History Where is this hobby headed?

SEMA announced 2400 entries in the 2024 show. Not many HAMB friendly companies.

 

Put about 100 miles down on Saturday in my 55. Was a gorgeous day here, low 80s, low humidity, partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain. Went by a spot in Colora, MD where a show was supposed to be happening according to a flyer a guy was handing out at a show a few weeks back. Nothing there but people's daily drivers. Moved on by. Drove down to Delaware City, DE and got dinner. Left out of there and decided to stop by the local cruise night in Bear, DE. to see if anyone I knew was there. Lot was maybe a 1/3 full when 5 years ago it would be packed and overflowing. It's always the same guys sitting in the same groups with the same DJ playing the same songs. I'm not a part of any of those groups, so I don't stick around long unless there is someone I know there. I moved on by and went to my buddy's house who is building a killer 57 Chevy in his garage, to shoot the shit for a while. I saw 2 old cars on the road all day, and I'm not talking just traditional style rides. I mean two cars older than 1980. Maybe it was because it was Father's Day weekend, I don't know. It's also gotten so damn crowded around my area, taking your old stuff out isn't as enjoyable as it used to be as you end up sitting in traffic half the time.

We used to have a cruise every weekend from the beginning of April through the end of October at different spots around New Castle County, DE. Now there's just 2 left, they're now both at the same spot, and the lot is at best half full. Every other Friday evening a pizza joint (Grottos for the locals) supposedly has once, haven't been to it yet. There was one going on the second Saturday of the month at a Dunkin Donuts up near Wilmington. Small lot, but they packed them in last time I went. Not sure if it's still going on or not.

We had a great yearly event called the HotRod Hoedown in Wilmington that ran for several years. It then moved up north of Philly, but still worth the drive. I don't think it exists anymore. There was another great yearly event around Wilmington called Wilmo-a-Go-Go. It's also gone now. A yearly event that always had a HUGE turnout called Beers and Gears used to happen at a local casino twice a year. It's gone now. We still have the Mobtown Greaseball down near Baltimore in September. It's still doing pretty well and is the best event left in the area that's close enough for me to drive down, have a good time, and drive home without feeling like a zombie the next day. I missed the first ever GoodGuys event at Dover Downs a few weeks back, but it looks like it was a massive success. Not really my kind of event, but it's good to see something of that renown in the area.

So yeah, I'm happy to see hot rodding alive and well in a lot of places, but it sure feels like it's on life support around here. It used to be I'd pass a couple dozen old cars on a day like Saturday. I know they're still out there, but you just don't see them like you used to.
Props to New Jersey though, they're keeping things alive in a big way. Seems like a show or cruise every night of the week during summer. Lots of small local cruises though, not really something I can get out to during the week. TROG is one of the best events in the country in my opinion.

 

But why would they be? The whole purpose of the HAMB is to use old parts, not new parts. And it would seem for a lot of the HAMB relevant cars, there is already a robust aftermarket. How many more companies do we need making Ford axles?

 

If that market is anything like the Trifive Chevy market, a lot of what is currently being made is junk.

 

Delaware's car scene has been inferior to NJ's for as long as I can personally remember. Lots of imports and sport compacts use to cruise Main Street in Newark around 2002ish, punctuated by the occasional Chevelle or later model Mustang. The Hot Rod Hoedown hasn't been going on for well over a decade but was a great show. I was there when it was still at Kahunaville on the Wilmington waterfront. We also lost one of the best traditional shows in the country IMHO in Jalopyrama, which moved around a bunch after outgrowing its venues and then getting rained on the last few years.

For Father's Day yesterday we went to a rod run up in North Jersey that was absolutely packed. There were cars of all varieties, but a good showing of rods and customs sprinkled in. The kids had fun and played with each other. Will they ever be really into this to want to build one of their own? Who knows? But it won't be for lack of exposing them to this stuff.


The weather was gorgeous yesterday and I didn't want to put the car away, so I took the car out to get some coffee at Wawa and to stop at WalMart and get some groceries. I generally park as far away from the store as I can, and when I came out, there was a 2008 Mustang parked next to me with a couple youngsters taking pics. Totally cool. A 19 year old kid with his Mustang and his 17 year old girlfriend, had a bunch of questions about the car. She had mentioned that she just graduated from high school and wanted to be a lawyer. That took the conversation on a different path. But it was cool, teenagers stopped in their tracks to check the car out and ask questions. People are still drawn to this stuff. Be cool and don't be a jerk to the people that show interest and it will help continue the interest in the hobby. It's not that hard to be nice to people.

 

A large church in the big city next to me has a Father's day car show that has been going on for years. I went with my wife and daughter yesterday, we walked around and the lot with the tuners, imports, and new stuff was much more packed with cars than the one with muscle cars and hot rods. I didn't see everything, but I'm guessing there were maybe a couple hundred cars total.

The amount of spectators of all ages was insane. They had a lot of stretch golf carts shuttling spectators to/from the streets and parking lots nearby, and they were going back and forth full of people as long as we were there. I have no doubt there were thousands of spectators through that show (only ran from 10-2) through the day. There were only a couple cars I would consider even close to traditional, but there was a lot of cool stuff, and there was a ton of spectator interest.

 

Companies exhibiting at SEMA are showing off new and exciting products, builds that are new and unique, etc. Not much HAMB stuff falls into that category.

 

Delaware is inferior in a lot of regards. I don't live in Delaware, but I work there and live 10 minutes from DE and PA. I work in Newark at UD and a lot of those kids dig the old stuff, but digging your car and getting involved in the hobby and keeping it alive are two vastly different things. I do love those interactions, as rare as they may be. It seems like the kids like me who would hang around the neighborhood mechanic or hot rodder to learn as much as they could from them are a rare thing these days. I have my nieces and nephew and my immediate family are into cars, so we try to keep it going for them, should they show an interest in the future. I like the interactions with kids and young people looking to get into cars, but I just don't have many interactions like that. Maybe I look intimidating. I don't think so, but who am I to say?

I used to be one of those kids cruising Main Street back in the late 90s and early 2000s. It was in late model Mustangs because that's what I could afford. I had just gotten my 55 when the cruising scene died there. The best thing in the area now is the Kirkwood Highway deal the second Saturday of August, but knuckleheads and kids on dirt bikes and atvs have ruined that. The cops have it clamped down so tight you can't even really cruise up and down like you used to.
Maryland has a pretty good hot rodding scene, but mostly to the south and west. There's a lot of cars tucked away in garages around my area, you just don't see them all that often anymore.

 

this "hobby?" will go any place you want to take it. We build cars the way that make us happy or comfortable or whatever excuse you want to throw at it. Hopefully we drive them. Some of us may build one last car, others will build until they cannot.
I try to pass on my knowledge. Will the type of cars I build live after I am gone? I do not know, but I do know that once I check out it won't really matter. Bad attitude? Yes it is but at least I am honest about it

 

Out of all those spectators, it makes you wonder how many of them are working on something at home. Seems like a lot of people like to keep this interest at arm's length. I've heard "Man I wish I could afford something like that" so many times. So instead of driving a beater for a few years and saving your dough, you buy a brand new $60k pickup every few years. There's sacrifices of wants and time for a lot us us into old cars, and they're not sacrifice many folks seem willing to make. We live in an instant-gratification society, which is not something that really happens when you build your own stuff. If you're well off you can buy something already done, but will it be anything more than a passing interest for that person? I think it takes the right mindset to even begin to do what we do, and it's a mindset I see getting rarer and rarer in car culture. Thank social media for creating unrealistic expectations when all the stuff you see promoted is high dollar 1000hp+ cars.

 

Just so it's clear where I stand, I call it a hobby because this is not my lifestyle. I've created a lifestyle that lets me enjoy my hobbies, not vice-vera. I have other interests and they all make me who I am. I am not defined by my car or any of the other things I consider hobbies. If cars define who you are, more power to you. If it makes me less of an enthusiast in the eyes of someone who does devote their life to this, so be it, I can live with that.

 

So sorry that I do not meet your standards.
I'll try to not clutter your threads after this.

 

I didn’t read all the post, but in my opinion, what a guy thinks is cool is what was cool when he was a kid! And what the cool kids had, that were a tad older than him. For me it was the fifties cars first then the sixties cars. There were not many 30s and 40s cars in my area, when I was a youngster. But different areas are different. What my grandson thinks is cool, doesn’t impress me at all! But at least he is into cars. That is what is important! But, just because my favorites are the 50s and 60s, I still enjoy older cars! Maybe the kids today will think the same!




Bones

 

Do more events like pinetree, northeast vintage drags, and Trog.
Think about it, when you guys were young did you wanna stand around in a parking lot taking about what a high end paint job Costs or did you want to race your shit?
And those events, try and make them more affordable for us! Please!!

 

First, we've had plenty of good conversations on here over the years. I have a lot of respect for you.
Second, you totally misunderstood what I mean. I use the word hobby because that's what this is to me. Some people seems to scoff at that word, like you're not really an enthusiast if you consider this a hobby. In no way, shape, or form do I set any standard for anybody. To the contrary, in fact.
But if I don't meet someone's standards of an enthusiast, I could not care less.

 

I am a Tool & Instrument Maker at Brookhaven National Laboratory, formerly Camp Upton, NY. One of the many science experiments the Federal Government is investing in is biofuels. I know that we automatically think of biofuels as a replacement for diesel but regardless, there are positive implications that can be found. I will try to keep folks updated without violating HAMB policy. This project has been going on at least two decades with the occasional milestone.

https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=120813

Some key takeaways from the article;

“”Two added benefits: As an aquatic plant, oil-producing duckweed wouldn’t compete with food crops for prime agricultural land. It can even grow on runoff from pig and poultry farms.”
“That means this engineered plant could potentially clean up agricultural waste streams as it produces oil,” Shanklin said

Also;
“”Beyond that we are working on how to scale up production from laboratory to industrial levels.””

Also;
“”This work was funded by the DOE Office of Science (BER). CFN is also supported by the Office of Science (BES).””

I guess my point is that gasoline could somehow become a renewable energy.

Regards
Jimmy Vlacich

 

On a similar vein, the Hydrogen Advanced Design truck that Arrington Performance built was super cool. Rather than powering a fuel cell, the hydrogen powered an internal combustion engine.

That and what you're talking about give me hope that we will be able to use our same engines far into the future, with some tweaks.

 

With the millions, or perhaps trillions of dollars being spent wasted on alternative fuels, I ask how much research has been expended on removing the carbons from burning petroleum fuels, and has it been enough to justify the wasted/failed efforts of so far?

At my age I choose to go no further on this subject. I am not driving now anyway but wish you all the best as you continue to love and enjoy what I have also in my time.

 

Man, like to have that '34!!

 

To be clear there is a big difference between a collector and a hoarder!

A collector displays their parts neatly allows people in to see them and is willing to sell parts, often with a theme I collect Blueflame Chevrolet 6 speed equipment along 261 block because it is my engine of choice for building I also collect oval track parts and memorabilia because of my family history.

Where a hoarder use picks up things willie-nillie, and many times allows them to get ruined.

I was allow in a hoard a few years ago where parts were new in the boxes but were junk because of being stored in a wet damp basement!

 

Man, like to have that '34!!

IT is curently considered to be on the block.
331 HEMI
All Chrome Jag suspension
and much more. Washington State.
(1) offer at 40 K

 

Does this mean Anne Margaret is not coming?

 

I thought the car was in Iowa?

 

I am kinda all over in my response so pardon me if it seems random or confusing.

I am going to give you the secret towards getting cool Hot Rod stuff and the quality tools that make working on them a pleasure for a reasonable price that I didn't learn about until 10 years ago (I am 45) but it takes patience and persistence and remember those two words because when you were buying used it takes patience and persistence to find stuff.
Here is the big secret that really isn't a secret once you figure it out.
Check out estate sales every single week (remember persistence lol) generally speaking they start on Thursday and go through Sunday all the good deals will be bought on the first day right when it opens or the last day right before it closes. I use an app here on the West Coast called estatesales.net (not .com, .net). I noticed some areas of the country do not use that app I don't know if your area does or not if it doesn't you're going to have to do the research to figure out where estate sales are advertised.
All these old guys that everyone is talking about in this post that are Hoarders sadly they eventually they leave this planet but their stuff remains.
Even here in Southern California (where we have a huge population) car estate sales don't happen every week (where you get a good car or tool oriented sale) but they do turn up and on that website I gave you (and everyone else reading this post) will not only have estate sales but sometimes auctions which are also worth looking at... I went to Gene Winfield's auction a few months ago and bought a couple of Kaisers for less than $300 for the pair... Now they aren't real cool being four doors but they are from the early 50s and they are hamb topic vehicles and still make a fine cruiser even if the boomer generation scoffs at the fact they are more doors and off makes. At the end of the day they are still fun as hell to drive.
Those now dead people that you are going through their stuff at an estate sale, most of them aren't true hoarders but are/were enthusiasts just like you or I and at some point their projects got ahead of them until their personal time clock went off so to speak, unfortunately for them the women that usually run the estate sale don't know car parts which will work out to your advantage if you're trying to buy stuff, remember do not feel bad those people are dead and their family doesn't want it that's why it is being sold)...
I personally have bought whole cars at estate sales, engines, blowers, vintage Hot Rod magazines all kinds of other cool car related stuff like Snap-on tools for a fraction of what they should go for, never in my life as a non-professional mechanic did I think I was ever going to have a tool chest full of Snap-on tools, I remember when I bought flare nut wrenches brand new from Snap-on because I was so over and so mad at destroying soft flare nuts that I paid $330- for them I think I was literally your age or maybe a year older, that was the only new Snap-on tool I've ever bought at that time that was literally one week's worth of my pay but that's another story.

Outside of estate sales, Facebook marketplace, Craigslist and OfferUp all have to be looked at every single day, if you got money to blow, deals don't wait until payday or your day off, if something seems like it's a good price and it's a real ad not some sort of scam it's not going to last so even if it's 200 miles away and you got to leave at 3:00 in the morning to go get it you hit the road ASAP and never give the people time to sleep on it because a lot of people will have second thoughts or lots of calls and will back out of selling something so reasonably priced. The same goes with the swap meets, right now everybody was mentioning the Los Angeles roadster show, obviously for you it's probably a little far to go to buy car parts but if you have a local swap meet in your area that's a car swap meet go to it, with inflation being high usually there is not a lot of people buying stuff but a lot of people selling stuff trying to make a few extra bucks there are deals to be had. I am pretty sure I saw that same 39 Ford transmission at the roadster show and it was $100 bill it was sitting out in front of someones table and I remember thinking to myself that was a good deal why I didn't buy it I couldn't tell you other than I don't really have a use for it currently and I don't want to be one of those guys that will have a killer estate sale when I am dead but regardless It was a pretty good deal for sure and if it's another one that means there's at least two that we're in good deal lol
The one thing I have learned from messing around with cars since I was a young teen is be realistic on what stuff cost be on top of the market so you know what the prices are and be patient because this stuff was all mass produced items so there is usually deals to be had you just got to make sure you have the money set aside and you're ready to pounce when the deal comes up. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule like you're not going to find a 426 Hemi for scrap yard prices nor are you going to find a real Henry 32 Ford roadster thats a shitbox let alone turn key for 25 year old Honda Civic prices but model As pop up as do Ts and a slew of cool looking off makes (I bought a 1919 Hupmobile touring body for $100- about a year ago after doing some footwork and selling off all the model A bits that it came with as an example).
Anyways my point is if you or your friends are really into the hot rod scene don't give up, it seems like yesterday I was your age and I was in the same predicament, my friends weren't really gearheads and I had no idea where to start to get the parts and I messed around with cars from the 1970s at that time because they were cheap relatively old (and analog) cars, if I would have had somebody give me the advice I just gave you it would have pointed me in the right direction...
Oh and one last thing why does it have to be a over priced Ford f-100 (using your example), yeah they're cool and that's why they are expensive, I don't think if my lifetime 1954 to 56 Ford f100s were ever cheap heck even 3/4 tons are a bit pricey but however a 1954 to 1956 Dodge butterfly hood d100 pickup is however pretty cheap and and all reality is just as cool if not cooler and because they were direct competitors to Ford they are pretty comparable with options and style except a dodge d100 a young guy could actually afford to buy and he will get as much if not more attention than the guy with the F100 pickup because it's not everyday you see a Dodge pickup even at a car show.

 

I haven't read all the posts in this thread so maybe this point has already been brought up but I think a big issues is the snobbery that has come into period correct hot rodding!

It has very much degenerated into what the Billet laden Street Rod scene of the mid 80s to the late 90s, pull your cleaning supplies out of the truck detail your car for an hour put them back, pull out tent and lawn chair set up your tent set your lawn chairs under it set there for hours until the car have been judged, take your tent down and complain about the cars that won awards.

To me a car show is not a competition and I am not interested in a show without a swapmeet or a race of some kind.

A show is a chance to show your work, see others works share and get ideas.

Everybody seems to be locked into a very small segment of cars and anything that is outside of that segment that don't like and is wrong!

Obviously, I am a big vintage oval track and period correct hot rod fan, but that doesn't mean I can't like customs I don't think I would ever want to build or own one.
I like stockers, period modified Muscle cars, vans etc... although I am not a fan of some of the styles out there, I can respect them.

I great example is yesterday, my dad and I made a dump run (and we didn't come back with anything, last time I came home with a 39 Chevy coupe door!) when I got back to town there where about twenty 914 Porsches stopped at the convince store.

We aren't Porsche people, but we stopped and talked to them, our local Studebaker guy stopped to talk to them.
They told us about their cars we told them about what we do, and one of the guys also had hot rods!

We told them thar little old Grand Gorge NY a town of 800 at one time had between 12 to 15 stock cars and that most Saturday night in 1980s-late 1990s almost the whole town was at Fonda speedway!

They were cool people, many of them were my age with their wives, there were a few older people with grandchildren.

Many people need to get over this snobbery and spewing any nonsense that comes to their minds about why other segments are wrong and listen to people who know the history even if they are younger!

 

Winner winner chicken dinner; you said it! And to me, anymore, these attitudes on the HAMB do more to hurt the hobby as a whole, than they do to help it. And I say that while full well acknowledging the HAMB’s role in making the hobby what it was in the early 2000’s.

I went to a sort of cruise-in car show yesterday (first one I’ve been to in years) in my OT, but very period correct ‘61 Willys and I had a great time! Most of the folks there weren’t on the HAMB (and I wouldn’t tell them to come here, because they seemed like nice folks), but there were some younger guys in HAMB-friendly cars, and even a very young 70 year old friend of mine in a car that ran at the very first Bonneville Speed Week in ‘49. But I’m sure some of the people on here would still try to pick it apart…

Anyway, I’m not sure what happened with this place. I can’t even seem to make a thread on here that doesn’t get deleted anymore, so I’ve largely quit coming by. And I am one of the “younger” (44) guys…

 

Wow I sure don’t see the snobbery. To fit HAMB it’s either pre 65 or it’s not pretty simple, there are many cars that are almost HAMB correct so to speak but because of a newer set of wheels, etc etc the car is not acceptable on HAMB. Whoopy shit who cares. I haven’t really seen any one be snobby about things like that. The beauty of this place is that now a person can post almost anything in the OT forum. NO EVs !!!! Guess I’m a little snobby that way lol
Dan
PS from my experience here I believe most enjoy cars of many stripes ie: muscle cars, sports cars, restorations, etc.

 

That sounds like a sweet deal. You're driving them?! Pictures and/or thread link?