I am 33 years old and have loved street rods ever since I was a kid. I am currently building a 34 Ford Pickup, and my younger brother is looking for a Model A Tudor to build. Over the years I have owned several hot rods including a 55 Chevy with a blown big block and a 48 Fiat. I do have to agree however, the price of this stuff is too high for the average young person. I also feel that I enjoy a different style of hot rod. I like major chops, super low, with huge power.
Well me being 44, there are alot of younger guys into the stuff in my area. Of course not teens or early 20s guys. Hell I even I have a problem with being able to afford a set of rear Halibrands for my willys Of course I was in the right place at the right time to buy a cheap willys , or I would still just have a model a. Man 20yrs ago, I could find t's and model a's for 500 bucks, not today unless its a pile I have two sons, one 17, one 14. My 17yr could care less about any of my old car stuff. My 14yr old is dedeciated. He is my one who has a major itch for the hobby. He will carry on for my family anyway Here he is with his Shoebox project, now we just have to start on it
I agree the hobby is here to stay till the well runs dry! if you want to be in the hobby you will figure out how to pay for the stuff and make due with what we cant pay for
Another Young Gun here, just turned 27... I've pondered the state of the hobby for a while now, and here's what it boils down to: 1. If you think you can, you can. Meaning, If you work your *** off for the car you want, you can have it, as long as you don't have Automobile Attention Deficit Disorder. Make deals, find guys in the hobby that recognize your p***ion for the old stuff, and network. 2. It's true, Most guys my age would rather sit at home and play Call of Duty or some ******** rather than work on a car, and a majority of the ones that do want to work on cars are building Subarus, or their dream car is a '69 something or another. This lack of interest in Pre-'60 cars will reduce prices in the next 15-20 years. 3. I put aside building the '32 Tudor sedan that I have in my head, because I believe that the prices of '32 sedan bodies are... a little high. I think that in 20 years, I should either a) More easily be able to afford one or b) The prices will be lower due to saturation in the market, and the aforementioned lack of demand for pre '60 cars. 4. If you're of the older generation, please drive your car. Nothing promotes the hobby better than kids seeing old cars driving around. How many of you got hooked because your older brother/uncle/shop teacher/whoever had a really *****in' car? If he wouldn't have driven it, you wouldn't have seen it, and you'd be woodworking right now. 5. Gasoline. It's only a matter of time before the gasoline that is produced will not work in our old cars. So, enjoy them today, because there may not be a tomorrow. I drive mine whenever possible, because let's face it, I wasn't born to drive a van.
I teach shop cl***es at our local High School. It is amazing to me how many kids do not have the slightest idea of how to use a wrench/socket. Many times when we have been working on and old Chevy truck I will find one with a 12mm or cresent instead of the proper standard wrench/socket. I know it is my job to teach them this skill set, but some of them are starting at square one. Righty tighty, lefty loosey is reinforced 15-20 times daily. If a bolt is rusty or hard to get at they just want to give up. Most lose interest in long term projects. They have no vision. Some of the farm kids have an idea but the majority I am worried about. I told a kid the other day...."If you were working for me do, you know what I would do?" He said "Fire me?" and I said "exactally". What are we going to do in the future with less and less students going to vo-tech/Trade schools. We are raising a generation of great thinkers but can't do anything with there hands. One of our Tech Lab modules in the Middle School has a vertial welding unit. Yes, you actually play like you are welding a bead on the computer screen...ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! I have been teaching for 33 years and it is getting worse every year. Now with budget cuts our programs are the first thing to get cut. They need more of these hands on project based cl***es. Ok I will now get off my stump and take a deep breath. My next cl*** is comming in.
Havent you old *******s died yet??? i'm waiting for prices to crash so i can hoard ALL the cool stuff for next to nothing
im forty one . **** has always been to expensive ive been collecting the perfect parts for ten years and now im finally ready to start you've either got time or money but seldom both together j
I'm 41 and remember late nights during the week working on the family HotRod when in primary school. My younger sister is very into rodding, so is my nephew. The world of Hot Rodding is far from lost! Doc.
Went to Spring Carlisle in April and continue to notice the downward changes. I have been to many of the Spring and fall events over 40 years and remember how you would hear them announcing recycled car corral spots all day long. Now they don't even fill the ones they got. We use to make good money as a vendor. Some years it ends up costing you for the experience. Not a lot of young people into the old cars and parts. NOS parts are priced beyond most budgets. There are still some deals and many of the aftermarket venders offer show specials. Certainly a big change from the 70's when the place was packed, you could find tons of stuff and could not wait for the next one. I did see a High School compe***ion for Hot Rodders Of Tomorrow. Hopefully these guys and gals can help keep the next generations interested in more than just video games and tuner cars.
It's been my experience that too many of the boomers and older fellas have mastered the art of hoarding and telling interested guys like me " I'm going to get to that someday". Hey dude, do you really need 8 32 grill shells on your 'look at my ****' wall? The issue has been well defined by all the variables in this post, but it's the hoarding and ridiculous asking prices, coupled with a void of mechanical knowledge, that will turn this life we love into a oddball niche in 20 years. I've seen the extremes of both greed and generosity in cl***ic cars and parts. Mostly the former.
The US birthed the Hot Rod and Rock & Roll, "Here to Stay", regardless of prices. Money never goes away, just moves around and changes value. Look at the appreciation for our cars overseas. Our early automotive styling was very iconic just as some of the European cars were. Like music, you can't replace it or other art. There will always be a market for art, regardless of cost. This hobby is not going away - and the HAMB has strengthened and refocused it in a huge way!
No car can be built today on a McDonalds pay check. Tell those people to get an education and the better pay checks will show up. College or a skilled trade are what's going to educated people, who can demand a nice wage. And this goes to ANYONE, who's not satisfied with their current pay check. I'm 55 years old. Two years ago, I realized that working as a shipping clerk, was NOT going to cut the mustard. So, I decided to learn welding. I went to Houston Community College, checked out the welding program and gave it a shot. That was two years ago and I graduate in a couple weeks. It was hard as hell for this old dog to go back to school, but it seems an old dog CAN learn new tricks. My education and skill level has opened up a whole new path of career options. I just got hired as a press operator this past Monday and the pay is decent. More than what I would be making as a shipping clerk. But Friday, my welding credentials came to light and I take a weld test this Monday. When I p*** the test, I'll be making much more. Hell, I'm already searching for a project. NOT dreaming of one. So, sound advice would be, if a person can't afford the **** they want, figure out a way to earn what it takes. Basically, get off your *** and earn it.
My wife and I are blessed with the ability to make good money, and usually do...and we have 2 kids. I'm about to turn 35 and my big beef to guys commenting is this....how many on here *****ing about young guys not being in the hobby are the same ones asking bat sh*t crazy prices right here on the HAMB? More than a few, I think. 32s be damned, folks are asking nuts prices for Falcons.....FALCONS y'all. Better for young guys to keep their ricers until the "Rodder Barons" collections get liquidated. Some will say that's douchey, but it's not a knock on the whole generation, just the ones that are making it the way it is now. You can't horde good stuff in hopes that prices go up, collude to make them go up, then get pissed when no one wants in on your overpriced sh*t. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
That was right on time. Too many times, I've seen an old timer who calls himself a hobbyist, but in reality, he's just another hoarder with his **** WAY over priced. Then, he'll die off and his kids will crush it. He'll probably still be clutching the phone number of someone who would have paid a fair price, in his cold dead hand. Sometimes, the buck stops right HERE.
I didn't realize that old guys hoarding stuff or asking high prices was creating so many "victims". If you have the p***ion, you'll have the ambition to get it yourself.
I noticed a good portion of the filed 'Car Corral' spots were reserved for O/T transportation vehicles. Apparently owners paid the $$ (or were given?) inside spots when they felt it was too far to walk outside the grounds to park. It really ruins the setting when your trying to sell your collector car / hot rod while parked next to a minivan. Those minivan owners got quite defensive when this was pointed out... "I paid for the spot!" they said. Steve
Not a chance when you can make alcohol fuel and soy oil in your back yard. (I know I've said this before here.) Everyone hates gasohol, but they'll get over it as tech progresses. New gaskets, new coatings, new rubber formulas: That will get us through 'til Mr. Fusion. BTW, I'm now a '59 year old geezer, hording two old cars & two OT ones. One thing I noticed right away, being out of the old car business for 25 years then just getting back to it: There are a LOT more reproduction and custom parts makers than I ever recall seeing (and particularly for those dang Deuces ) but amazingly for the odd fat fenders & muscle era cars as well. I don't think the hobby is dying. See, there are only so many old cars, but there's an unlimited supply of people. Some of them will be picking it up. The smart and persistent ones will do well at it as always. A smaller percentage of the populous will be involved, but overall there will probably be more people total than now. It doesn't usually come from school IMO. I got the interest from my dad who got it from his. My children are both involved, because I was, and like my dad I didn't buy them nice shiny cars. I bought them 20 year old cars and we fixed them up. Then they went and smashed them up and I told them: "See why you didn't get a new car?" They learned to turn a wrench and to respect what your work has wrought. They were both very ticked when they bent their hand sanded fenders up, and were thereafter more cautious drivers. But in the age of robot welders and computerized everything, people are expecting technical miracles from the products they buy. I've programmed machines that make things, and IMO nobody will want to restore cars built by robots when robots will build new ones. People who fix cars because they're too poor to buy better ones will be around, and they'll mod them however they can (just like those original rodders of the old days) but the cost and difficulty will be greater. ...and remember that with modern rapid prototyping and computer generated 3D tooling and one-off parts, the repop business can make the horded car parts far less valuable. Things will be different, but people won't change that much IMO. The majority of them will always be incapable or uninterested in what we do, and a big percent always were.
No disrespect, but your at***ude as a teacher needs to change. You need to teach them how to use the proper tool, not complain about it on a forum. If a 12mm socket fits, let them use it. If it rounds off the head, then they will know it didn't work. You can then show them how to remove a bolt with a rounded head. Just do me a favor, make sure they know never to push a wrench - only pull
The Jalopy Journal
