Todays youth NOT interested

Finally, I get to see the face behind the name. I've never had ambitions to meet a 'celebrity' but I gotta admit you're one of a handful of individuals in the world of LSR i'd like to sit down and shoot the breeze. Michael, when you guys hit 300 in that Pontiac years ago it really made me sit up and take notice. And yeah, I was young then.

 

We build what we can afford to the level we can afford to build it. I'm 36 and when I was a kid the mid 80's IROC Camaros were all I ever wanted. When I got a little older I bought one, built a bad ass street car the way I wanted to. The exact same thing the old timers did in the 50's and 60's. Unfortunately our projects are not widely accepted in the hot rod crowd. I even respect the little rice burner that at least gets out and works on his car, even if his modifications are hilarious.

 

I personally think the sport will go on for a good many years...if you go to Louisville and see the millions of dollars worth of parts and new stuff coming out every year, some mighty large companies are sure betting on it going on for a long time.....I think we need to help get the kids interested...instead of guarding our cars like gold....don't get me wrong, I don't like people fealing and leaning all over my stuff either....but just last Thursday at Cruising the Coast a mother and her 2 sons, looked to be about 14-16 years old were looking at my coupe and one wanted his picture taken in front of it...I saw what was going on and walked up to them and said....don't take a picture in front of the car...then I paused for s second to see the expression, and I opened the door and said...get in and take a good picture...he jumped in with all smiles and I closed the door....I told him to take the picture to school and tell all his friends that his grandmother had bought it for his birthday and that would give him a year or so to really keep them going before they asked to come over and see it...he, his mother and brother were all laughing and when he got out he said, your a cool dude....HE WILL NEVER FORGET THAT, plus he has a picture to remind him of it.....be kid friendly to this younger group....When I was 14 I washed cars at my dads service station...I had 2 guys that took interest in me with their cars..one was a brand new 1966 SS 396 Chevelle, Black with white interior, 4 speed and was special ordered with the '66 Vette 396/425 engine...the other was a 1966 Ford Fairlane GT Convertible..Red/black interior and white top...my Buddies thought I was the king Bee cause I would ride my motorcycle over to their house, drive their car back to my dads station, wash the cars and drive them back......the guy with the Chevelle told me one day to drive him home and he wanted to see me run it through the gears....and I did.......I see these 2 guys, both are around 72-75 years old and still talk about me starting by washing their cars....they always come out to look at my '32 coupe, '32 roadster or my daily '29 Model A truck....they helped to plant the seed of cars in me at a young age...remember, we were all young one day and loved it when the older guys took time to spend with us...it made me feel accepted cause these guys were 8-10 years older than me................Remember to make the young ones feel important.

 

luckily, here in Alabama the yahoos at our state board of ed, finally listened to industry and are going to pump about 50 million into technical education, Our tech center has a record enrolment this year of over 600 students and looks like we might be able to ad a machine shop class next year. At least here in my area shop classes are alive and well.

 

Whoa Kurtis, no "celebrity" here. I put my pants on one leg at a time just like everyone here. But thanks.
As far as shooting the breeze, if you make it to the states look me up at on the salt, the lakes, or my shop Mitech. I'd be happy to sit and trade stories with you. Just so you know, it was pretty mind blowing setting that record with the Firebird in 1999. Always dream big.... you never know.

Thanks again.

 

Don't worry, rodding isn't dead. I'm 24 and I can say I've never had any interest in "rice burners", though I do have a fondness for vintage Japanese tin. After all, my dad's first car was a Datsun 510 (the only Japanese car ever in my family). I've been a "car guy" since I was in third grade; originally muscle cars were my thing. I still like MoPar muscle, GTOs, and Mustangs, however, a funny thing happened to me ~2004: I was coming back from Carlisle, and while at a gas station I saw a publication called Ol' Skool Rodz. I picked it up & it changed my life. I already had some exposure to hot rods (probably from watching Home Improvement), but I never knew that people were still building rods & sleds the way they did back in the day. The traditional stuff just hit me in a way the billet Boyd/Foose stuff never did.

The problem I have (& suspect many other young, would-be rodders have) is two-fold: one, rodding isn't cheap (seen the prices of deuces these days?). Secondly, I live in a town house with no garage, plus there's the HOA to deal with (anybody who's had to deal with them know, they're probably the closest thing to fascism we have in America). I'd love to move out (it's my parent's house), but that's not really an option. Rest assured, as soon as I can get a place with a garage & a bit of dough, I'll be on the lookout for a project.

In conclusion, it's not that young people aren't into rodding, it's just that it's not as accessible for young guys today. Yes, a lot of my generation are into cars that are tuned with a laptop rather than a set of wrenches, but you'd be surprised how many of us are into old school stuff.

 

its still alive in some of us, other than one car everything ive owned has been made in 1967 or older, my daily driver is a 54. i get told my old timers all the time how they are glad to see us keep it alive

 

Remember, back in the early sixties, when you could get a '55 Chevy for $250? And you could drive it home. Or an old Ford hot rod for $1,000? Well, the new kids don't and can't. Until this stuff gets affordable, money is going to be a major obstacle.

Then, there's the boredom. I'm older, so I like going to cruise ins rather than shows, but I'll hit a local show once and a while. Thing is, I go to hang with friends and look at cars. But that's it! There's nothing else to do. What happened to all the "Poker Runs" and "Gymkahanas" (sp)? I remember when stuff like that happened at EVERY event. Kids, even the ones into cars, don't want to spend all day talking and looking. They want the action.

If I was 16 and into hot rods; sitting around in a lawn chair, complaining about the power parkers would NOT be my idea of fun. 'We got pinups." Well, todays kids have sexting. So what?

Bring some action and maybe the kids will get interested.

 

Today's $250 '55 Chevy is a 15 year old Honda or Nissan. The custom tricks that worked on that '55 won't work so well on the import. But I see a few cars around that guys have made their own parts to change taillights and smooth them out and stuff and I can appreciate that.

And I have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot for early Japanese tin too, like pre-'70-ish. It wouldn't bother me to own one. Even though some of them are basically glorified golf carts.

 

I believe the building and creating custom cars and hot rods will also continue in the future but I see it continuing in a slightly different way.

Many young people today are interested in a much different style of car then many of us on this site are used to calling a street rod or a custom car.

Today's youth have so many more options when it comes to things to do that most of us never had.

They have smart phones, tablets, computers and many other items when it comes to things to do.

I think what's really happening is things are changing very fast and this includes building cars and what cars will look like in the future.

Sometimes it easy to forget how old I am getting until some young person asks me about what the hell at 40 Chevy coupe looked like and then I remember they have no idea since many were born after 1980 or 1990.

Their idea of an old car is something from around the time they were born!

Times are changing and maybe not for the better. Jimbo

 

Not interested? I have a dual carb intake for a flatty on my desk where I do my homework.. I am very interested.

 

well, im still 17, the car is still 83.. but hey, im interested!



my sister does not get it tho.. she is 16..

 

I think access and knowledge are two roadblocks. I grew up in the days of full srvice gas stations. My dad had one. I started sweeping driveways and cleaning restrooms at 13. My love for cars was born. I soon learned how to work on cars and my local hero worked for my Dad. He was a ten years older and had a 53 Ford. He put an Olds in it from the salvage and parts were plentiful. Many of us had to build a hotrod until muscle cars came along, Then we couldn't afford one. By the rime I got in to drag racing in 69 parts were better but we had to fab a lot of stuff. Nothing like the plethora of stuff today. Back when I was a car club pres my first objective was to end the stand off policy some member had. They had forgotten they were once that pimple faced kid that didn't have a clue and asked a lot of stupid questions. We encouraged those kids to join the club, car or not, and hang out and learn something. After all, that primered rusty thing they had was something they were doing and needed a hand to get it going. Getting a cold shoulder like I did when I first started racing wasn't going to happen on my watch. We brewed some good hotrodders over the years. Jut my .02 worth.

 

Well, it is.
That mentality has always confused me. Age is relative. "Old" depends upon your perspective.

I can imagine in the early part of the 20th century that many "old" guys sat around disgusted that "todays youth" couldn't saddle a horse because they were spoiled to them darn modern automobiles.

 

Oh my gosh, Me too! I very rarely see people my age cruising around in a hot rod in my town or any where else for that matter. It's all about 8 foot trucks and civics. Some of them think its cool I'm into classics but just because all their friends have trucks and Honda's they think they have to 'blend' in and get one themselves. It maybe a bit more expensive, but I do most of my work myself on my 61' Cadillac DeVille replacing radiator, rebuilding the Carburetor, replacing vacuum lines and hoses, thermostat and on and on! And know one would think a girl like me could do all that herself! It takes perseverance and you have to want it. I'm sure I have saved a ton of money doing most work myself. Anyone can do it!

 

It is a dying deal. Next time you are at a swap meet look at the age of the people in attendance. In 10 years 90% of them will be dead or thinking about it. Ten 30 somethings dose make a swap meet.

 

Are you guys sure about that?

 

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Im 22 and heres my 26 coupe
it sits on a custom 2x5 chassis, 327 with 3 deuce, 7 inch chop with an 64 impala roof skin, 35 ford wires widend 6 inches in rear, 40 ford bones plus much more.
car is in primer now, currently working on the interior and trying to fab up a 53 olds gauge cluster in the dash.

 

I dont think access to knowledge is a roadblock. Ive learned everything i know from watching shows on tv and reading information from sites like this. I think kids y age have it way easier when it comes to finding the knowledge to work on a car.

 

If you want to get younger people interested in our hobby, encourage your own kids to drive your cars and enjoy them. I gave my daughter keys to my cars and have her drive them on the weekends. A deuce coupe driven by a cute 20 year old girl gets a lot more attention than when it's driven by an old fart like me and she loves the comments that she gets.

 

some people get it. Others ask did you buy that truck and why? (38 chevy)

 

It's hard to become interested, when the price of old cars is through the roof and what's out there is being hoarded by someone who keeps saying he's going to fix them up one day.

And where's the fun factor. What's the difference in sitting at a desk on a computer versus sitting in a lawn chair behind a car? Maybe the problem is US.

 

Yup. Want to find the root cause? Grab a mirror.

What's minimum wage, again?

Sell your stuff, cheap, or watch the hobby die.

 

I say it's dying.. Heck I'm a true Motörhead with two galaxies from the 60s in the garage to restore and my two sons
Age 9 and 13 really have no interest in turning wrenches on them. Now if I could hook up an Xbox 360 controller to the car to restore I bet they would be interested.
And as someone else posted ,most swap meets are of guys in there 60-70s and older still holding onto that part , that will most likely get sold off at the estate auction when they die .
It's sad to see our hobby/thrill dying out.

And a coffee can exhaust on a Honda/Nissan doesn't count either


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I'm 16 years old and I love vintage cars and my passion will never die for them.

 

I'm 26 years old and my passion will never die!! My 2 and a half year old son loves old cars.. He walks out in to the garage and says the 58 f100 is his and the 62 bird is mine. It's awesome.. I didn't grow up with a father into vintage cars he never taught me a thing.. I found this passion all on my own.. and my son will have this same passion.. regardless.

Like a previous post said you older men hoarding projects that will "be completed one day" or are asking outrageous prices are only hurting the kulture. pass em down to one of your kids/grand kids/hell the kid next door. And 9 and 13 year olds might not be into them now.. but give em time. Theyll come around.If every rodder would make an attempt to pass on what they have learned to a least one younger person things could be a lot different. You know how many older men I've tried to ask for tips or advice and they just laugh at me or tell me they had to learn all by themselves and so should I.. which has to be wrong.. In your guys day you had a ton of friends into cars and they were available everywhere for cheap.. we don't have that luxury.. so throw us a bone. With most high schools (at least here in vegas) cutting auto/shop classes where are we supposed to gain this knowledge?

Or maybe I'm wrong.. maybe my generation is lost. But if anybody wants to teach/mentor me.. I'll be waiting and I know I'm not the only one.

 

I say there's still a future.