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Hip to Be Square: Why Young Buyers Covet 'Grandpa' Cars
WSJ ^ | 05/09/2006 | By JENNIFER SARANOW

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: automaekers; cars; classiccars; nostalgia; vintage
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To: Maury
Are there any specs on this car floating around yet? Like HP, torque, top speed, and PRICE?

And do you have any more pics? It looks great!

I have several posts in this thread - but if you're referring to the screaming yellow fastback, the best info is at the URL listed near the picture. There's also a huge thread on the car's construction on www.stangnet.com, in the "Classic/Tech" forum. It was "stickied" at the top of the forum for over a year, but now that the car is finished, you'll have to search the forum for "SN65".

Performance is probably very similar to a stock '03 SVT Cobra. As for the cost, I believe it was discussed in the Stangnet thread. The car is truly an amazing "what if..." exercise made real.

241 posted on 05/14/2006 10:19:01 PM PDT by Charles Martel
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To: Proud_texan

That sounds awesome!

And I left the factory head-unit alone, as it's integrated with a nav system. I had a very good local installer put the JL system in with a component that JL calls a clean-sweep. It takes the head-unit's signal and converts it to digital, cleans it up, and pipes it to the amps.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_cleansweep_pages.php?page_id=79



It's not as good as a great aftermarket head unit, but close enough for me, as in the 'vette, with all the engine and road noise, when turn the radio up loud enough to overcome that, you can't tell the difference! ;)


242 posted on 05/21/2006 8:44:10 AM PDT by Maury
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To: norton

a little late but I just read this I have a 67 Galaxie 500
I noticed a few of you like these cars I just got one for free from my parents for doing alot of work for them I plan on painting this car this year it is in great shape I can't wait to drive this beauty around town,
go here to see a picture of this one,
http://community.webshots.com/photo/7286639/2375334800015040077CXzwVS


243 posted on 06/01/2006 11:20:25 PM PDT by snoopystock ("once you've been chomped by a night snake you've had it"<< Linus from the peanuts)
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To: sagar

Oh, I am in love with the old Toyota Land Cruiser!

We saw one for sale on the side of the road last year. We went home to check to see if we had enough money to buy it (we did) but by the time we got back it was gone.

There are tons of the old Land Cruisers on the road in Mexico. Weird, it was like they all had been sent down there! Perhaps we can exchange 100 illegals for each Land Cruiser!!

I'm going to get my hands on one some day!

The "new" ones leave me cold. They are freakish!!!


244 posted on 06/01/2006 11:32:44 PM PDT by GatorGirl
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To: JerseyHighlander

I learned to drive in a Sedan De Ville. Cushy gig, but large.

I learned to drive a stick in an MGB. My dad made me stop on hills to learn to work the clutch without rolling backward. It would reduce me to tears.

When I graduated from high school, I became the second proud owner of a '66 Mustang. It had 40K original miles, having been owned by a woman who was 65 years old when she bought it new.


245 posted on 06/01/2006 11:36:59 PM PDT by GatorGirl
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To: GatorGirl; Old_Professor; FrogInABlender
This may be the last word/jpeg on this thread "Hip to be Square."



246 posted on 06/02/2006 3:37:27 AM PDT by Inge_CAV
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To: snoopystock
Well, now, there...

Apart from chrome reversed/blackwalls, and much newer paint, that photo could be mine.
Out here I've never seen another red one.

247 posted on 06/02/2006 9:23:52 AM PDT by norton
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To: norton
Oops,
Mud flaps,
No mud flaps in california.
248 posted on 06/02/2006 9:24:59 AM PDT by norton
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To: norton

Sorry so late again I just moved,
Yea Norton I will be painting it soon I found a picture of an old taxi that was a 67 Galaxie and It actualy looks pretty cool so I think I am going with a Screamin' Yellow Paint job for this one. The chrome is in excellent shape so that won't take much work I will post a pic when I get it done,


249 posted on 06/14/2006 12:36:08 AM PDT by snoopystock ("once you've been chomped by a night snake you've had it"<< Linus from the peanuts)
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