how are gas prices,and the current economy,

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tobysoldblue

tobysoldblue
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Affecting our hobby?More importantly,how are these things affecting YOU in our hobby?These questions are for the average folks,not the millionares on here.I want to know what your having to saccrifice to keep/fix your cars?Are you like me and having to put your projects on hold,in order to keep groceries on the table,and pay the light bill?For the folks who are mostly done with your cars,are the high gas prices making you park them in the garage for now,and drive something a little less powerful,in order to have enough money to make it back to work next week?Im just wondering how these things are affecting everyone across the nation/world that love old cars as much as me.I already notice a decline in people buying these cars,and an increase in folks selling them cheap.When,if ever do yall think things will come back around for us?
 
I'm scared, but have yet to see it effect my hobbies. My hobbies are my outlet to the everyday grind, I must have them or I will explode. I don't just go out driving frivilously, I only drive the Diesel when I am hauling something, the rest of the time I am in the Neon. My advice to everyone is to lmit what you have financed and try to keep enough equity to at least break even, I don't think we are far away from a major recession/depression. I know this much, If it takes a 71 Demon and 68Dart drag car to keep a roof over my wife and childs head then I know what will happen.
 
Well it has slowed me down on what I want to do to the Dart, and for being able to drive it more. With taking a pay cut and the gas prices will limit what I do this summer.
 
The gas prices & other cost increases are'nt affecting me in the hobby yet but my wife & I have had to drastically change elsewhere. We are now car pooling 3 days a week to work & have started brown bagging lunch.Will probably get a neon beater soon & park my truck. Luckily both my classics are pretty much finished & we don't have a car payment. Was interested in getting another early A project but that is on hold. We are just trying to weather the storm & stay positive. Only put about 1500 miles on the old cars a year so the fuel is not a concern with them. We are continuing to do our shows & cruise ins and have not noticed a drop in participation yet. We are a resiliant bunch especially us mopar nuts & will keep on keeping on.

Oldschoolcuda
 
My wife and I are not attending as many car shows and cruise events...
 
KSP said:
My wife and I are not attending as many car shows and cruise events...
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Ditto. There have been at least 3 or 4 this year that we haven't had the money to go to either because of the gas to get there or even the $10-15 admission ($20-30 for both)

I haven't made nearly as much progress on my Valiant as need to, it's been home 3 weeks and still not running becasue it's been waiting for a $30 coil.... which happens to be half of what it costs me in gas to go to work for a week.

It's the slow season at my job and I'm bringing home between $100-200 a week. Things have been exceptionally slow this year because people either can't afford to spend or are afraid to. There have been several days recently where I haven't had enough work to show up for.

It's going to take a long while to get the Valiant where I want it unless the economy changes, and I can pretty much forget making it my daily even with the slant, can't afford to give up my 25-30mpg Volkswagen.
 
Well... I was going to swap my /6 torsion bars for some V8 ones. Then it hit me I was going to have to drive about 240 miles to do that. Even in my Stang that will be between $45-50
 
All i need is a couple hundred more dollars to have my car running,driving,and its just not gonna happen for a while,with the way things are going.If it were running right now,i couldnt afford to put gas in it anyways.
 
The price of gas is both slowing me down and driving less. Definitely see recession signs. Thankfully, I'm not carrying any debt, so no problems there. Was going to do an A-body wagon, but that is going on hold indefinitely. One of the concerns I have is that if activity in the hobby in general gets too low, salvage yards may find it more in their interest to send stuff to the crusher. This will make things tougher for us and those yet to come to do A-bodies. Hope things level off, soon.
 
I have to plan every trip anywhere I go to save gas,lost my job three months ago because there just isn't any work,started selling parts I dont need and buying up junkers and salvageing whatever parts I can and going to swap meets with them and in general just doing odd jobs I can find even if the pay is crappy I am just happy to be able to take the duster to the store and back every couple of day's but I have put it up for sale on craigslist so I might be able to finish the Waggin.and Id' like to thank some members here who have purchased parts from me in helping me keep up with the bills and even was able to buy my kid a couple of new parts for his duster from a member here,oldschoolcuda thank you so much for the great deal on the parts!!! He will be thrilled.
 
the economy here has been bad for the last year, new construction is almost unheard of , new houses going up you can count on one hand. our roads and bridges are now taking three years to repair when they could be done in one. I ve been out of work since last november ,,got two days of work last week ..pile driving...95 mile drive one way...30 bucks a day for damm gas..was glad it was only for two days ...cant afford to go to work.

on the bright side ,yes there is one.....most of you guys know i just picked up a 1940 ply coupe....the origonal plan was to subframe it with a sweet steet motor ... now think a computer controled v6 front wheel drive conversion may be a better idea.. nice old car that gets 30 mpg, and stll a street rod. maybe even the street rod of the future
a lot of things are changing fast...it s going to be a bumpy ride for most of us. ,,,,,,,, and no it will never be the same as it was.
 
Personally I now car pool with my wife a few days a week. It is somewhat frustrating because our hours are off a bit but it forces me to stay and get things done. Our average family mileage is probably over 30 between her DD and mine so it is ok. I definately only drive my work truck (3/4 ton Dodge) when I really need it or am making money.

On the hobby side I am frustrated. I have been a car guy my whole life but have never really dove in like I have with the 4x4's. I cut and weld and fabricate etc. with my trucks. I live where I can't even use a car 6 months out of the year due to 5-6' of snow etc. Why do I have 7 A bodies???

I hoarded anything I could afford, and have a 440 car that will be completed here in about a month.

Sadly I think it will be completed, driven for about a month and then sold/traded off for something I need.

It just does not make sense to have a 12 MPG car when town is a 36 mile round trip. So $15.00 to check my PO box?

Not saying I am getting out entirely, but I am leaning towards a DD type car with a mileage bent like the one on Moparts. Not that extreme, but something that will pull around 20.

I'm not sure. Mainly I am kicking myself for not getting going on this sooner.

As far as where I think things are going. I think there will be a substantial readjustment and $4.00 a gallon will be the norm. I hope at least.

Trying to stay positive and just get my 440 Dart Sport done here in Oregon.

ROB
 
Great question...

I finally got back into the hobby after being away for more than 20 years. I got to the point where I felt I could afford to build a car for the track.

I have to admit, over those 20 years my interests changed and I got into fourwheeling pretty heavy. My rig of choice is a 1993 Ford Explorer which I've owned since new and have modified heavily over the years.

I finally got to the point where I felt I was done modifying the Explorer. My plan was to quit working on the Explorer, only run it at one or two events a year, and focus on building a Dart for the track.

Fourwheeling is a lot like drag racing in that, you start out with something you can drive everyday on the road, and end up with something that needs a trailer, something to pull it with etc... Well, I already had acquired the trailer and a Ram/Cummins to pull it with. When I bought the rig, diesel prices were about $1.50 a gallon and still less than gasoline.

My wake up call came two weeks ago, when I put our Lance camper on the Dodge, hooked up the trailer with the Explorer and headed out of town. Our 750 mile round trip cost me about $400 in fuel:angry7: That same trip cost me $115 prior to the current administration taking power...

Unfreakin' believable $285 more to drive the same distance. Unfortunately my personal economy doesn't work like the national economy. I can't just print more money and continue spending:( Something has to give, and that something is buying parts, going out for dinner, neglecting things around the house, etc...

I feel like I can't stop the Dart project now since I have so much time and money wrapped up into it. What really scares me is the possiblity of building a car and not having a place to race it. If the economy becomes so bad, no one can afford to drive to the few race tracks we have, the tracks obviously won't be around for long:angry7:

I think I just need to crawl under a rock... It seems every sport I enjoy is threatened and "endangered".
 
Please remember this really rapid rise in gas prices etc happened after "we" elected a democratic congress
 
with Sunoco purple at $7.80/gal and $35 to get in to the strip I can say it affects me, I only have the $100 to drop once a month. But the number of cars at the track has not decreased at all, and there was a cruise last weekend that probobly had 300 cars. all I know is it HAS to be affecting people's habits. I ride my bicycle to work so I can race my car once a month. Priorities!!
 
68 Sedan said:
Please remember this really rapid rise in gas prices etc happened after "we" elected a democratic congress
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That is true and incontravertable. Look at a chart showing the price of oil in US Dollars and Euros; The graphs begin to diverge at a great pace starting in 2006. It is mostly due to the falling value of the US Dollar. Only the government can do that.
 
Unfortunately its a bunch of speculators driving up the price making a fake crisis like in the 70s.Now with china and india needing oil for there emerging middle class we are all paying for it. Our econmies are falling to raise theres.I work in the auto sector and dont know if I will have a job next year,We cant compete with people in china making $4.00 a day,somethings got to give but its our wallets.Im wondering what will happen to this hobby in the next few years as the carbon huggers want to bury our cars and us with it.Gas here is sitting at $1.38 a litre, and only to go higher I have been driving my 340 less and less but hope to hit a few shows this year.I want to go to the mopar nationals for the first time but I wont be driving my 69 swinger.
 
Yah, the dems have been sending bills through but they keep getting veto'd by our wonderful president
 
68 Sedan said:
Please remember this really rapid rise in gas prices etc happened after "we" elected a democratic congress
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On March 5, 2003, Senator Carl Levin, the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, released a report prepared by the minority staff that reveals why gasoline prices soared under the Bush administration (It was already happening before the Dems were elected to Congress). It has to do with the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) and some odd decisions by the Department of Energy (DOE) after consulting with White House officials.

According to the Senate Report, the Bush administration added forty million barrels of oil to the nation’s reserves in 2002. That wouldn’t be a problem in and of it self. But the purchases represented an extreme change in energy policy; they were made in a strong market, with a tight supply of oil, which increased demand, which in turn pushed up the gasoline prices to their highest levels in twelve years.

The Senate report said in a one-month period in mid 2002 the Bush administration purchases caused crude oil prices to soar, raising the cost of heating oil by 13%, jet fuel by 10% and diesel fuel by 8%. The bottom line was the Bush policy change cost citizens between $500 million and $1 billion.

When crude oil jumps from $20 a barrel to $30, the Senate report says, the costs to U.S. taxpayers are an additional $1 million per day. “Over three months, the additional cost of filling the SPR approached $100 million,” which will ultimately be borne by U.S. taxpayers.
http://www.yuricareport.com/Energy/How Did Oil Prices Get so High.htm
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Hasn't changed what I do much although I'm considerably grumpier while doing it. I have a 400+ hp 360 to go into my /6 Duster and I'm thinking, hmm, do I really want to do that? :banghead:
 
Im about to kick myself for selling the oerfect running slant six that was in the 73 dart.Now that i have a 8.75 with 2.76 gears,im sure i could have lightened the car,and st 55-60 mph,it would prob get better milage than our daily drivers we have.Jennifers cavalier is getting 30-32 mpg,better with the a/c off,but the other vehicles we have dont get close to that.I was considering a neon,that my buddy has for sale,but after him letting me drive it for a week,i decided to pass on it.It got a best of 28mpg,with the air off,he also replaced it with a cavalier after testdriving a honda for a week.Ive always been a die hard v8 guy,mostly mopars,but ive tried others,but i think those days are almost gone unless something changes in the near future.
 
i have a v6 in my Tacoma. I love it. Its a hemi! =)

have you guys heard about the "death of the v8"? People are saying that because of the power they can make with a v6 now, that v8s arent really useful anymore unless youre making a sports car or a powerful truck.. Its interesting at the least.
 
"According to the Senate Report, the Bush administration added forty million barrels of oil to the nation’s reserves in 2002."



You know, dumber people, without context, would think that to be something significant. The daily U.S. crude oil consumption rate is 20 million barrels of oil per day. So adding 2 days out of 365 to the strategic petroleum reserve or to put it into a percentage, just 0.5% (thats 1/2 of a percent) of the annual U.S. oil consumption into the SPR would have a negligible effect. The total world output of oil per day is north of 85 million barrels per day. So 40 million barrels in the entire year of 2002 would be just 0.1% of world output for the entire year, leaving 99.9% of the world production of oil available for consumption. Carl Levin is a certified moron.

ab7fh, I'll forgive you for trying to foist that tripe on the rest of us. I just noticed you're located in Arizona. The heat tends to cook your melon. :)
 
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