While I can agree that to some people the car is a mean to an end, i.e. getting from point A to point B (my wife would be a perfect example!). I disagree on the honesty behind the apparent incomprehension. And share RC's uneasy stance on this.
If you lived in Congo or Bangladesh you might not get it, but if you live in Germany, or anywhere else in a G12 country there's no way you can honestly pretend not to understand the pleasure that can be derived by a nice (and often expensive) object whether it's a car, a painting, a nice house, a horse, a boat, ... you name it.
 
This kind of pretense is unfortunately almost always envy. I could only accept that kind of attitude from someone I knew for certain that could afford easily the expense, tried it and then rejected it.
 
I'm sorry to hear that RC's environment seem to be so hostile. In Italy I don't get it that bad. Nor in Germany (my wife happens to be German/Italian ;)). Mostly our worries are pre-emptive. We worry how people might react, but so far I didn't get many bad reactions yet. Finger crossed. The odds would be worse with a Ferrari or a Lambo, I'm guessing.