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Todays Youth -American Rods Vs Tuners

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by fordstandard, May 3, 2010.

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  1. It drives me nuts to think the young today are not hot for American Hot Rods ----- I see the foreign cars with loud mufflers driven by todays youth

    Sometimes i see them in small S-10 Type Pick-Up Trucks



    WHY NOT HOT RODS ??????????????


    *Some say it's because we older guys used to buy 57 Chevy's back in the day to fix up for $100-$300 and today cars cost thousands for kids to buy ???
     
  2. roadworthy'49
    Joined: Apr 17, 2010
    Posts: 173

    roadworthy'49
    Member

    I don't think they are affordable for them. And what are they going to make into hot rods, shitty econoboxes from the 80's?
     
  3. A.P. Photography
    Joined: May 9, 2009
    Posts: 285

    A.P. Photography
    Member

    From what I have seen it is how the mainstream caters to that age group. Movies feed the idea (Fast and Furious) and the aftermarket supports the movement. Most kids these days ride the bandwagon of what movies/mainstream says is cool. That and some imports can be had pretty cheap and mods are inexpensive for them and can give the illusion that it is fast. Some imports really are that fast but I have noticed over the past couple of years that as the kids get older they move more towards the hot rods, if they stay in the car realm. Oh and the other reason is it is easier for mommy and daddy to pay for a new import that an "old" car.
     
  4. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    A 16 yr old wants a car the runs and drives that can be modified as they go, usually get some help from parents with the purchase or a hand me down car

    the last thing a non mechannically inclined parent wants is a 30-60 yr old car that they will have to help fund to keep it running

    Kids are stuck with econo box imports, Think of fairly new performance based US cars, preferably with a V8 - Camaros, Mustangs, trucks, Dodge whatevers, too expensive for kids and the insurance would be a killer

    Kid gets mommy's hand me down honda or toyota nissan 4 door, thats what they know, when they upgrade they look for a performance based honda toyota nissan. Parents also play heavily into the buying decisions, if theyre driving imports they steer their kids towards them, remember most kids are pretty lazy and most dont have jobs.

    We can all play the I had a job when I was ## and bought my own car, I did, not many kids hustle now, whens the last time you were able to hire a kid to do anything.
     

  5. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,752

    Deuces

    I still wouldn't buy my kid an import.. :eek:
     
  6. 59mercsled
    Joined: Feb 7, 2009
    Posts: 161

    59mercsled
    Member

    I am a 20 year old hot rodder. Nut i am also a mini trucker. their is alot of time that is put into building a nice newer model show truck. I have a feeling alot of people on this sight might look down on me for this but I have 2 projects right now. My merc i am trying to sell so i can buy another classic/ hotrod and i am also building this truck. Buti think a real automibile fan can appreciate any car or truck someone has spent alot of their time on.
     

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  7. James Curl
    Joined: Mar 28, 2006
    Posts: 370

    James Curl
    Member

    You would have to buy them a pick up truck, a Mustang, Camaro, or a Dodge Challenger to get rear wheel drive. Almost all of the "American" cars are just assembled in the U.S.A. with parts made in the country with the cheapest labor rate. Ford started when they started making the wiring harness in Mexico back in the 80's, with engines from Mexico or Brazil. Chrysler has built in Canada for years, and GM builds world wide as does Ford and they re-badge a foreign made car when they bring them into the U.S.A. to sell..
     
  8. screwball
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,761

    screwball
    Member

    up here buildable old cars are expensive most old field cars are toast(see any of ratmotornikes videos on you tube) my beater s10 cost me $250.00 needed a brake line and cat to get on the road. Find a $400.00 drivable hot rod in Ontario Canada. Lots of cars out there but they have gone through two or three middle men all needing to make a bit of $$.
     
  9. waldo
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 1

    waldo
    Member

    Even though I have yet to make an intro I felt like I needed to speak up on this topic. It's not all of today's youth, I'm 23 now and drive an old off topic VW everyday. Soon my 49 dodge pickup will be drivable so I will just switch back and forth. When I turned sixteen I started off with a hand me down Toyota and as soon as I could I bought an 88 Chevy pickup shortly after I put a big block in it. None of the friends I hung out with in high were in to imports or tuner cars, hell my best friend still drives the 55 chevy pickup he got for his 16th birthday everyday and is now building a 28 nash two door sedan with a 300 cu in inline six. So inconclusion I'm going to say its all a matter of personal taste, the media, and how the youth is raised. On a sidenote my stepdad use to let me skip school for swap meets and car shows when I was little.
     
  10. screwball
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,761

    screwball
    Member

    also with the schools teaching kids old cars are the main cause of green house gasses and removing auto shop class from schools dont help ether.
     
  11. Slim Pickens
    Joined: Dec 15, 2008
    Posts: 3,343

    Slim Pickens
    Member

    I dont nothing about anything, but I would rather these young ones were turning wrenches then not. As for my sons, its old American iron or nothing. Slim
     
  12. outlaw256
    Joined: Jun 26, 2008
    Posts: 2,022

    outlaw256
    Member

    I HATE ALL IMPORTS,CARS OR BIKES.i own a hotrod shop and custom bike shopi dont even allow imports in our drive way.i dont care about gas mileage or how much im polluting the air. i want to hear a rumble when i start a car or bike, not a whine. i want the ground to shake when the car is idling. i want power.i want to be able to tell if its a ford, chevy, buick etc.hell with the cars they build today i cant tell a chevy from a toyota.i cant really say ive seen a car built that i like since the early 70s.my son has the same feelings on this as i do. hes 26 and has felt this way since he was about 13.he loves the ol sckool stuff, thou his freinds dont.thats why hes now running the shop and i just sit at my desk(im also crippled up from a bike wreck) most of the time or go ridin on a CUSTOM HARLEY or a drive in one of our OLD CARS.sad part is i understand why kids today drive imports.but im doing my best to turn some around!
     
  13. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,344

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    A buddy of mine has a son with a "beater" tuner Honda. Big stereo, lowered, too-stiff springs, a fart pipe and a set of wheels and tires that are worth more than the whole car. It rides rough and is slow, but somehow fills the bill for the owner. Perhaps he has plans to get it finished and painted some day?

    It reminds me a lot of some rods I've seen - built cheap, with wheels and tires worth more than the whole car, and they are slow and noisy. Perhaps that owner also wants to finish it later, but I doubt it. The only difference is the vintage of the tin... and a tetanus shot isn't needed for the Honda. Gary
     
  14. Newsflash for the OP...they're not building 57 Chevys anymore. They're building small cars with mostly 4 cylinder engines. Where do you expect today's kids to start???

    I'll bet the guys who had been around with the As and Deuces said the same thing back in the 50s when kids started showing up with those "newfangled cars with fenders"...

    TEACH THEM RIGHT and don't worry about what it is they're working on...just my $.02
     
  15. bonez
    Joined: Jul 16, 2007
    Posts: 3,487

    bonez
    Member
    from Slow lane

    ^^^^Depends what you mean for imports!^^^^
    Ive seen and heard many drag bugs shakin the ground and deafen you by standin 50 yards away!
    And a hopped up european 4 banger can rumble a lot too! Trust me on this!
    Of course im talkin old stuff, not todays shit boxes!
    Anyway, im w/ 59mercsled on this, i dont like tuners and most of the stuff that comes outta that world, but the minitruck scene pulls a lot of sick trucks out and theyre worth the effort if you ask me.
    This is one of the threads that can go on for 100ds of of pages w/ one post saying import sucks and another they dont.
    Dont matter how you put it. This is just an opinoin thing, and i bet its goin to get shut!
    PS tuners are gay! :D
     
  16. mustangsix
    Joined: Mar 7, 2005
    Posts: 1,403

    mustangsix
    Member

    It's not easy these days for a kid to build a hot rod in a garage where your old man owns no real tools and their only mechanical skill is pushing a mouse....
     
  17. Boy is THAT ever the truth! Dingding...we have a winner!
     
  18. Its not cost its promotion. Everyone wants to be too fast and too furious.
     
  19. rustyford40
    Joined: Nov 20, 2007
    Posts: 2,168

    rustyford40
    Member
    from Mass Bay

    I think what thy do to a 4 banger is amazing. I have seen them at New Engiland drag way. Just shut the fu---- radio off.
     
  20. bonez
    Joined: Jul 16, 2007
    Posts: 3,487

    bonez
    Member
    from Slow lane

    Rustyford40, i know what you mean and as per my personal experienc w/ a 4 i can say they have tons of potential to go like stink, of course not in a heavy as funt car, but to each his own!
    They can sound mean, look mean and go mean! just dont put one in a 60s or 70s american car, it would just be outta place!

    Another thing to think about here.
    Im not sure many here would be too happy if every tuner guy would turn to hot rods!
    Many were already "ruined" during the Rat Rod fad, and theyre already hard to come by.
    If it had to become a mediatic craze more than it already is we would be screwed by rising demand of old cars, rising cost of old cars, and diminishing amount of old cars for those that "really get it"!
    Doeas it make sense to you guys! it makes to me!
     
  21. todd_a
    Joined: Apr 18, 2009
    Posts: 397

    todd_a
    Member
    from Tyler, TX

    I have argued with these kids several times before on this. They spend $8000 plus to purchase a Honda Civic that might run a 15 second Qtr mile. They then proceed to bolt on every imaginable piece of go-fast equipment that all their friends tell them is the hottest thing and they may end up in the 14's.

    After that, they start getting serious and spend some big bux on turbo systems and the like and get their cars into the 13's and sometimes high 12's. Then with pulling everything out of the interior and stripping the car down they get solidly into the 12's.

    They swap in a better honda engine or acura engine and smend a ton on internals and then pull everything else out of the car to the point where it is a sheet metal shell (with carbon fiber hood and trunk) and they get intot the high 10's!

    My argument all along was why not just buy a Fox body Mustang which starts out in the low 14's bone stock and then bolt on some standard HCI and gears and be in the 12's. throw nitrous or a supercharger on there and end up in the 10's. Total cost still under the original purchase price for their Honda Civic of $8000.

    I get blank stares at that point.

    They are not looking for the most efficient way to go fast or the fastest car at all. They are looking to be like the others they hang with. Inside that circle of people with similar cars, you will find the same old hot rodding attitude, trying to make their cars faster and all that, but it only exists inside that context. If you try to insert a mustang in there, you are shunned. Throw a $60,000 Supra in the mix and you are an instant God!
     
  22. Rice A Riso = your average fart can,wing equipped shitheap Kia, Hyundai or Honda.

    Ricer = a Honda, Nissan, Mazda or Toyota with some worthwhile mods ie: atfermrket bolt on hop up bits, lowered, reasoably decent wheels/tire/performace.

    Pilaf = the cream of ricermobile tuners...heavily modded, stupid ass graphics, loud interiors, fairly fast, hair dried and nitroused tuner style cars with loads of $$$ $pent on them.

    Me? I hate em all....equally haha.

    Seriously, I admire the commitment that some of these guys have in the sense that thay're gearheads and take their rides seriously. Sound familiar?

    But what I can't handle are the ones that think their average 3" exhausted , cat delete,chipped Honda is gonna put the hurt on nasty small/big block powered rides.

    I mean....please.

    The main diff I see is that a lot of these guys pay others big $$$ to do the work on their rides, which kinda defeats the purpose of having them in the first place in my mind.

    To each their own, just don't ask me to like em.

    Rat
     
  23. HeyyCharger
    Joined: Dec 8, 2008
    Posts: 941

    HeyyCharger
    Member

    This is because the youth of today grow up in the life of today.

    But, you get the exceptions.... Like myself.

    I am crazy about period fashion, music, stuff and of course Rods and Customs.

    It's just in the blood man.......

    HC.
     
  24. 29nash
    Joined: Nov 6, 2008
    Posts: 4,544

    29nash
    BANNED
    from colorado

    To most of the posts above; Bullshit.

    The kids are building what they want to build. Just like always.
     
  25. [QUOTE

    The kids are building what they want to build. Just like always.[/QUOTE]

    Agreed.

    No diffrerent when we were kids, no different now in that regard.

    The main difference?

    Back then most of "us" did it on our own - sure there were exceptions as always but most gearheads bought the tools, learned the ropes and did iton their own. Still happens to but to a way lesser degree, partly due to the types of cars and partly due to the kids attitudes.

    Today's kids from what i have seen it is very different in that regard imo.

    We all relate to the cars of our youth and the times that those cars represented. Which is why a lot of 60s/70s kids that have grown up now are paying a fortune for cars that they could'nt afford but wanted in their youth.

    Sorta making up for lost time if you will.

    But I still don't like em. A fast car is a fast car and deserves my respect. But just having a fast car isnt enough to "buy" you street cred in my eyes anymore.

    Plenty of rich kids have fast cars that mum and dad paid for, that they have never wrenched on or never paid for with sweat equity.

    And THAT my freinds is what really stands out from what I see as compared to the past.

    Rat
     
  26. '54Caddy
    Joined: Sep 11, 2009
    Posts: 985

    '54Caddy
    Member

    The price of a hot rod is just way too much for a kid to afford. I'm 25 and just now can afford to get into a classic. I started out working on a 85 monte carlo because it was the only rear wheel drive v8 i could afford. I then got into mini trucks because again, it was what i could afford and i needed something to build my fabricating skills on. finally at 25 years old i can afford a classic car(54 cadillac 4 door). I just picked up a 2 door that needs work and will be using my 4 door for parts, so at almost 26 i finally will have a respectably kustom. Its just too pricey for the youngs guys.
     
  27. 59mercsled
    Joined: Feb 7, 2009
    Posts: 161

    59mercsled
    Member

    I agree with rat bastard about these guys paying someone to bolt on their cold air intake and dont know Sh*t anout cars. But thats how i made money in high school doing their dirty work. I learned to weld by shaving the tailgate on my s-10 then me and a few of my buddies bagged my truck and another guys nissan truck. I am completely self taught. But that is one of the reasons i joined this sight is because You older crowd (i am 20 so pretty much everyone is older than me) have to Know how and are willing to spead your knowlage to the younger group.
     
  28. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    There is more to it than the youth not caring for the old iron.

    I'm 20. Look up "The Abomination" Henry J gasser thread. That's my car that I built.

    But really, how practical is it for a kid my age to buy an old 50s car that has to start from the ground up? It was a lot different for the older guys who reflect on how it was "back in the day." Back in the day a guy could find a decent 57 chevy at a reasonable price, that they might be able to drive and fix up.

    Look at what is available for us today. My Henry J was a rusty piece of shit that needed a lot of work to just be a good solid platform. A lot of kids, especially the ones who don't have support from a hot rod dad like mine, don't want to have to replace floor pans and repair rust, etc. Most of them don't know where to start or have the room and tools to even do that. Look at the price of a 57 chevy, camaro, or model a with a good solid body and then one that is solid that is also pretty complete and driveable. Then keep in mind that it is also still an old car that will break down and cost more to drive.

    My Henry J is a purpose built hot rod that I drive on the street. But I drive a little 4 cylinder stock GMC Sonoma when its raining, snowing, cold, or when I don't have enough money for premium gas to put in my 8 mpg gasser.

    weigh the options, and all of a sudden a nice, new, reliable econo-box for 7k that they can drive everyday and make modifications to when they can afford them, just became the rational option. I know a lot of guys that have tuners are motorcycles that would kill for old american muscle.
     
  29. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    Keep in mind, there are a lot of old timers that probably wouldn't do well in todays hot rod scene.

    The days of blowing up a motor and throwing another together with junkyard parts or whatever, is over.

    In the 70s, they were damn near giving muscle away. Gas guzzling big blocks were cheap. go blow one up and get another.

    If you try doing that today, it will break you. This stuff gets really damn expensive really damn fast if you don't take your time and watch your wallet. The supply keeps decreasing and the demand continues to increase.
     
  30. kisam
    Joined: Feb 28, 2005
    Posts: 1,922

    kisam
    Member

    Not mine (Flying Ty)! Here he is making his first purchase at age 11. He says when he is done with this he wants to build a Model A Coupe. Mama is so proud!
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2010
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