Future of the hobby

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bballfan1

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as an older member who grew up with the cars, always wondering if any of the younger generation would care enough about the history of old cars. Yesterday my friend and I dealt with a 30 something “kid” and was truly impressed with his knowledge of the cars and interest in survivor cars. I have two sons of my own who could really care less about the cars (that’s ok) and just want to drive them! He ended up buying an engine from my friend, and my friend thought enough of him to say “would you like to see some of my cars?” He could not get over my friends original survivor 1973 340 4 speed Cuda that he ordered new and has 30000 miles on it, looking closely and all factory “mistakes lol” or the stuff my buddy has gathered over the past 4 decades! He ended up with a B body 18 spline four speed also. My friend gave him great deals and hopefully this young man will do the same for some young mopar guy in the future!
 
I was first introduced to classic cars, and fell in love with them when as a child I would sit inside my dad's 1970 'cuda and pretend I was driving it and throwing the pistol grip shifter in all directions. I remember the difference from the other, newer, vehicles in my family in regards to the interior, seat placement, and my personal favorite view of what felt like a 10 ft long hood sticking out past the windshield. With a little research of what "Mopars" were I promised myself that I would have one of my own one day, with the 2 most badass models (in my head) being the factory trans-am E-bodies, and the 1968 GSS Darts. I bought my first Dart 3 years ago when I was 26 and I was the only person I knew close to my age that had a classic car. Since then I have met countless people my age that have classic cars/restoring classic cars/love classic cars. I think the hobby is in good hands as far as a fan base, my biggest concern with the future of the hobby is the possibility of global oil supplies running out in 30-60 years from now (as some experts predict). But that is for the future to figure out, and even if that were to happen, I am sure one of us within the hobby will find an alternative way to keep these beauties on the road. For now we need to enjoy what we have, and introduce future generations to the hobby and keep the tradition going.
 
Met a youngster who knows the make and models of cars a lot of people on this site wouldn’t know. At Christmas I gave him a pile of old car magazines as he loves to read. He is 10yrs old, hopefully a future enthusiast
 
Great conversation! I have thought of this a lot, I have two sons, 29, 25, both got the bug from me and both drive only Mopars, classics and new daily drivers, personally I have a 56 Dodge truck I have been working on for years but never seem to " get the time" so this year as I get older and watch the evolution of the electric car I decided to bear down and get this done and I have made good headway, where I live in British Columbia Canada our provincial Govt has said ALL new cars sold in the province MUST ONLY be powered by electric bt the year 2040 that's not too far away, I wonder what will happen to older cars and hotrod projects like mine? Maybe they will be banned? But then we will just have to learn how to install a Tesla engine from the pick and pull I guess? Lastly I have two grandsons I hope they get the bug I take them to many car shows and keep them involved, who knows?
 
My opinion, in general this is a hobby with lots of grey hair. Last summer I took the Valiant out for a drive and stopped at the parts store. When I came out, a twenty-something girl was all agog over the car. I spent at least 20 minutes talking to her about it. She was a huge fan, especially about how, if I sold her the car and she took good care of it, the engine (the original untouched slant) would keep going until she was my age. We all need to fan the flames for the next guardians of these cars.
 
I am afraid self-driving cars will kill the hobby. Only the Uber-rich will be able to afford the insurance to drive themselves. Things are moving fast.
 
The younger generation only knows what they are being taught. And yes there is a group out there younger than me who is all about the Hobby but from my viewpoint it's all about the Cellphone and digital world..... Yes, it's going to change our hobby and already is.....

It's like this. You don't know what you don't know. When a parent just shuns at the thought of some guy flying through the air on his Dirtbike it's instilled directly into the kid. If nobody teaches the kid to blow a motor up, sprain their wrist sending their bike off a ramp, or let them hold a trophy for winning the finals on Jr. dragster day how will it ever continue on.

If I had kids they would have long medical records, grease under their nails, and a mentality that they can do whatever they put their minds to. Including fixing up an old car....

JW
 
There are always concerns in life, we can only control ourselves and hope for the best for the future. My present concern is for us now. With AMD pulling the plug on a lot of Mopar parts, keeping what we have going now may be a real problem. That said, my daughters show no interest in owning, or even driving my car, but do want to ride in it when it's done. I hope to give them some good memories so that if they have kids, they will tell stories of riding in the purple Challenger that grandpa built.
 
I have no kids of my own, but first wife had 3, and current wife has 1. The first wife had 2 boys, 1 of whom was following along the classic car path before I met him, and I encouraged him to continue. His mother had a 75 Dart when I met her, he dreamed about it being his, and eventually it was. I did a lot of work on it to ensure it was safe before he got behind the wheel, had him helping me as much as I could working on it and on my 70 Dart. Unfortunately, he let some girl he was trying to impress drive it, and it met it's end against a power pole one night a few months after he got his license. He later bought a 71 Dart, I helped him learn about that one too, but I think it needed more work than he was able/willing to put into it, so he sold it to me. I kept it for a couple years, but eventually sold it, meanwhile he picked up a 73 Dart, and got pretty serious with it, swapped out the /6 for a 360/904 and 8.25 rear. Have not seen or heard from him since about 2006, so no idea what he's up to now.
My current wife's son was very interested in my 70 from his first ride, he was about 19 at the time, and while he was more into computers and gaming, he did appreciate the work I put into it, and always wanted to drive it. I finally let him take it around the block one day, and I swear he couldn't get the smile off his face for a week. I taught him whenever his car needed repairs, that doing it himself was more economical, and not overly difficult, oil changes, tune-ups, we rebuilt the front end of his 2006 Malibu one Saturday, my message was always that I will gladly help you and teach you the proper way to do things, but don't ever expect me to do it for you. Sadly, he and his mother have had a falling out a few years ago, and there has been no contact since then.
When I'm at car shows or events, I will always take the time to answer questions from the younger generation, it's important that we pass on our knowledge, and with a little luck, spark an interest that will keep the hobby going long after we're gone.
 
#1. The global push into EV, hybrid movement and general emission's reduction (goal is zero)
#2. The Right to Repair fight (we are loosing)
#3. EPA/Gov moving against the aftermarket tuning parts & providers (we are really loosing)
#4. The new state & local regs on at-home workshop & repair that are popping up nationwide.
...they want all of us out of gas burning vehicles that we can fix ourselves, just asap.

Modern muscle car, tuner & sport segments are filling the immediate need for speed, but even those are burning low on the wax (swan song) for a variety of reasons.
Most under 30 crowd see non-modern cars as out dated dinosaurs...lacking the creature comforts most cant live without. Cars are seen as required transportation, not a hobby which most 'kids' cant (or dont care to) afford.

I am directly in the modern muscle car industry. My customers are 95% older, more affluent, grew up in the muscle car era but have long ago abandoned early muscle in favor of newer stuff thats plug n play, heads & tails above perf wise, carries a warranty they can void at will and can be traded in tomorrow for the next gen when so desired.
10-12yrs tops at current rate of decline and this will most likely all be but forgotten or that we have been forced to evict, save the big $$ collections, museum pieces and rusting hulks in a corn field or wrecking yard...
 
Great conversation! I have thought of this a lot, I have two sons, 29, 25, both got the bug from me and both drive only Mopars, classics and new daily drivers, personally I have a 56 Dodge truck I have been working on for years but never seem to " get the time" so this year as I get older and watch the evolution of the electric car I decided to bear down and get this done and I have made good headway, where I live in British Columbia Canada our provincial Govt has said ALL new cars sold in the province MUST ONLY be powered by electric bt the year 2040 that's not too far away, I wonder what will happen to older cars and hotrod projects like mine? Maybe they will be banned? But then we will just have to learn how to install a Tesla engine from the pick and pull I guess? Lastly I have two grandsons I hope they get the bug I take them to many car shows and keep them involved, who knows?

Theres already a guy doing a Tesla engine swap in an old mopar! I'll have to see if I can find the pictures.
 
I showed my grandson everything under the hood and what it was for. How to change a tire, etc. A few months later, he remembered nothing. Straight A student, going to a great college in the fall. People are interested in different things, but you want to know something about your car when you break down or talk to the mechanic at a shop.
 
About 4 years ago I was working on a 74 challenger ralley. I went down to the local advance auto store looking for some brake parts. The young kid looked at me funny. Here come to find out he thought the NEW challenger was NEW. He didn't know that they made challengers in the 70s.
 
I'll add a little perspective to this. I'm 30 and gave always loved old muscle cars. Most of my friends around my age love my old mopar too. I know there may seem to be a disconnect with the younger generation and classics but there really is a big financial investment with there cars, or old cars in general. Most of the people my age go to school, then college, then start families and disposable income can be hard to come by.

I was fortunate to purchase a house way under value 5 years ago, make good money and not have much debt. I also had a garage to work on my cars

A lot of younger kids have daycare, mortgage/rent, student loans etc. I was paying 1200 a month for daycare for 2 kids, on top of my mortgage and other bills. When we had our 3rd kid our daycare was going to increase to 2k per month. When I graduate dental school my student loan payment will be about 5300 a month that's 60k a year just for student loans.

I think most people start having more disposable income when they get into their 40s and 50a. So my generation still has 10-20yrs until the age of disposable income.
 
I was at my brothers house the other day and was showing him some pictures of a friends freshly painted challenger...his 14 year old son walked by and glanced at the phone picture and says “is that B5 blue?” ... I just about fell over
 
I'm 31 and have been interested in old classic muscle cars since I was a kid. Been going to car cruise ins and was going to monster mopar weekend for years. I was fortunate enough to have a dad that got me interested in this hobby. Now I have a 1969 dart swinger 340, 1971 dart swinger, 1974 duster with a 410 stroker also a 1982 Amc Spirit with a 408 stroker. The problem with the hobby anymore is that the price of everything is getting out of hand which is turning alot of the younger generation away.
 
The Wuhan flu is gonna hit the reset button on lots of things, our hobby may be
one. Sometimes good is born from bad.
Actually, I just wrote a similar message to someone in an email today regarding an old car I just bought. I said, "It would just be me spending time on the car. I won't give the virus to it and it won't give the virus to me."
 
Great conversation! I have thought of this a lot, I have two sons, 29, 25, both got the bug from me and both drive only Mopars, classics and new daily drivers, personally I have a 56 Dodge truck I have been working on for years but never seem to " get the time" so this year as I get older and watch the evolution of the electric car I decided to bear down and get this done and I have made good headway, where I live in British Columbia Canada our provincial Govt has said ALL new cars sold in the province MUST ONLY be powered by electric bt the year 2040 that's not too far away, I wonder what will happen to older cars and hotrod projects like mine? Maybe they will be banned? But then we will just have to learn how to install a Tesla engine from the pick and pull I guess? Lastly I have two grandsons I hope they get the bug I take them to many car shows and keep them involved, who knows?
I wouldn't worry to much about that. Remember Al Gore in1992 made a bold statement to " Ban the internal combustion engine in 25 years." Well that date has come and gone and they are still around. I'm 64 and have been a motor head since the day I tore my dads lawn mower apart to rebuild it when I was 8, (It never ran again). When I was a young man the cult following for Model T's and Model A's was very much alive and thriving. But as I age you notice that now days that following isn't what it use to be, why? They got old and died off. Now those of us that were raised in the muscle car era, are getting older and dying off. There will be some to carry on the era, but not near as many. Now when the millennials and Gen Z ers get our age, who knows what their legacy will be.
 
remember, they make more old grey haired guys and chicks every day...
 
I wouldn't worry to much about that. Remember Al Gore in1992 made a bold statement to " Ban the internal combustion engine in 25 years." Well that date has come and gone and they are still around. I'm 64 and have been a motor head since the day I tore my dads lawn mower apart to rebuild it when I was 8, (It never ran again). When I was a young man the cult following for Model T's and Model A's was very much alive and thriving. But as I age you notice that now days that following isn't what it use to be, why? They got old and died off. Now those of us that were raised in the muscle car era, are getting older and dying off. There will be some to carry on the era, but not near as many. Now when the millennials and Gen Z ers get our age, who knows what their legacy will be.

Hopefully none of the cars from the 80s and 90s as they are as ugly as a turd on a sidewalk.
 
I'm 24 and I'm restoring a 69 Dart right now, and have a 68 Sweptline on deck. I am appreciative of all the knowledge and help everyone has been giving me through this. So don't worry, the future of the hobby is alive and well.
 
I think when the car companies retro'd the old - Dodge Challenger, Mustang, and Camaro - I think that did spark a new interest in the hobby from today's youth. These new cars are cool and fast. But, when they see even a poster of a '70 Challenger, you bet they know it's a challenger.
 
I wouldn't worry to much about that. Remember Al Gore in1992 made a bold statement to " Ban the internal combustion engine in 25 years." Well that date has come and gone and they are still around. I'm 64 and have been a motor head since the day I tore my dads lawn mower apart to rebuild it when I was 8, (It never ran again). When I was a young man the cult following for Model T's and Model A's was very much alive and thriving. But as I age you notice that now days that following isn't what it use to be, why? They got old and died off. Now those of us that were raised in the muscle car era, are getting older and dying off. There will be some to carry on the era, but not near as many. Now when the millennials and Gen Z ers get our age, who knows what their legacy will be.

As a 29 year old, the cars "of my day" are the late 80's early 90's era. Growing up the only cars I had to aspire to and looked cool to me on the street were JDM and german stuff (Nissan 240sx, Mazda rx7, BMW e30 etc.) and don't get me wrong I still like them but living in california I really wanted something smog exempt. Most people my age that like cars, can't afford a proper classic so they buy the cars from this era because it is what we grew up with, and they're still relatively affordable. The cost of things, and scarcity of parts has seemed to really scare people away from the hobby more than anything.
 
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