This is the first issue of a series of articles ranking cars in the AMHS school parking lot. After careful deliberation, a 50 point scale was developed to properly rate the cars:

• 10 points- Uniqueness (car stickers, car color, etc.) 
• 10 points- Overall cleanliness (exterior)
• 15 points- Car Design (vintage, recent model, etc.) 
• 15 points – Overall Aesthetics (appeal, satisfying finish)

Unfortunately, this smart car only ranked a 37/50 on the highly developed AMHS scale of car superiority. Although this car certainly earned its points in uniqueness and overall cleanliness, the majority of points lost was in its aesthetic value. Personally, I am not a fan of the compressed smart car look, but I am sure plenty of people would beg to differ. The smart car did earn some points back, however, for its fuel efficiency and economy friendly attributes. 

This Gold Jeep, earning a score of 45/50, definitely stands out in the AMHS school parking lot. It received top marks in the categories of uniqueness, as you could easily distinguish it while driving down the road. The gold paint job and airy convertible interior earned this Jeep a perfect score in the car design and overall aesthetics categories. Points were deducted from the overall score of cleanliness, but this is an easy fix!

This vintage green Miyata ranked a solid 43/50 points, it is certainly a car you don’t see everyday! I love the retro look of this classic car, the worn paint, and convertible features earn this car a full 15/15 points in the category of aesthetics and design. However, as you can see in the picture, the front bumper of the car seems to have come detached, thus I must dock this car a few points for lack of safety. 

The fascinating collection of stickers on this car earned it a great score of 39/50. Although one might wonder what makes this car so unique if just viewing it from the front, upon walking around to the back, one will see a colorful variety of carefully placed stickers on the rear window. This display led the car to earn full points in uniqueness and aesthetics. Points were deducted from the categories of cleanliness and car design as without the stickers, the car would likely be much less distinctive. 

With this specific vehicle, it is not the automobile that stands out. Rather, it is the vanity license plate found on the rear of the car that makes this a distinguished car. In disregard to the license plate, the car itself earns quite a mediocre score. A pretty standard car, this Chevy lacks in the category of aesthetics and car design. Unfortunately, the vanity plate isn’t enough to earn this car a high score, leading it to be the second lowest scoring vehicle in this issue. 

This vintage truck earns an impressive 43 out of 50 points. The additions this owner has added to the car, including the bed rack, brush guard, and the tire lift earned the car a 15 out of 15 for the car design category. In addition, both the Half Moon Outfitters and ARB bumper stickers make this car unique and greatly add to the aesthetics. This car could have gotten a higher score in the overall cleanliness category, because it was muddy around the tire area.  

With an overall score of 44 points, this sky blue Discovery Land Rover almost achieves a perfect score. The car looked almost brand new, earning full points in both the overall cleanliness and car design categories. Unfortunately, because of this car’s sideways parking, I did take away five points from the aesthetics category. Lastly, this car received 9 points out of 10 for uniqueness, because it is incredibly recognizable. Overall, a very solid car!

With a perfect 50 out of 50, this black coupe, which I have personally nicknamed the Batmobile, takes the cake as the best car in the AMHS parking lot. Both the car’s headlight shape and its low to the ground nature earns this car perfect scores in both car design and overall aesthetics. And, as shown in the picture above, this car is so clean that I could practically see my reflection on the car itself! All in all, this car is definitely deserving of its perfect score. 

In parking spot 190, this unique silver Jeep earns a 32/50, the lowest score of this issue. Sadly, the Jeep suffered both in the car design and aesthetics categories, mainly because it was missing the signature spare tire on the back of the car. Also, the car seemed to be a little dirty, therefore only earning 7 out of 10 points for cleanliness. But, on a more positive note, the array of stickers on the back of the car earned a perfect score of 10/10 in the uniqueness category. 

Last but not least, with an overall score of 40/50 points, is this classic black Volkswagen Beetle. The car was extremely clean while also having a very satisfying aesthetic. Sadly, this car did not earn a higher score because it was overall a little plain, and could have probably added more stickers for a better uniqueness factor. In addition, because the car was not a convertible, like most Beetle cars are, the Punch buggy also suffered in the car design category.

We hope you enjoyed this first issue of Raptor Car Rankings! If you want your car to be rated, please email one of us, Mary Archambault (arcmar8543@ccsdschools.com) and Gracie Mochizuki (mocgra6372@ccsdschools.com) with your parking spot number as well as the car’s make and model. See you next month!