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For younger folks, 80s or 90s cars could be considered "classics".
Yes the 1980's the start of the FWD revaloution. And some of the junkiest cars made. Starting with the citation , to the dodge shadow, and the Ford Fairmont and the Tempo. All a bunch of junk IMO.
The answer to the question. What is the average age on this forum? If you like muscle cars, i.e. classics, you are 50+ at least. Young people don’t relate to those cars any more than I relate to 1940s Studebaker.
Not true. I'm 37 and I like a lot of classic cars, from the 1920's Mercedes SSK to 60's Ford GT40 and Jaguar E-Type.
It's more common to find someone older who likes old cars, because they've also got nostalgia working for them. But any true auto enthusiast should appreciate a good car no matter when it was built.
I have always had an interest in anything with wheels and a motor. I entered my first car show back around 1981 with my daily driver. I have seen the hobby explode in the years since then in the number of people who have hobby cars and in the quality of the cars that are out there. I have had some nice cars over the years but none where restored or classic cars. Most in fact were daily drivers that I take excellent care of that allow me to take part in the hobby.
I think that is exactly what young people are doing today. There are plenty of young people out there who love cars as much as any previous generations but, they have not reached the point where they can have a nice daily driver and a nice hobby car. Given the choice of spending a wad of cash on brand new car that can be used on a daily basis or riding the bus and spending the money on a old car that would make a terrible daily driver they chose the newer car. One big difference between shows today verses ones back in the 80's is the number of new cars that show up. Almost all of them are modified (often times with a laptop instead of an actual wrench) and a lot of them are proudly driven everyday.
It does not surprise me one bit that young people do not have much interest in cars from the 40's, 50's, 60's or the 70's. Why should they, unless their father or older siblings were into cars like that they have no connection to those vehicles. I was standing at the award ceremony at a show this past August as they announced the winners and as I looked around most of the owners were older guys than myself and I'm 61. Most of them were the owners of the old cars, which made me wonder what happens to those old cars when their owners die off. Will the interest in the old cars die off with them or will a new younger generation snap them up and continue the tradition.
Another thing to keep in mind is that back in the day when these old cars were produced imports were all but nonexistent. That fact will play an important part going forward because if the younger generations follow in he foot steps of previous generations they will want to find or restore cars that they fondly remember from their youth. That means Honda's, Toyota's, Nissan's, BMW's and a host of other cars and SUV'S, yes SUV's will make up a much bigger piece of the Classic hobby.
My own son likes cars but, at this point he can only afford a daily driver. He dreams of having a awesome ride down the road but, it will be something new with all the latest tech. He will add something more basic as a beater to save wear and tear on the good ride. I have to give props to the original poster for having a passion for the old stuff, don't let the lack of others your age being involved stop you. In fact embrace it because it makes you that much more unique in the hobby. Trust me, there are a lot more young people out there wrenching on cars old and new than there are going to car shows.
I agree, you get into cars from your family, what car your dad drove or what your older brother bought. Today there is a lot more distraction with mobile devices, computers, etc. I mean if your dads cars are all Hondas and never even gives them a second look or washes them, His son will do the same. There are some local "tuners" that have got the message that cars are cool and they are driving the newer cars. lowered, pipes, paint, intakes, and they can get expensive too. I look at those as well as older classics, preference being cars from the 30's.
I was too late for any shop classes in high school... they eliminated them the prior year.
I have taken quite a few at the lock Community College and became a certified welder because it was something I wanted to learn about... also took machine... both were time well spent.
What year did they cut them out? I know I took Autoshop in 1980 but they dont exist anymore in my old HS
My 22 year old son just bought his first new car so I had the rare opportunity to observe how his mind works. What I noticed was the what is inside the car is as important as what is outside. Today’s navigation units jam packed with satellite radio, bluetooth, iPhone pairing, rear camera and on and on. On the car side of it he had zero interest in what is under the hood, how many horses or how many speeds transmission. Mechanically, he only wanted 4WD capability. He went with a Rav4 although I could tell he really wanted a Tahoe for interior size and comfort.
I see plenty of late teens and 20 somethings at the cruise nights here in NW New Jersey. Lots of Asian, late 70s to late 80's F bodies, Mustangs, 83-88 Monte SS and so on. Those are still affordable to buy and fun to hop up and drive.
One young guy had a Nissan 240SX with an LS1 with a 5spd manual in it. Did his own work and it was impressive!
A "classic" for a millennial is probably an 80s car whereas the older generations range much father back... so... it may seem that they're not "into it"... but it's probably because they're in completely different decades of cars.
Classic means different to all people. Very First Car I ever drove by myself was 1971 Buick Estate Wagon with a 455 ci engine under hood and a "clam-shell" electric rear door.
That is a very cool car to me but not other folks. First Car I owned was a 1963 Dodge Dart GT convertible a cool car to me but not many others.
My favorite car I ever owned was a mint 1969 Pylmouth Belevedere two door hardtop that was orginal black on outside. Also super cool to me.
I have owned a Firebird Convertible, 450Sl Mercedes and a BMW 5 Series and a Caddie CTS all nice cars but to me they never will match my Estate Wagon, Dart or Belvedere
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