Andrew Neubauer, Lawrence, owns a Honda Fit and says when he first bought the car it was fairly emasculating. But it only cost 2,000 and gets good gas mileage. So who gets the last laugh?

Recent Kansas University graduate Andrew Neubauer sits inside his Honda Fit. About 80 percent of Honda Fit owners are females, but Neubauer doesn’t mind. All that matters is the price, gas mileage and that it works. He takes pride in his “sissy” car.

Imagine yourself walking out of a store to a parking lot when a bright pink Volkswagen Beetle pulls in and catches your eye.

The engine stops, the door opens, and out steps a 6-foot-tall man with a shaved head and bushy black beard.

At the same time, a black Ford F-150 pickup parks right next to it. The driver cracks the door open just enough to let her high heels hit the pavement while she fixes her dress.

Even as forward-thinking and progressive as we believe we are, you have to admit that this scenario is unexpected, to say the least. Gender stereotypes are still well in place in terms of appearance, especially in transportation. “Guy” cars are strong and fast, while “girl” cars are small and sleek.

As hard as it may seem, Lawrence resident Amy Mowery thinks society should try to break free of gender stereotypes.

“Gender stereotypes can be very damaging and are ingrained at a very young age,” Mowery says. “Bringing gender stereotypes into cars overlooks the many different reasons people purchase a car.”

Brent Fredricks, business manager at Laird Noller Automotive, 935 W. 23rd St., agrees that gender stereotypes are becoming outdated. He says he sees no pattern of what vehicle women or men are flocking to.

“In 10 years in the business, I’ve learned that you can’t pigeonhole what people are going to buy,” Fredricks says. “You start doing that, you’re going down the wrong path.”

Even though Fredricks is confident that you can’t classify a vehicle based on gender, the rest of America is not quite as sure. The popular Saturday morning NPR program “Car Talk” recently held a poll of the ultimate “guy” and “chick” cars of all time. Thousands of listeners e-mailed the show, each with a solid opinion of what constitutes a masculine or feminine vehicle. The Volkswagen Beetle was voted the No. 1 “chick” car, and as for the “guy” cars, the Ford Mustang won the top spot, with one listener arguing that it has “a backseat guaranteed to be too small for your mother-in-law.”

Someone else who is still noticing specific differences between male and female car buyers is Terry Coffey, salesman at Jack Ellena Honda, 2112 W. 29th Terrace. Coffey says that he never tries to judge what a customer wants based on gender, and he usually shows both unsure men and women buyers the Honda Accord for its comfort and convenience. However, he does say that both genders are very concerned with appearance, especially color.

“Ladies will usually go for red or very bright colors,” Coffey says. “Men on the other hand will go for beige or silver, something that won’t show dirt.”

Even if consumers are more concerned with comfort and economy, they still may feel the sting of buying a car that doesn’t quite fit their image. Just ask 2009 Kansas University graduate Andrew Neubauer, who owns a Honda Fit.

There’s nothing especially feminine about the Honda Fit. It’s short, small and sleek. However, according to Road and Travel magazine, over 80 percent of Fit drivers are female. This fact, combined with the car’s appearance, bothered Neubauer when he bought the car.

“At first it was fairly emasculating,” he says. “It’s like someone took the ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ laser and pointed it at a mini-van.”

Even Neubauer’s roommates would give him a hard time about the vehicle. The more he drove it, though, the more confidence he found.

“It’s still a little embarrassing when you’re trying to take a girl out,” he says. “But, it cost 12 grand, its gets 30 to 32 miles to the gallon and it gets me from point A to point B.”

Neubauer says he hope his story can inspire other men to take pride in their vehicles, no matter what they drive.

“There was this one time I was in Overland Park and a guy in the exact same car pulled up next to me,” Neubauer says. “He looked over and gave me the solidarity fist, and I said, ‘Yes! We both are guys driving sissy cars!'”