[dainbramaged]

fiddling with cars was seen as cool
It still is, but the young people I met last Sunday prefer the older vehicles which are still shadetree mechanic friendly.
The Mason County Forest Festival car show had over 400 exhibitors, and is run by the Shelton high school junior ROTC as a fund raiser. Great kids.
The sad part is their school (among many others) does not offer auto shop, which is understandable considering the automobiles of today. A mechanic these days needs to attend a trade school for a career in that field.

[Steve_Seattle]

The high school near me still has an auto shop, but it might be an adjunct to the auto shop at the community college, which has a good reputation.