PAST:
Since the early 1900’s, cars played an important part in people’s daily lives. People rely on automobiles to get them to work, school and many other places. Cars are sleek, shiny, loud, fast and exhilarating, and that’s why so many teenagers love cars.
But cars in the past are not the same as they are today; they were often times not very fuel efficient, safe or quiet. Take muscle cars for example. Muscle cars ruled throughout the mid and late 1900’s and were the most common type of car back then. And for good reason. They offered not only a means of transportation, but a way to have fun while traveling places.
Junior Braden Ward’s dad, Ryan Ward, a 1989 ACHS alumnus, said, “A small percentage [of ACHS students] did have crappy muscle cars. Stoners typically had beat up late 70’s. The rest had pickup trucks, Jeeps, or really crappy early 80’s cars.”
While only a small percentage of ACHS students in the past owned muscle cars, they were still popular. And they still are today. Hundreds of classic car auctions take place at various locations around the world every year, and muscle cars are almost always the ones that go up for the most price. Muscle cars were popular because they were fast, fun and simply looked great. Some of the most popular muscle cars of the time included the 1967 Pontiac GTO, 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454.
PRESENT:
Cars from the past, like muscle cars, are still around, but the type of cars that are most common today are, as shown by the Edmunds.com report on the most researched cars on their website, either four door sedans or SUV’s with high fuel efficiency and plenty of space. And for students, not only from ACHS, the cheapest is usually the best.
“I think the average amount of money that a high school student spends on cars is around three thousand dollars,” said senior Carly McCameron.
Sophomore Quinton Heney, who only paid 1,600 dollars for his 2001 Honda Accord, said, “I originally didn’t want a car, but my parents showed me an offer from my dad’s friend for a low priced Honda Accord that I only had to pay half of. Then, wanting the freedom of my own car, I gave my parents the money and my car was in the driveway shortly after receiving my license.”
The freedom of having a car is one of the great things about becoming an adult. The feeling of being able to go almost anywhere with your friends or by yourself is often what motivates students to get a job in order to afford a car. After all, not all teenagers are lucky enough to have parents will will pay for the car, car insurance and gas. Some students pay for the gas, while their parents pay for the car and insurance. But whatever they choose to arrange with their parents, cars are quite expensive.
Junior Weston Fox owns a 1972 Chevy truck.
“My dad’s always had a truck and it’s very handy when there is big material to transport for the house or around the yard. So they are pretty useful, but I have certain trucks that I like and don’t like as well,” he said.
It seem that whatever car that someone may happen to own, it comes in handy in it’s own way. Some cars have more space, seats, features, horsepower or miles per gallon. Most cars that are sold today have the previous features, some more than others. But whatever car that someone chooses to purchase today, they can rest assured that it will do a great job of taking them wherever they need, some faster than others.
FUTURE:
Nobody knows exactly where the future will take us, but one can take an educated guess, especially with cars.
Many believe that fuel efficient hybrid and electric cars will be the future of automobiles. Yes, these cars are certainly becoming more popular as more people seek to save the environment, but are they really the future? After all, cars like these have been around for a few years. With all the new buildings, homes and complexes constantly being built, cars may go out of existence, and give way to less space taking, more fuel efficient mopeds.
“I think there will be more fuel efficient mopeds,” said junior Ben Hermes.
Or, perhaps, cars might even go back to how they were in the past.
Junior Derek Snellman, who owns a Pontiac Firebird, said, “I think [cars] are going to go back to being muscle cars, because everything now is just computerized and people will eventually go back to just preferring raw horsepower.”
While some products do go back to how they use to be, due to negative opinions of the current product, it seems that as more people purchase fuel efficient and economical and environmentally conscience cars, the future of automobiles seems to be headed towards hybrid and electric.
