Arrived at a car show earlier today and since they didn't open for a half hour or so.....got to stand in a line that wrapped half way around the building. Standing there in that line, something became very evident to me. As I looked to the front and then to the back of this huge line of people, there was not a single person that I would have categorized as young (20-30). Just a bunch of gray beards (myself included....65 in 14 days). Looking back 40 years, most of the people in that line would have been in their teens, 20-30's. Will another 10-15 years make these type shows a thing of the past as all of us that grew up "gearheads" grow older. I'm not saying there are no young people in this hobby..........just seems that there are not that many. Anyway, myself and a few others in that line had a good laugh about putting mag wheels on our walkers or flame painted wheel chairs in another 15 or so years.
We own the cars... in another 10 15 years the young folk will buy them from our estate sales.... and the cycle will start again.
Young guy have to work all week, sometimes on weekends too. Then have to cut the grass, take care of stuff around house ect. Then they get to go to car show.
young guys don't care as much about getting in first to "power Park" near the restrooms - Ha! what will be will be. do what you can to get more young people involved. did you bring a one of your Kids or their Kids with you?
My theory is that when all of us gray beards start kicking off it will create a glut of hot rods on the market and the prices will come down to where the younger guys can afford them and the cycle will restart.....OR NOT Seriously though, in my area I'm starting to see more and more younger people at the shows.I hope that's a good sign.
I think with all of the cars made in Japan today, the 10 or 15 year old car that kids can pick up today is a Honda or Toyota. This makes for a different kind of hot rod today. Used to be that I laughed my ass off at all those tin can muffler puke mobiles, and for the most, they are a mess with flat black rims and fake carbon fiber stickers on the hood. But then I found out that the 4 cylinder in my daily driver is already putting down 180 horse from teh factory (as much as an 80s Vette) and with a new turbo and some "mapping" as they call it, I could easily get the car over 250 horse on streetable fuel. Don't get me wrong, I am only 43 and I drove a 69 big block Chevelle to high school with a 400 trans and a 12 bolt posi with 488 rear gears. I also was building a Model A with a small block in it at the time, which I drove to my graduation (it overheated waiting to get out of the long line on graduation day, but I tucked it in a parking lot quick and no one knew any better). Anyway, yes, we are getting older. There is a lot of action in Vegas, and I think you can find some more if you look hard enough in your area, but the kids of today are learning the tech of today. And Hot rodding as a result is shifting. For example, thers's a kid a few houses over who owns one of those rare model turbo Dodge Neon's (the thing is a 12 0r 13 second, factory car). When he stops in to borrow tools, he asks a lot of questions and he shows some respect for my Dodge PU; but he is always amazed by "how big" my small block is and how simple everything on the car seems He calls older hot rods "Crazy Hillbilly Cars that don't steer and smell bad." I guess mechanics of the 40 hated 17 year olds in the 50s who were ramping up flatties and making lake pipes back in the day. I just wonder if they yelled, "That damn roadster sounds like a beer can with a beehive stuck in it!" as they drove behind it to the drive in in their brand new unbeatable Edsel?
My son could care less about cars........as long as it runs and gets him where he's going that's all that counts. My grandson.....another story and I would have had him with me, but he's away for a tour in the Army. My truck is willed to him. I suspect you are probably right.
I'm 41, and most of my friends are grey beards. Few guys my age (who I know personally) have the time or interest in the car show scene. Most of us would rather spend Saturday driving than in a lawn chair. Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
"The times... they are a'changin"...Bob Dylan The good part is once I am gone, I won't care what anyone does with old cars.
Im 53 and the the cars shows (64 and older) I go to I am the close to the oldest there a lot of times. Maybe it is a region thing?
I think that is the answer for those who have a rod -- build it, drive it, who gives a FU about a car show....
It's got to do with the cars you grow up with, I reckon. There are a few younger guys who are involved in rodding, and I guess we have to hope they will 'keep the dream alive' for all of us. The only 'down-side' is the propensity for the girlfriends to be 'tatted-out fender lizards' - mind you, so long as they have their gams and their tatas on show, I guess we don't care too much. (young ladies and old cars is about as good as it gets)
Whats even more scary is lately I've noticed some of the guys my age that are slaves to their cell phones.They are sitting there texting like crazy. WTF!
It's encouraging to go to shows like Billetproof because there are tons of young guys who go and they are doing just what we did 50 years ago. That is really nice to see. Don
Rationalize it any way you feel comfortable with, but the fact is we're dinosaurs and when we leave this world, hot rodding as we know and love it will likely be a thing of the past.
Im 29 so im in the "younger" age bracket i guess and alot of my friends with older cars are too,i know some of them that just dont attend car shows but are into cars ......In my area (sacramento and surrounding) there seems to me theres plenty of younger folk at the more traditional style cars shows that I attend like midnight mass,mala notche,billet proof,santa maria,ally cats car show, etc and at the local swap meets... with some grey hair's mixed in....there seems to be more grey hairs at autorama,mopars in the park, and the grass valley and auburn carshow's ,and the local street rod shows..... I think it all depends on what area and what type of shows you attend that play a factor on age groups.....on the other hand I see plenty of both young and older cruising the streets almost on a daily basis where i live....thats just my perspective
Im a 20-30 and the car show scene here is mostly grey beards. While they're happy to take your money and have you show your car at their show, they dont care to give us non grey beards the time of day. After years of the same treatment and seeing the same cars unchanged it got old and boring, unless there is a swap meet we just dont go to shows anymore. we rather spend the entry fee on a drive in some place and go for cruises with other young like minded individuals.
I am 50 years old and have only been to a few car shows in my life. I'd rather be out working on them or driving them.
.....I will admit, Don, that when I attend a "real" traditional car event, there does seem to be a pretty good contingent of younger folks who seem to appreciate the history and significance of this thing we call hot-rodding. Hopefully that bodes well for the future...Don.
From what I see at the indoor shows here in the PNW the older guys like to get there early when it opens and maybe spend longer at the show while the young guys tend to show up later and don't spend as long at the shows. At the cost of getting in a lot of young people may just flat decide that going to a car show is beyond their budget. Last year we dropped right at 40.00 including parking and tickets before we walked in the door at the Portland Roadster Show. That might be a budget killer for a young couple with a couple of kids in tow. It may not be lack of interest but budgeting and family commitments that keep a lot of the younger guys from showing up or maybe they just wait until they don't have to stand in line to get in.
Yep, the first time we went to Billetproof my wife even remarked "this is fun, it's just like it was when we started out in the 70's".
sadly my brothere OT car blew up xmas day on the long cold drive home he told me after ... the warning light for him to "check" his oil had been on all week and he had been meaning to have it checked ....0 oil on the dipstick.......that being said cars ya love em ya use them but definetly some just are not consumed by em like we are talkin here.. common car care and car sense is not common and yes had the oil light been mentioned at all during his 3 day stay with us over xmas ... I would have checked it and added the oil( which was just a few feet from where he was parked ) and try to figure out where it was being lost
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