Are we dinosaurs or trend setters?

Image Unavailable, Please Login I hope not but my boy drove me home from cars and coffee in my Dino just 30 minutes ago. I taught him stick in this car. His daily is a stick. And yeah he knows how to work theses carbs at start off.

 

Modern cars drive themselves. Classic cars must be driven at all times.

 

Dinosaurs, without a doubt. Young people are, in generally, totally uninterested. Many are too busy learning to use film cameras to fool around with old cars.

 

If we are dinosaurs, what about folks who are into antique cars from the early 1900s through the 1950s? I often wonder what will become of all their collector cars when they pass on. Most of my age-group peers have zero interest in anything before 1960.

 

Trend setters! As a Gen-Xer with heaps of (gasp) Millennial and Gen-Z friends, the 80s is coming back with a vengeance. Every Cars & Coffee and shows I've attended, our 3x8s get way more attention than the newer exotics receive. Yes, those are killer, but you can't swing a dead cat without seeing one. I recon it's probably not seen in sale prices because people are afraid of the maintenance. But, I have zero doubt, that our cars are genuinely desired and admired works of nostalgic art.

 

The 328 is a gorgeous car (and I love mine) but it's not a good *car*. Weak AC, too loud and working too hard at 90 MPH, bad brakes by modern standards meaning lots of planning ahead. Most folks aren't interested in cars that are hard to drive, regardless of the looks and the experience.

So Dinosaurs. But Dinosaurs are still cool, millions of years later.

 

This is going to happen to every generation of cars; Zoomers have no interest in owning a car, much less a "classic" (read: stick) car. Just look at auction results from the last five years; we are in an unprecedented bull equity market, while the classic car market has been in decline.

By the end of this century (and probably much sooner), private ownership of a car that doesn't drive itself will be considered absurd (if not totally prohibited - especially if it burns gas).

 

This is one of the saddest posts I've read in a long while, but only because it confronts a reality: we are dinosaurs. Some are conflating design/styling/good taste with drivability in this debate. That is, plenty of younger enthusiasts and aesthetes can appreciate something cool or beautiful. BUT, 1) Almost no one teaches stick shift driving anymore (outside the military, specialty schools, parents who have one); 2) For better or worse, the global political establishment is forcing gasoline to be phased out, and I'd be surprised if there are many petrol stations past the 2040s; 3) Who's going to service these vehicles once the current generation of old school mechanics who know the "tricks" retire? Most of us trust our indies over Ferrari service centers any day for vintage cars. In a future where kids grow up with self-driving electric cars, and an absence of quality service techs and gasoline...it's tough to think about.

 

[He] is driving?!?! The GT4?!?!

I feel so old. He was plodding around in dinosaur pajamas when we pulled the engine for your restoration

 

Prices going down on pre war (and carbureted cars in general) is exactly what will allow younger collectors to afford them.

As a member of gen Z, I can assure you that there is interest in older cars by younger car enthusiasts, but not at the prices most of them are at compared to cars from our own childhoods.

As just one example, how about some millennials buying (and driving) a bone stock Model A?:

The main problem going forward is simply raising awareness about these cars existence and that is up to current owners to remedy. The sad truth is, most current owners of both pre 1980s Ferraris and just special older cars in general no longer drive them. Most people fall in love with cars when they can see and hear them and very few people younger than 30 have ever seen most of these types of cars outside of museums or static photos. The best thing current owners of classics can do to ensure that they are trend setters is to simply drive their cars and let the public witness them in their natural habitat rather than in the museum next to the other dinosaurs.

 

Just wait until the Gen Z and younger generations get set in their careers and start making money. The younger generations love a cool car just like the rest of us. I think classic cars that don't have all of the nannies will be highly sought after for being unique and cool.

 

" I think classic cars that don't have all of the nannies will be highly sought after for being unique and cool."

I like the idea but, sadly, I don't see that happening. Sure, there will always be a few young people who become interested in old cars but cars are not what they once were...the symbol of every teenage boy's yearning to be "free." I live in a university town with LOTS of late-teens/early 20's so I hear a lot of conversations around town/in pubs, etc, even participate in a few of them. I've never heard a group of guys talking about cars; they still talk about girls and sports but not cars or motorcycles. Scooters DO come up - both the Vespa types and the little electric scooters that you can rent on the street corner.

It's definitely a different world than the one I grew up in and it's rapidly getting MORE different!

 

Sought after or just admired? I was at a (UK) village "Classic Car Show" yesterday. It was very busy but I noticed the average age of the "exhibitors" was 65 plus, though the visitors much lower. However I wonder just how many younger people 1-see spending quite a large sum on what is essentially a toy: and more importantly 2-have the inclination to listen/feel/smell the car when driving. In addition even if you do not physically maintain it yourself, it requires effort to keep it well maintained (and money). Finance is easily available on (any) new car whereas it's much more complicated with a 40 year old one.

I despair at my kids (40 yo) who never seem to think of trying to maintain and repair stuff, just replace it.

I think people are interested in cars that were "cool" when they were in their early 20's: a time when most couldn't afford them. By mid 30's they usually have family commitments and only a few can indulge themselves with a "classic". That was my position and only when the kids had (mostly) left home could I justify a classic.

 

My nephews are 18 and 20, both of them have manual cars...and the collection is growing.

Kid near me (17), has a 1967 impala for his daily, he's been asking me to help him work on it. He's got a modern toyota pickup too.

It's not dead but the number of carburetor owners is dwindling.

sjd

 

I taught both my Gen Z daughters how to drive a stick and bought them new MT cars….now finding lower priced new cars with a stick is getting to be a chore.

Yes, we are dinosaurs using dino fuel….wait, does that make us fine young cannibals? 4 of our 6 cars are MT.

 

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This weekend, a group of neighborhood kids rode their scooters to our house, rang the bell, and respectfully asked if they could take photos of "the Ferrari we've seen here."

They were surprisingly knowledgeable. "This is a 308GT4, right?" "Oh, look, it has a European license plate!"

They told me about all the cars they'd seen the day before at Cars and Coffee. "There was a 328, and a Testarossa, and a GT40!"

It gave me faith for the next generation.

 

After spending 4 years getting my car ready to drive I think the biggest obstacle in the future (probably after I'm pushing up daisies) will be parts availability and qualified mechanics.

Just an example... I wanted to get my radiator re-cored. I couldn't find anyone in the greater Austin area and even beyond that could or would do it.

There are shops that still do this, but there are so few now and that's really unfortunate.

Unless the younger folks learn and are interested to continue on the craftsmanship that is required for these older cars, I just don't know.

Any new car nowadays is basically a rolling computer. And it's just like every other computer we own (phones, laptops, desktops, tablets) it's disposable. It's manufactured to be that way. There's not a whole lot of "working" on those cars. You either get a replacement part, CPU, board, electronic doohickey, or the thing isn't drivable.

I watched a video recently of a guy trying to fix his Ferrari 360. Apparently there is a known issue with some CPU, board or something and there are no replacements. And there's one place in the world that actually repairs them.

This is going to sound morbid but I think that's why people die. I know I don't want to live in a world where I can't hear a V8 sound coming from a cool car but that's probably the way it will be.

 

One thing I comically observed many times after getting my 328 and driving around is that young kids (say 12 and under) and middle/older aged men (say 45-70) completely lose their minds when they see the car. One time I drove past a group of cub scouts and their dads doing yard work at the local VFD, and you would have thought it was a parade based on the fanfare. Outside of those age groups, the car seems invisible. So I feel like there are definite age ranges of interest. I suspect the young kids just like that it's a red Ferrari and probably have no idea the car is 37 years old (the styling does have many modern cues).

I remember hearing an interview with Bob Lutz and he said something to the effect that when people grow older and can afford collector cars, they don't want what their parents drove or collected. They want the cars of their youth, the cars they dreamed about or drove when they were young. That is definitely true in my case, and my interests run mainly from the 1980s through the early 2000s (the only older car on my wish list is a Jaguar XKE). I am also rapidly losing interest in modern sports cars, so I see a bracket forming with a focus from about 1980-2010. As someone who was a sucker to always buy the latest and greatest sports car, it's interesting to see myself pivot and start looking back in time instead.

 

I took my 308 GTB to Cars and Coffee yesterday and it had quite crowd around it, more so than any of the other cars including a pretty heavily modified new Supra. I think there is always going to be a lot of enthusiasm for Ferraris and especially old Ferraris in general. To those mentioning pre-war cars as not being all that valuable, I think the main issue there is outside of a few high end luxury or performance models, most pre-war cars are extremely difficult to use as acutal cars in modern traffic. A 308 might be "slow" by modern standards but it's 100% usable as a car and basically always will be.

 

I have a deep appreciation for sports cars from the late 80s to the 00s—it's not just Ferraris, but the whole range of performance cars from that era. After this period, sports cars became overly reliant on electronics, losing the raw, analog driving experience that made them so engaging. They also became so fast that it’s nearly impossible to tap into their full potential on regular roads. Before the 80s, there are a few models that catch my eye, but the daunting prospect of finding replacement parts or a knowledgeable mechanic is a deal-breaker.

It might be because I grew up during the 90s that I gravitate towards cars from this time. Millennials could be the last generation to truly appreciate classic sports cars. We are the last to have witnessed a world where car designs were distinct, manual transmissions were still widespread (at least in Europe), and environmental regulations hadn’t yet dulled the roar of powerful engines, or constrained their performance.

That era also produced some of the most iconic and thrilling cars, which still hold up against today’s performance benchmarks: the Ferrari F40 and F50, McLaren F1, Porsche 959 (and the pivotal shift from air-cooled to water-cooled 911s), the Honda NSX and S2000, the Dodge Viper — the list goes on.

Now, millennials are reaching an age where they can start buying their childhood dream cars. This could keep demand and price dynamism over the next 5 to 10 years. Fortunately, maintaining these cars today is easier than it would have been decades ago, thanks to the wealth of online resources. Imagine the challenge of maintaining a classic car in the pre-Internet era, when finding spare parts or a step-by-step guide on a specific repair was likely a challenging task without YouTube or forums filled with advice from other owners.

Looking forward, the future of classic cars seems uncertain. Much will depend on how regulations evolve, especially as we face the potential of gas-powered cars being banned or severely restricted from the roads. This could cast a long shadow over the classic car market, but until then, millennials will likely remain key players in preserving the legacy of these incredible machines for the next couple of years.

 

Another aspect affecting interest is the general decline of motoring and motorways. I've quit riding a motorbike because the average driver has become too dangerous (in both incompetence and aggression), and I find driving a car of any sort less and less pleasurable for the same reason. I can only speak for the States and Canada, but our police have ceased enforcing traffic law, and the subsequent lawlessness on the roads makes owning a classic car - for me - not as fun. And now that most States are "no fault," driving an expensive, difficult-to-repair attention-getting car is all the more risky. It's my experience that this isn't the case in parts of Europe and Asia, but car ownership is much lower there.

There are just so many cultural, technical, and economic forces tilted against classic car ownership, I can't imagine it survives more than two generations longer.

 

I've gotta agree with you there. It seems like everyone and their mother is out driving a massive SUV or truck, staring at their cell phone every chance they get. I don't drive any of my classic cars anywhere near heavy traffic for that very reason. I only drive them outside of rush our traffic hours or out in the country where there isn't really any traffic. Honestly I will feel better if self driving tech becomes more mainstream on regular cars because the quality of drivers is declining fast and self driving systems don't seem to get in nearly as many fender benders. Sad that it has to come to that but here we are.

This part is also mind blowing to me. Back in 2006, one of my buddies was caught VERY STUPIDLY driving a car with no insurance and was given a hefty "no insurance" fine. He was caught because he was mildly exceeding the posted speed. The police also impounded his car which cost him nearly another $1,000 in addition to the ticket. Fast forward to last year, another buddy was rear ended by an uninsured driver. The police showed up, made sure everyone was fine, then left. No ticket, no impound, no nothing. Luckily that buddy had uninsured motorist protection to cover his car BUT the police basically awarded the person who rear ended him for not having insurance by not holding him accountable. Same city and state BTW. Insanity!