History Where is this hobby headed?

That's where it's headed........... and that's what it has always been about.

 

Patience.

 

That’s kind of exactly what I’m talking about. We’ll call it the “sweet car, but you’ve got the wrong wheels” mentality. I’m not saying the majority of folks are that way, but a vocal minority, and a few of the moderators sure are. And I don’t know what the heck the OT forum is actually for, because I’ve had more than one thread deleted there recently, because a moderator didn’t personally care for the subject I was discussing, despite it being “almost”
HAMB friendly, or the fact that it was well-received by the majority of folks here.

When my old boss and I built the Strange Bird Gasser almost two decades ago that build thread was one of the most popular ones on here. And we used an electric fan mounted on a modern aluminum radiator, and the steering box was out of a Toyota. I wonder if we’d even be allowed to post that build today!?

And, IMO, that’s what’s lost in all of this. This place used to be a “hang-out”, and that vibe precipitated a lot of actual physical gatherings. I’m an active member of a BUNCH of different Internet forums, and in my humble opinion, the HAMB has become one of the least welcoming, and most self-important ones I’m on.

Anyway…that’s just, like, my opinion, man…

 

This is not a hot rod!!!

 

I think that being reported is the main way that stuff gets deleted. As in, I've seen a few explicitly off-topic things in the main forum recently that were posted years ago.

 

Probably so. But is the bandwidth really so precious? I guess it must be. So I suppose that should answer the question of whether or not the hobby is in danger. The HAMB has more folks on here than they want, it would seem. So the hobby must be in good shape.

 

Not to belabor the point, nor get this thread closed, but: Another way to put it is the squeaky off-topic comment gets deleted. And my guess is that the staff isn't looking at (and especially not reading) everything.

 

We’ll said
Thanks
Dan

 

I'll just repeat the two points I always make in the biweekly "this hobby is dying" thread...

1- The guys with this old junk aren't doing their part to get their kids and grandkids into it. For most of us a happy memory with a period car is probably what lit the fire. Can't make those memories if you keep your shit locked up in the garage 'cuz you're afraid the grandkid is gonna scratch the $20,000 metal flake paintjob.
2- Young guys don't know they can afford these cars. Hot rods look like they'd be very expensive (and they can be, but we know they don't have to be). You see one go by, you think 'cool', but if it never occurs to you that you could do it too - you aren't gonna get into it in the first place.

So stop looking at cars as investments and dollar signs and start driving your shit. Answer the stupid questions, ignore the fingerprints and make some noise where the right people can hear it.

 

[QUOTE="Zettle Bros., post: 15279373, member: 3770"I thought the car was in Iowa?[/QUOTE]
Iowa ?????????????
Was built in Washington in the mid 50's. as the "Norothern Star", trashed out through the next fourty years. I found it in the mid nineties and rebuilt it as it appeares in my avatar. It never left Washington state.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This right here!!!!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I just returned from the Stamford NY Rotary cars show, there was an older woman polishing the brass on a 1910 Model T I spoke with her and the people who were there with her.

We were discussing brass era cars, I said that everyone polishes the brass now but 100 years ago on a car like a Model T a doubted that a farmer did it, they had cows to feed and milk, crops to tend, etc...I also asked about a pedal with "Gas" cast in it mounted by the seat and hinged at the rear and stated that I through all Model Ts had hand throttles.

One of them said it was an in-period aftermarket accessory, and about the T aftermarket.

I told them I knew some about the T after and I had a friend doing a RAJO head on a T and I was big into post war to mid 60s oval track, and hot rods, once I mentioned racing and hot rodding their attitudes changed, and I was no longer welcome around their car!

 

Guys there is hope , So.Cal. is always ahead of the curve and down here it's mostly Mexican American kids keeping the hobby alive.
For them it's like religion and it is imbedded in the Mexican culture and they will keep it going.
Most my car buddies have moved to other states or passed away but there is always hope.

 

How can there be seven pages of this?

 

In my area, this seems to be the primary manifestation of the 'hobby", once the primary generation that worked on them back in the day died off. I don't feel this is everywhere but very regional dependent. The youtube/FB Marketplace side hustle culture has not helped this.

 

I think the only thing dying is some of the “true hot rodders “ that I knew as a kid, and there was a lot of them starting with my dad and the guys he knew who had hot rods. It’s a sad fact for sure but I’m doin my damnest to keep the car scene alive by passing it on to my grandson (17 years old now) . I think my old man would be proud, I know he’s lookin down on me anyway. FLATHEADS FOREVER!!!!

 

Simple drive your damn cars like a car.

 

Where this hobby is going is a matter of perspective.
My son appreciates the old school Hot Rods, but isn't immersed in them. He's into the off road scene.
My daughter is into cars & her "old car" is a '69 Nova with a 496. That's something, I s'pose...
I don't consider my "affliction" with Hot Rods & Customs to be a hobby. It's what I do & who I am.
I embrace Rods, Customs, Muscle cars, Trucks & what not full force. I don't car for the imports & such, but understand that what's "old" to me is ancient to young 'uns of today.
I show up with one of my cars or another at a C&C or car show, no matter what the genre of the show is, to support the gasoline powered automobile and the fun that working on and driving them represents.

 

Well said

 

We still have places to hang out and show our cars naturally called "Cars and Coffee". Twenty years from now, those places will be called " Sparks and Coffee" !

 

Because people love this and don't want to see it die, and if people treat with passion, respect and welcome young people and make an effort to get them involved as the baby boomers like my father and his friend did with myself and their children there is no danger of it dying!

However there are a tremendous number of the "Woodstock Generation" trend chasers who have invaded hot rodding and are trying to kill it!

Despite being the same age the Baby Boomers and the Woodstock Generation had/have to different philosophies. The boomers learned the history leaned and respected the history, built racecars and hot rods became responsible adults, raised families and taught the next generation the history and to respect it!

Were the Woodstock Generation the original "We know more than our parents" generation didn't and don't care about the past or history.
They raised hell, smoked dope, burned their draft cards, never grew up and now have a we're older than you so we know attitude, as a result many people who were never exposed to the legitimist post war racers/hot rodders or the Baby Boomers see these people and their attitudes and want nothing to them or cars!

 

It’s going wherever your willing to take it. Got an old vehicle, well drive it! Drive it like it was intended to be, the more you drive it the better they run. As for peoples interest, well I’ve rarely come out of the grocery store and not had someone comment (hey like your truck) or ask the year or something, have found people waiting by the truck just ask questions or relate about one they or a family member had. And my truck is nothing special, apart from the rims it’s just a stock f 100 short box style side, uncommon but not rare . But what is uncommon is it’s on the road and I drive it all over the country wherever I please, down gravel roads, out to the campground, wherever. And people notice , lots of people wave, thumbs up, even had some follow me to the gas station or stores to offer to buy it.
What I believe to be the biggest reason for most peoples interest is, it’s different, it’s recognizeable and for older folks, relatable. Look at most of the appliances running around now, you can hardly tell one from another, BORING!

 

@Wanderlust said it perfectly, and I can confirm what he said, I saw him driving his old truck as I was driving my old car…hmmm…

 

Imagine the United States populated with new cars and trucks from the 1950s.
Actual new copies of 1950s cars and trucks starting with inexpensive, easy to repair bare bones models to any upgrade you want. Any set of wheels and tires, engines, anything. It would be the Dream Come True for old time hotrodders. Cheap parts in every junkyard. There would be very little auto parts going for scrap metal. Life would be much simpler again. America would prosper. Instead of the insane amount of effort spent on making a new model car and truck every year, America could use that energy to produce real wealth that doesnt go to the scrapyard in astounding numbers every year.
This concept is not socialism, or conformity. There are cars here from all over the world and a 10 year run of 50s cars would just be one more thing but how wonderful!

 

LOL charge stations......

 

This is the guy who recently made a thread about a 1960s panel truck/suburban. Those arent traditional hotrods.

 

Just Go Drive Your Hot Rod...He Is...

 

Has anyone considered the notion that for the traditional rod and custom scene, it could potentially work in the inverse going into the future?

Hear me out.

The common thought is that the people who like these cars, in large part, are aging out of the hobby, aging off the earth, or both. We also believe that these cars are super cool, which would seem to be corroborated by the interest/attention that they receive at shows and cruises, as well as just using them in daily life. Of course the traditional scene is "boomer" dominant, with a lot of older guys making up a significant percentage of ownership of these cars. This would seem like an objective reality.

But as time goes on, and the demographic of folks who would have been there is completely lost, a new generation of people can discovery these killer cars and appreciate them just for what they are, without a stigma of these cars being associated with lame old corroded people (I say that in the nicest way possible). As it is now, these cars are still a part of the older generation. But when that old generation is gone, it sort of allows the kids the opportunity to take it and make it new again.

 

I like the way you think Joe.