The automobile is something that has changed through the years in a great way: they’ve become a lot sleeker, more fuel efficient, and now have started to even have their own unique purposes.

Despite all these changes and open possibilities, college students often don’t even consider a dream car anymore.

Just ask a few.

Most young adults admit that their so-called ‘dream car’ would be something quite common place.

But looking back at ‘dream cars’ for young people in the 1980s? That’s another story.

Cars are seen more as a necessity rather than a luxury in the modern era. A basic car for someone who can barely afford it usually has the bare bone basic features: select safety features, traction control, digital display with a global positioning system, also known as GPS, and that is about it.

In other words, nothing fancy.

In the ‘80s however, these features were options that would be considered to empower the driver.

Now we have cars specialized in certain areas: sports cars for speed, trucks for moving and towing, vans for transporting people, compact and subcompacts for getting place to place, and SUVs for a combination of moving and carrying people.

Going back in time, cars (with a few exceptions) were designed to be the work horses. They could tow, move a lot of people, and were spacious enough to carry other cargo. The three things listed above are done in one trip as well.

Is it better or worse that cars became specialized in their own areas?

In the eye of the everyday worker, the answer would probably be yes.

A car is used to get back and forth to work and maybe run errands and what not afterwards. There is no need for the towing power or space of other cars. In addition, most modern era cars get decent gas mileage since the engine isn’t doing an overhaul of work.

The only down side is that when a person needs the power or space, they need to rent a vehicle or ask to borrow someone else’s vehicle to get to point A to point B.

In the eye of someone who uses their vehicle to move people and objects to different locations, the answer ironically would probably be yes as well. Trucks especially have been built to take more abuse from the loads they carry and tow, as well as attempt to maximize their fuel efficiency. The only downside is that trucks aren’t the most spacious vehicles around. Other vans and SUV’s have been specialized to carry the most amounts of people leaving some space, but have been outfitted to suit the people.

What the problem ultimately boils down to is price. Where the basic sub-compact and compact cars have an average staring price of 15-20 thousand, a truck or van of the same basic caliber can cost roughly 25-30 thousand. The people who need the extra power and space on occasion cannot afford their needs on occasion.

What can be done to close this gap and make all cars affordable to everyone?

As a new generation of vehicles emerges, prices and materials are slowly falling, and in due time it will be universal to have access to whatever kind of vehicle a person need be.