Not enough younger people in this hobby...
I have an idea that you have to be a gear head, before you can become a "brand Loyalist"
This is very true.
I love the aesthetics and function of cars. There are all kinds of cars that I like, from a lot of different companies and eras.
I fell in more with vintage Chrysler products, because of the tall deck and long rod design/ high torque and low piston play, as well as the styling cues and the rarity, when compared to the numbers seen in competing models.
I didn't have a dad around. I always found myself looking closer into researching what Chrysler products were, when I saw them, by chance and happened to find out that they were all mostly from the same manufacturer, so, naturally, I decided to pursue a car that I wanted.
I agree the hobby lacks a lot of younger people. That said, IMO, there are too many of all ages that just jump in with the checkbook and don't give a damn about anything else.
Not learning about the history of the hobby. Not caring about what lead up to the car you got.
This is a repeat offense. Kids just fix up whatever the hell they land on. I tossed three cars to the birds that were given to me, while I saved for my '68 and I've still got it, today.
Like everyone else has said, these cars aren't affordable anymore. At least they're buying and driving some kind of cars and doing some work to them. A Body cars are still kind of affordable. Something that is encouraging to me is when I go to Carlilse every summer, the number of young people that are there looking and carrying parts around that they've bought.
I love going to Carlilse every year but sadly, its getting smaller every year.
I think the cars are just as affordable as they used to be. The only difference being that the high end cars are being eaten up by collectors, but lets get real, here, no high school kid has a wing car, unless they inherent.
Minimum wage had just been bumped to $5.15 an hour when I stared working a W2 job at 16. I had a worker's permit at 14 1/2, which was as young as they would let me have one and I had already been mowing lawns and doing other things for cash that I bought my bikes with, prior to wanting a car.
I worked for the $2,350 that I spent on my Charger, when I bought it. The guy came down from $3k, at the time. Nothing special. Just a 318 car, but I loved it.
Today, you could pick one up for about the same price to wage ratio, in the same condition, compared to what people make in minimum wages these days.
The problem is that saving money for a couple of years or working a skill set instead of trading hours for money, is almost impossible for most teenagers to swallow. After all, 2 years is half of their entire high school life. Not a single colleague that I went through school with, only with the exception of my best friend who went through auto body trade school with me, in the mornings, thought that I could hold out for what I wanted.
In turn, I didn't have a car during High School, but I didn't drive a fuckin Justy that was rotting apart, with a $2k stereo system in it, with stolen Pyle Driver speakers and a homemade box, either.
My priorities were screwball, according to most of my high school peers. I went to school 40 a week between HS and trade school and worked 30 a week. I didn't have a day off, unless I requested a saturday off about 3 weeks in advance for special nights, once every so often.
I didn't have a girlfriend, I didn't eat breakfast and I rode the bus and my bike up until I carpooled with my best friend. He bought insurance and I bought gas for his '67 Sport Fury survivor and I was happy.
I think teaching your kids how to save and how to do something trade worthy, so they can use their abilities to make money, instead of only trading time on a W2, is the most valuable lesson to teach them, in this hobby.
I went to trade school, because I was too poor to pay someone to paint my car... so I found a way around it. Nobody forced me to do anything, but with that said, it would have been nice to have someone around to learn from at a younger age, before I went to trade school and was around friend's parents who were into it.
