55 and older driving corvettes!!!!!!!
08-22-2018, 05:04 PM
#21
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Kids now for the most part haven’t grown up with a car culture and can’t be expected to be interested in the cars that excited us.unless it’s an electric flying hover truck with an iPhone built in and a cup holder.
08-22-2018, 05:14 PM
#22
Heel & Toe
32 just bought my '72. I have friends in my circle who are VERY much "into" cars. One has a Mustang Boss 302 and a 65 Chevelle. The other has an old Jeep Wrangler, a newer Honda Civic hatchback, and an S2000 roadster. Not a lot of my friends are fortunate enough to have the type of jobs or financial freedom to buy cars in that range. If a Vette was my only car, I might have gone for the C7, but since this was just a toy during a lucky stage of life, I went with the C3.
You're right to say generally, not as many young people care about cars now as they perhaps used to. I think that the flooding of the market over the past 30-50 years with imports, different models, watered down/mimicking style, and more efficiency than outright performance leaps has helped encourage the decline.
Outside of some notable modern exemptions, I think the classic styling of the late 50s and early 60s can't be beat for many cars of the day, when compared to current times. I think the ubiquity of import styling and the high prices of cars (thanks to banks willing to lend for any and all reasons, a blessing and a curse) put many of the desirable cars like a new Corvette out of reach for many millenials as opposed to say, a Civic, Corolla, or Jetta.
You're right to say generally, not as many young people care about cars now as they perhaps used to. I think that the flooding of the market over the past 30-50 years with imports, different models, watered down/mimicking style, and more efficiency than outright performance leaps has helped encourage the decline.
Outside of some notable modern exemptions, I think the classic styling of the late 50s and early 60s can't be beat for many cars of the day, when compared to current times. I think the ubiquity of import styling and the high prices of cars (thanks to banks willing to lend for any and all reasons, a blessing and a curse) put many of the desirable cars like a new Corvette out of reach for many millenials as opposed to say, a Civic, Corolla, or Jetta.
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Metalhead140 (08-22-2018)
08-22-2018, 07:07 PM
#24
Drifting
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C3 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
I bought my first Corvette (a 67 427/400) on the last day of 1966. back then, the members of my (San jacinto) Corvette club were all within a couple of years of MY age (25).
Today, the members of MY corvette club (BRCC) are all MY age..........or older;-) Only two of them have any interest in tracking their Corvette.
Today, the members of MY corvette club (BRCC) are all MY age..........or older;-) Only two of them have any interest in tracking their Corvette.
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M A Fry (08-23-2018)
08-22-2018, 10:55 PM
#27
Melting Slicks
as a mid life crisis i bought my 72 when i was 45yrs old, therefore hope to make 90....
turning 53 this sunday and have enjoyed almost 8yrs of fun, excluding the time when it was off the road.....
turning 53 this sunday and have enjoyed almost 8yrs of fun, excluding the time when it was off the road.....
08-23-2018, 07:31 AM
#28
Race Director
We buy the car that did it for us from high school to mid-20's. Or the one we owned and let get away. Like the 65GTO conv I left for junk on Memphis Navy base..
08-23-2018, 10:02 AM
#29
Burning Brakes
I disagree. When I bought my first Corvette in the late 70s, most Corvette owners I knew were younger like me. The older guys in the 70s hadn’t grown up lusting for Corvettes. The same crowd who was young back then are the same people, only now they have owned multiple Corvettes in their lifetimes and can buy pretty much what they want now, usually the expensive ones. We are graying as a cohort group.
Kids now for the most part haven’t grown up with a car culture and can’t be expected to be interested in the cars that excited us.unless it’s an electric flying hover truck with an iPhone built in and a cup holder.
This is why it is so important at shows to welcome/educate with open arms the younger generations..after all who will want to buy our cars after we can no longer drive?
08-23-2018, 12:22 PM
#30
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Just my personal experience..........
I'm 55 y/o and purchased my '68 in 2011.
I was just shy of my 49th birthday when I purchased it.
Why..... I grew up in a low to medium middle class income house hold.
My dad kept cars 10 years.
I raised two wonderful children into adulthood by 2011 and was ready to seek out my corvette.
I had started the hunt in 1994 the tear my son was 1 year old.
As it was touched on earlier, a two seater doesn't work with children.
My wife said it's not practical now maybe when the kids are older.
Good things do come to those who are patient.
I was patient from 1994 till 2011.
Flash back to high school late 1970's.
I had a '73 Duster with a 340 and a 4 speed that I terrorized the burbs of Philly with.
Only one girl in our high school had a vette and her dad owned the Phila 76er's basket ball team.
A tan '77 coupe.
The working class had no surplus funds for play cars back then.
I was always a car guy at heart and a GM fan. The duster came along cheap so its what I drove.
When I got the extra $ I started looking for my corvette.
C-2's were just too much for me to justify spending on a toy.
The '68 came along and it just worked out money wise for me.
Most 60's muscle car cruise ins I attend I am the youngster.
The hot rod era is about dead with the younger crowd.
It's drift or tuners for them.
Some are into the small pickups like the S-10's they'll slamm em etc....
I have to agree in the burbs of Phila its an older crowd reliving their high school days
Marshal
I'm 55 y/o and purchased my '68 in 2011.
I was just shy of my 49th birthday when I purchased it.
Why..... I grew up in a low to medium middle class income house hold.
My dad kept cars 10 years.
I raised two wonderful children into adulthood by 2011 and was ready to seek out my corvette.
I had started the hunt in 1994 the tear my son was 1 year old.
As it was touched on earlier, a two seater doesn't work with children.
My wife said it's not practical now maybe when the kids are older.
Good things do come to those who are patient.
I was patient from 1994 till 2011.
Flash back to high school late 1970's.
I had a '73 Duster with a 340 and a 4 speed that I terrorized the burbs of Philly with.
Only one girl in our high school had a vette and her dad owned the Phila 76er's basket ball team.
A tan '77 coupe.
The working class had no surplus funds for play cars back then.
I was always a car guy at heart and a GM fan. The duster came along cheap so its what I drove.
When I got the extra $ I started looking for my corvette.
C-2's were just too much for me to justify spending on a toy.
The '68 came along and it just worked out money wise for me.
Most 60's muscle car cruise ins I attend I am the youngster.
The hot rod era is about dead with the younger crowd.
It's drift or tuners for them.
Some are into the small pickups like the S-10's they'll slamm em etc....
I have to agree in the burbs of Phila its an older crowd reliving their high school days
Marshal
08-24-2018, 11:53 AM
#33
Melting Slicks
I like to think I'm still 18, but my body likes to tell me otherwise. I was in my teens when I first started driving Corvettes. Me and a buddy of mine who just passed away, worked in a car lot that specialized in muscle cars and Corvettes. The owner had a lot of underserved faith in us and let us drive anything we wanted whenever we wanted. We never crashed or broke anything miraculously. I drove a lot of Vettes back then. I came close to buying a Vette of my own several times over the years but didn't actually buy one until I was in my 50's. I just got mine going again and plan on keeping this one until my time on earth is done.
It's not just the Corvettes, muscle cars and classics that are not that big a deal to the young people today. The motorcycle industry has really taken a hit. I guess you can't text and ride a motorcycle, so they are of no interest to the majority of millenials. Not saying there are no young people into the things we grew up loving, but very few percentage wise.
Mike
It's not just the Corvettes, muscle cars and classics that are not that big a deal to the young people today. The motorcycle industry has really taken a hit. I guess you can't text and ride a motorcycle, so they are of no interest to the majority of millenials. Not saying there are no young people into the things we grew up loving, but very few percentage wise.
Mike
08-25-2018, 06:30 AM
#34
Burning Brakes
I wanted a corvette since I was 6 years old. My neighbor just out of the service bought a brand new 57. Finnaly got a 78 three years ago when I was 64.
years from now some PHD candidate in Sociollogy will do his dissertation on the baby boomers. It will be titled WOWO THOSE GUYS HAD FUN. there will bee a long chapter about the guys who had muscle cars, hot rods and customs in their teens and guy like me who got them when they were 55 or more.
some years later someone else will do a study on millenials. It will be titled WOW THOSE GUYS WERE PUSSIES.
years from now some PHD candidate in Sociollogy will do his dissertation on the baby boomers. It will be titled WOWO THOSE GUYS HAD FUN. there will bee a long chapter about the guys who had muscle cars, hot rods and customs in their teens and guy like me who got them when they were 55 or more.
some years later someone else will do a study on millenials. It will be titled WOW THOSE GUYS WERE PUSSIES.
08-25-2018, 01:09 PM
#35
I am proudly representing the 15%. At least for a few more years lol.
Plenty of millennials love them a C3. I present this note left on my car after a debaucherous evening at the local watering hole as Exhibit A.
The next step is getting them to spell my name correctly. Hey Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Last edited by Kie; 08-25-2018 at 01:10 PM.
08-25-2018, 02:18 PM
#37
Just the usual. Her name complete with pronunciation key. 10 digit code for future text communications. This was after her telling me how much she missed her Malibu and being the spoiled offspring while hanging around her grand dads Chevy dealership in the Midwest.
This gal and all the other younglings (males and females) around here absolutely freak out when they see/hear this thing.
This gal and all the other younglings (males and females) around here absolutely freak out when they see/hear this thing.
08-25-2018, 02:31 PM
#38
Burning Brakes
I have owned a Corvette since I was 19 and I am now in my late sixties. I get a little miffed when I hear people refer to Corvettes as a mid life crisis car. If so I started my mid life crisis quite early. I think that guys from my generation were much more interested in performance cars than today’s younger generation. I am glad to see however there are still a few that really appreciate cars and enjoy driving performance cars.
08-25-2018, 05:41 PM
#40
Drove my first vette at age 16, my buddys 64 4speed...Got my first one, a 73 Vert while tending bar at age 24...(that's a whole nother subject) ..sold it at age 29..had many many years of having the "fever"... picked up a 75 basket case at age 58 ( still in garage) bought a 2002 on my 63rd birthday ...(did I actually admit to that) . to enjoy and go to events with..Will keep working on them and driving them until I cant look cool getting in or out of them...got to stay fit and trim as long as possible!!
