I'm sure this a subject shared and enjoyed by many of us, especially those seasoned car guys. I have enjoyed working on old iron most of my life and at age 73 I think my world came full circle in a way. Picked my 12 year old grand son up from school in the 34 five window and treated us both to a mini cruise. He loves the sheer joy of acceleration and best of all he loves working on anything that has an engine. Has that special innate talent for anything mechanical, electrical or intrinsically challenging. Don't think you can teach that you just have to want to do it. After our cruise we endeavored to put the emergency brake linkage back together on the AV8 roadster. Rather I should say, I watched him diagnose and do the repair! Really a simple fix but got a rise out of watching him climb all over the car. As a reward we went back out in the roadster for a "road test" That lasted about an hour and the smile on his face was something special. Truly we are only care takers of these old cars and the future burns bright knowing the next generation appreciates what we love and share. Just an old geezer here sharing what I think are important moments in our lives.
it happens if we take time for young people. They can be our family or just kids but if they are willing to come around they will get it.
Awesome!! I have a grandson just like yours! Who knows, he just may end up being a proud owner of one of mine someday....
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/passing-the-torch.1173642/ Thats great that your grandson is into hotrods .....I did my part of keeping hot rodding Alive.... I love the title of your thread...
I totally agree.......see my avatar (left).......my grand son 11 years ago......3rd generation born with hot rod blood.....
I got to be real careful about saying anything about someone's grandkids. Last time I did someone called me a coward and stuff. Something I have noticed about the HAMB and I think rodders in general. The bug seems to skip a generation. Lots of us have grandkids who are deep into the car thing. Seems like not so many have kids into it.
Any chance of borrowing your grand son, I'm a little older than you and crawling under my hot rods takes awhile just getting on the creeper now days. I promise him a long a "road test"!
Keep up the great tradition. He will remember those times more than you know. I learned from my older brother and my 37yr old son's 4 yr.old daughter squeals with delight when he does a burnout and they "go for a fast ride". As Budget36 said above, kids will learn more in the garage than on a video game any day. Nice job!
a smallish grandson could come in handy when you have to get all twisted and uncomfortable on the floor of the car next to the seat and work under the dash with big hands in a small space.
I am lucky as both of my sons are a third generation of hotrodders. My dad taught me to work on cars and I taught my sons. I now have a one month old grandson and I will make sure he is corrupted too! Hotrodderman
Awesome! All 4 of my grandkids love my 33 Chevy. Three have gone cruising in it. Waiting for warmer weather to see if my little guy (will be 2 in May) will want to go for a ride. He asks to go out in the garage with me every time he visits
All you fellas hoping to get your grandson or son into your cars, I would tell you from current experience, if you really want that to happen: Set it up now. My father has been sick with Parkinsons and cancer for a while, and just recently took a turn for the worse. I drove him to the home under hospice car in the shoebox a week ago. His pride and joy is his 1954 Chris Craft Holiday, which is absolutely beautiful. I was a boat mechanic for years and who knows how much of my blood soaked into the bottom of that boat from turning wrenches, but I have spine problems and wood boats are a lot of work, so unfortunately I decided to stick with my glass boat. My dad never put anything down on paper and waited too long. Once you need care, they come after every dime you have. On the way to the home he was in tears and telling me that was his biggest mistake, not making sure his boat stayed in the family. We had a guy ready to pay top dollar for it, and my older brother said maybe he'd buy it, saving the day. But he and his wife eventually decided against it. So Goldie was to be sold. I thought hard, had a few heated talks with my wife, and last night we decided we could not watch it be towed away. So I'm now the penniless owner of a beautiful Chris Craft, that I don't really want, lol... But it's basically a wood version of my father, and I refuse to see it go. So get your affairs in order now if you TRULY want to see your car passed down gentlemen. Life gets complicated really fast when you suddenly take a turn, and the more money you have, the worse it gets... Here's my new girl with my mom and dad in her....
What a great thing you did buying your Dad's Chris Craft! I'm sure he's looking down with a huge smile! Things sometimes skip a generation. My son had no interest in my cars. My grandson (his son) loves going out in the garage and working on things. My wife and I have a will with my hot rod going to where it belongs, family.
After my dad died my mom sold his hot rod and his tools. She hated them an was glad they were gone , it broke my heart as I so wanted those tools those . SSo yes line up you stuff an teach your kids or grandkids I am teaching my son an hope he teaches his
My Dad handed down all his tools to me. I've split all I have to go to my two grandsons. My kids know who gets which tools. I hope they use them as much as I have
You are so right in my case. My son has little to no interest in my passion. But my grandson is always in the shop with me. He has his own real toolbox and tools and knows how to use them.
Oh, he's still kicking! He's in the home, and it could be tomorrow, or it might be a year. I'm hoping for a year, and hoping against hope to get him out for one more lap around the lake. God willing.
My daughter could car less. My oldest granddaughter races off road. Bikes and cars. There is nothing that she cannot do with a wrench. In my case it did not skip a generation, although my older sister knows cars but she is not real interested. She does like some of my club brothers though and seems real proud of how I turned out so maybe in my case it just skipped a child. LOL