Men will always have a "thing" for cars. Be it the twentieth century or the twenty-fourth, cars (of any sort) will hold a special place in a man’s heart. Except in the twenty-fourth century, our "cars" will be shuttlecraft and starships.

Now, I don’t presume to understand this phenomena—As a girl, I don’t think I ever really will—but I can state my observations and the similarities I’ve noticed.

Take Tom Paris, for example. He’s the hotshot ship’s pilot with a love for and talent in his job. Voyager is his baby, and he loves putting her through new maneuvers. Just watching him at the helm reminds me of my father with the new car—he’ll speed up, swerve, brake suddenly, all while I’m turning green in the backseat. I can almost hear him say "evasive maneuvers" with the same glee Tom has in those words. And, of course, speed is an important factor, too. Do you think the shuttle "Cochrane" would have made it up to Warp 10 if, say, Saadi was at the helm? I don’t—while women may like speed, men seem to enjoy pushing the limits of their cars/shuttlecrafts—even when it means evolving into a lizard. Put two men together discussing cars and the topic of speed will invariably come up.

Of course, I can’t simply base this essay on a simple comparison between shuttlecraft and cars, can I? Well, then, let’s count out direct references to cars themselves—all made by our very own Mr. Paris. In the "37’s", Paris oohs and ahhs over the truck found floating in space. We learn, in another episode that he has a holodeck program with a car which he uses for dates, and in "Days of Future Past", he is ecstatic over driving the car. And who can forget the Camaro in "Vis a Vis"? All direct proof that man’s faithful interest in cars will never fail.