I feel like the American car culture is pretty much dead. I had to visit a high school today (the same high school I graduated from) and I rode through the student parking lot. And all I saw was a bunch of Honda Accords, Honda Civics and smaller SUVs like the CRV, Jeep Liberty and Suburu Forrester. And all of them looked the same. It was pretty disappointing. When I was in high school, it was all about buying a bucket, fixing it up and then tricking it out. Had you ridden through the student lot when I was in school, you would have seen dudes under the hood of their Mustangs, their full size Chevy Blazers, their Caprice Classics or their VW 16 valve GTIs.
I started with a 1981 VW Scirocco. I bought it for $800 on my 16th birthday in 1991. It was kind of a POS when I got it. It had no stereo system at all (only am/fm radio), faded white paint and it was plain Jane. I loved that car. I dumped money into it. I got a paint job (painted it black with a red pinstripe down the side). I put fog lights on. I cut a sunroof into it. And I pieced together a boomin' system. That was great fun. We'd meet on dead end streets on Friday nights and talk about what you just got or what you were going to get soon to spruce up your ride. It was a huge part of growing up in that era. Sure, there were a few kids whose parents bought them new cars when they were 16. But for the most part, we all did it the way I described. And we all enjoyed it.
After the '81 Scirocco, I drove a '74 Porche 914. Then a '83 Mazda 626 until graduation. I then got a '87 VW Scirocco and then I got a '90 Jetta. And I drove the Jetta until I bought my first "real" car - where I took out a loan. It was a 1998 Acura 3.2 TL (5 cylinder).
Nowadays, kids just get a slightly used, sensible car. But it's already got everything they need. No one "works" on their car anymore. A big piece of Americana has died. Makes me sad.
I started with a 1981 VW Scirocco. I bought it for $800 on my 16th birthday in 1991. It was kind of a POS when I got it. It had no stereo system at all (only am/fm radio), faded white paint and it was plain Jane. I loved that car. I dumped money into it. I got a paint job (painted it black with a red pinstripe down the side). I put fog lights on. I cut a sunroof into it. And I pieced together a boomin' system. That was great fun. We'd meet on dead end streets on Friday nights and talk about what you just got or what you were going to get soon to spruce up your ride. It was a huge part of growing up in that era. Sure, there were a few kids whose parents bought them new cars when they were 16. But for the most part, we all did it the way I described. And we all enjoyed it.
After the '81 Scirocco, I drove a '74 Porche 914. Then a '83 Mazda 626 until graduation. I then got a '87 VW Scirocco and then I got a '90 Jetta. And I drove the Jetta until I bought my first "real" car - where I took out a loan. It was a 1998 Acura 3.2 TL (5 cylinder).
Nowadays, kids just get a slightly used, sensible car. But it's already got everything they need. No one "works" on their car anymore. A big piece of Americana has died. Makes me sad.
