I went to one of the regular Twin Cities car gatherings tonight. It was at a restraunt in the western 'burbs. Great night.Probably 25 cars. As I was checking out the cars I realized there were only 3 other pre war cars besides my 40 Merc. I'm seeing it more and more. Seems like it's more post war, 50's and 60's cars and of course the Muscle cars. I like all kinds of cars but the pre war stuff and true hot rods have always been my passion.
I went to a large cruse-in at a popular restruant in Middlebury,In. a week or so ago. I took my OT new aqusition (66 Mustang). I was kinda suprised at the number of muscel cars and 50s-70s cars and the few street rods. I haven't gone to an out door "show" or cruise in for a few years but its easy to see things are changing. Normal Norman
not to come off as a smart ass,, honestly, I don't mean to. BUT,, sometimes it is easy to forget JUST HOW OLD pre-war cars are.... 1940 was 70 years AGO!!! your actually to the point that alot of people don't own HOUSES that old. just like with anything else, they are getting HARDER AND HARDER TO FIND. 20 years ago they were a desireable car to make streetrods out of and every guy was grabbing them up and makin billet streetrods, driving them, and as usual wrecking alot of them on the roads in crashes, or half ass chopping them and never getting done, or ruining them outright. fast forward 20 years and it is NO surprise that you don't see as many..... again they are 70 years old. for some of them that is 50 years of rotting in a grove, even as well built as they are there is limitations to how long you can expose them to the elements before they litterally become dirt. they are stilll out there,,, but you don't see as many because there are not as many cheap starter cars left..... ALSO,, alot of them you see are not pre-war cars at all.. they only LOOK like one, they are completley assembled from off the shelf parts. look at all the "KIT" street rods that were made. Things ARE changing and one of them is that it is not "kool" to have a fiberglassed body copy anymore. alot of people would rather own a 50's car than a fiberglass Kit.
Certain events may just draw a certain type of vehicle and a 66 Mustang or anything else is now 44 years old. Plus some guys with more than one car in the garage may just take the Mustang, Road Runner or Chevelle to cruise night an leave the older rod at home waiting to go to a bigger event. I know a couple of guys who have cars that that can compete for awards at any event in the country but they usually take one of their other cars to cruise nights and the little local Saturday shows.
You don't get out much ... do you ? Sadly, the pre WWII cars are mostly gone and the ones that remain have gotten either so expensive to build or too valuable to drive and enjoy
Might be like Fresno....you go to the local burger choke and you get hit on your traditional Hot Rod like "When are you going to paint it"?, "Where is your electric fan"? The classic of them all "You need some billet wheels on this"........."do you have air conditioning"?
You're going to the wrong gatherings....The gatherings I attend are usually 80-90% pre-war. Just went to one yesterday... Burger cruises are full of 50's cars and Musclecars....and Streetrods!
What does "too valuable to drive" mean? Is there a specific dollar amount? Is it based on your income? Or is it more of a fear thing? If it's too valuable to drive,than you wasted your money! Maybe the money would have been better spent on a car,or cars, that you can enjoy,rather than be a slave to.
I drive mine, BOTH of them ( just not at the same time ) ... But I know a LOT of guys are afraid to drive them ... afraid of a scratch or a rock chip. When you have 15/20 grand in paint ... a scratch or a rock chip really hurts. Plus ... I know of three fairly valueable RODS that were stolen in Pigeon Forge TN in the last 3 or 4 months. Makes a guy worry
You are correct that pre 1940 hot rods are rarely seen on the street and at most car events around here. There must be loads of them sitting in garages and mostly not driven, probably due to the age of the owners, who seem to be mostly grey beards, and own several cars. It makes me wonder where these cars (and the owners) will be 10 or 15 years from now. I try to go to and support the few events that specifically attract the older hot rods, like the Jalopy Showdown, Jalopy Drags, Hot Rod Hoedown, etc. Fortunately, locally there's a local group of about 10 (mostly) geezers who drive their pre-40's hot rods regularly..."The Garage Guys". Here's a few of our 20+ cars, all drivers.
As it has always been. The people that choose later models do it because that's their preference. One can choose a particular car that is off the scale because of what it is. If I were to start off by homeing in on a particular ride, it would be a hard row to hoe, if it had to be your '40 Merc, a Willy, or a Deuce. But anybody can look around and find something that will serve the purpose without having a Deuce roadster or a '40 Coupe. I knew I couldn't afford such when I got my '29 Chivvy. I picked it up, complete, but in derelict condition for $300. In a couple of years I was driving a car that now gets a lot of looks, a great ride, for under 6K, including new bias ply rubber, a fresh rebuilt motor, SW gauges I scrounged at swap meets, etc. Most of the high cost of a build is paying somebody else to put it together. Would it be more expensive to do it again than doing the same thing with a '50 or '60 ? I think not. Like I said; The people that choose later models do it because that's their preference.
I agree with that I have a friend that shows up in a 63 Ford Convertable with A.C. Just because he likes that year Ford! This thread got me thinking that most of the prewar cars that show up are mostly all fiberglass now. (Nothing wrong with that..) I know a guy with an original 32 Ford roadster with a Hemi. But he only brings it out a couple times a year for the big shows. Last show I went to I think the closest to pre war was a 48 Ford I drive mine several times a week. I drove it to LOWES yesterday to pick up dirt! Cadman
I'd guess that 90% of the guys that are into cars want a car they identify with. That usually means the stuff that was desirable when they were mid teens, which leads to a gaggle of Muscle cars and the inevitable question, "Why didn't you put a 350 in it?". Personally, I get tired of looking at them. Bill
Lots of guys have nostalgia for things that were around when they were kids. As our population ages the popularity of things (not just cars) will move up the scale as well. The mid-80s generation of Camaros and Firebirds are making a comeback at the auction houses on television and they're showing up at the local drive-ins, too. I'm just glad they skipped 1973-1983.
I stopped going to cruise ins and spend my time in the garage, and attend selected rod runs that support charities.
I try to live with the philosophy of "To each their own"..that being said, muscle cars, street rods, traditional cars, all have their place, sometimes it happens to be at the same place. I, like many on here, am not excited about seeing yet another muscle car, or street rod, but pre war stuff gets me excited. Around my area the mix is typically pretty good. As far as their value/worth is concerned and what may happen to it..that is why I have insurance. I don't operate a museum, therefore I do not own museum pieces.
A couple of observations; as I grow older, it's hard to stuff my aching body into a HAMB friendly car (I have two) and if my wife rides along, it's going to be in the '66 Olds Tornado. Too, I've done a couple of GG's track runs and I'm always wondering if the 75 year old spindles are up to the job. Since I'm a car guy, I enjoy all different kinds of cars. Try it, you'll like it!
Around here a classic car cruise night usually consists of 25 or 30 40's, 50's and 60's cars, and ususally 20 or 30 new corvettes. No one can really figure out why the corvette guys show up. They never talk to anyone outside their "group" or walk around to look at anyone elses car.
I partially agree,but he was talking about Cruise Nights,NOT events. There's TONS of pre-war cars at the events I go to,but most guys won't drive them to a wed night burger joint. Another thing to consider is,most guys who have old cars,of any year,also have a daily driver they buzz around in 5-6 days of the week. I think it has to do with the area you live in also. EASY with the "grey beard" comments,hahaha!
So, Whats next? Some patina'd boyd or Lil John Buttera barn find at some car show? Billet looks bad fresh - let alone all neglected in a barn or worse - out back of the barn...
Anyway, this is why (in part) I live in greater Detroit. I have lived on Portland, OR and central VA. I like the car scene better in MI. The car scene in Orygun was not bad - lots of cool stuff and lots of cool cars left to buy and work on, but VA was too hard with inspection law and all. My bottom line for this is two shows: Autorama and Woodward Cruise - both the largest of their type - nothing beats Michigan for car scene.
Being young a post-war truck was my easiest option to start messing around with an old vehicle. Pre-war vehicles are expensive and usually in half the condition of a post-war when you find them. Post-wars are cheap, easy to find, and relatively easy to work on without paying out the @ss in the after market. I do sometimes envy the '60s era guys though as a bunch of technical innovations to the stock vehicles came along around then making them much more road friendly for todays highways in stock form.
I only go to cruise nights occasionally and usually maybe only (at most) 5 or 10% of the cars I see at them are pre 1940. Part of it, I'm sure, is today's traffic conditions, and the inherent fragility and relative uncomfortability of many of the old cars we love. No offense intended with the "grey beard" comment. I'm in that category too.
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