Hip to Be Square: Why Young Buyers Covet 'Grandpa' Cars

WSJ ^ | 05/09/2006 | By JENNIFER SARANOW

[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.

[vetvetdoug]

My first car was a 1960 Buick LeSabre with a 401 four barrel carburetor that top in was between 135mph and screaming. It was light green on the bottom and white on the top. The back seat could sleep four and two comfortably.

[Responsibility2nd]

Can I be your son?

That is way cool!

[rwilson99]

Gee. I guess gas prices aren't high enough.

[mhx]

I had a banana Chevy Nova. Banana in that it was yellow, with brown rust spots, and shaped like a banana.

[Cobra64]

They look better 'original'.

Yes they do. A little compounding and a few coats of Mother's Wax is just right. Besides, pimped cars ruin the purpose of a vintage car. The kit car I built was as original as I could make it. Right down to the original paint color #s from Shelby.

[EricT.]

Now that's just plain old showing off. (Not that I blame ya ;})

[Cobra64]

A 58 corvette, a '64 Mustang, '65 E-Type are my favorite production cars.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I also had a 1971 Baby Blue Volkswagon Beetle. Man, that thing would be worth a pretty penny these days. My Dad has owned 18 VWs over the years. I remember camper vans that we had to park on a hill so we could roll it to get it started. My Beetle was that way, too. I had to take a running start and pop the clutch from the top of the Hoover Dam once, LOL!

Oh, well. Too soon old and too late smart. :)

[tubebender]

Y'all are making fun of me and my car. I'm 73 and my car belongs to my wife. 95 Buick Riviera with the Supercharged 3.8...

[sgtbono2002]

My wife has one . GM really screwed the pooch when they stopped making them and the Impala.

I was at Walmarts a little while ago and saw one there with a for sale sign in the window. $2500 bucks and it looked pretty good.

[Nakota]

'56 Chevy Bel Aire and Gloria. Those were the days.

[chemicalman]

I had a 67 Galaxie 500 in the early 80's that brought me to work, school, and many other places/night spots. Had a 390ci engine and used to beat the heck out of my friend's Z28 Camaro. It was an old beat, but the chrome shined.

[JerseyHighlander]

I'm a under 30 driver who bought a 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham for the reasons stated. I bought it when gas was 1.25 though...

That is not mine, but it's exactly the same except mine is graphite grey.

Only car i've ever had where I've been waved through parking lot waiting lines at concerts just so the security guards could ask how much i want for it, on the spot. had a biker offer to swap me a Harley roadster for it. I'm hoping to buy another of the same make/model/year and pimp that one out for weekends, I got enough Caddy parts laying around to sell the parts and afford another Caddy. The last of the D-Body cars, absolute keepers if you can find them with a good tranny and chrome.

[sgtbono2002]

You knew Heidi too?

[krb]

I imagine a lot of us did :-)

[Irish Queen]

How about my mother's 1964 Chrysler New Yorker? It has less than 20,000 miles on it. My third son will someday inherit it and he plans to keep it in its original pristine condition.

[ChildOfThe60s]

My (wife's) 72 Demon (one owner/ October 1971). It gets driven to work every day; yes, it's the original engine. My wife gets approached all the time by people that want to buy it.

I love driving it. They don't make power steering like this anymore.

[Muleteam1]

I always preferred the '57 Chevy Belair over the '56 but both were stylish.

[TonyInOhio]

The car in which I learned to drive, a 1970 buick Wildcat. Ours was a hardtop, gold, with white vinyl seats.

It had a 455 CID engine, 4-barrel carb, and got 4 MPH on it's last tankful before the Demo Derby. :)

[Lawgvr1955]

Now some of those Roadmasters came with the Corvette engine. And from what I understand, they command 7-8 grand maybe more. I've got a 95 Roadmaster in the driveway. Still runs like the wind, and you get there in great comfort. I was recently offered $5k for it. Thought about taking it, maybe I'll hold out now.