How has the ressesion affected our hobby

In certain countries, yes.

 

Started selling stuff just to fund projects,Work 40 hours a week ,Sell stuff on computer ,Look for deals,Do bodywork on stuff for sale.Thats my routine,Im tired of trying to make money at every second of the day,Right now Im checking classified on 4 or 5 different websites,I still dont have any real money in the bank..............But at least I have most of the parts for 2 builds

 

I own my own business now for 6 years - planning on even hiring some employees if things keep up. I came to the conclusion long ago that "job security" is just an illusion - the carrot on a string. One day you walk up to a locked up building or come to find your employer squandered this that or the other, and it's over - through no fault of yours or most other employees. Just ask bank branch employees, ex-Lehman bros, Enron people, or anyone in Michigan Tool and Die business.

If they would drop the 3 years of unemployment benefits and "free money", people would get hungry, take risks, get motivated, and get things moving again.

If you can't fix your life in a year (or even two?) with no job to go to everyday, it's your own damn fault, and I don't feel bad for you.

That said, I think if we make some hard choices that are being forced on us, rather than put them off, things can boom and flourish here again. Personally, I have taken some risks outside of my comfort zone, because (through a long story) I got blind sided and almost had to face the reality of no place to live with only about a month to deal with it. It came down to 12 hours... A few months later, my best friend died in a car accident - very successful business owner, and same age as me (30's). After that, a lot of stuff seems small.

Anyway, I have taken on lots of jobs at my shop and learned a lot of new skills - trial by fire - because I don't have the money to hire it done, and /or want/need the money myself. 5 years ago I would've fired up the plastic and had it here in a box, and not learned a thing. Minus the TV and with some tools, no doubt mew skills are being added everywhere by many. Carry that body of talent 10, 20, 30 years out...

All the greats had to cut their first panel or fix their first blown up engine once upon a time.

 

I wrote this earlier but felt it deserved it's own post:

Around 30 years ago Apple computer was two dudes in a garage, unemployed, doing what they loved.

 

Three guys, actually. Everybody forgets Ronald Wayne. He got cashed out for $2,300.00.

 

Employees are not family, this is not an accurate analogy.

 

Around here people still want big money for "complete" cars, that would have been the parts car not so long ago. I have almost stopped building my truck, because my family comes first. Hard to pay 1100 bucks for a front crossmember when my babies need clothes. I work in the bourbon industry and we have actually seen an increase in our sales, I count myself as one of the blessed every day I go to work.

 

Half of the fun is finding a way to fix your car with limited resources. That is the true spirit of the hobby.

 

I was unemployed for two years .Then started buying stuff and reflipping,Did great in the beginning ,Now its slow.In the summer I took a 10 an hour job ,Usually make double that an hour........Took it Just to have some money,I only go to a few car shows ,A year,There is no real answer to your question,Besides doing everything yourself,Consumables are expensive ,Parts are expensive.Bills are always there .Just do what you can ,It will get better slowly,Things just have to run its course.........

 

We were going to go to Cruisin The Coast. The motel alone would have cost $1200. Not to mention meals and gas. We just don't have that kind of money anymore.

 

The sad fact is that for most employers a worker is merly a tool . something to use to get the job done. If that employee can be replaced by a robot that is what is done. Wages are what they are because of supply & demand. wages are cheaper because there are plenty of workers to chose from and few jobs. Nowadays it takes both the husband and wife both working to be able to have enough income. Now that the income of so many is reduced the old car hobby is a luxury that can be shelved . We need to take care of today and the future might be better. OldWolf

 

A year ago I saw the handwriting on the wall, and decided to take early retirement, rather than short hours, so my income is a lot less than it was working. We make it fine, but funds for toys and projects are tougher to come by.
I've collected OT things all my adult life, so now I've turned to selling things to fund my car projects. Since I've had some of this junk for 40 years, the prices are well above what I paid, but it's still tough to watch it go. I've just made the decision that I need to prioritize my hobbies, and the car hobby is winning out.

 

Thats one of the reasons i tow my little caravan everywhere now. I don't do motels as we mainly camp at UK shows and driving is rarely more than 6-7 to the most distant shows so no stop-overs needed. Still i bought it for less than the price of a new tent and am able to provide cheap food for the club all weekend long. Everyone chips in with a big food shop and no-one ever goes hungry and we save alot of money. Even made a few ££'s selling bacon rolls to a few neighbours on the quiet in the past that caught a wiff of bacon in the morning. No shame but hey it helps with the fuel costs!
Excuse the lack of knowledge but IF you guys had a small van are there places you could park up cheaply? Not been to the US yet so don't know what you can/can't do.Just thinking if you had a big journey to do you can pack your cheap food away for the trip and not pay a lot to park up for the night.
I never saw myself having a caravan but it's saved so much money and been a blast to own and pretty cool for what it is. Our small club would be lost without it now, it's earnt its keep within 2 shows. It's no motel but has everything you need for not alot of money and has helped me get to a few shows i couldn't have due to being so broke.



Regards Dan

 

First of all , I want to thank Ryan for being patient with us , if you read through the different posts, there is alot of valuable information in them, how our different members have made ends meet and still keep their hobby and social life alive. Perhaps the greatest gift this resesion has given us is we all have learned to apreciate our family, friends, and our hobby more, It always helps to tell your problems to a friend and by realizing you are not the only one out there, it tends to give us hope.
No mater what your ecconomic status is, this resesion has changed our lives for all of us, if you have money, your more careful with it, and if you don't, it has force you to be more creative. Either way , it has taught us that they are more important things in life than our material posessions, for when we get old or die , the only thing we take with us is our fond memories of our family and friends and any social achievements we made in life. There are many reasons for the resesion and weather your'e rich or poor, we all need to meet halfway, As hamb members, we all have different view points on economy, and politics and what makes this country great is that you can voice your opinion but it should always be done respectfuly. Ryan in his wisdom, does not allow politics on his web site, for he wants the hamb to be a happy and constructive place were members can share technical and social information , so guys please try to keep your posts focused on positive solutions on keeping our hobby alive.
The resesion has taught us not to take our lives for granted , weather it's a meal I share with family or friends, or giving it my best at work, so my boss'es business can survive, or having a warm bed and a roof over my family , or still being able to drive my old ford to a local show, I am enjoying life more than ever!

 

Well I have been layed off for a week, so I have been doing the body work on my 39 sedan , this helps because it keeps, me in a positive frame of mind. parts and cars sales has started to move a little , so I am like alot of you, doing what I can.

 

I think barrett jackson and dopes have afected our hobby ....

 

I agree, Barrett Jackson inflated car prices alot, in the eighties, the Old Car price guide inflated prices back then, but old cars are much like the stock market, when resesions hit , the prices always come down, what I have learned is that anything that goes up in value to fast, always comes back down hard. so when prices are low always buy and when they are high , sell and you will always do well.

 

Well it looks like I joined the 14 million unemployed, so I will be going back to business for my self, selling old ford parts and cars or working on custermer cars or my own, this great hobby has always given me something to fall back on, I was please to hear that two friends of mine finaly got jobs again after two years of searching, they too had survived fixing and selling old ford parts. I do plan my trips out of the house more, and that in it's self saves me alot of money, all I can say is thank god I don't have a house payment or any debts .

 

I have been out since feb 19 08 , if it wasn't for my wife having senority where she works we would have been done for a while back , but when I lost my job I curtailed buying anything for the toys , the only tools I bought whee to keep the dd's rolling ( balljoint tools) and that still saved us $1500 over going to a mechanic to have it done , ( she was elated when I compaired the costs ) plus I have the tools to do side jobs if they come up , but I also have sold of Items I have had to help with expenses ( items I can easily replace) , I had to get rid of my offsite garage an bring the stuff home ( working in the drive sucks ) and I have made some barters too , traded a set of heads I wasn't using for a tool Cart , and I went thru and looked at the non valuable heads I was saving and scrapped them , like I have 3 301 pontiacs , noone wants the heads and they are expensie to ship so off to the iron man ,and I am saving all my scrap no mater how little to be recycled , hopefully one of the apps I put in will come thru soon . they say Ill unemployment is 10% but in reality its more like 20%

 

The recession has made me a more improvising hot rodder. Whereas I used to just take the easy way out and pick up a Summit or Jegs catalog for a lot of stuff (or buy online), I now use junkyards for a lot of stuff. In most cases, you can find something in a salvage yard that'll do what you need done on your hot rod, for a fraction of the cost of the catalog stuff. It's almost always cheaper to buy a used OEM part from a junkyard and rebuild/refurbish it, than buy a similar part new out of a catalog or from a parts store. And, the OEM part is probably going to be higher quality anyway!


I'm thinking outside the box when working on my project now, and I think it's more fun that way (in addition to being cheaper). I'm doing more projects in my own garage, rather than paying someone else to do it. I even traded some work earlier this year; I needed some aluminum stuff TIG welded, and another guy needed his engine worked on. We came to an agreement, traded the work, and we're both happy with the outcome. Best of all, I made a new friend and fellow hot rodder who owns a TIG welder.


~Mooosman~

 

I have been doing the body work on my 39, so I can make it more presentable for sale, a buddy of mine is a ace metal man and has started to teach me in his spare time, this is something I have always wanted to learn, a good skill that not everyone can do is always good investment, plus it is something I enjoy, that is the best part.

 

the solution to this problem is coming a year from now when we have the choice to vote the curent regime out.some times we need to pull our heads out from under the hood and pay atention to what is going on in our country.

 

Hey, Newbie, we don't do politics here. Read the rules or go away. And learn to spell, geezus.

 

this thread was started about finding solutions to the situation.most of what I read was ways of coping with it not solutions. I normally dont talk politcs with folks I dont know. sorry if I ruffled some feathers, wont make that mistake agin. p.s. this newbie has read the rules and no where in it did I see that there were spelling police.if there was that person would be very busy.

 

Sorry Harley Rider if you got a rough welcome, but we want to keep politics out of this thread so it does not get shut down, It's is going to take each and every one of us to make our economy better, and I for one feel it is up to me to solve my financial woes and still be able to afford this hobby, That what this thread is aboat, brainstorming ways to keep our hobby going and if you are unemployed , sometimes this hobby will even put food on your table, I know it has for me in the past, so let's get creative and try to keep a positive atmosphere, by the way , I am also a terrible speller, but the more I post, it seems to get better.

 

Miguel, you are a real good dude! Best of luck to you man. Positive people rule!

 

I'm selling my sweet little 66 F100 in order to finish the build on my 54 Ford tudor. In the past, I would've kept them both.

I should make enough extra from the sale to buy the kids what they want for Christmas.

 

i have definitely been penny pinching, i have a set of gears for my viper i got as a present for xmas and i put off having someone install them because it costs about $1000 bucks, it sadly still sits in the box still...i think the economy is a double sided coin, we may not be able to put what we want in our cars but we remember to be more creative with what we have and do back to the basics of what started this hobby....doing cool stuff that is out of the box and cheaply as possible

 

From the business side of things it hasn't slowed us down one bit, thankfully. We may not be in the "hot rod" specific hobby but it's automotive none the less. We've had some of our biggest months ever this year. We've also already spent a ton of money with Lucas Oil and a few other race organizations for sponsorships for the 2012 season.

 

Haven't read the whole thread but my $.02. Damn the torpedo's,full speed ahead. I'm 51 years old and have not been without a hot car since I was 15.
Don't care how many times the rug gets pulled out from under me I'm still going to get back up. I love spending time in the garage. I love driving the stuff I've crafted. Nothing is going to change that. Nothing.