History Where is this hobby headed?

Love the gremlin

 

"Be kind to your oldest daughter, I get to pick your nursing home!"

I'm 79. Last week, I had lunch with her. The topic of disposing of the property and vehicles came up.

1. The double wide mobile home, on an acre of land - "Someone in the family will need a cheap place to live."

2. The 1962 Volvo and the 1986 Ford F150 (both highly modified). She wondered if anyone in the family had the knowledge to work on them. I replied: "I'm a retired electrical engineer - I can't remember all the wiring modifications...".

Russ

 

I've been into cars and building cars since way before I could drive! I got my first project, a 1947 International panel truck at 13 years old in 1963 and began fixing it up. I still think if a young guy is really interested he'd be as excited as I was back then too. Even in the 60's I had friends ask me why I'd want to fix up that old truck, instead of buying something "cool" like a Tri 5 Chevy, and I told them first it was because it was so cheap, but second because it was different!
I think the vast majority of hotrodders love this hobby because they don't just love a certain era car, but like fixing their cars up, and like owning something personalized. It is of course more expensive these days to build a hotrod, but people have a higher income level also, so all the talk about the hobby dying, or people not being able to afford it is really based on how dedicated you are to this hobby. The more dedicated you are to the hobby, the less it's going to cost you. I discovered decades ago that friends who gave up on a build did so often because they were paying others to do a lot of their work. If they'd spent some time and effort to try to do more themselves they'd have discovered this hobby isn't nearly as expensive.
I've always tried to do as much as possible on every build I've ever started. On a rare occasion I had to pay for something I didn't do, but that's not very often. As long as younger guys are motivated to build as much as they can, this hobby will continue to survive.

 

It has been a few days since we had a thread like this so I assume it has changed again? Anyway, I plan to keep messing with this junk no matter what happens to the hobby. I don't know anything else... Oh, and I am at least trying to ruin all the kids I can with it as well. Got both my son's ruined and am now working on my grandson... Heck, even his toys are tools and he knows how to use them most of the time...

 

I've never been cool and its been a long time since I tried to be. Like you said, I own a bellybutton car because it's what I liked so much as a kid. If people dig it, cool. If not, no sweat. I take no offense. It's never been about earning praise. Hell nobody builds anything anymore that hasn't been done before. It's almost impossible. So you might as well build what you want.

I bring up compliments and who they come from to detail where I see people's interests are at. As I said in my original post, the 35 year old cars I thought were super cool when i was a kid are not the same 35 year old cars most kids think are cool now. It's the traditional hot rods part of my post that some people seem to be missing. The car hobby isn't dying, but I feel like maybe our little corner of it might be. You just don't see young guys in traditional rides around my area. Good to know they're still out there, though.

Last cruise night I went to there was a young guy I recognized in a later-60's Impala he's been building over the last few years. Doesn't fit the mold here obviously (back to my original point), but it was good to see him still at it. Talked to him for a bit about it and the work he had done and planned to do. He asked for some advice which I was happy to give. I really enjoyed that, but it's very rare for me to have the opportunity to connect with the younger generations on cars like that.

 

One detail that slapped me in the face recently on this discussion is my own lack of being involved in the local car scenes as much as I should be if I want to influence the next generation car guys toward the traditional stuff. Because there are so many late models, I don't like showing up at some of the cruise nights, etc. However, that seems to make me part of the problem when it comes to the lack of traditional cars at these events? How can we pass on this stuff if we only go to events that cater to our little corner of the hobby?

 

I'm not going to argue anything I said or apologize if it's "this thread again" because I can only speak from my perspective. I don't have the same experiences many of you do, nor live in an area where our style of cars are as prevalent. Lots of pastel colored billet street rods and muscle cars. I also take long breaks from posting so I don't see the same dead horses being beaten. Oh well. It's also not quite the head-in-the-sand or the-sky-is-falling discussion like some make it out to be.

But I admit that I find myself in recent years spending less and less time around car shows and cruises or on this board browsing, so I guess I just don't see the positive signs as often as many of you do. My chances to connect with other people into traditional rods are very limited. It's good to read the responses from guys who DO see a future, it's encouraging.

 

I almost made a similar post.
I don't go to shows and cruises nearly as much since my dad died, it's just not the same. I also hold a big grudge against some of the local lawn chair cruise night guys who drove right past me while broken down on the side of the road some years back. It's not fair of me to put everyone in the same basket, but it is what it is. I'm also a bit of a loner and avoid large crowds like the plague. I love talking to people one on one or in a small group though, but it's rare I really connect with people. I spend most of the time by myself in my car, just driving. It's my happy place so to say, and I'm greedy with it. I want it as much as possible, and car shows/cruises have become something that gets in the way of that.
Maybe what I need is to go to MORE focused events and not the cruise night style things, if only there were more in the area. It's really dropped off since the pandemic around here.

 

This is a very interesting thread, to say the least.

At age 71 now, my tastes have changed, and my priority's have shifted, as I am sure most, or some of us have experienced the same thing.

I have had a ton of great cars and trucks over the years, and I was fortunate to have been raised in a time period of the 60's, when cars and parts were more plentiful and a lot cheaper.

Granted, as time march's on, and we boomer's get older, and the junk yards all fade away, and the rest of the elements of hot rods, is reaching a point where you need a bucket full of money to even begin to be able to play in this arena.


I have a suggestion to share with those of us, both young and old, that may be helpful or at least a bit of inspiration, to help the younger people, get interested in something old and cool, that can be enjoyed.

The following pictures are of a Jeep that showed up at the annual gathering at Oshkosh Wisconsin, out at the sea-plane base.

Now granted, the owner opted to dress it all up, in its period correct military garb, and that was his goal all along.

But when you take a look at it for what it is and what it was designed for, and the fact that it's basic, as far as its body lay out, to my eye, it remotely resembles, a 30's Ford Roadster.

You really have to use your imagination, to see what I mean here.

I am sure that @J.Ukrop and @anthony myrick understand my interpretation, of how this remotely resembles a 30's Ford Roadster.




When I was in high school, from 68 to71, my friend and I worked on one of these that was beat to hell, it was an ex Forrest service jeep, it was an auto shop project.

The engine was worn out and needed to be rebuilt, so we got into it, and did it.
When the engine rebuild was complete, we took it out and drove it everywhere, and to this day, it was one of my most memorable experiences, from that time period, in my young life.

It did have a muffler, but with no top, it was breezy and noisy and even on summer nights, it was best to have a jacket, as moving air is always cooler than still ambient air.

I don't have any kids.
But if I did have a kid, that showed interest, in having something old and cool, and not to have to worry about appearances or scratching the paint, I would do my best to try to find one of these, to help the kid get started on the project.

Now I am not naive about how these cool old square fender jeeps have risen in popularity and in price as well, over the decades.

For the average kid these days, aside from the fact that most kids could care less about such machines, these older jeeps now fetch a high price.

Even Jeepster's are not cheap these days.

So no doubt, that does hamper the ability to just go find one, and purchase it and get started.

The point I want to illustrate here is this.

These older square fender jeeps, are a ton of fun, and a blast to drive, and to a lesser level of pleasure, of that wind blowing your hair around, and the noise of the engine, and the way its just a pure utilitarian machine, that you don't have to baby, well you get my point, or at least I hope so.

Most people that are parents, I would surmise, would say, oh that contraption isn't safe at all, I would never let my kid drive one of those.

And to a certain extent, most would agree, that it does have its obvious safety concerns.
But that being said, when me and my friend, back in high school, went driving in it, we did have seat belts, and we never felt that we were in danger of anything.

But that was a long time ago, and we knew no fear of, of anything.

Thanks to all of you that have contributed to this thread.

Thanks from Dennis Hicklin

Back in the day when Hippie beads were part of the daily dress code, picture is from 1975, when I got out of the Military and was growing my hair back out!

 

To the point made above, a lot of kids now were raised on steady diets of over-parenting and having to avoid anything that might be even remotely unsafe. I've seen it MANY times, as I'm sure most of you have as well. I won't debate the reasons why, but they were definitely not allowed the same freedoms my generation (gen x) and previous generations were. Our cars are not safe, not compared to modern vehicles. I wonder if that has something to do with this lack of interest in old iron. For me as a young man, that would have made them even more attractive, but again, we were raised differently in a different world.

 

Excellent We are Hot Rod Hoodlums after all!
Dan

 

Another point that is overlooked, is as the cost of housing increases, garage space will be at a premium. HAMB friendly rides, need to be parked in a safe, dry space.

 

Excellent thread and timely. Ryan started the OT Forum where pretty much anything goes- this might attract new people old and young alike, hopefully the ads generate some$$$s so he can sponsor a younger person to do a traditional build. Watching @RodStRace s thread Son of an ugly T got me thinking about old school traditional stuff. I think we overlook the T bucket kits with fiberglass bodies, while certainly not cheap, they are affordable however and a person can do as much or as little fab work as they would like.
Dan

 

Don't I know it! I've always had a second hobby car that is typically OT for this place, so I got an estimate to expand my 1 car garage to 2. $20k five years ago. Probably $30k now.
Went and bought a prefab 10x20 barn for $6500 instead and it was worth every penny. Only affordable because expendable income tends to rise with age, to a point.

 

I'm hoping that it'll get stronger as old cars are exempt from smog and safety rules, they will be the only ones left that kids and the rest of us can buy and work on. In the beginning (the 40's and 50's) cars got the girls, today musicians and martial artist get the girls' Better buy up all the SBC engines and keep them for later because they are going to stop manufacturing them. one last thought "Bring back Auto Shop" in high schools !

 

If you're truly into this thing of ours, then the idea of not doing it is like not breathing. Sure, there may be some of us who enjoy different genres of the automotive hobby, but for most of us, traditional rods and customs are where our hearts are.

I just spent a weekend at the Custom Car Revival with friends and had an unreal time. I would posit that with a few exceptions, the average age of our group was around 40. And there were plenty of younger guys and fellas around our age there as well. Every day on IG I see killer posts of dudes from 18-45 building and cruising great cars, many of which are new builds. The state of the hobby is strong.

IMHO, the best thing we as enthusiasts can do is just keep doing what we're doing. The proclivity towards these cars is something very personal. It's hard to pinpoint, but you knew it when you first saw one. For myself, I can remember being a kid at a local cruise night and seeing "Wild Bill" with flame throwers on his 56 Customline and being awestruck. And then later, seeing Mike Ness' 54 Chevy on the cover of the first Hot Rod Deluxe magazine and just thinking to myself, "Yes. This is where I need to be." The shop that painted my Olds doesn't build traditional customs, but builds mostly restomods, muscle cars, Mustangs, and so on. But when my car was in there and other customers or folks would filter through, everybody was like, "What car is THAT!?"

So when we're out here driving our cars, cruising, running errands, taking it out to dinner, building new cars, posting pics and videos to IG and social media, etc.... you don't know who's seeing it and being inspired by it.

 

As Ray Stevens would say, "It's me again Martha. I can't answer the question but to say that my Grandson who is now 30 years old has taken on a third job to get more money to buy more cars for his collection he is beginning. He loves all types and has completed his welding certification and is now working at Discount Tire. He loves my 34, his dad has early Javlin ( now under restoration) and I gave him my deceased daughters early Mustang a few years back. He joined a OT Nision 350 club Bought one (I know, I know), he will learn.
I'm doing ok, still on probation from driving, watching a lot of YouTube guessing If I will still have a Country if I survive, (sorry Ryan).

 

Don't know......Don't care.....but I'm along for the ride.

 

As many have mentioned, it’s when you were born, what you saw when you were young and admired and wanted “someday”.
In HS (graduated in ‘79” the parking lot was full of 50’s and ‘60’s cars. Many fixed up, many in progress, etc. Not a lot of mid 70’s or newer vehicles unless parents had some $$ for the kids.
Drive by and take a look at your local HS parking lot, you’ll see fixed up, tricked out -fill it in- modern stuff.
Unless the younger folks who were born in the 2000’s, say, had a parent who was into older stuff, they go with what the know and see.

Hobby isn’t having a slow death, as others have said it’s evolving to adapt to the times.

Carry on!

 

Go on Instagram and you’ll see a lot of young guys building traditional hot rods. And not 4 doors and cast offs either. 32s, 34s model As, T roadsters and coupes, front engine dragsters etc etc. it’s happening. Go see it. Go to a nostalgia drag event where you can run your hot rod and not just watch vintage cars cacklefest. Go to The Race of Gentlemen. Go to a Southeast Gassers event. Young guys and family’s using old cars.
This hobby will end at some point, but that point isn’t here now.
Ive said this before: Do you know who built the fastest chariots in Rome? Who raised the fastest horses to pull them? Me neither but there was a time when young men knew and cared. But they’re all dead and those chariots are dust. The same will happen to us. Who gives a fuck. Don’t spend time worrying about it, spend time wearing out your car and let your kids worry about what to do with that steaming, balled tired, worn out hot rod you left behind.

 

Can’t say I hot rodded any model Ts. Time change and tastes do too.
FWIW: I attended a show Saturday where many of the owners were younger than me (many same/older too) and saw a whole flock of H.A.M.B. friendly rides new to me.
I’m thinking positive I guess.

 

I find some irony in all this talk about what is to become of this hobby, because quite frankly so many people my dad's age made no effort to get their children or young people in general involved in cars!

From the day I was born this was part of my life! When my father came to pick myself and my mother up from the hospital he had three gives for me, a teddy bear, a Matchbox car, and 7/16", 1/2" and 9/16" Snap-On wrenches.

I was in the pits at my first race half mile dirt when I was three months old! Mom and Dad always take me to the races and swapmeets with them. As a result I leaned a ton about cars, racing history and met the heroes of our sport!

Dad always took me to race shops when he was helping on his friend's cars, but so many people my dad's age took the attitude when my kids get older or when they are teenagers they will get interested or I will get them in the garage, by then it's too late they have already developed other interests.
Now many of the people my dad's age are saying "I wish my kids took an interest in cars."

Mom and myself with a Cale Yarborough show car.


Dad "teaching" me how to weld as a toddler


Me washing a local Sportsman car

Dad and myself with my 53 Chevy.


Me with Richard Petty


Me with Ricky Rudd


Me with Junie Donlavey

 

I get it ROBERT J.PALMER. When I was just small my dad was a commercial artist. He also did hand lettering on all types of race car's. I also was exposed to this at a very young age. If a younger person shows interest in my hot rod ,they are more then welcome to sit in it, hear it, and hear anything they want to about it. The hot rods will LIVE ON!

 

This is the perfect picture to illustrate the point about the fastest chariots!
Everyone's results may vary!

 

Seems to be quite a few of these threads lately. I told myself I wasn't going to reply again, but I can't help myself.
The hobby is as strong now as when I was a kid in the 80s. Here in the Northeast there is no shortage of shows,events, or cruises with all kinds of younger people involved. You can see it in their eyes, they're hooked just like me.
Tons of "kids" building and enjoying their hot rods around here.

 

In this area it seems the hobby has been gradually growing over the past decade or so. The average age of the participants has definitely increased as well. For every car shown at our local events there are just as many projects underway. Many in the hobby, my age have 3 or 4 cars on average whether done or a project. Totally HAMB compliant cars are maintaining a respectable following but are still in the minority at most gatherings (making them a little more interesting). As time goes forward, most of the cars will still exist, only the owners names will change.

 

At a car show, maybe. But I took a 2 hour ride in my '57 a couple days ago (to look at another car, go figure) and I was the only old car on the road the whole time. Through a decent sized city and on a pretty busy highway, too.

Yup. Eventually, all roads lead to the junkyard. I'm just glad we're not there yet.

 

Yep, right there, in a nutshell. All in favour raise your right hand and say "AYE".........

 

So I was in high school from 1992 to 1996 I am currently 45 years old almost 46.
When I was in high school pastel Street rods were all the rage with the then middle aged boomers and the WWII people (rest in peace to that generation as they are almost all gone now) and when we are talking about 1950s type cars or the "Fab 50s as Rod & Custom called them most were pro Street cars...
I was into traditional hot rods and I got introduced to them by Marky of Shifters car club fame, as he was/is a close friend of mine, back then he was called squirt by his older brother and his friends as they were all in their mid-20s doing traditional hot rods this was long before it was mainstream. I remember going to the Blessing of the cars car show and how they were shunned by the street rod crowd. It was actually pretty neat looking back at it as traditional hot rodding became rebellious with cars that were not necessarily the safest things to drive just the way it was back in the 1950s. I was arguably on the front edge of the hot rod rockabilly revival (for the lack of a better word description). As we got into our twenties (the millennium) the rockabilly scene blew up and next thing you knew everybody was doing hot rods and although maybe not an entire generation like was seen in the 1950s or 60s got into hot rods there was definitely more than a handful of young guys that got into hot rods and it was obvious that there was some posers and there was definitely some hardcore hot rodders that got introduced to this scene from that time perio period this website has many of those of those guys on here now and we are now the middle-aged old timers...
From what I have read hot rods were kind of having the same issue back in the 1980s as they had fallen out of the mainstream and it was basically a bunch of "old timers" that were screwing around with them. Mark Twain once said "history doesn't repeat itself but it often rhymes" so I would imagine at some point there will be a resurgence again of hot rods or Street rods or 1970s Street freaks or something along those lines and I got a feeling that is how the hobby is going to carry on. Times are changing where the car isn't as popular as it once was which is baffling to me but men are still men generally speaking even if the news would have us believe that isn't the case. There were always be guys tinkering on cars, todays hellcats are pretty much the same thing to gen X as the 1971 hemi cuda was to the boomers and at some point it will be a classic car made out of unattainium and those 1957 Chevrolets that are now driven mainly by men in their '70s or '80s will eventually be just like a duesenberg or a cord we're only a true car enthusiast will know what they are.
I think the only exception to this rule is going to be the Ford Model A and the 1932 Ford I think those cars transcend time as they were cool when they were new and they are cool at almost a hundred years old everyone that sees one likes them and they are so popular people are remaking them from all age groups .

In the meantime just in case the hot rod hobby is on its way out, I'm not going to worry about what the future holds for the hobby but I'm going to get out and vote for the most gasoline car friendly candidates and I am always going to be vocal about how fun the gas automobile is and as I slowly become an older man I will never scoff at a young person building a car that isn't necessarily my style as long as he's personally wrenching on it, it's cool in my book. I want young people to experience cruising, meeting chicks cruising slowly while hanging out a car window or sightseeing in a classic shitbox. Or taking that classic car from 1992 to the local cars and coffee car show and in return they will get to see other cool cars that they may have not a known existed because the cars are way before their time hopefully they will become the torchbearers of the 57 Chevrolets for the Ford Model A or the T bucket.

 

They have them

I can hear The Beach boys Little Deuce coupe soundtrack playing at the car show looking at this picture.
And I can almost see the director's chairs just outside of the picture frame lol.
It's Funny but it's kind of depressing at the same time.
I think what makes it worse is because those old men and those pictures are the age my father would have been if he was still living and that deuce is now an old man's car.