These Are The Youth-Focused Car Programs Our Readers Would Create If They Didn't Have To Worry About Money

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Being an adult is so annoying. You still have all the same brilliant ideas you had as a kid, only instead of having the money to make your dreams a reality, you're stuck short on cash, as you get nickled-and-dimed to death spending money on things like "groceries" and "rent." It's not just business ideas, either. As Jalopnik readers, you have great ideas about all the ways we could help people, too. Well, some of you, at least. 

Which is why, on Monday, we asked you which youth-focused automotive programs you'd create if you didn't have to worry about money. The kids don't want to drive, no one they know owns a manual they can learn on, and we could fix it all if someone with enough cash swooped in to implement our best ideas. Surely, Jalopnik, of all the car blogs, has readers who know what they're talking about. So let's take a look at some of the most popular answers. 

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I would immediately authorize auto shop classes at public high schools and junior colleges around the country. And extend those classes to building trades as well.

I have a bachelors degree, but I recognize that the high school to college pipeline for white collar employment may be irretrievably be broken. If schools are honestly preparing students for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in America, they should be preparing students for real life opportunities rather than training them to end up as over-educated coffee baristas and Uber drivers.

Suggested by: jrhmobile

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I would think locally. I know there's a youth program in my town and while it's the typical arts and tech stuff for the kids to learn, it can't hurt to introduce a program about car repair. Buy a clunker and all the parts needed to get it on the road, and go through the basics to the advanced parts of car maintenance and upkeep. When it's all fixed up, the car is sold and that money is used to buy a new car and parts for the next car repair program.

Suggested by: Alf Enthusiast

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I was taking about this with a friend the other day. If I won the lottery I would start a training program that would train new techs, but also rebuilds 9th gen Corollas. The program would be a two year program, graduating students would get the skills they need to find jobs and the program would create a handful of cheap rebuild reliable cars that would go back into the local community.

Suggested by: Minivanman

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I'm not sure if this is 100% true (and correct me if it isn't) but I'm under the impression that getting into any level of auto racing, even as a child or a teen, requires some VERY deep pockets and that limits the talent pool. Especially for anyone young trying to break into the training programs for Formula 1 – you probably need sponsors lined up by the time you're 13.

So this might be hard to phrase, but I'd create a program that would be an outreach to middle and high schools and encourage them to get into a training program whose sole purpose would be to assess the driving talents of these 16 and under students and see who might have a future and fund/develop them so it's easier to break into the higher levels of stock car/open wheel/rally/Formula 1-3 racing. A lot of stories I see are about kids of racing dads and of course they are given the opportunities as that's how they grew up and their dad is a top-tier racer who can open all of the doors and fund whatever they need. Let's give the middle class kid from suburban Cincinnati who has an undiscovered top tier skill for driving but no opportunities the same opportunities that a Busch kid would have.

Suggested by: Xavier96

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If you've ever heard of FIRST Robotics, I'd develop a similar organization to get kids into motorsports.

I was a part of our school's robotics team in high school, and it was a pretty big organization. There were separate teams for mechanical, electrical, coding, design, and marketing, plus an a/v team that had a separate animation competition. There was something for pretty much anyone that wanted to get involved.

This could be translated perfectly to motorsports, with teams competing in Lemons-style races. There would be drivers, pit crew, mechanical, finance/accounting, marketing, and film teams, locally sponsored and supervised by advisors. There could even be a younger, say middle school, version that's focused on karting. It would teach that motorsports isn't all about the driver. Mechanical and pit crew would learn car repair/modification, finance/accounting would handle the budget and sourcing parts, marketing would recruit sponsors and design merch to sell, and film would create social media posts and long-form content about the team's season.

Suggested by: Wantsamanuelalpharomero

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I would create an endowment to provide three separate month-long summer camps where 16 year-olds leave their phones at home and learn how to work on cars in groups. The three camps would be set up in order, like Autos I, Autos II, and Autos III.

The first would be beginner stuff like basic defensive driving, checking oil and coolant levels, changing a flat tire, changing wiper blades, etc.

The second would be more advanced stuff like oil and filter changes, using a diagnostic code reader to troubleshoot a check engine light, tire rotation, etc.

And the third would be even more advanced stuff like swapping fuel injectors, changing a water pump, replacing brake pads and bleeding hydraulic brakes, etc.

This would teach the youth self-reliability when it comes to being around automobiles, and it would teach much-needed social skills like talking to other people, working with others in pairs or groups, and most importantly, being able to survive a whole month at a time without being glued to a mobile phone.

Imagine how much more life-prepared they would be after a summer like this!

Suggested by: Anonymous II: The Sequel

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I like the go-kart idea, with a basic level of just driving for fun, with advanced groups building their own simple formula karts, and up to more complex models to teach wrenching on their own vehicles.

Suggested by: Radar Lover Gone

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Remember that King if the Hill race that went kinda viral a couple weeks ago? Where racers in generic cars tried to be the first to drive onto a flatbed trailer being pulled around an oval track?

That. A youth league for that. Teach 'em car control, physics, competitiveness, and general mayhem.

What could go wrong?

Suggested by: Stillnotatony

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i recognize the impracticality of combine harvester racing but I feel like forklift racing has potential especially if the youth are destined to be drones in an amazon warehouse. gotta get those rear steering dynamics down early.

Suggested by: Scaramimer

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Soap box derby!

Suggested by: TN Cyclist

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In the US, I'd embezzle all the money and leave the kids with the message that their future was bleak and hopeless either way.

Suggested by: Pandaemica