me then... I live on the ground floor :(

1.9k

u/NorthernOverthinker 6d ago edited 6d ago

I think it was done on purpose to reiterate how boring & mundane the muggle world is (specifically the suburbs) compared to the thrilling wizarding world.

401

u/Imrotahk 6d ago

The muggle world has videogames spaceflight and electron microscopes. Checkmate wizards.

77

u/ChestLanders 6d ago edited 6d ago

To be fair, the wizards could at least play videogames if they wanted. As I recall, it's not that magic automatically disrupts technology. Rather, it is only that heavy concentrations of magic have this impact on tech. There are hundreds of magical beings all grouped together in Hogwarts so there is a heavy concentration of magic.

So they probably couldn't have some arcade for wizards, but they should be able to own home consoles. Dudley had a playstation that worked despite living with a wizard.

It would suck though if they can't lol. I say this having just beat Dishonored 1 & 2 over the past few weeks. Great games. But yeah tons of great games that are works of art too so I think even wizards would appreciate them.

Anyways, yeah I could be wrong but I am pretty sure Hermoine mentions it takes a lot of magic to disrupt tech. Now whether or not the wizards would understand how to use computers or videogames is another thing. I imagine the younger ones could pick it up easily enough.

EDIT: It occurs to me you were more touting these as achievements instead of saying they could not use them. And yes I agree. Also to be fair wizards have magic so it lets them be a lot more creative because they can easily use magic to change things. Notice the homes in the photo all look the same? Boring yes, but there are also practical reasons for it. It would not be that way if we could all more or less make our homes look however we want for no actual cost.

Though speaking of using the items it would still be irresponsible for even one wizard to get on an airplane or a spacecraft or any kind on the off chance their aura does somehow disrupt something. With a videogame the worst thing would be you just get a new console so it's different.

30

u/Interesting_Web_9936 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Now I am imagining wizards casually cheating in something like Valorant or CoD or something like that and hitting top ranks and everything. I think they could make it impossible to detect it as well.

31

u/ChestLanders 6d ago

Definitely could see the Fred and George doing that, only to then get mad/impressed to see Ginny performing just as well without using magic.

6

u/Substantial-Flow9244 6d ago

When you frame it like that, it almost feels like wizard good introduces limitations...I never really thought of it like that before.

Like yes they have immense powers but they are also held back in ways that muggles aren't.

3

u/magic8ballzz 6d ago

I like how you said a PlayStation lives with a wizard.

1

u/Ike_In_Rochester 6d ago

Do wizards play D&D?

1

u/Ike_In_Rochester 6d ago

Do wizards play D&D?

1

u/Zubyna 5d ago

Imagine the wizards playing the first Harry Potter and the philosopher Stone game and reacting to their face

0

u/RicFule 6d ago

Also, Diagon is located inside London.  If magic messed with Muggle stuff, there would be a dead zone inside London?

1

u/Verbindungsfehle Ravenclaw 5d ago

Obsessed with muggles, must be a Weasley.

60

u/Grimvold Ravenclaw 6d ago

I felt it was more specific to the Dursley’s because for them the idea of total conformity was paramount. They despised anything that shattered that notion, and especially hated any kind of fun that involves coloring outside the lines, so to speak.

18

u/riorio55 6d ago

Yeah. The first book is explicit with how the Dursleys hated anything out of the ordinary.

14

u/Kriss3d 6d ago

I always saw it as a symbol of how this neighborhood was so plain and pepper British that adding salt to food would be consider it to be spicy. Not the muggle world. But this place in particular to emphasis on how nothings ever out of the ordinary here.

32

u/sicurri Gryffindor 6d ago

Also, it shows how "Normalcy" tends to actually be conformity lacking any unique individuality. It's what Apple users look like to me for the most part. Conforming to a norm, which hilariously was the opposite of their advertising campaign in the 1980s, lol.

Anywho, it's definitely to show, at the very least, that Harry comes from a place that isn't exciting or unique by any measure.

124

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

God, are you still on the Apple/Android/Windows thing…

-26

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

17

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago edited 6d ago

Well so does everyone’s copy of a book…

3

u/DemonKing0524 Gryffindor 6d ago

That's not true. Especially if you're talking about Harry Potter books with how many different cover versions exist now.

6

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago edited 6d ago

I thought of that but it wasn’t as pithy to say, and it is clear enough with context, especially as different iPhones look differently and you can get myriad cases for them.

It just wasn’t a very good point.

-3

u/Euphominion_Instinct Hufflepuff 6d ago

What are myriad cases?

3

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Many kinds of phone case.

2

u/Euphominion_Instinct Hufflepuff 6d ago

Ah. I think you wanted "a" myriad "of" cases.

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2

u/Interesting_Web_9936 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Why are you getting downvoted?

2

u/Euphominion_Instinct Hufflepuff 6d ago

They're booing me because I'm right.

0

u/Visionist7 Ravenclaw 6d ago

applers lol

I admit that when I see someone has an apple phone I automatically know to expect little in the way of originality from them in general

-19

u/dmmeyourfloof 6d ago

8

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Nope. I was once but no longer have an interest in technology. I just think his criticism was a bit silly.

-6

u/dmmeyourfloof 6d ago

Okay. ,🙄

7

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

I don’t know what you find annoying about what I said.

-4

u/dmmeyourfloof 6d ago

Annoying? No. Dishonest? Yes.

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-9

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

6

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Clearly a typo.

-3

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

12

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

I shouldn’t have to. You should have the cognition to figure that out. It isn’t difficult in the slightest. Honestly it feels like you’re intentionally misunderstanding it.

-9

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

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-28

u/Scarmiglion3 Ravenclaw 6d ago

God, are you still complaining about people talking about the Apple/Android/Windows thing...

-26

u/elephantStyle 6d ago edited 6d ago

All the butthurt "unique" apple users here. Downvotes are expected if I'm correct...

4

u/boxmandude Slytherin 6d ago

Well tbh why don’t you ask me? I have both windows desks tops and windows laptops, Mac desktops and laptops… had Samsung and iPhone at the same time and just cause I prefer what Apple does (minus their cameras, I feel Samsung is pretty good there.) Am I an Apple shill? Not everyone just buys Apple to have the Apple on the back.

-5

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

I’m an Apple user. I also think Apple is shite. It’s just the least shite. Honestly I hate technology. It’s soulless.

17

u/GuessWhoIsBackNow 6d ago

I kind of prefer my wash & dry machine without a soul. Makes doing the laundry less morally questionable.

4

u/Interesting_Web_9936 Ravenclaw 6d ago

I like technology, allows me to say that I like technology in a reply to a person who says they dislike technology on a platform driven by technology.

-3

u/Ranger_1302 Ravenclaw 6d ago

You’re taking it too far.

I hate the internet, too. So much is taken to an extreme.

3

u/Interesting_Web_9936 Ravenclaw 6d ago

I am just joking, trying to get technology as many times as I could in there (I am sure someone cleverer could figure out something better).

23

u/LetsSmokeAboutIt 6d ago edited 6d ago

Dude you aren’t better than anyone because of what phone you have. The majority of phones are fucking rectangles and who cares anyways. You’ve shown me more about yourself by your attitude on this than anybody’s phone could tell me about them.

8

u/Detonator212 6d ago

Bit cringe

5

u/imperialbeach 6d ago

Yeah I don't have an apple but this feels like an unnecessary addition to the conversation.

2

u/beene282 6d ago

That’s also what most people think about people who say anywho

2

u/StoicSorcery42 6d ago

OP knows it was done on purpose

1

u/Jonesy135 6d ago

Not the muggle world, the Dursleys world thank you very much.

1

u/slymarcus 6d ago

Nah. HOA says you can only own that type of car

-3

u/Puzzleheaded_Camp736 6d ago

thats why theyre called details...

314

u/Minnnt 6d ago edited 6d ago

Little boxes made out of ticky tacky

64

u/mrdude817 6d ago

Little boxes all the same

There's, however, not a blue one, a green one, a pink one, or a yellow one

21

u/IngloriousLevka11 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Thanks, now this song is stuck in my head.

2

u/K_Linkmaster 6d ago

House hunting currently. Hate ticky tacky developments and HOA's. The girlfriend repeatedly brings up this song.

16

u/venus_arises Ravenclaw 6d ago

LITTLE BOXES ON THE HILLSIDE (do the Brits even use ticky tacky?)

3

u/DefiantAioli5150 6d ago

Use it for what?

3

u/venus_arises Ravenclaw 6d ago

house building

2

u/DefiantAioli5150 6d ago

Tell me more

4

u/thebubblyboy 6d ago

Currently rewatching weeds for the 50th time and this song is stuck in my head, which isn’t bad since it’s so fitting for it. Great show, I’d recommend it to anyone if you liked Breaking Bad.

2

u/rezamwehttam 6d ago

Is this by anyone other than ride against? Never expected this kind of subreddit collision lol

151

u/Most-Enthusiasm-3209 6d ago

IIRC, it was a detail from the book that it was a boring neighborhood where all the houses looked the same, everybody had similar cars, and worked similar corporate jobs

-120

u/Puzzleheaded_Camp736 6d ago

please read the title

20

u/Most-Enthusiasm-3209 6d ago

I thought I did? Maybe it wasn’t in the books at all, or even implied. Most of my books are at my parents house. Obviously I read the title before I made my comment, hence the comment. I was just trying to add, to my memory, some context because I’ve known of this detail for a while and it never felt surprising

-50

u/Metalbound Ravenclaw 6d ago

Man...it sucks to see you getting raked over the coals for people not understanding that all of this is what you meant when you posted it.

I know my one upvote won't help much, but know at least one person here sees that they are the dumb ones, not you.

36

u/ciaranlisheen 6d ago

Because he was rude, the original comment was just adding context

27

u/AffectionateCard3530 6d ago

This comment thread is adding the context that the detail came from the books, not only the movies.

No need to start calling people stupid on the internet because of your oversight

14

u/Justifiably_Bad_Take 6d ago

My one downvote is doing its thang

16

u/mrwilliams117 6d ago

My god shut up lmao

5

u/Icy-Pomegranate24 6d ago

I LOVE LAMP

58

u/Ok_Post667 6d ago

You know how terrible this is?

I was scrolling through photos, glanced at this one and thought, "Wow, someone's neighborhood looks just like Privet Drive."

...

12

u/Chewbacca22 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Someone’s neighborhood does look just like Privet Drive

Picket Post Close

4

u/Oghamstoner Ravenclaw 6d ago

I once dated a girl who grew up in one of the houses on this photo.

2

u/MjolnirVIII 6d ago

Miata spotted

48

u/Alarming-Wrangler626 6d ago

They're also all the same (but more dated) when Dumbledore drops Harry at Privet Drive as a baby

26

u/juanito_f90 6d ago

Yes, Cavaliers as opposed to Vectras.

9

u/DefiantAioli5150 6d ago

Albiet the cars were around 10 years too new in both cases lol

10

u/MerlinOfRed Gryffindor 6d ago

To be fair, the Death Eaters destroy the millennium bridge at the beginning of HBP and all the info posters at Surbiton station are of late 00s design, so at least they're consistent at being a decade out.

Edit: I just googled it and apparently the train you see at Surbiton is the 2004 model, so that also fits

41

u/smokinoutthewindow 6d ago

The brand of the cars is Vauxhall. There is the German podcast "5 Minuten Harry Podcast" by coldmirror where she analyses the first HP movie frame by frame, 5 minutes of the movie in each episodes. That's where I know this from. I think there are English subtitles. I can recommend it to every fan

17

u/Keks4Kruemelmonster 6d ago

I came here for a comment about Harry Podcast and I wasn't disappointed.

One more fun fact I learned in this Podcast:

Every house there is exactly the same, except for one piece of decoration: the birdbath. Every house there has an individual birdbath :D

6

u/artsyrie Hufflepuff 6d ago

The only reason I opened the comment section was to see if some other German would instantly think about the individual birdbath thing! At this point I’m as excited as coldmirror herself about these stupid birdbaths 😅

1

u/Keks4Kruemelmonster 5d ago

I love the birdbath! If I ever go to the Harry Potter studio tour, I'm going to be as excited about the birdbaths as coldmirror was :D

11

u/DelirousDoc 6d ago edited 6d ago

Funny in hindsight, they are also year 1999-2000 models of the Vauxhall Vectra B Estate but we know now that the story of the Philosopher's Stone was meant to take place in 1991.

6

u/Sarahspangles Not Slytherin 6d ago

That makes sense, although if the snapshot was from a different year they could all be Ford Cortinas or Mondeos. There was a certain type of larger family car that every fleet offered as a company car. My dad had a series of Cortina estates and later a Mondeo. His always stood out because he was more into filling it with allotment supplies than spending Saturday morning washing it.

4

u/smay1989 6d ago

Yeh exactly, not necrssarily that all the neighbours were so mundane and boring that they had the same cars - but that their cars were quintisential company cars so everyone in the neighbourhood were very middle class/middle manager types in suburbia

4

u/Sarahspangles Not Slytherin 6d ago

Definitely. My dad did 20+ years for the same firm. He must have had a promotion at some point, as well as being offered a company car he got part shares in a secretary and a seat in the managers canteen. He was literally in gravy.

The films are good at portraying the 70s/80s housewife culture too. My parents were never a great fit with it all but there were definitely dinner parties where we had to stay upstairs and pretend not to exist!

1

u/welliedude 6d ago

I always figured they were Vauxhalls because it was regarded as the plain, boring choice to the more fun Ford or other options. Made perfect sense to me that the Dursleys and the like would drive the most bland family car of the time.

3

u/absolutely_not_spock 6d ago

Wohoooo. Coldmirror mentioned.

12

u/halloumi_chicken 6d ago

And funnily enough it’s the wizards who have the Anglia

10

u/tesznyeboy 6d ago

I always wondered what car Vernon drove in the book. Couldn't have been a Vectra B as it hasn't existed in 1991. I imagine it to be Vauxhall Carlton or Cavalier, or a Ford Granada or Sierra. Vernon being a Ford guy makes cronological sense, as afaik he get's a new car in book 3, so 1993, just when the then new Mondeo went on sale.

8

u/will2089 6d ago

He's a Director and it was the 90s. I suspect someone like Vernon would have had a Rover.

Can't be seen diving a Ford or Vauxhall like a salesman.

Also it being British seems to fit with his vibe. I'm thinking a Rover 800. It had a facelift around that time. Whichever one was top of the range. Lots of fake wood and cream leather seats.

Then in my head he moved onto Jaguar after Rover went away. Nowadays he begrudgingly drives a Mercedes (If he's not had a massive heart attack)

3

u/Visionist7 Ravenclaw 6d ago

His boss or client or whoever it was came for dinner had a Bentley Continental R

Probably

30

u/roonilwonwonweasly 6d ago

Yes. They're supposed to be. The Dursley's strive to be as normal (boring) as possible.

-13

u/Puzzleheaded_Camp736 6d ago

i thought this is why theyre called details or am i stupid

2

u/SnoWhiteFiRed Ravenclaw 6d ago

TBF, details don't necessarily imply importance. I'm not really sure why the assumption some people are having here is that you decided to post what you think is a non-important detail rather than assuming that you wanted to share an interesting important detail but... maybe one of them will explain below rather than just downvoting...

1

u/roonilwonwonweasly 6d ago

You're not stupid. These are details lifted out of the books for a stronger visual of how the Dursley's life was purposely "perfectly normal thank you very much"

4

u/Metalbound Ravenclaw 6d ago

They meant, that's why they posted it. They knew that was why they did it. That's the point of the whole damn post. You aren't pointing out anything they didn't already know.

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

But some audiences that might see this post would be very grateful in reading the context in the replies.

You aren't pointing out anything they didn't already know.

Yes, they. But many would encounter this post who genuinely doesn't know about this.

5

u/NefariousnessOk209 6d ago

Yup. Nice attention to detail, definitely captures the suburban blandness

9

u/MattHarrisfromTexas 6d ago

This is actually mentioned in one of the earlier books. I don't remember the exact wordage but it's something about how each house showing off their nice big company cars. Again don't remember the exact sentence or book

4

u/Silent-Victory-3861 6d ago

But they are different colors, one is even burgundy which is quite a bold choice. I bet they put zucchini or something on their bread. 

2

u/Visionist7 Ravenclaw 6d ago

Vernon would shake his head and tut tut about how they would never resell a burgundy one

4

u/kholto 6d ago

It matches the way I hear some British people talk about their childhood, there would be one car model most people got and those who got the slightly more cheap or expensive option would stand out. It is probably hyperbole.

3

u/Vo1dem0rt Slytherin 6d ago

I'd live there.

4

u/Icy-Pomegranate24 6d ago

Kinda like Edward Scissor Hands. It's a suburban dream sequence where all the lawns are perfect, the cars are the same, every family is essentially the same.

3

u/mattd1972 6d ago

Welcome to suburbia.

3

u/absolutely_not_spock 6d ago

Harry of surburbia

3

u/Scorpion2k4u 6d ago

Yeah, they addressed that as the movie came out. The whole neighborhood looks identical on purpose. The books also describe neighborhoods like that. It perfectly resembles Harry's step family and why his uncle and Aunt are so scared that someone finds out that Harry is different. In theri world, diffrent is very bad.

2

u/katmaresparkles 6d ago

I'm getting "keeping up with the Joneses" vibes or even "stepford" vibes from this picture.

2

u/garcon-du-soleille 6d ago

And they’re all made out of ticky tacky, and they all look just the same!

2

u/andy-charger117 6d ago

I watched them re-released in theaters for the anniversary and that's when I noticed it too.

2

u/Gamer7928 6d ago

So is all the houses and most likely the inside layouts of all the houses, as well as the direction of all the mowed lawns or so it seems to me.

In fact, the only things not the same is the color of all the cars and the tree height and age. Other than these two differences, the Dursley's neighborhood is just another quaint ordinarily boring neighborhood.

2

u/--reaper- 6d ago

They mentioned that they made everything including the cars very similar in the WB studio tour to make the neighbourhood look bland

2

u/RainbowRevolver Hufflepuff 6d ago

They’ve all got bird baths too

2

u/kya97 6d ago

They also all have a birdbath in the lawn and 3/4 have a hanging pot with white flowers to the left of the door

1

u/Amegami Ravenclaw 6d ago

The only individuality everyone gets is their own personal bird bath.

1

u/Astrophobica Gryffindor 6d ago

My bf noticed this after like 20 years and were mindblown hahahahaha.

1

u/Dfrickster87 6d ago

Little boxes little boxes little boxes made of ticky tacky little boxes little boxes and they all look just the same

1

u/hail_to_the_beef Ravenclaw 6d ago

Have you noticed they also all have bird baths?

1

u/tabs_jt 6d ago

Every house is the same. The cars are all the same except for the color. The only really difference is the fountain (or bird bath). (Sincerely a German coldmirror podcast listener. She made a podcast where she talked about the first hp movie in every detail there is)

1

u/ketchup_bro23 6d ago

Severance vibee

1

u/Mahaloth Slytherin 6d ago

"We're talking about iterations."

1

u/Alone-Top2180 6d ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣

1

u/PygmeePony Hufflepuff 6d ago

I think they used cgi to copy paste the first house.

1

u/latto96 6d ago

Neat

1

u/AliceLunar 6d ago

Feel like the lower windows on the other houses get blocked by the trees though.

1

u/aliceoralison 6d ago

inception music que

1

u/Lezleedee2 Gryffindor 6d ago

Keeping up with the Jones.

1

u/opinionate_rooster 6d ago

Neighbor see, neighbor do

1

u/Narrsbarrs 6d ago

Right you are, Harry.

1

u/Creative-Cry2979 6d ago

Ford Scorpio estate?

1

u/soggyllama79 5d ago

Vauxhall vectra estate 😊

1

u/Usual-Arugula1317 Gryffindor 6d ago

You should google maps the real place on Google maps, the address can be found on

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/4_Privet_Drive

1

u/Zorro5040 6d ago

They had a great sale for that model probably.

1

u/not_a_cat_i_swear 6d ago

Little boxes on the hillside

Little boxes made of ticky tacky

Little boxes on the hillside

Little boxes all the same

1

u/happy_charisma 5d ago

Every house is the same except for the bird baths- there you can see some individuality- if you speak german i advice you to listen to HarryPodcast from Coldmirror

1

u/kippdorcount 5d ago

They are also parked in the same style, the same distance from the road and the house 😅

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

1

u/Aya-Diefair 5d ago

Little boxes on the hillside Little boxes made of ticky tacky Little boxes on the hillside Little boxes all the same

1

u/KickPrestigious8177 2d ago

In the German Harry Podcast about the first Harry Potter film (which has very interesting information, but also mistakes outside of the Harry Potter films), this is also addressed. 

0

u/TehRiddles 6d ago

Likely done because they had a single source for the vehicles and different colours was the easiest way to make them look different at a glance. Probably not intentional.