A positive sign is that we see a lot of young people on the Power Tour. One other observation is as people move up in their fields and get better pay those jobs also require more time and commitment. Working 60+ hours a week wears you out for working on your cars but does give you the money to get the car. Lots of young people at Humboldt Dragway last night too.
Up here there is no shortage of young gear heads. They are interested in trucks only though. Time marches on though. There will be plenty of kids that want a hot rod, don't expect them to be into muscle cars.. much the same way most of us aren't into three window coupes......
yup! I like this truck, he took a stock junkyard 8.1 and it makes 1100 foot pounds to the tires, big fast truck.
It’s nice to hear some positives about our hobby, anything with a piston engine I like, go carts, motorcycles, RC hobbies, trucks,cars, vans, OTR trucks, I like
I think the best thing that has happened to our hobby is the factories getting interested in performance again. While the kids might not be able to afford these cars new, in 10 or so years the used car market will be flooded with them. Do they take some different tools an skills to work on.. sure, but today's kids are used to the tech so I don't see that as a problem. On more practical level, the interest in BBB engine building has not waned in the 20 some years I have been in business. Up and down a little, but mainly steady. JW
That’s good to hear about the BBB, seems of the brand X engines, the BBB is still popular, and has a decent reputation
Born in the 80s, grew up in the 90s. I have always been into classic cars, well in anything cars really, since I can remember. Hell my first word was "Wheel". My dad always took me to car shows and we would take the trip to Reno every year for Hot August Nights. He was funny because he has always been in to the latest and greatest. He likes tech and so as cars progressed he was always more interested in the latest and greatest. He didn't do much in the way of fixing up cars. He would take them to a shop to have things done. I had more of the tinker habit and ripped things apart and put them back together. He did teach me a lot and would always be willing to help out on whatever project I was working on. That being said i mostly taught myself how to wrench on my cars. Most kids my age when i was growing up weren't really into cars. I mean they "appreciated" cars, like they saw fancy cars in music videos and associated that those were nice, but I would never label them gearheads. There was a hand full of us that would fit the gearhead category. I think that there was a gap between when cars were mechanical and then went to electronics. Unless you were doing it as a career, working on newer cars wasn't as approachable. My generations parents grew up with points, but new cars didn't have them. So unless you had a parent(s) that had a classic car that they worked on, this wouldn't have been taught. Time goes on and you have new generations that don't have any connection or knowledge on how to work on old cars. My son will (currently 2.5 years old lol) because i will make sure to teach him all that I can, as long as he has the interest. Jim's comment on, "While the kids might not be able to afford these cars new, in 10 or so years the used car market will be flooded with them." got me thinking. Do we think that the current culture will support this? In 10 years my state will be 3 years away from the ban on all new gasoline powered cars going into effect. Now they aren't outlawing old cars but looking at the trends, I have a feeling that older gas powered vehicles will be hit with a fee at time of registration, similar to the gas gussler fee. This would probably make that plethora of old new muscle cars cost prohibitive to own. Maybe not, but one thing is for sure and that is the futures uncertainty.
Scott, Your concern is legit, and exactly why you need to get involved with SEMA with their ongoing Legislative battles the most recent being the RPM act, to preserve our hobby. In the overall scope of things, our hobby cars are such as small percentage, they should have a carve out, for any silly carbon laws the idiots in power plan on making. And insuring special interest groups have the backing and funds to lobby Federal, State and local Legislatures is what we can really do, outside of the ballot box. JW
I was born in the early 60's, with my grandfather going into local Buick dealer every 2 years with cash buying a new one, he never turned a wrench. My Dad had everything, every other year and taught me what I know today, which I so enjoyed growing up that way. My son is now in his late 20's, first car a 1990 Sunbird Convertible, that HE found and we worked on together. Graduated and moved on going modern, but years of going to dirt, straight line, IndyCar racing with me, I think he still has the "itch" and knows he'll get my Buick when I'm gone and will carry on the Spirit, if he never gets anything else classic.
How do you get involved? Website? IIRC I used to get e-mail notifications from them about various issues awhile back, but nothing in the past couple years. I’d like to get involved to at least cast my vote on an issue or two, however it works.
And yet, nothing is selling. I’ve responded to multiple wanted ads, (8-10 websites) and listed X and G parts (mass market) Chevy, and just crickets. Maybe it’s time to squash it all, or at least the big car, and post ‘74 stuff.
Hold out if you can. It’s a tough market right now to try and sell stuff to the “average” car guy. Maybe the deep pockets guy can afford to buy stuff. Kinda along the same lines, my wife is in dog rescue, the shelters are full from people surrendering their dogs and pups ‘cause they can’t afford to feed them AND their families. It’s definitely tough out there for the working man to make ends meet. Coincidentally last week I heard on the radio dog food was the most profitable market, I can see why, a 41 pound bag of Purina Pro Plan is 86.00
Yep and the fact am “social media” illiterate doesn’t help. Likely a majority of sales taking place on FB group sites now. Craigslist is just about dead here locally although it seems to be still in use in other areas. Have a regular job, although it would be nice to have the “extra” that used to come from part sales. Animal overpopulation is endemic in the rio grande valley. Not enough spay / neuter and the shelters and volunteer animal groups are full. There is something here known as “TNR” where feral cats are trapped, “fixed” and then re-released back into the general area where they were trapped. TNR means “trap neuter release”.
My wife’s friend does that TNR also with cats. yep the shelters are full, rescues don’t have enough fosters for the dogs that come in, I HATE to think what happens with the poor critters I hear yah on selling “extra” parts for some spare or needed cash. I’ve only had luck with later Buick stuff (GN) and even at that the parts I have aren’t desirable Lolol.
I see the moment we’re living in as a bit of an Apex for me. Changes that are requiring me to change: An aging body that will not cooperate with the tasks and ideas going on in my head. obtaining quality parts is getting more and more difficult and more and more expensive. local machine shops are disappearing and the price of machine work is getting very expensive as well. I’m not as excited about big projects anymore and prefer to do other things with my time. I have never been Buick exclusive, more of a car nut that is wowed by a list longer than I could ever actually own. Being a lower middle class enthusiast my future will not involve any big dollar builds. I can see myself changing gears and probably buying a higher dollar (20k) Special interest car that doesn’t need any big ticket items. I can do a number of things to optimize it During ownership and just enjoy it for a couple of years. Sell it and make a couple bucks and onto the next. I need to do more driving and enjoying and less wrenching. I don’t see any of these changes as the negatives, there will always be changes in life and I feel fortunate I should still be able to be in the hobby I love for the rest of my years in some capacity. Steve weim55 Colorado
