Todays youth NOT interested

the off the beaten path shows around here all American cars are welcomed ,and any age driver , its the goldchainers that help drive away the kids today , ridicule them for showing up with a partially done car , I kind of make a point to telling the gold chainers to take there cars back to the dealer they bought them from . atleast the kids are trying .. the import guys made themselves not wanted by acting stupid ...

 

The car hobby is alive and well where we are... my 20yo son is into Fox body mustangs (and has built a really good one) and also into imports....

the imports really never thrilled me until I started understanding the unlimited mods that are available for these cars.... and they can be wicked fast and fun to drive, and can be driven every day......

Regarding them liking the old shit, most love my cars and want to know about them....I take all the time they want to talk about them, many old a-holes just blow them off because they are ricer/mustang/camaro guys... but you have to feed the interest.. when they can afford it they will look for some old shit...

Like someone said above "Same University, different course"....

 

Good. Maybe I will be able to afford a 32 roadster someday.

 

I manage a salvage yard in a rural area. We save as much old iron as we can. Many of our customers are 25 or under and are very enthused.

A while back we sold a 49 Plymouth to a 25 year old guy who drove imports. He said the Plymouth was classy by comparison and he couldn't wait to get it running.

Another young guy scooped up some 40's chevy car pieces prior to even getting a car. He said he loved the styling and wouldn't consider something modern.

A 16 year old bought an old Beetle here yesterday. He admitted it was a pretty cheesy car, but said it was still better than the junk coming out of Detroit today.

Sad but true, american car makers quit putting out quality iron decades ago. I guess that helps the hobby making the oldies even more desirable.

I still grin every time we crush an 80s or 90s front wheel drive Oldsmo-buick-iac. "Bumping" k-cars, tempos, and tauruses with heavy equipment is pleasing too!

 

I'm not sure that if a young person has the passion that money should be an issue. I started out with an adjustable wrench, a borrowed angle grinder and a cheap floor jack. If I wanted more tools I found ways of making the extra money. 20 years later I do the same thing. Every cent of my 51 ford vert has come from working side jobs that I taught myself how to do out of necessity. I am not trying to sound ritious but I believe that if we can share our passion with young people than they will find a way to join us in this great hobby. I started with air cooled VWs just like many others my age. I made the switch as a teen as have many other VW and mini trucking individuals have. Lets just be happy that young people still like any type of car.

 

I turn 44 this fall. I have been hearing this same drivel for 30 years since I was the rare young guy building a Henry J. At the time I think there were less than a handful of teens registered with the SDSRA. Truth is, this has always been an expensive hobby and we are all a teeny tiny minority of the civilian world.

Here is a shot from Nosurf Midwest HAMBbg this spring. I think we are OK with a crop like this coming up!

 

Selling my cars will be an issue that my kids can worry about after I'm gone if they don't want to keep them. I've never made the mistake of thinking of this hobby as an investment.

 

I don't know if they are "the youth of today", but it sure seems like most of the folks I encounter are "younger" than I am.

 

Not true, you just ran across people not into cars. Same thing as in your generation, not all people care for cars other than transportation. Do you need some affirmation every time you take your car out?
You can get that here, we'll support you. I dont know your car but would like to see pics. I'm 37 and didn't get into hot rods until 5 years ago, can you blame me, when I was young all I saw were "boydsters" and fairground lawn chair owners. Traditional hot tods changed that for me.

 

When I was a kid (60's-70's) what you experienced could happen even then. If you pulled up to a group of kid with different interests than cars they would pay no mind.
Both my daughters ,who are in their 20's love old cars and my oldest grandson can't spend enough time in the garage or riding in one of my cars.
They are out there and will carry the hobby forward.

 

Not a problem in Ca. we get a lot waves and smiles when we are in our hotrods.

 

........So true.

 

There is one thing. Old guys remember these cars from their (our) youth. Young guys did not grow up with them. When the young guys are interested then it is great but the number of interested people does seem to be going down.


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Hit the nail on the head!

 

You are officially an old bastard when your mentality becomes:

"These damn kids now-a-days..............."

 

17 years old, 4+ year project. loving every minute of it.

 

As far as myself, and some other young buddies... It's fine, I don't necessarily agree with the money and tools argument, if its a passion you find away. I still barely have enough tools. Built my first car in my backyard, in the open... Not even a car port... Dug the trashed A body out of 5 elm trees, because it was all I could afford. I still claim to have built it with a 4" angle grinder.. If there is a will there is a way...


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Kids love cars, I just had my 3 nephews in town for 2 weeks and the fleet is worn out,taught the 15 year old to drive a stick with a big block and a richmond 6 speed, trust me he was up at 6:00 am every morning we went driving!

 

I blame the popularity of these auctions. Barrett Jackson and RM auctions make me sick. It drives not only the prices up on the stuff we want to buy but also makes people hold on to vehicles because they think everything is rare and worth a ton of money.

You old guys need to stop being so greedy and sell stuff for what it's worth instead of trying to get over on some young kid. And if your raising kids now, don't give them everything they want and make them work for everything they want.

 

The fourth reply says it all ....


Age is relative - this guy has proper attitude




Jim

 

Jon,


Thanks for posting ....




Jim

 

Teens today have no interest in cars at all. Many don't even care to get a driver's license.

Read this.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/...1_study-of-young-drivers-rob-foss-drive-smart

 

I think the older crowd needs to be more patient with the younger guys. Especially the ones that come on here and start talking about wanting to build a rat rod. The younger generation finds the rat rod stuff appealing. It's kinda trendy right now but it's getting their attention. Instead of chasing them away with your buckets of popcorn and 'Oh this is gonna be good' why not be patient and try to steer them in the right direction?

 

I am 24, so I guess I am still considered a kid. Check out my build thread on my 58 Chevy.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782085

no worries, when all the older guys die, there will be kids like me left to buy up all your old iron and take care of it

 

I'll second that. Last year I put a "Please Touch" sign on my '33. If I see some kid that's really into it, I let him sit in the hot rod & encourage his parents to take pics of him or her.

I think our whole "scene" is at a peak now. One thing I've noticed since I've been involved here is the amount of us dying, which is exponentially increasing. There will always be a very small percentage of the youth carrying the torch, but for the most part, I think the bottom's going to fall out of the whole thing in about 15 years. I believe this is even truer in the antique car clubs. There's a great show at Macungie every year..the Antique Truck Club of America's national show. Well, the percentage of people there over 65 is mind-boggling. There are very few young faces & the ones you do see looked like they were dragged there kicking & screaming. Still, as VooDoo stated, let's do our best to be good ambassadors to the younger set.

 

Looking at your age and your join date, you were 12 when you signed up here. There are far too few, with your drive an desire, us old-timers are proud of you!

 

Most kids today can and do sit in their rooms and go where they want, see whatever they want, talk with whom ever they want to, play "games" when they want to and never leave their rooms! My nephews and nieces almost had to be forced into getting licenses.

 

I noticed that too!
Everyone wasn't interested in old cars when this hobby began. It was the few of us who became addicted that made it the great way of life we now share with a few others.
Out of four kids only one is a "car guy."
As for kids not being interested, money and the lack of it has always been the problem. I started working on junk and my cars are still junk.
If a kid wants to look at the engine or sit in one of my home buit cars and go uddin uddin he's welcome.
My tools are mostly used from swap meets or cheap crap. I've built rods, customs, even a Sprite with a 327 Chevy using mostly a cut off grinder, a hammer, and chisel. Hired a friend's dad to do the welding.
Yes, a lot of kids today are not even interested in driving. Yet our three grandkids are. One has his license at 17. The other taking dirver training at 15. And the 2 1/2 year old is driving his battery powered John Deere all over. He'll point at an old car and say "look grandpa Denny hot rod."
Might just be another little rodder in the family!
The hobby is alive amd well.

 

man that book was disappointing. poorly written and pretentious.

 

Heard a conversation just last night. Went something like "The new Nissan Leaf only costs $2 to charge and does 100mph". "Yeah but the Tesla will go 300 miles on a charge, and it's quick!"

Can't really blame them, sounded pretty good to me. Until it's time buy batteries.