It is all about setting your priorities .... some kids spend there money on 50k lifted diesel trucks or designer sunglasses and shooters of Grey Goose .... others lay low and look for the good deals on hot rod pieces and parts ..... that aspect has never changed. At 62 I enjoy being around the young'uns that show a interest in this passion.... and there is alot of them out there.
Back in the 50's they probably thought it would die eventually. In the 80's they probably thought it was dead. I bought my first 51 Merc in 1990 when I was only 19 years old. My friends were driving 5.0 Mustangs and the silly ricers were just coming on the scene. I recently talked to an 18 year old kid who owned a 51 Merc four door. It will never die. Interest may wane, then it will rebound, like everything in life that is cyclical. In my late thirties now. I have another 30 years to go. I'll have a Model A or a Duece parked in the garage next to my 51 Merc in a few years. Maybe a 65 Riviera after that. The collection will expand. These cars will not be forgotten.
as a young father of 3 kids, I haven't had a plethora of vehicle pass through my stable, and at the moment I am having to let my '53 buich head on out, but it won't be the last one I have, and my kids are already looking to what they can get into in the next 10 years, and by the grace of god, they'll be in something....it's a family thing, and they will be learning to craft what they can't buy, which has always been at the root of this wonderful hobby, which is where it's fallen off, there's way too much available, there's no need for anyone to think how to create for these cars, and if it's out of the price range...then too many people just let it pass them buy....
i don't see why it is depressing if the next generation is not into what you're into and doesn't follow the previous generation?
Alright, alright! You've convinced me. I'm moving to KC. Seriously though, where there's a will, there's a way. There's a lot of younger generations involved in hotrods. You just don't see as many of them because it takes a few more years to build the cars. We haven't established the stock piles of parts and networks of old friends that let us scrounge up what we need in a hurry.
The internet has made a big difference. I used to sell a part, for what I thought, it was worth, based on initial purchase, same part sold by friends or the going rate at a swap meet. Here comes Ebay, you watched your self-priced $20.00 part go for $200.00.....a light bulb goes on, (hopefully), and you realized there is a large market out there you can reach and not just your local small town newspaper's classifieds or a local swap meet.
You got a degree? Entry level engineering or architect HNTB is 60k. I was making over 40 as a design tech. They are always hiring. So is Burns and Mac and black an veech are always hireing as well. I was working with an EIT whose wife graduated from nursing school while we were together and she went to work at childrens mercy straight out of nursing school for 60K as well. The clincher is that you need to be a young professional, no one wants anyone in their 50s or up, the head hunters are telling me that it is getting hard to place people in their 40s now. Rodding never dies it just morphs. They say that you can be cool at least twice in a lifetime if you stand still long enough, when whatever made you cool was cool the first time and then when it comes back around again.
Here is a neat calculator that tells you what prices of yesterday compare to today. For instance, $100 today was the equivalent of $15.86 in 1969 in buying power. Figure out what those $600 grille shells for a 32 were equivalent to in the past. http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
ive been buildin cars for 40 yrs. when i made low money(as in not enough) things were high back then. when i made high money( as in still not enough) things are still high..i asked a kid who brought a ricer to my shop,how dare him! why he was drivin a ricer.he told me,his words almost to the letter.cause american cars, the old ones are so high.i can buy one of these for 1500. and go anywhaere right now, if i buy a cool old 2 dr car i have to leave it in the shop till i can afford to fix it,thats why!!made sense to me.
I have bought lots of junkers that ran over the years because I needed a car to get around in. There are actually places that have little or no public transportation. hot rods and motor cycles have always been expensive at least to me they were.
Now I know I'll get a lot of shit for this but it begs to be said. When a "young" FNG joins the H.A.M.B. and asks about his O/T car or his O/T wheels there are a handfull of members here with the war-paint on beating the drum and ripping the guy a new asshole. I'm not saying let some guy in here with a 1980 Camaro or Mustang but don't scare a guy away because he has or likes a 1965 GTO or Mustang. That next guy you scare off may just be the end to this hobby's future. Now I have always believed in "you live by the rules, you die by the rules" but I sure as hell don't want to see "US" become extinct. This is not just my hobby, it's my lifestyle. Thanks 4 your time, Greg
26 years old, work a full time job downtown Chicago, and have an "interview" tonight (paperwork) for my part-time job in the electronics division at KMart (friends with the HR Manager - LOL!). I WILL NOT let $$$ get me down from doing my passion!! If it means a part time job, and my wife gets it (which she sorta does...) than so be it. Just bought my Caddy for $1500, and am going to get back at this weekend!!
When I first got married I bought my wife a '64 Nova in good running condition for $180.00 but paid $500 for a '47 EL in crates. See how priorities never change
This is how I got into trucks. They're more affordable. Yeah, it's harder these days but if it was easy everybody would do it right!
Actually, collector cars, hot rods, street rods, muscle cars have become more affordable. Just not to americans. As the US Dollar keeps loosing value foreigners are taking notice of this great hobby. At the last car show, I spoke with a guy who has worked over seven years at at a Specialty Cars Consignment House. I asked him, "How many or what percentage of collector cars are going overseas?" He quickly responded, "30%."
That's what I do. I work my regular day job then work a part time evening job in the winter, just so I have some spare money to play with in the summer. Make it happen any way you can!
All things are relative,take fishing,for example , you can stand on the bank with a Zebco , or you can buy a 250 horse Ranger bass boat either way catch a fish and smile!!! I can wind up a small block chevy or listen to a 426 hemi both make grin from ear to ear, one just costs a heck of a lot more than the other!!! This car addiction has been / will be around for a long time, It is affordable depending on what level you want to play at !!!!!
I'm glad that hot roding is not as popular! More parts for you and I! lololololol Let them have there Ipods, hondas and tech shit!
Another point to consider and it applies to both old and young. I really believe there are less projects being built these days. Yes,there are plenty of build threads here but it's a bit of a closed community so it's a forest/trees thing. Project cars in the classifieds often dont get much for responses and it would appear that more and more people want finished vehicles which makes it look that the casual younger crowd isnt interested. The younger crowd is out there.We dont have to worry about the folks who have grown up in a family with hot rod history,it's the curious or bitten by the hot rod bug we need to get involved.
I don't know,our grandson is 19,he like hot rods. But his hot rod is a newer 4x4 PU truck with a modified Diesel making as much torque as two big blocks Damn truck even has a 6 speed manual. It makes noise, goes real fucking fast for what it is,he works on it ,dumps his money on engine improvements... I see a lot of younger guys with these hotted up trucks....This is where a lot potential "traditional" hot rodders are now,in my opinion....
Fortunately, there is no shortge of cars. Look at the popularity of the "Sitting and Rotting "thread. While many of these cars may get scrapped, backyards, barns and garages all over america are filled with great projects in all conditions. When the economy recovers, people may come off of some of these, as well as attrition of the owners will put these cars out there. In the "Muscle car" world. Mopars are amongst the rarest to be seen, and yet, in my travels I have seen 10 times the amount of Roadrunners, Superbees, 'Cudas etc, sitting in a "hoarders yard. Eventually, people will have to get off of these too. The aftermarket is Flourishing, with parts available for more and more cars everyday. We will always be here, as long as we take the time to promote the hobby. I see the rise in the "traditional" and dare I say "Rat Rod " movement, as a bit of a revolution against the "greybeards' and lawn chair car shows. I was certainly run out of that world by my lack of funding, and beat down, although cool cars. For every young guy driving a 4 door something in black primer, there is a lust for a nicer car, coupe, hardtop etc. I am lusting for a nice '55 or '57 Chevy Bel Air 2 door hardtop. Can't afford one anytime soon, but i know there is one out there. So far, my semi restored, $900 59 El Camino I pulled out of the woods, is getting nicer and nicer every year.
daily beatings couldn't have scared me away from old cars when I was a young guy. anyone who would let a HAMB beat down hurt them so bad they had to go find another hobby really wasn't into it in the first place
The Jalopy Journal
