The Space City Cruisers an other Car/Truck shows have opened up Catagories a whle back, slowly ..... but needed for Foreign ( some call ricers ) cars....... Lifted truck, some I almost can walk under ... Those that have PTSD or such look away... Rat Rod catagories ... This Hobby will die if we donna embrace young ones ... ya do not have ta be enamored with what they want ta build .. but with their vision .... the world changes ... I have seen teens I encouraged later build lowered model trucks with welding that they learned themselves that was simply beautiful....... The world changes At our Cruise ins ... the late model an ricers stayed away from us and made their own spots. I would invite them over but they felt unwelcome ... They were indeed shunned, no would one would welcome them or say hi They are into the same thing as us but later model Welcome them as they wish to hop their rides up as we did as youths, many. many years ago Ricky. Ricky
I too have a hard time processing the post, granted as time goes by car trends have changed and in some cases morphed into dual cultures, the traditional hot rods slowly died out but was reinvented by the street rod trend, still as popular as it was back in the early 70's, guys using the original cars and old hot rods built years ago and added later engines, transmissions and rear axles to motivate, air conditioning, cruise control, and amazing sound system's that were never dreamed of in years past. Times change and trends change, I believe the rat rods, as I like to call them rodent rods, started as a response to the high cost involved of building street rods and in some cases pushing the limits of what can be done with what many of us (including me) could be done with what many thought was too rough or time consuming to be hammered, cut and smoothed into metal serviceable to build a nice hot rod, custom or a nice street rod. Muscle cars have a place in the car world, after all they were primarily responsible for many hot rods being parked in the garage as the car guys were able to purchase a brand new factory hot rods and none of the hard word and time to build a car that he many not have had the knowledge & money to have done in his youth, instant gratification. This trend can be seen with these huge actions on Barrett Jackson the prove this segment is still alive and well, the muscle car guys spend big bucks to have the car they dreamed of but couldn't afford when they were new but now in a point in their life money is no object, the dreamers and builders can still build these cars in the garage, same as the guys who will invest the time & in some cases their retirement money to build their dream car regardless of the style of car it falls in, be it a street rod, hot rod, muscle car, rice rocket, Volkswagen or you insert the make HERE. I honestly, believe the term car culture and the desire to own a special car or truck, whether it's domestic or foreign will be around long after I'm dead and gone. One thing I failed to point out is the huge industry involved in making new and reproduction parts for all the different builders & restorers, betting on the continued interest that future generations will want these parts. As a side note, It's a long time belief that there are more 1932 Ford 3 window coupes registered than Henry Ford ever built, consider all the aftermarket companies making fiberglass bodies, and 2 companies that have invested heavy in making steel reproduction bodies as the original tin dries up there will be aftermarket companies to offer an alternative. I have heard gloom & doom about the death of hot rods and customs most of my life, I started my obsession when I was in my mid teens with a '32 Ford 5 window coupe and now I'm in my mid 70's and own a '32 Ford tudor sedan I've owned for many years, In my opinion, hot rods today may be more prolific than ever. I have a grandson that has followed me in his desire to build an hot rod using my old '65 Ford truck and my oldest granddaughter will inherit her great, great, grandmothers 1954 Ford Station wagon which we rebuilt and hot rodded. My youngest granddaughter, Veda will inherit my old '32 Ford, her mother has been immersed in hot rod history her entire life and insisted her daughter would be named after Veda Orr, a hot rod pioneer. My wife has been a big supporter of my hot rod obsession and my kids were raised in the back seat of hot rods. In closing, most of my personal experience has been with cars from the late 20's to the late 60's, I have friends who lean toward what I consider later models, ranging from the 60's on up to today's cars & trucks. Again, I believe the future of all the different groups of car people will continue into the future as long as gasoline is available but the core group being hot rodders will figure out how to build electric vehicles or like in the movie Back to the Future, a Flux Capacitor will power the car no mater what it's make or style. BTW, this is a great time to point out Ryan Cochran's dream of designing this web site, he brought young dreamers and old hot rod guys together and helped breath life into the art of building traditional hot rods & custom cars. Thank you Mr. Cochran, something that isn't said enough. HRP
I believe that the "Car Culture" is here to stay. It may change over time, but it will still be here. You were correct in saying that we should not shun the "rice burners". They are just doing what we did, only they are starting with what they know. We are all in this together.
starting out in the pre '48 car show world it is still a shock to see late model rides of all types at a show. like at GoodGuys events. then realize that those "late model" rides are at least 20 years old.
If I’m at a show and there’s a car or truck that I don’t like or doesn’t fit my style, I have the option of walking right past it. But I don’t feel I have the option to criticize or denigrate it because it doesn’t fit my own sense of what’s cool. Only if I see workmanship or engineering that makes it unsafe or dangerous to operate, and then I might point that out to a buddy or 2 I’m with. But my sense of what’s cool is definitely not everyone else’s. And some people have to work with what they can afford and what’s available. At least in my eyes, this hobby, obsession, sport, whatever you want to call it, continues to thrive and grow. And change. It took me years to realize that if you don’t change, you stagnate. That’s why I’m typing this on my IPAD and not on a Royal typewriter.
people who fiddle with foreign cars, late models or lifted trucks have very little in common with my car world.
I got rid of all my Royals, only have this Underwood left. Oh well. And yeah, the world keeps changing. We can keep using our old stuff, it's just not as relevant as it used to be.
49rat … I may not have anything in common with your car world but every off topic “foreign” car we’ve owned since 2000 has been assembled in the USA. Each one has had aftermarket wheels by a US supplier and none were left stock and they are driven by my wife. The latest one has American Racing Torque Thrusts and it’s a front wheel drive. The tire shop putting them on had no idea American Racing even had such a great looking wheel for a fwd. I may not want to do what other modifiers do but I’m glad we are in a country that allows it and I hope it continues.
The car culture is well The HAMB culture is small in comparison to the entirety of the hobby. that’s one reason it’s cool
They don't know what they don't know........... But we older guys often don't know what we don't know because we choose to ignore it. Went thru the drive thru at Culvers recently driving the wifeys SUV . Her name is Mary, so I got her a vanity plate that says "PRD MRY". Kid hands me my burger bag and politely asks me what the vanity plate means. I explained that it was the name of a song "Proud Mary" a classic well known song by Tina Turner. He respectfully replied that he had never heard of either of them. I suggested that he look it up on Utube and listen to it because he might enjoy it (and learn something in the process). Now, I could have laughed at him and dis'ed him off, but I chose to be polite and try to interest him in something he had never heard of or dealt with. Its not his fault that he doesn't know the same things we learned along the way, it's our fault. Next time someone with a different type of vehicle is near you at a car show, make it a point to ask about their vehicle......even if you really have no interest in it. Make them feel welcome to come look at your car as well. Don't be afraid to admit you know nothing about electronic fuel injection, the kid might just teach you something if you listen........and he might learn something about you and your style of car if you make him feel welcome. They don't know what they don't know...................
I didn't even think about Proud. I pictured Park (to) Reverse Defect, like it was a jab that your wife couldn't drive.
I live in the world of the “un cool” I’ve never been told “ok boomer” (I’m gen x anyway) anyone that refers to young folks as “un cool” should get the “ok boomer” response. Ive taught many “un cool” to shave handles, channel, sub frame graft, Z, radius wheel wells, engine swap, ……. and eventually if I get to keep hanging out with em we’ll do a chop. Fingers crossed
Interaction may lead to some of the guys currently building what many consider "off-topic" to eventually have an interest in traditional builds. I grew up restoring '28-'40 Fords with my dad. I built a '67 Camaro starting at age 13 and another back halfed '67 after the first. When health caused my dad to liquidate I had no interest in building early traditional cars and almost nothing of his very large collection of early Fords. I still have the second Camaro I built and nine Harley-Davidson's ranging from 1940 to 2011 but am currently nearing the end of a build of a '60's style chopped and channeled '32 PU and have a steel bodied '23 T altered originally built in the late '50's to follow that up. The point being, encouraging rather than shunning something you aren't into may lead to them having other interests in the future.
I always make a point of getting young people involved, heres the latest two. I even talk to the ricer kids in the neighborhood.
It won't go away. It'll get smaller but won't go away. I wonder if Roman soldiers at some point had discussions about the waning interest in racing chariots. Or the blacksmith concerned about the future of horse-drawn wagons and buggy. Or the guys who enjoyed building and driving antique brass era cars. Somewhere, there's somebody building a chariot. LOL Junk yards are few, though. Gotta make almost everything. Or practicing blacksmithing and building wagons. And there are still quite a few guys restoring cars from the teens and earlier. Just not as many as there used to be. I don't feel responsible enough for the future of the hobby to worry about it. I'm open to almost any young man who wants to get involved. I would welcome it warmly. But I believe the number of youngsters who are willing to actually roll their sleeves up and get dirty has waned tremendously. It's just not part of their culture anymore. Certainly not to the degree that it has been in the past. There was a time when young men cared and talked about nearly nothing else except cars and girls. Now, it's... other things. And I don't think we can change it. I think, just enjoy ourselves and be open to including young people IF the opportunity presents itself.
I think we have to remember that we all were exposed to hot rods at some point. If we weren't we probably wouldn't be interested in them like we are. Take every opportunity to expose younger people to your cars you never know when one will get hooked. If each of us got 2 people interested in hot rods we would greatly increase the number of people into it.
Just have to encourage these kids. They’ll get the itch soon enough. This day was mid 30s out and he wanted to cruise with me. Hell yeah!
57Fury440 got it right. I remember, as Im sure many other members here do, when that song was first released. There are some things like old cars need to be explained to the several younger generations we have today. Take the time to talk about those things if they show just a bit of interest and even if they dont let em know why things were done the way they were, they will get interested if you show interest in them.
In Canada we have our prime minister helping. He wants to turn us into Cuba so we can all drive classics .
Sorry for the poor image, was screen shot of a video clip. Me and the niece doing drum brakes. Of course I wasn't doing it right so she had to show me how to do it.
Had a guy tell me about 10 yrs ago: Most folks are interested in some type of old stuff, cept old people. I find this true often. I am 70 now. My 5 grand kids dont talk to me... I think that is mostly cause we dont give them money, I expect them to earn it. LOL
To the OP - Yeah, I get it and you may have caused a few diehards to cock their heads sideways for a moment until they give your post some thought. After all this is a narrow interest site. Just a random thought reading this thread. Every once in a while I look back into the past, focusing on how I was. My attitudes toward my elders have changed as I've aged, as have my attitudes toward the young ones coming up. In my opinion, it just depends where you are in the circle of life, the embedded demeaner you were born with, your particular automotive interest and your tolerance/patience level of those who have different outlooks. I really don't think most people have changed, just differing interests and the changing times. Not relevant but brought to mind the joke caption in another thread about one's punishments being their goals later in life. This pic proves the youngsters interest starts early. Not so much with Great Grandma!
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