Cars for Teens

From the pages of the automobile journal Duh...

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - If teens had their choice of a car, they'd take a Ford Mustang, according to a recent poll. But parents put the Mustang at the bottom of the list of cars they'd want for their kids.

An on-line poll administered by the vehicle pricing company Kelley Blue Book, showed that drivers age 16 to 25 ranked stylish vehicles such as a Mustang or a Jeep Wrangler as their top vehicle choices, while their parents preferred something more sensible, like a Toyota Corolla.

The 2000 Honda Civic ranked highly with both parents and teens. It was the top choice for parents and third choice for teens.

The 2001 Mustang and the 2002 Corolla were the most polarizing cars. The Mustang was the favorite for teen drivers but ranked dead last as a car parents would want to see their kids drive.

The Corolla was the car teens least wanted to drive, but it ranked second among parents.

"Young drivers, who often are very image-conscious, prefer the sporty 'cool cars,' but parents seem more concerned with safety and practicality when it comes to having their children behind the wheel," said Jack R. Nerad, an executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

The real story here is that CNN considers this to be "news". And for what it's worth, kids have lousy taste; Mustangs have looked like crap since the nineties. The classics from the first few years were good looking cars, and the brand new 'Stangs are good to go, but the rest are crap.

And I wouldn't want to drive a Corolla, either. Those things may as well come with the work "dweeb" painted right on them. Oh, and under no circumstances should teenagers be given Jeeps to drive... Even though I was head over heels for this girl who drove a Jeep in high school.

(For what it's worth, I've always wanted to get lucky with a girl who drove a Jetta.)