The future

Hot rodding and drag racing and “muscle cars” are bigger now than ever before. The big three are all putting out factory cars with over 600 hp. In the street racing scene you are a nobody unless you are pushing 1000+ hp. Drag racers and drag racing channels have over 1,000,000 subscribers on YouTube. The stands are packed at radial races and no prep races. Test and tune night gets a bigger turnout than 10k bracket races.

It’s not old men throwing twin turbos on their LS powered cars. It’s not old men staying out street racing until after the sun comes up. It isn’t old men making 1320 video and Cletus McFarland into YouTube millionaires. The horsepower wars and drag strip wars going on right now are arguably bigger than they were in the 60s. I’ve been around drag racing and hot rodding for a long time. Back in the 90s things were not looking good and a lot of old timers thought the hobby would be dead in 20 years and now it’s bigger than ever.

Guys have been racing since the beginning of time. Weather it was on foot, on horses, in chariots, in boats, in Henry j gassers, or blown hemi’s. In 1000 years we might all be flying around in jets or driving electric cars but you know there is going to be a group of kids in a garage trying to make their junk faster than the other guys.

WRB426 said:

I'm going to say no. As said before the world is changing. Most people today only care about Bluetooth and heated steering wheels. If we like it or not the hobby is dying.

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Do you live under a rock? These cars with Bluetooth and heated seats that are coming out right now would make a joke out of a big block dart. Chrysler is putting out 4 different models with over 700 hp. I can buy a Jeep with 707 hp and a warranty. There is Cadillac running around Cincinnati that is knocking on the door of 1000 hp.

67Dart273 said:

Well ya never know. Guys might be toolin' around in "engine swapped" (repowered?) rods with electric systems. NO THANK YOU. I will gladly be long gone!! What they gonna do, play engine sounds through the car sound system? Or just make their own "engine sounds" with their mouth?

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I’m not a fan of electric cars at all. With that being said there is a young guy down south that is embarrassing 840 hp demons on the drag strip with a Tesla.

I see two old men in wheelchairs in the nursing home, one is wearing a Mopar cap, the other has a Chevy cap, they wheel out into the hallway, then its on they keep wheeling faster and faster toward the end of the hallway.........

Love the comments . Thank you so much.

The fact that more huge deposits of oil are being found every day makes me wonder if all the gloom and doom of "running out of oil" will ever happen. The future may not be so bleak for the internal combustion engine after all. Largest continuous oil and gas resource potential ever

I would tend to think our autos will mutate into what infinite resources we have at the time. I see maybe a fusion reactor the size of a postage stamp in my Dart...well not in my life time. When the fuel is gone so will our cars' legacy. But really I would worry more about running out of drinkable water.....

At my age, I care not to worry, there's enough fossil fuel and mopar parts to keep me going until I pass. So if you have a Mopar, “Smoke'm if you got'em”!

Maybe I should have bought a few horses and teach my kids and myself how to drive them and do regular maintenance check ups. I could not imagine having one horse power for a daily driver..... lol

Dicer do not underestimate the power of just 1 horse between your legs!! Taking a spill at 35 can be pretty good jolt, the power of a cutter out manouvring that cow can get your back way out of joint real bad and real quick, etc.. lol
I read this from he head of SEMA and Coker Group. He predicts the cars being restored and worked on 10 years from now, will be in general, pickups and 80's cars. He did not say if the 80's autos would be US or foreign made!
I agree the car hobby is stronger and bigger than ever. More people spread over a larger area, the modern muscle on down the older stuff.
Everything runs in cycles. Everything, be it good or bad. The 80's offered little in the new auto world to excite us. So why did we turn to the 60's era cars back then?? duh.. Today 700 hp and up, from the factory, TV full of car programs, U Tube too, puter full of sites like here etc etc., so why is the hobby dying????? Don't think so.

barbee6043 said:

Dicer do not underestimate the power of just 1 horse between your legs!!

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Yes you are correct and I don't... I have rode a horse or two, I knew I would catch a little hell...from someone..lol Actually a horse has 14.7 hp. but still a very powerful creature.......with due respect.
Our cars will be here as long as the resources to keep them running are still available.

More people are watching this than any televised NHRA event. The NHRA is dying and in my opinion it is 100% their fault.

Mopar-Mitch said:

I see two old men in wheelchairs in the nursing home, one is wearing a Mopar cap, the other has a Chevy cap, they wheel out into the hallway, then its on they keep wheeling faster and faster toward the end of the hallway.........

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Future? what future?
The foreigners from out-there, are already in-here, and they will soon trade us all manner of technology if we just take "the mark". Don't fall for it. I see "anti-gravity" and "plama drives" for certain folks, and continued more-oppressive slavery for the rest of us. Choose your friends wisely. Grow a big garden next summer, while the sun is still shining,lol.

"The hobby is dying"........Not sure where this sentiment is coming from. Classic cars, hot rodding, etc. is bigger than ever.

69_340_GTS said:

The fact that more huge deposits of oil are being found every day makes me wonder if all the gloom and doom of "running out of oil" will ever happen. The future may not be so bleak for the internal combustion engine after all. Largest continuous oil and gas resource potential ever

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Yeah, I have heard theories about oil and natural gas did not come from old plants, but is actually RENEWABLE. Renewable as in a planets make up. How else to explain methane lakes on some of the moons of other planets that never had life.....

d55dave said:

Its not about being offended. It is about reality. As much as I am a fossil fuel addict like the rest of you the reality is that in 20 to 40 years 80% or more of personal vehicles will be fueled by alternatives. Fossil fuels are finite, have a negative impact on our environment and will become reserved for air travel, home heating and large commercial vehicles.

EVs aren't necessarily the answer either for varying reasons. That being said there are some kits available to make awesome EV hot rods but they are fairly pricey, although if you consider what kind of money typically goes into a proper V8 build nowadays the EV kits offer significant bang for the buck.

I truly believe that the days of building a hot internal combustion engine at home are numbered. Like every thing else in history the time, they are a changing.

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In 40 years i will be 90 if i live that long. At that point i wont care.

You have to nurture the interest in the next generation to keep it going. When you take your ride to a show, or have it out and about and a young teenager or twenty something with a modern ride that may be a foreign car shows interest, dont blow em off, talk to em. You may find that they are just as interested in the hobby as you are, just on a different vehicle that they can afford on a just outta high school budget. They may want an older muscle car but lets face it the days of finding a running fixer upper 68-70 charger in the newspaper for $500 are long gone, and in their place a $8k roller, or $50k finished car.

I was fixing up a 68 charger i bought for $400 in the mid 1980s and hitting the wrecking yard for parts back then. To the old timers working on 1940s and 1950s stuff i'm sure they looked at it as a worn out old car, but at car shows i was never talked down to by old timers. They understood that i was the future of the hobby.

Some of you know i have a 69 notchback i intend to do a resto on with my son. If he puts in the sweat equity with my help and teaching and some of his own cash then the car is his. I plan on teaching him metal fab, welding, body and paint, engine and transmission work, wiring, brakes, basically everything. He is 6 now. I do not know what the future will bring, however he loves cars, loves that V8 sound, and Harley V twin sound, and thoroughly enjoys car shows. As a matter of fact when he sees the pentastar he calls it the "Mopar" star. He loves it when i pick him up from school in my "old" 94 chevy pickup, or in my 07 mustang GT.

Get excited about the hobby with younguns who show interest. That 20 something that drives a hopped up WRX does it because it gives him the same thrills on the cheap that your A body did for you back in the day when these were just 10-15-20 year old "used cars".

I say the hobby is changing in regards to the vehicles being souped up, but the thought process behind it hasnt changed one bit. Its not dying. Go fast, beat the guy or gal in the lane next to you. Its been that way ever since man has harnessed the power of the horse. Humans have been racing in some form or another since then. Its a primal thrill that goes way back.

Sorry for the long dissertation. In closing though i think whats going to be collectable 20 years from now is the stuff 20 somethings either lusted after thats brand new now and they couldent afford right now as they are getting settled in with further education or life in general, or something they own now thats 10-15 years old that they are driving and souping up, and may have to sell for whatever reason, and 20 years from now may want that car back to rekindle their youth. I mean i had a 1988 daytona shelby T top car back in the early 90s. Loved that car. I have another T top intercooled 88 Z stuck in the corner of my shop, and all the parts to rebuild it. I may get to it before i die, maybe not, but its still something cool none the less.

Just an FYI, there has been a monstrous new oil and natural gas deposit found between Texas and New Mexico called the Delaware formation is supposed to have more oil and natural gas than all of Saudi Arabia. About 100 years worth of fuel in one spot in the U.S. not including oil deposits in the other states. I dont think piston type internal combustion engined vehicles are going to go the way of the Dodo. They will get more powerful, and more efficient, may end up being hybridized, but i wont be around in 100 years to see what comes next.

Sometimes I find myself liking the 1985 charger 2.2 I had back in the day.

I loved those 2.2 turbo half pints. I suprised plenty of 5.0 mustang owners with mine. I ran an MP computer, plus 20 siemens injectors, larger 2.5" exhaust with a walker dynomax muffler. Cut the wastegate tube and ran it thru a fishtank valve to get the boost up higher right to the edge of overboost shutdown. Found out later i could blind the MAP with a 4.7V zener diode so computer would never see past 14 lbs of boost. Thats when the fun starts with autometer EGT, boost, and air fuel gages, along with an adjustable FPR. If built right, an 8 valve 2.2 turbo intercooled setup with all forged internals can easily make 300-350 hp on the street. I had actually seen the twin cammed ones hit 450 hp at the wheels on a dyno. Heres the fully ported 300hp screamer, with stainless steel wire o ringed block i built for my second 88 Z. Its pickled with mercury marine storage oil, and everything taped up. Best cam to use is a Dodge Dakota 2.5L roller cam. Looks stone stock doesnt it lol. I am all about sleepers. Its also got a Garrett T3T4 hybrid turbo.

And the funny part is all the young fast n furious guys thinking FWD turbo 4 bangers are a new concept. Then you tell em Chrysler started doing boosted FWD 4 cylinder cars in 1984, and they have look on their faces like NO WAY!! And thats because most of em werent even born when these cars were being built. I mean my current mothballed 88 Z is now 30 years old. If they are in their 20s then their mom at the very least was 10 to 15 years old when these cars were new. Most females dont have a clue, so a lot of these kids would have never been taught about this stuff from "back in the day".

I also had a 1988 Chrysler lebaron, they are starting to look good again now days, some may be restoring them.

Thanks again guys . What an experience this has turned out to be . One of the things that bothers me about the car hobby is the ever increasing costs . I know prices never go down but did you ever think a Superbird would sell at auction for $300,000 ? I am trying to put a 13 second car on the track and I'm into it for $30,000 and I'm NOT done yet . Wow !

383Scampman said:

Thanks again guys . What an experience this has turned out to be . One of the things that bothers me about the car hobby is the ever increasing costs . I know prices never go down but did you ever think a Superbird would sell at auction for $300,000 ? I am trying to put a 13 second car on the track and I'm into it for $30,000 and I'm NOT done yet . Wow !

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You must have started with a stripped down car. I had about 5k into my swinger and it ran 13.1. This includes car price, engine, trans and rear end.

Anyone who thinks the Muscle Car era and the hobby is over isn’t paying attention...

Told my son he'd be better off hotrodding a fox body Mustang. It hurt, but I still believe it. He'd have none of that. Thank goodness.