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Is Generation X killing the classic car?
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The phrase Generation X was often applied to my age group as children, although some of us have shed our dirty flannel shirts and Nirvana albums for three piece suits and classic rock, helping to do away with the generally negative opinion of my generation. My age group is slowly becoming the group that “runs the country”, moving into positions of power in all sorts of industries but what about our automotive tastes?
I was fortunate to have a Dad who taught me about cars as I grew up and it was more than just nuts and bolts, but also an appreciation for what these antique cars were capable of in their heyday. Attending car shows and race events made me want to someday own a “muscle car”, and a few years ago we found our 1972 Dodge Demon 340. I will be turning 31 this year, and when I attend local classic car shows I generally find that I am usually the youngest person in attendance. There are other owners my age, but in most cases they are driving much newer vehicles so I’m lead to wonder, is my generation dropping the ball on the classic and antique sports cars?
I mean no offense to the “older generation”, who comprise the bulk of the car show participants, but as that group ages, I see classic car clubs and shows getting smaller. The ‘baby-boomers’ who really caused the automotive scene to blow up in the 1960s and who have carried on the automotive traditions from the 50s, 60s, and 70s are beginning to thin in numbers and I don’t see the younger generations joining with the classic car groups. Online enthusiast communities continue to flourish, but even online rarely do you speak with many people my age driving classic cars.
Even when I was growing up, attending shows with my Dad’s Mopar-heavy car club or racing around the country at Mopar events in my modified 1983 Dodge Mirada, I recognized that there were no other “kids” my age. It is understandable that the car club environment isn’t always attractive to a hell raising teenager in a performance car, but at the large events like the Mopar Nationals, I was one of the very few people my age driving an older car. There would be a few drivers my age, but they were generally in newer models (Neons and trucks at Mopar events - Mustangs or Camaros elsewhere) and more currently many people my age are driving performance 4-cylinder models. I figured that it was just the area, or just happened to be the way that the race series was set up that kept a lot of younger drivers from being involved. Now that I’ve traveled around the American automotive scene a bit I see that there aren’t many people in my generation helping to carry on the history of the cars that have brought us to the point where we are today. Today’s sports cars wouldn’t exist if not for the vintage models, and with the average age of classic car owners seemingly getting higher and higher, what is going to happen to the muscle cars?
This might not seem like a big deal, or you might not have ever given it a thought, but the next time you’re at a car show or a dragstrip, pay close attention to the age of the people behind the wheel of classic cars. While I love driving my Demon, I understand that not everyone is into driving a 37 year old car but with the advancements in technology to every aspect of the automobile, classic cars can be every bit as fast, reliable and comfortable as any modern sports car.
Is the problem that much of Generation X is just too prissy and pampered to deal with the slight inconveniences of a classic car? Perhaps my generation has been infected by the tree hugger nonsense against muscle cars (spread throughout the public school systems around the country under the guise of “saving the planet”)...effectively brain washing drivers my age into thinking that something like a Toyota Prius is an acceptable, “fun vehicle”?
Whatever the problem is, the baby-boomers who helped to build the sports car industry in this county are the same people who can fix it. Stop making car shows unfriendly to younger enthusiasts.
Remember that when you were 16, your parents’ friends thought that your music was “noise”, too.
Remember the days when you smiled when you heard your buddy’s 1970 Camaro RS fire up with open headers, where as now you think about calling the cops on your neighbor’s kid with the loud Mustang Cobra.
Most importantly, remember that none of us are getting any younger. If today’s automotive enthusiasts don’t help to encourage the younger generation to take interest in classic cars our hobby dies with us. I grew up during the dawn of the era of big rims and big stereo systems but I survived it with a passion for classic cars but I constantly dealt with older enthusiasts talking down to me simply because I was younger and because I didn’t drive something like a Charger or Chevelle (even though my 1983 Mirada sent plenty of those cars back to the garage area unhappy). That “better than you attitude” is unfortunately prevalent at today’s car shows and that same attitude will eventually kill of the classic car scene and classic car clubs, but those of us with classic cars are the ones who can prevent this. Generation X might be dropping the ball on the classic car scene, but it’s easy for people my age as a generation to not care about the classic car group when many people in that group go out of their way to run off younger enthusiasts.
Whether you own a classic car or not, think about the things that are said here when you’re at the track or car show next time, and make an effort to promote the hobby that we all love so much.
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