First Cars Are Made To Do Everything, But Not In The Way That You Think

An article went live this past weekend proclaiming the Ford Maverick as the Perfect First Car, with its author noting a caveat that he is just presenting one view on the topic going as far as to say everyone has a different idea to go about it.

“Taste, geography, and budget, among a million other factors,” he notes in the opening paragraph. The article then strays from the point to morph into a shill ad for the vehicle he bought when the beauty of first cars was summed up so quickly, so beautifully.

Don’t get me wrong, the Ford Maverick is a fine automobile that is remarkably versatile as a pickup. In addition to its practicality, you can opt for greater performance in either hybrid or street-truck forms, going wild with the accessories. But is this going to matter to the teenager who’ll eventually hoon it? They’re going to drive it however they like, no matter the vehicle.

And that’s precisely the point. It’s whatever they want it to be. Not what it was designed to be. Teenagers are remarkably indiscriminate when it comes to transportation when their parents are the ones with the checkbook.

I want a Lexus LFA but my first car was a 2007 Honda Accord, bought on the night we learned I was accepted to my preferred college. For at least five years, my entire life could fit in the back of it with the seats down as I shuffled between dorms and apartments. On some days, it was an Autobahn cruiser when I traveled with my pack of fellow enthusiasts at an unspecified speed. Some days, it followed a convoy of naturalists off the beaten path to track Golden Eagles and mark nest locations. Some days, it faced black ice and was mostly successful against loss of control.

Eventually, the consequence of going to college in upstate New York caught up with the Accord, with salt rusting out the rear suspension to the point of making nonchalant braking a shaky situation every time. 180k miles, it was time to trade it in as the world opened up post pandemic. Hello, new Miata.

Although bought with my money, I never pigeonholed its usefulness. The beauty of an MX-5 lies in its dual purpose as a daily commuter or a high-revving sports car dependent of mood. There’s no off switch, falling at the discretion of the driver.

The discretion of the driver means I would later find out it can squeeze 16 pizzas when delivering to the local Boys and Girls Club. The bigger surprise is that when I don’t carry a lead foot, the extremely tall sixth gear means spectacular fuel economy that hovers in the forties and fifties. When taking in account headrest speakers for open-roof comfort, what more do you need?

So the Miata is another kind of supercar, one that isn’t limited to its original purpose but can adapt to what you throw at it. Eventually you’ll be able to use it as a Ford Maverick.

Any first car is what you decide to make of it beyond the scope of design. So let your imagination run free.

-TA

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