How has the ressesion affected our hobby

You are right. I commute to work. I had a nova as a daily driver back in the day and the gas prices cost me a fortune. But there goes the harsh economy thing again. We have to deal withe the punches and work with our goals. We all here have rust and iron in our blood on the H.A.M.B. and hobby or not its a way of life that we find ways of working around this recession.

 

pretty sure he said hobby for the benifit of others.. Miguel ONLY drives old iron he commutes accross the border every day to get to work,.

 

I wish our economy was as firm as the tits on tfeverfreds avatar!

 

If you drive by a supermarket late at night, you will see a lot of old motor homes and people there, these are not drug addicts and drunks, they are families and seniors waiting for the market to throw out food , so guys count your blessings.

 

I think its knocked down the high end builds, people are becoming more realistic on what they need to get their cars going.
selling projects or complete cars is in the shitter, finished cars arent bringing what they did.
Prices are dropping on parts, which to me is a good thing, bad for the guys that have been holding, now that they need cash they are selling at a loss.
MORE FABRICATION, to me this is great, creativity is up to make what you need instead of buying.

 

This country is in big trouble. When 47% of the population pays no income tax, 15% are on food stamps, unemployment is at 9.1% across the board with some states much higher. Our houses which used to be our nest egg are now worth about a third less. Saw a so called expert on TV the other day saying he expects the good guys who are paying their mortgages to rebel and stop paying like all the slugs who have stopped paying their mortgage but are still living in the house they couldn't afford in the first place. Redistribution of wealth doesn't work. Please tell me some good news about the U.S. economy. Right now the worlds oil is traded in U.S. dollars which we all know is is dropping like a stone. If a decision is made by the oil producing countries to change to a more stable currency, WATCH OUT. Countries such as China, France, Russia and the oil producing countries have already held a secret meeting that the U.S. wasn't invited to discuss just that. How can we go on spending more money then we take in? Nobody or no country can do that and survive. All the U.S. is doing is printing more dollars. That can't go on forever.

 

The Blue Suede Cruise was in July I think 21 or 22nd. Bill Bader Jr owner of Norwalk took it back from Good guys. The reason GoodGuys got it was cuz of a promised Dinner that didnt happen even after tickets where sold in 2009. Goodguys took it over From Cruisin Times magazine and Bill.

In 2011 It returned to its original format. I am pretty sure Goodguys event in Columbus had races too????

 

I dont think its really a political thing. the whole world is in a slump. I think it is caused by too much credit buying . loans being made on the supposed value of the home. The credit worthyness of the home buyer was way down on the list of criteria that was to be considered when making a loan approval? Too much easy credit caused inflation and the bubble burst and we now have deflation. Im glad we dont have any debt. Ill probably sell a few late model & forieghn vehicles to the scrapper to finance some other stuff. OldWolf

 

I was told many times that I was a fool for not refinancing my 64k house when it was valued at 240k. (it's now at 180k) My answer was that it was still a "loan" that I could not afford, especially if I wanted to retire someday. So instead I paid it off. Back in the day, nobody thought of their home as a nest egg. It was a neccessity, not an ATM.

Change is in the wind. I quit worrieing about my "hobby" long ago. Hoard parts? I am more concerned with hoarding things like food and water. The time is coming when they won't be bought for any price. The bottom line is the world is a finite place, we cannot continue to "grow" our way out of these messes. 6 billion chinese and indians all can't live in a Mcmansion and drive a brand new SUV. (financed of course) Yet that is what needs to happen for our current way of life to continue.

Regulations killing your buisness? I can remember when America was so polluted that you could'nt swim or eat a fish out of any urban waterway. Whatever you do don't light a match near that body of water because it will burn. Maybe you should visit China. The air is nearly unbreathable and the water undrinkable. The products contain lead paint, asbestos, and all sorts of other nasty shit that will kill you. My Dad died from mesothelioma (asbestos poisoning) Sure wish there would of been a regulation or two in place when he was a working stiff. He gave up 20 or 30 years of his life so some corporations could make an even more obscene profit. Thankfully, some of us came to our senses in the sixties and figured out the planet that none of us can survive without is priceless and should be put above profit.

So let's all have some more babies and continue to strip the earth of all it's resources and leave a poisoned, desolate landscape in our wake. After all, growth is good, regulations are bad.

 

Wow, there is a bad generalization! How about --- Some are there because WalMarts actually ALLOW campers to park in their parking lots for free! NOT because they are "waiting for food to be thrown out", although that likely applies to a few, but overnight parking for free is a better deal than most campgrounds offer!

 

Apocolypse now? Geez man I can't even begin to relate to a lot of what you're saying. Here's one for ya, if you took every human being on Earth and stood them in a 1'X3' area, how much space would they take up?

I'm all for clean air n water. I don't think things are truely as bad as people are saying. The info machine is running at WFO with bad news and fear. You're smart not to re-fi. We see in our world of cars, the folly of some who wanted in. They margined things and grossly over paid for everything from a Model A to a COPO Camaro. Seriously, is a 427 Camaro worth $400K? A HEMI Cuda conv for $2mil? Our world needed a pin in it's balloon. I'm sorry that some folks got sodomized in their purchase of one of our cars, but I can't help but think some deserved it. History anyone? Go back and track every recession and look at the car prices within 5-6 months. We've been there for a while now, adjusted for inflation.

The topic was "our hobby" and that's my main focus. It's actually how I make a living. I refuse to give my stuff away, I refuse to cheap out on product for profit. Have I cut anything? yeah, my cruising speed on the freeway. Gains me another 2-4MPG. Regulations? Try oil and banking.

Back to my question, every human on Earth would take up the northeast corner of Florida. Perspective...

 

The economy is not a easy fix, and is a world problem, will all our lives be changed ? I belive so , but not all is gloom, I feel this this situation has bless us all in a certain way, it has taught us to apreciate our familys, friends, a good square meal, and a roof over our heads, It will teach us to be content with less , and more careful with our decisions in life. Will it kill our hobby ? I don't think so , it will force us to be creative, learn more skills so we don't have to pay some one to build our cars, and for those that have lost their car, if they have the pasion for this hobby, they will find a way to get back in it. Even with the current situation, most of us are living a better life than our grand parents, and is just a mater of perspective, is the glass half full or half empty !

 

(( : This is exactly the way it happened for me too !
Now I'm driving everyone nuts tripping over dragsters, because up until now when everything got slow, I did not even have time to think about these cars back when I was young. Sadly, now I have opportunity, all the cars and strips are long gone. Thank God for HAMB..... : ))
Tom S. in Tn.

 

No matter how bad it get's I still win everyday when I open my eyes !

After that it's life in 2011, and hopefully it will get better for 2012.
A year ago I was able to finish my "dream car" and enjoyed it throughly until previous medical issues (run over and left for dead, really no kidding!) have resurfaced making it uncomfortable for me to drive my "dream car" any long periods of time.

The few parts I have for sale, I feel are already underpriced like the car I'm selling.
In the long run, as long as your family is healthy, count your blessings!
Yes it's sad to see great old cars go to junk, but in the long run you just have to "deal with it" and remember there's always tomorrow.

 

This is a great post to start my day to. Thank you!

 

We sleep in the car trailer alot when traveling across country. Went back and forth across the country last week. It has a couple beds. We stay at Wall Marts, Rest Area's, Truck stops and my personal fav Casinos. Always get less sleep there for some reason.

For the most part there are usually monster rigs or Deisel pushers with all there slide outs and everything at these spots.

 

Man this is really scary. We keep a scrap trailer at my place (when it hits the trailer, it is sure enough scrap) and their sales guy came by a couple of weeks ago wanting to crush my place. When scrap really started getting high a few years ago, we saw tons of cars come down out of the hills on the highway in front of my shop on their way to the shreader. Had a customer of ours who drove a truck for the scrap place that diverted a 69 Chevelle to us with a perfect front cap, nice black dash pad, good frame and 12 bolt rear. Was filled full of nails for weight and about 15 minutes of being gone forever. Try looking for a 78-87 Monte Carlo, a 70's GM X body, or a Cutlass---they are all gone. Only going to get worse

 

I was on Vans Warped Tour a couple times, we would stop at walmart on the way to the next town, sleep a couple hours if needed then take off. When you leave a city at 10pm and have to be hours away by 6am the next day, Walmart is the best. So I am sure some of those people are just staying the night on the way to their next destination. Also I believe some beach cities (Huntington beach for example) do not allow anymore.

 

Its starting to slow down my build allot, like many others. The prices at some of the vendors are coming down, there is a supply and demand, yes I understand. At a certain point you have to meet at a reasonable place.
For example, I worked at a place that made a certain musical instrument, I set them up, painted all colors, materials and graphics, along with a couple other guys. The owner was selling them for almost triple the cost.
Now when I look at some order books for my build needs, and see allot of things over priced period, but in times like this they become out of reach by many including myself, I think the reasonable thing to do is adjust cost, put on sales, etc. I would rather meet the needs of many people that are lovers of the hobby and actually drive their cars, then the few that have the money and dont drive their cars.

But this is the way it has been and will be.
People like me still have to buy the stuff, so the sellers know their will be someone sooner or later that has to give in.
Then again, I remember that tickle me \Elmo doll, people went nuts for it, spending so much money on it, now you can by them for a couple bucks if that.
Kinda reminds me of the Crestliner steering wheel, very beautiful wheel, but just like the Elmo doll the tickle loses its affect.

 

Current project work has slowed to a crawl, can't sell anything and trades are down. Future projects are taken up space now. No raises for 5 years, wife retired.
But I am not one to complain!

 

My love for traditionally inspired hotroding has been matched with a traditional income for the past three years. It's slow going but I'm muddling along.

 

A friend of mine sent me this picture, man that piggy is thiner than a tiajuana street dog, there ai'nt much bacon there!

 

OK so how has the economy effected my hobby, well I look around and ask what recession? I drive by Starbucks and there is a line around the building with people waiting in line to buy $6.00 or more cups of coffee 24/7. WTF. Buy a coffemaker and a can of Maxwellhouse. When the can is empty fill it with money and bury it in the backyard. I call it my maxwellhouse fund. cash is king.lol. I've almost always have worked 2 jobs. Yea not fun but it worked for me, If not working I was going to school and working one job. I just retired from one job after 38 years and I started a a/c biz 16 yrs ago and am doing it full time now. I just had the best season in 16 years. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying if you do a good job and charge a reasonable rate you'll do ok I believe. Will I make Forbes top 500. no way but I feel rich already. One mistake I see some guys in our hobby make is one I made early on. I picked up every piece I came across and was gona do this and that and then I ended up with nothing completed. Very frustrating, years later after kids had grown and gone I got back into the hobby and bought a nice 56 chevy pretty much done at a very reasonable price and did some of the things I wanted to do to finish up the car and still have it. Next was an 1930 two door ford sedan. Still needs paint and upholstry but great mechanicals. Bought another 57 chevy pickup from a customer of mine that was in real good shape but did a few things to make it myown. One at a time andit'll happen. last project is my 55 I just got on the road after 16 months. Was a totalled mess when I got it but it was free. like 99 % of it was used parts I picked up or was donated to me. Or I bartered work for and I think I did pretty good. So one at a time projects for me. And they all must run and drive. I also try and do as much as I can do on the cars.Lately I've taken on doing body work and painting. If you aren't looking for perfection and want to do something very rewarding give it a shot. It's not rocket science. It feels pretty good at a show when someone asks who did your paint. I DID. I put every run you might find in it.lol. Not quite that bad. We also have block sanding, and wet sanding parties. Not much of a party but it feels good to help another rodder with some elbogrease,pizza and mabe a little bubbly.lol. Don't be affraid to cut and weld something. we are all in the same boat and if you don't have a welder maybe you could trade your time and talents to compensate the welder. Another resourse I've been using lately is the scrap yard. I've thrown away a fortune in metal for years and now It might be $50.00 or $75.00 dollars per trip that will go towards cash item you will have to purchase for your project. I also got a vintage camper the wife and I restored that we tow behind the 56 to go to car shows and it's like $20.00 per night usually versus hundreds a nite for a hotel, and people really get a kick when they see this thing going down the road. Number one question......Do you really sleep in this? Hell yea. And save a boat load of money and having a ball. So much can be said about the times we live in. yea things can suck and it's painful to see what people are going through but I can't believe that things will get better. MAybe not like the roaring 90's/2000's but people are still trying to get over here to live one way or another in this country. Try and do different things that you haven't done before and you might discover you might have talents that you never knew you had.Look at all these crapy times as a learning time. I sure am and I think I learn something new everyday. Also learn to enjoy what you already have not what you think you need. Do the local cheapy car show that bennefit local charities and local busineesses. You'll probably met some new friends who can tell you about a buddy that has that special part you've been looking for forever. OK well I'll park my soap box for now and go have a cup of my cheap coffee.lol. YRUHOT.Doug

 

As for the dumpster diving, it's mostly out dated cereals, crackers, dry goods, and not rotten produce, there is a guy that resales the stuff at the Santee Swapmeet and he useally sells out, a friend of mine buys from him every week , when he has bags of cashews, I ask my friend to buy one for me, 50 cents for a one pound bag of salted cashews, beats paying 8 bucks, the super market of choice is Trader Joe's , due to they mostly sell gormet food and are pretty strick aboat the experation dates on food.
In the sixties and seventies, there used to be day old bakery's , they used to sell bread and pastries that had expired dates but not moldy. I guess stale potato chips are not that bad if you are really hungry, but guys ,I was'ent exagerating when I told you aboat people dumpster diving and true , I myself have slept at a super market parking lot , on my way to a swapmeet, you learn to apreciate a nice bed when you have been sleeping in a car for a week.

 

I used to buy and sell cars a lot more often. While I'm a lot more particular on what I get nowadays, I haven't notice a ton of deals or even as many as a couple years ago. I think a lot of people don't bother trying to sell stuff as they know it won't sell. I'm also much more in the mode of saving and getting the cars I really want while trying to shed the rest. Keyword being trying though.

My dad has also contemplated taking some cars to the scrap yard, so hopefully I can find good homes for them at scrap prices.

 

Rock n roll has been going downhill ever since Buddy Holly died..

 

I think if they can sort out the mess with the european banks, things will get better, China has been going through alot of inflation, demand for their products have dropped alot, they have had to raise their wages due to inflation, so sooner or later we will get some of the industrial jobs back.
A another problem we have is that a lot of service oriented jobs have been shipped to india, but all we can do is brush up our skills, and as workers try to offer the best we can so we can stay competative in the world job market,

 

My personal situation was jolted big-time in February of 2009 when Mrs. Retrorod and I both lost our jobs. I was at a family owned company for 31 years and it just tanked.

After a year of unemployment/under-employment I finally got a decent job and I'll spend the rest of my work-life trying to get back out of the hole. Being almost 64 years old really sucks where employers are concerned...I think most of them would really rather have a younger applicant.

I'm glad that we were able to get by without selling our two hot rods but I wasn't pleased about selling a bunch of nice parts and some of my equipment just to pay the billls.

We don't attend shows any more...just an occasional local cruise or two.

That's life ya know...when it deals you lemons...make lemoncello!

 

"It's a poor mind that only knows one way to spell a word".

Being older and retired I search Craig's List and the ads in the local paper and when projects show up cheap I manage to pick up parts cheap and put them away for future projects. I bought a 400 SBC long block, casting #511, for $300 that had standard bore and crank that had been sitting under a work bench for about fifteen years. It is at the machine shop now being cleaned and checked for cracks. I will put together a nice 406 for something later.

Money is tight but you can still get the friends together for a cook out and bench racing session. Get the wives involved and bring something to munch on. Cold beer a little music and see how much fun can be had for just being together.

 

While our hobbies have struggled and most of us do side jobs to make ends meet, our fellow Americans from the 30's would be thrilled to be in our shoes.