Buy American....

The cost of anything these days does not match the incomes of most working class people. The bike building business as well as the old car business is being perceived as a "rich man" hobby. When I was growing up and came of the age to drive, the Mopars that we now are restoring, were cheap. Nobody wanted them. They also needed work when they were 17 years old, maybe not restored but engine and trans rebuilds and repaints were common. Now years later, people have made a business out of the parts sales. It is getting better, and there seems to be a lot of things available that we used to have to buy and rebuild to use. I have rebuilt power steering pumps, steering boxes, 4 speeds, engines, just about everything on my Mopar simply because new or reman either wasn't available or it was way overpriced. I guess my point is, owning and driving an old car is more expensive than it should be. I think it is a conspiracy and yes you can blame the govt. unions, etc. I do believe the govt. doesn't want old cars on the road. At least no more than driven to summer cruise nights. The govt. is effectively trying to make the modern v-8 extinct with the 2016 MPG requirement.