To my kids, a car is nothing but transportation.
I've noticed the same. The guys fixing cars nowadays and competing in car shows are my age and older (50 and up). Young men today aren't interested in tinkering with an engine.
But, according to what I heard, today's cars aren't as easy to work on as cars in the past were, so that's probably the reason we don't see teenage boys anymore standing around with their heads under the hood of a car.
There are some remakes of American muscle cars today, though, such as the Dodge Challenger, which seems to be popular.
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.)
Good point about maintenance. The last car I could work on was my 1972 Plymouth Duster. I did a rebuild in my driveway. Even my 1983 Camaro wasn’t easy, the engine had to be pulled to reach the back two plugs. I like my current 2005 Chrysler 300C, with its 5.7 L engine it’s a hotrod. The only problem is that when I pop the hood the engine can’t be seen.
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.