[jgn]

This sums it up for me:

"The decline in driving by younger Americans is fed by many factors: the high cost of gas and insurance at a time of economic insecurity; tighter restrictions on teen drivers in many states; and roads that are more congested than ever, making driving less fun than ever."

But I'd add that cars used to be cool, and right now there aren't any cars I seriously want to drive. My dad and his brothers could afford muscle cars and they loved driving them, it was cool as hell. I can't relate to that at all.

[nitrogen]

If you buy used and can handle doing maintenance yourself, you can buy an older e.g. BMW convertible for less than $10k. That's somewhat cool, if you're into the whole drop top thing.

[ams6110]

My main daily driver is a 1983 Mercedes diesel. It's likely not a car many people would consider to be "cool" but I paid less than $2000 for it, maintain it myself, enjoy doing so, and it's the most reliable car I've ever owned.

I understand that not everyone likes working on their own cars. I don't enjoy gardening. It's a diversion, a hobby for me. Like anything else, it's not "scary" once you start to understand it. It's just a machine, and in particular the older Mercedes are very overbuilt, designed to be repairable, and are generally easy to work on.

[WalterBright]

Driving a fire-breathing muscle car you put together yourself is pure joy.

[mturmon]

Yep, I live in a neighborhood where all the teenage boys worship at the altar of Fast and Furious, and I didn't totally believe the article's thesis.

They have not only muscle cars, as you mention, but hacked together roadsters, freaky modded VWs bugs, tuned Hondas, lowered El Caminos, and raised 4WDs. Not to mention the motorcycles.

The idea of moving to Copenhagen and pedaling a bicycle to the tram stop does not seem to have seized their imagination in quite the same way that Vin Diesel has. ;-)

[gwern]

After all the costs involved, it'd damn well better be an exploding orgasm.

[prolepunk]

As much as I appreciate the look of muscle cars, I can't imagine myself driving an impractical gas guzzling behemoth. So I settle for an occasional econobox groceries run on the weekend, which still feels somewhat unnecessary, and a subway pass for the work week.

Nowdays we are all too aware of environmental impact of cars, so the whole concept beyond basic utilitarian use is a whole lot less appealing.

[phil]

Not within reach for most of us mortals, anyway:

http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/

[natesm]

Honestly, while it's "cool" conceptually (because of the electric thing), I find the Tesla styling pretty repulsive compared to a Mini or Smart Car, both of which I consider pretty adorable (and I hate cars).

[phil]

In that case you might also find this one of the greatest auto designs of all time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_2CV

I'd love to create a modern electric conversion of a 2cv, but while I don't hate cars, I don't want to become that much of a car guy.