You’re in the driver’s seat, you’ve got your hands on the wheel, perhaps another hand on a gear shift, and a foot on the gas. 16, 17, 18, regardless of age, freedom never seemed more achievable than from behind the wheel of your parent’s cast-off car. Despite Mason’s eye-watering price for a parking sticker, it’s a relatively small price to pay for the joy that our students feel cruising into their spot each morning, each one thinking that their car is superior to the next.
“First off, it’s name is Tammy, and we have a song about her: ‘Tammy: More Than A Car’”
Senior Jack Fletchall and his friends look to his car, a Lexus 2001 ES-300 sedan, as the environment where their friendship was brought to new heights by making inside jokes while they drove around Falls Church. The grey-green tint of the Lexus, adorned by a dented license plate and an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror, is the metal glue that holds Fletchall’s friend group together.
“If you put us in Tammy with water and granola bars, we could be in there for a week, making classics [inside jokes]” said Fletchall. “My best memory in the car was when we were being tailgated by a few of our other friends, and we were [talking to them] through the windshield.”
The recounting of this experience was accompanied by hoots and hollers of Fletchall and one of his most frequent companions in his car, Nico Ferrara. This past summer, Fletchall took his friends to a vacation house in Reedville, Virginia, and drove them in his car.
“Not one song played, we just talked the whole time,” Fletchall said. “We take off the passenger headrest to really open up the cabin of the car so everyone is involved in the conversation.”
For a hand me down from his grandparents, Fletchall is managing to keep Tammy up to date.
“I just got new tires last year, she’s all up on inspection, and as long as I keep my hands on the wheel, it won’t veer right,” Fletchall said.
“I’m just glad it’s not the PT Cruiser”
For Kenya Bliss, her family cars have always been so cramped for space, and talking about her first car, a PT Cruiser, brings a sour taste to her mouth.
“Last month I used all my savings, which was about $8,000, to get a used Beamer,” Bliss said. “I got new tires and new brakes, but the sunroof is broken.”
Bliss can be seen driving her 2009 BMW X5 to and from Pho 88 for a quick meal, basketball practices, and around Falls Church with the car packed with friends.
“It has a lot of space, and heat warmers,” Bliss said. “It doesn’t even look big on the outside. The Hummer my parents have is huge but is still cramped inside. I didn’t like that car or the cruiser, so I was really appreciative when I got this car.”
How would Bliss describe her car? “Boujee,” she said. (Ed.: No, I don’t know what that means).
“Country. Reliable.”
Junior Reed Bond’s 2007 Toyota Tacoma truck is usually the last to pull into the junior lot, credited to his morning class, Auto Tech, at the Arlington Career Center. As a result of these classes, Bond has been able to repair his own car on numerous occasions.
“It’s a pickup truck, and I work on it myself. I changed the fan belt, the brake fluid, and I change the oil,” Bond said. “I also do side projects where I help people move, and I am paid for that.”
Bond’s car has provided him with transportation to and from the ACC and school, as well as across the country.
“The greatest memory I have in the car was when I drove from here [Falls Church] to Ohio for a college visit, to Pennsylvania for a camp, then back home. It was two weeks long and I drove by myself.”
“My car doesn’t have airbags”
Senior Grinden Collins’s 1994 Isuzu Trooper car is more that of a senior citizen’s. In ten years, he will be able to register it as an antique, but the real question is if it will last ten more days.
“The radio barely works and the speaker system will cut out all the time. I don’t have suspensions so when I hit a speed bump, the entire thing shakes,” Collins said. “[My friend] Wesley broke the door so you can’t open it from the inside. Even when I lock it, you can still get in from the outside but at least the alarm will go off. When you turn tight corners sometimes it’s only on two wheels… that is one of the main thing people complain about.”
Despite all of these issues, the car continues to pass inspection, and Collins feels the same amount of appreciation for his car as any other student in the lot, if not more.
“I love my car it’s awesome, I feel like I’m above everyone and I feel so cool driving it. It’s rad,” Collins said. “I have a deer guard, which is pretty sick so I could probably hit someone if I really wanted to.”
Watch out students, if you claim to love your car more than Grinden’s, he might test his deer guard out on you.
“Outdoorsy, cool, desirable, sexy…I mean what’s not to like?”
Senior Shaun Rodock’s 2001 Jeep Wrangler was passed down from her sister, who left quite a legacy to accompany it.
“A couple years ago, Kelly absolutely wrecked another car, like completely totaled the car, and the Jeep had one scratch on it on the license plate,” Rodock said. “ I always feel safe in him because he’s a tank…his name is Hank the Tank.”
Rodock’s car is one of only a handful in the senior lot that has a manual transmission.
“I love driving the Jeep because it’s a stick shift which makes it extra super cool and driving stick is so much more enjoyable than driving automatic,” Rodock said. “I highly recommend that all kids learn how to drive stick.”
Think your car is unlike any other? Is your best memory behind a faded leather steering wheel? Tell us about it in the comments below! Or email us at [email protected].
