It’s prom season folks, which means teens across the country are dressing up to enjoy one final celebration of adolescence before donning cap and gown and becoming what society deems “adults.” Sure, some time may have passed since you partook in this coming-of-age ritual, but you may still remember your date, what you wore, and who you danced with. Maybe your night ended much like the cliche storylines of “American Pie” or But for many who have scrolled the pages of Jalopnik, what might really stand out from prom night is what you arrived in.
The classic go-to prom ride for my prom era, which was the 2000s, was a limo. So many teen movies and TV shows of the time featured teens getting bussed around in the classy, long wheel-based vehicles for the big night. It was super cool to have a friend with parents that would rent one for your prom group, or kids would opt to split the cost between everyone riding in it. If the limo wasn’t your taste or an option, but you also didn’t have a cool or reliable ride to take to prom, your parents might have insisted you take the nicer family car. Or maybe that was the night dad finally tossed you the keys to his “do not touch” garage baby.
Most of us probably borrowed a car
My senior prom was an ungodly 20 years ago. Due to time and fading memory, I had to text my prom date to see if he remembered what what we drove. It turned out to be his 2000 Ford SVT Contour complete with total blackout tint windows and underbody lighting (because “Fast & Furious”) and definitely not his very broken 1988 Merkur XR4Ti. For my dateless junior prom the year prior, my dad was kind enough to let me borrow his precious car — a 1996 Cadillac Concours. I just had to return it before he left the next morning, and that black on black leather-clad pumpkin was promptly parked in the driveway sometime around 4 a.m… .
Anyway, you, dear reader, what did you drive to the prom? Did you also reach a milestone or understanding with your parents when they handed you the keys to a car you were never allowed to drive? Or were you much cooler than most of us and already had a sweet car to take?
I apologize that I was unable to procure photos of the cars I took to prom to share in embarrassment, but I’m hoping you’ll share pictures of your ride — bonus points if it’s actually you and the car on prom night. I’ll put the best ones together for your reading pleasure later in the week.
