speedracer2

I went to the GoodGuys event in BG today. I can't believe how many white hairs in the crowd [like me], compared to XYZ gens. They are just not into it. Too bad!

Bills17n72

yea its kinda sad ,all the old boys has the vettes ,and no young ones want them!!

oldgto

Well, there ARE a few exceptions out there...including my youngest. (He`s actually done quite a bit of the work on our 71 coupe rebuild so far!)

billcarson

the younger generations seem to want cars that drive themselves,like infinity's,so they can text,cell phone chat and do everything else but drive.in our old classics you have to pay attention.

bkvette3

Amen to that, oldgto - that is good to see.

I have 2 boys (14 and 11 years of age). Oldest - gearhead. Youngest - could not care a less.

BK3

resdoggie

I dread the day when self driving cars will be commonplace. I wonder if you'll still need a driver's license?

Faster Rat

Per recent Nobel prize winner Bob Dylan:

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

slofut

Great pic Oldgto!
I remember being that guy when I was 14yrs old, sitting in Dads XKE! We repaired it together (bought it lightly wrecked) , ended up he actually let me drive it to high school some! He gave me the title a few years ago. Your son will never forget the feeling or the lessons learned here. Just be sure to see it through and let him drive it!

ddawson

I've and built several modern cars into 500+ beasts.

Both of my now young men 21 and 23 are not into cars. My youngest does have a little interest. We have gone to several NHRA events. He likes my C3 but takes no time in learning how to work on cars. Including his own Scion TC.

Paul L

I would say your older Corvettes will have little value soon. The younger generation does not want them nor does the government. Everything is moving to electric.

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/veh...ic/index.shtml

Tubbafatt

As a gen Z'r (I'm 21) I like to think there are still a lot of us that are interested in old iron. There will always be people who want to get in a car that they are in control of, not a computer, or just want to revisit the past.

So the hobby will definitely continue on some scale, of what size who knows. I've definitly got the bug and can't seem to get rid of it.

3JsVette

Had a discussion about that today with 2 friends at a local Corvette/Car show. As you looked around it was an effort to find someone who was not of retirement age. The collector car hobby as well as the vintage Corvette hobby could literally be (dare I say this) extinct in 10 - 15 years. Young people are not interested. They want high tech. What's a carb and distributer to them? There are a couple of exceptions but not many. It's sad really.

terry82

hard to get into a hobby that cost so much.the price to get started is huge. the price of repairs is huge .Its also a lot of work to maintain a old classic .Drag racing and nascar has lost attendance .Car dealerships have trouble finding people with the skills to change oil let alone work on the high tech cars they have now.

Metalhead140

Agreed.

Most younger guys want to drive or work on their cars rather than sit in lawn chairs near them in my experience. It's a different take on the hobby, but we/they are still here and working on cars.

This is the biggest reason that most of my car loving mates drive newer stuff. Most of them would love to own muscle cars and classics, but the purchase price and "bringing up to a decent standard" price is huge compared to smart buying of more modern stuff.

The way wages and the economy have gone also mean that most young people don't have the spare income to play with that the last few generations have had.

oldgto

I think that has a LOT to do with it! Fewer young people have the resources to "buy in", and others (like our kids), are still waiting to "inherit" their way in!

mortgageguy

It's a cycle. Us "white hairs" weren't buying classic cars when we were 20-28 years old either. Well, we were, but they were new back then. It's later in life, when we are more comfortable financially that we buy our toys. I'm already seeing guys in their 40's driving late model C3's, C4's and C5's. My 34 yo son just bought a 2010 GS. He's now saving for a C2. Love of classic cars and old Vettes will never die. Guys are buying C1's that weren't even born when they were built.

Lakeside49

This topic chaps me because we, in this hobby, collectively earn the disinterested ambivalence from the next generation. Hell, they can't identify with it because it's often drilled into them that these are some sort of sacrosanct future museum pieces. Or, too valuable to risk an up close and personal experience for them. You know who you are. Last year there was a long string here where the majority of posters said they wouldn't dream of letting their own kid or grand kid, with a good head on their shoulders, drive (insurance restrictions were not raised once). their car, even to their Senior Prom.
And, even if they could retrieve/swap it after pictures/dinner. So, if you're one of those stingy folks please don't post feigning sadness at the youth of today not having a spark about the C3. Only you can start that fire, Smokey would say. I know there are reasons for not doing so. Most of them belong in the 'blah, blah, blah' file, though. Get them engaged as someone might have done for you at some point in your youth.

Metalhead140

Very good point. My father has an MGA that I started driving in club motorsport when I was 12. Myself and my 3 younger brothers (who also participated when old enough) are all very into cars and classic cars. When I got my license, my father bought an old MGBGT which was to be shared between any of us living at home who had our licenses. Without the visceral experience how can you get hooked? Many of my friends are more interested in classic cars as a result of being allowed to ride and in some cases drive my fathers cars. Neither of them have been in accident...

69427

Your lawn chair comment made me chuckle. (And I can't disagree with your point.)

I've got my share of gray hair, but I won't be found at a car show. I've never entered a car show (and have no plans on ever paying an entry fee for the "pleasure" of allowing other people to look at my car). I still do track days with my '69, as I did in my 20's, and it's often a bit frustrating being the only Corvette driver at the track. I check out other people's cars there, and they often stop and ask about mine.

I recently saw a '69 similar to mine for sale on an auction site, and the asking price was multiples of what I originally paid for my car, but I have no plans on selling this car anytime soon. Money can't compare to the pure fun and enjoyment I get out of sharing the track with newer cars that are a lot more expensive, but not necessarily that much faster.

Zoomin

Those that claim the hobby is going to be over in 15-20 years evidently aren't aware these same prognostications were laid out 15-20 years ago, and here we are - still going strong.