My neighbor’s kids are just 9 and 8 years old, and all they do is notice cars on the roads and play with their toy cars all the time. Stacy is a NASCAR fan, and she will tell you all about the black flag, over steer, and the pole position, but she can’t seem to learn her lessons at school.

You would expect a girl to be into dolls and to play house, but this one just beats the stereotype, and her brother follows her example. Alec is crazy about the Volkswagen Tiguan, and Mitsubishi Lancer. They have got a few toy cars, and they take care of them more than anything else.

Kids these days know a lot about cars. I have seen young kids go on tracks, on TV. And these kids are not like amateur drivers, they are absolutely competitive and serious, and very young.

My colleague’s kid is extremely obsessed with cars, and he has given a car theme to his room. His bed is car shaped, he has racecar posters on his room’s walls, and has car related knick nacks around the room. He has made traffic lights from cardboard boxes, and hung them in his room. He also plays “Need For Speed” on his computer.

Stacy and Alec are more of the messy kind, with all their toys and clothes scattered around the room unless their mom cleans it up once in a week or so. You ask them to get anything from their room, and they’ll be unable to find, it except their toy cars. It’s a relief they don’t set their cars on fire to get a more realistic racing feel!

Their mom is somewhat worried about them, especially Stacy, who totally defies the typical female stereotype, but her dad is all the way with her, and encourages her to be a professional racecar driver. When their mom tells them about road safety, they talk about collision instances from races and freak her out. It is totally hilarious to see them argue over these issues.

These kids are not the only kids into cars. I see kids get crazier about cars than adults. These kids seem to know it all, and better than the adults!

By Ed Victor

Ed is a freelance writer.