Is the era of the Hot Rod dying? (vanity)

Vanity | 03/11/2015 | Super7man

[super7man]

I just finished following the thread highlighting the Chevy small-block history. My wife and I recently went to the Good Guys show in Pleasanton CA. There were lots of BEAUTIFUL cars there. I think that every '69 Camero ever made was there. Every one more beautiful than the last.

But, we noticed that everyone there was our age. Less than "older than dirt" but able to remember Vietnam. I wondered what will happen in the next 20 years when we are all gone. Will cars of the 50's, 60's, 70's be a thing of the past? (I stopped counting at the 80's because all those cars were horrible.)

To my kids, a car is nothing but transportation. I makes no statement and will eventually have no value and will be crushed.

SO.... here is the question. What car is being sold today (or in the last 15 years) would be a car that one would die over 20 years from now? (Exotics are excluded.)

The only one I can think of that has holding character is the the Hummer I.

Oh, just FYI I'm a slobering sucker for British cars.

[strider44]

Awesome truck!!!

[kjam22]

Cars are so expensive anymore, and the engines so complicated, with all the electronics and sensors, that the days of the shade tree mechanic are gone.

Exactly. The average person can't work on a car anymore. No way kids or young adults can build and work on Hot Rods these days.

[Dusty Road]

Kind of like the Euro's myself.

[central_va]

The era of the fixed up family car becoming a hot rod died because of front wheel drive and 4 doors. Face it, a front wheel drive hot rod sedan, really? I don't consider WRX/EVO hot rods, those are rice burners- a different breed.

Why can't even one US manufacturer go back to selling only rear wheel drive cars? Only the Germans produce rear wheel dive cars in their entire product line up and they are too expensive for most Americans. Rear wheel drive has a lot of advantages in handling and balance. There is no choice anymore.

[citizen]

Those are some fine looking cars.

I think the PT Cruiser will maintain some appeal. The first model is approaching 15 years old.

[Fresh Wind]

Face it, a front wheel drive hot rod sedan, really?

Why not???

[central_va]

That’s a rice burner!

[Fresh Wind]

If you’re considering retro-cars, I think the HHR was far better looking than the PT Cruiser.

[AppyPappy]

My 19 year-old has a 1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. He’s trying to find another car so he can put a supercharger in it.

[BraveMan]

[BraveMan]

The Apache!

That truck has some great lines.

[dmz]

I’m with your kids on this (I’m 56). Cars are transportation.

Now put me in a room with vintage guitars and mandolins? Game on.

[cyclotic]

I talked last night to an old college buddy. The last time we spoke was in 1996. College was early ‘80’s.

He had a 71 Camaro that he rebuilt from the frame up. He wrecked it once and rebuilt it again.

Turns out he’s still got it.

It was a great car. I only drove it once. At 90 mph, I shifted gears into 4th and chirped the tires.

I can’t even do that shifting into second in my current car.

[zeugma]

They computerize the blazes out of cars today. That and increasing CAFE standards make fixing cars up not worth it. All fuel injection is electronic rather than mechanical, too. (I’ve wondered what kind of horses a big block with mechanical fuel injection could have achieved too; they basically replaced the fuel-injected small blocks during the 60s.)

I suspect the computerization of automobiles is going to do a number on anyone looking to restore today's cars many years down the road. Unless you can get replacement computer parts that will talk to everything else, you're SOL. Most modern cars won't even start if the computer onboard thinks something is out of whack.

I've actually considered buying some of the hardware today for some cars that I think there will be significant interest in restoring 30 years from now as a speculative play.

[Tired of Taxes]

It’s a shame. I wish my sons had the opportunity to work on engines, the way teenage boys did in the past.

These days, many boys and young men put together computers at home. They play around with robotics a bit. But I’m sure they would prefer to work on something they could drive on the street. Oh, well, those days are gone now.

[Tired of Taxes]

Soon we will have cars that will be completely autonomous and will drive themselves in full compliance to the programmed traffic laws and the self drive systems will be required by law (it's safer you know) . . . . The experience of dropping down a gear coming into a sharp curve and the whine of a first to third shift and being in full control of a freedom machine will be lost.

That's so true. My parents grew up driving stick shifts. By my generation, most people didn't learn how. Most of us drove automatics. In slippery conditions, though, we pumped the brakes. Now drivers don't have to pump the brakes anymore. Shoot, today we don't even have to put our keys in a lock to open a car door. One day, we'll all be here saying, "Remember the days when we had to steer a car?"

[thefactor]

My dream:

[bluejean]

Yes that’s true! Good pics. I miss the muscle cars and hot rods. America lost some fiestiness and pride when the control freaks and environmentalists took over the auto industry (and everything else). Sigh.

[CJ Wolf]

not an exotic. good 80's collectable.

[dragnet2]

My dream

That's about it. See 62.

The younger generation can't even dream of that. It's why ya see mostly see these old guys in their late 60s, and well into their 70s driving those types of vehicles, as they try to impress and recapture their long lost youth.

Compared to the 50s, 60s and early 70s, hot rodding, and really nice custom vehicles are pretty much dead for the younger guys....