Posted on 05/10/2006 4:48:01 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Jabari Bryant didn't go to a car dealership to buy his new car last fall. The 28-year-old went to a retirement community in Tybee Island, Ga., where for $2,000 he bought a navy blue 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Brougham from a man who was "at least 83."
The seller said "his eyesight was going and he had no use for the car," recalls Mr. Bryant, an automobile glass installer from Savannah.
Young people today don't want their father's Oldsmobile -- they want their grandfather's. Some of the hippest wheels for under-30 drivers today are models commonly identified with seniors: Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Chevrolets and Cadillacs from the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.
From Collins Ave. in Miami Beach's South Beach neighborhood to International Blvd. in Oakland, Calif., teens and young adults are cruising in "grandpa" and "grandma" cars that they have painted bright colors like lime green, outfitted with fancy sound systems and propped up on monster-truck-style wheels. They're sweet-talking their grandparents into giving up old cars and offering to buy them on the spot from strangers.
Television shows, such as MTV's "Pimp My Ride," and rappers, including Snoop Dogg, are helping to drive the craze. There's even a new magazine, Donk, Box & Bubble, dedicated to the tricked-out-oldie-car culture.
For U.S. car makers, struggling to lift sales, it's a painful irony that the models striking a chord with young buyers aren't those rolling off the assembly lines today but rather ones made decades ago. Detroit's marketers are trying to figure out how to ride the trend without ruining it.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Try Sun City, AZ. These people take great care of their vehicles (be they old or new models). I just bought a 2005 Toyota Camry that you would swear is brand new. Still has the new car smell about it.
What? They're giving up their Hondas and their fart pipe mufflers and giant wings?
"1963 Dodge Dart"
My first car. Mine was a convertible with push button auto transmission.
Built an aluminum Cobra with a 429 in it for Dennis Wilson to go drag racing with.
The fun all ended when Dennis got off on drugs and traded it off for a motorcycle, of course he died shortly after that.
Cars today are BORING. Cars a few decades ago had personality.
Cars today are BORING. Cars a few decades ago had personality.
(You get the idea)
Pimping out a '70s car just trashes it,
My '57 is stock,
The '53 looks stock with period adjustments.
The '60 looks stock with different year's paint.
The '63 will look same as the '60.
The '65 is stock ex for engine.
'67 is close.
'73 not so close.
'89, box stock, parking lot car, ex-hertz & washed twice in last 12 months
(When I change the oil)
(OK, so it's a disease, but Cars today ARE boring...and all the gizmos,computer generated voices, and shimmering tones don't change that a tad. Drive lines & tires, however, have come a LONG way.)
So did you look back? ;)
You're kidding right?
Oh no. Don't look back. You can never look back. ;)
Good thing we're all honest, trustworthy, and thumbing through the 'phone book under "C" and "64".
A great little car! Reliable, easy to maintain, and parts were easy to get and cheap, too. It isn't running right now, but there's nothing seriously wrong with it. I may get it back in shape for this summer.
Can't believe anything with four doors is in. When I was a kid, only two-door coupes were cool.
I was helping a friend move about 5 years ago and one of the folks helping was this college kid. I saw a Gremlin in the apartment parking lot and called him over and told him to take a good look because he is never going to see another one for the rest of his life. So far it has been true.
Kids want rear wheel drive, which isn't offered much right now by the domestic (or Japanese) automakers.
That's changing, though. Rear wheel drive is making a comeback.
The most interesting thread on FR in days and only a little over 100 posts. Come on guys and gals, let's see some of those pics of your old wheels, or something you are building.
And I like them both more than just about any car made within the last 10 years.
I never understood the concept of a "babe magnet" car until I got my hands on the 67-horsepower diesel Mercedes. A lot of women just like that car for some reason.
But guys hoot at the Nova. Which really kind of creeps me out.
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