Todays youth NOT interested

way to early to tell....I never was able to get an older car -pre 1950 until I was well over 25 years old .(late 1970's).. oh I had other some what old cars from the 60's but not until some money and stronger dedication to the hobby... so that being said any pre 25 year old that can even find any 60 and older cars today is truely into it

it was tough to find affordable older cars 30 years ago

 

As others have stated, money has a lot to do with it. I'm 19, and while I don't own a hamb firendly car, I do own a 74 nova, which I am building as a 'period correct' street machine. It took me forever to find a car that wasn't a rusted hulk or a roller for a fair price, and even so, it took me a long time to save up for it. Take a look around at the younger guys you see at car shows and what they are driving. Around here I have noticed more younger people driving 60s-70s four doors, something that would be looked over or just bought for parts a decade or so prior. Look at the price of a 61 impalla, then look at the cost of a 4-door bisayne of the same year.

Also, somebody mentioned shop classes being removed from most schools. My highschool got rid of the 'real' shop class several years before I went there. I was very excited when signing up for mechanics only to discover that all you did was take apart a lawnmower engine, then put it back together. You never got tested on if it ran, or if you even rebuilt it correctly. They had one test which consisted of a page with different engine parts (also lawnmower) and you had to write what each one was. I remember an actual mechanic came to put on a presentation for us once, but all he did was tell us how to tell if a car is junk before buying it. We never worked on a car, or were allowed to bring our own into to bay to learn on. Too much "liability". After that year the teacher had a kid and quit and they got rid of the class altogether.

 

At 62 I get real tired reading threads like this. NOBODY gave a Rats Ass about me in 1961 when Mom dropped ne off at a car show for the day. Life changing event for me, I've loved Pre 1943 vehicles ever since and the people that own and like them. Bob

 

THIS DESERVES THE IMBEDDED LINK!!!!!
thanks Driveway builder, bitchin stuff!!!!



Halleluja!!

 

P.S.
Amen to this as well....

 

I don't think that the love for traditional hot rods is gone...I just think that the O/P was in the wrong spot at the time.

I work with 8 guys that can think of right now, that are all under 30, that have pre-65 project cars. Several of them are also HAMB members.

Plus, there is always a huge turnout of younger guys at all of the local car shows/ cruise nights.


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not trying to turn this thread into a youtube promo, but I always liked this one, too...
http://youtu.be/xnPQp-PwqXQ

 

I'm 14 and I love old cars but I love to drive them even more. I have auto mechanics class and a class that has about 30 kids in it and we all love old cars and we love to work on them.


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I'm currently 30 and have always been into cars... Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time...

I went to college for computers and finished with my degree... Knowing about the IT\tech side of things can come in handy when trying to learn all I can about this hobby and interchanging of parts and general solutions to problems. I have pretty much taught myself to weld stick,mig,tig, and most recently has welding. With no school training "shop class" I'm from a town where there are a lot of farms and I know of quite a few people that have went through the auto classes and do nothing at all with cars.

I thought at one time due to having a younger brother that I consider more of a sister that couldn't find a 12 point deep well socket when I asked him once to get one, that it was an age thing but have come to realize that was wrong when a guy in his 60s wanted nothing to do with a 53 Buick that his aunt had with 16,000 original miles that was free to him and asked if I knew someone who could drop the gas tank for him. I admit when I was 16 I wasn't into hot rods I was into racing motorcycles and we raced $500 cars in a pasture field after school. But sometimes it takes long for people to find their way around.

All in all people are going to do what they want in the end, money could be considered an issue but generally I think if people want something bad enough they will work for it. I work a lot of hours at my normal job and have a decent little side business going which has let me acquire some pre 60s cars and currently have a 48 f1 daily driver and a 28 RPU.


As long as they don't scrap old cars I don't have a problem.



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Hot rodding is still alive.. Younger guys don't have the deepest pockets or the abundance of parts & cars there once was.. But hell I just bought a 28 Tudor off that guy # look up #

 

An old standard that still holds true.

 

I just turned 31 and have owned at least one pre 65 vehicle since I was 12. Been into cars my whole life. My 2 year old loves old cars too. I have to leave my 53 Belair at my shop a lot, because if it is in the driveway and we try to go somewhere in one of our daily drivers, he freaks out.

 

I'm 24 and this is my 40. I work on cars almost every night after work, unless I'm in school. There are still some of us around.

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My seven yeat old nephew already has a car build in mind and a body n frame in hand. Dont lose any sleep. More for the ones who really care. Also this is never about investments.

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In my opinion I think the best suggetion made thus far is to tke off the DO NOT TOUCH signs and let youngsters touch feel and experience the older cars. Whenever I am somewhere in one of my Studebakers and come across young folks in tuner cars, and even the big American cars with their 20+ inch wheels, I ask them about their cars before they get a chance to ask me about mine. Inevitably the conversation eventually turns to the Studebakers, but I let them make that "turn" in the discussion. I almost always get a positive response to my vehicles because, I think, I showed some interest in theirs. I think a lot of us older guys get so judgmental of things that don't fit our interests that we turn off young folks before they get a chance to find out what our type of stuff is really all about.

 

Different groups of young people, like different groups of all people are into different things.
I see more young people that are into our types of cars now than I did when I started 15 years ago.




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Well, Mr. OP, the kids have answered the question:

Hehehe (couldn't help myself) . . . You might be a redneck if . . .

 

I admire your answer---kids stand on my running boards to see inside. No problem, they wash off just like the fingerprints. I don't have a 20G paint job either, but there was NO SUCH THING back in the day. That's about as traditional as it gets.

 

There's a kid that actually gets it. There are all types of auto industries now, not like the early days. Those kids that are taking 4 cyl engines and turning 8 second times in the quarter? Modern day hot rodders (no, I don't personally like them, but can appreciate it). Minitruckers? Modern day customizers. Muscle cars weren't around in the "traditional" time period, I don't recall seeing too many pics of lifted 4x4's back then either. Today there are many options, just because everyone doesn't drool all over a shoebox Ford doesn't mean they aren't into cars. If you don't like what they are into, why should they like what you are into?

 

Our biggest enemy are city and county ordinances that don't let you store project cars on rural land, with out project cars , you don't have a hobby

 

I think hot rodding and building cars will always be around but I also believe it's changing in a major way for all of us.

For sites such as the Jalopy Journal and everyone who either sells parts or as a business involved with building old cars the market for their services will be smaller then it is today.

Even guy's who sell old cars for a living are seeing the changes.

Here in Florida on the west coast we have a people who make their living selling old cars but what I notice lately is they are selling cars from the 50's 60's and 70's

When I asked the question how come no earlier hot rods the answer was they are not selling was the answer I got.

Jimbo

 

my daughter 15 already trying to take my 54 belair off my hands and the car needs work. Her grandma bought her a Nissan she don't want to drive unless she has to brought a tear to my eye

 

I rated this thread with a single star because I see Hope in Youth.

Based on the replies to date by those younger than I am,
my hope is validated.

The years roll on and the younger generation steps up to the plate.

I appreciate all things automotive ......




Jim

 

In a related thought, the CCCA is going through this very concern. However, any significant concours event has quite a variety of the cars they recognize. Perhaps it's really not the car itself but the club and it's ways. I'm into Packard cars because I was exposed to them at 14yrs old and it made an impression. All those families that have those cars will most likely pass them down. I can't see a $500,000 Packard 12 ever losing it's value. I can't imagine a Duesenberg ever being worth only 5 figures. Can anyone else? Did we ever, I mean EVER imagine a gennie Deuce 3W with an asking price of $100,000? Did we ever think a rust free 3W body alone would top $25K?

Yeah, we're dead. Nobody in the future wants our old bullshit cars, right? Now a 30-31 Model A coupe body is worth more than I used to pay for whole cars. Who'd have imagined the desire for an AD pickup would net what we see in auction results? Then we bring up kids with no interest. If they're left to their Iphones and internet games, what do you expect? And schools were brought up as well. Let this chap your ass hardcore. Now the trades we admire are listed as "ALTERNATIVE CAREER PATH". As if some underachiever only has 6 figure skilled trades to pick from instead of that $45K/yr tech job. All problems start somewhere and that's a big bad start right there. How do you carpenter members feel now that schools think you're not able to do anything else? How about you plumbers? Cement/brick and block masons? Electricians? You all sucked and that's ALL you could do. Throw mechanics in there too. If that doesn't raise your blood pressure just a wee bit maybe you too are part of the problem. Maybe you think that's ok. I don't, in fact I find it insulting that those charged with teaching have instilled contempt for the trades mentioned.

 

"Todays youth NOT interested" Statements like this, that group a certain age groups actions/interests/desires, as all inclusive, can only get us into problems.

The youth of today, who are interested in the old car hobby, may very well be more passionate and committed, then some of us "older guys".

Consider this: I graduated from High School, in 1973. I am now reflecting on the cars in my High School parking lot at the time. A very nice '40 Ford Coupe, '40 Plymouth coupe, '55 Nomad, numerous Tri-Five Chevs, '62 Vette, Numerous Impala's, and of course the Camaros, Firebirds, Dusters, Chevelles, etc.

I was influenced by my peers, brothers, relatives, etc. It was a time when new model year cars were greatly anticipated, and had a certain uniqueness to them.

Todays old car loving youth don't have that luxury of actually, "been there", "done that", yet they still love the hobby.

Youth of today, who are interested in the old car hobby, will "carry the torch" just fine.

 

I'm 19 and I love it. I have a 61 lark wagon in the works right now. I know a lot of my friends don't like it. I think the biggest part of it is just they way kids are brought up.

 

Maybe our love affair with the automobile is over, or at least starting to be over. Most of us older guys remember when we Americans were CRAZY about cars, they were an important part of our culture. We hung around the new car dealerships every fall, waiting for the new ones to come out. We would run over to a neighbors house and drool over the new one they had just gotten. We washed them, added stuff to make them cooler, and on Sundays we would pack the whole family in them and go for a nice long drive to nowhere in particular. Not only were we guys into cars but our entire families were as enraptured with them as we were.

You don't see that any more. I can't tell one newer car from another. I don't even KNOW my neighbors, let alone go to see the new car they bought. If I go for a Sunday drive it is probably in my hot rod and not my daily driver, and the only accessory I have added to my daily is an air freshener.

New cars are not the exciting creations they once were. They are basically a means to an end, a way to get to work, to the store, and not much else. So maybe we who love them are simply a dying breed. Sure, there will always be a few who pick up the torch, but I am talking about a significant percentage of people today and the way they view the automobile.

Don

 

Thank for posting I allway want to learn more defiantly caught the fab bug, I will order it when I get paid, libraries wouldn't carry it over here I don't think


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In my town we're stuck with a bylaw that limits us to one unregistered vehicle. I can't put up the garage I want because of well district and wetlands protection, etc,etc. A lot of things like this are linked to the green and sustainable bullish!t aka Agenda 21. It's creeping up on us all.
There's a decent amount of younger guys in my area into various hotrodding type things, whether its imports,diesels, mud racing,etc.
My father and uncle got me interested young, I put aside my unrealistic plan to have a model A at 16 in favor of the free and plentiful GM B and G-bodies that were available in the 90s. All the important go fast parts fit them and it was fun. Even though over the years I spent way too much money on them, I have very little regret.


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Don,you pretty much nailed it!

And for some of the responses claiming that the young guys are not interested because us older guys are unfriendly,or have a nice car,the way I see it is I have worked hard for many years to achieve my dreams,,,no instant gratification for me.

Living in today's politically correct world it seems it is now fair to blame others for ones shortcomings.

As a teen I didn't look for approval of my peers or expect them to approve of my car,,today's young guns build what the like,,we have some great young builders here on the hamb. HRP