The beginning of the end of a 60-year era?

I think he was in the wrong crowd; in another group he could have found people with "pimped out" cars.

However, I dare say as a general hobby that car customizing is dying. I know absolutely nobody who does it. In fact, I'm one of the few people I know who even goes so far as to change his own oil.

Hot rodding grew up in a different culture, a time when people chased power and it was easy to use. These days, although production cars are massively power at times, it's increasingly difficult to use the power. Traffic and traffic laws and enforcement really hurt it. When was the last time you even saw a drag race at the lights? I go literally years between seeing them.

Cars are increasingly just appliances.

 

I see a ton of modified cars near me, just not 'traditional' hot rods.

 

Car Modification is just a rare-bird type thing. But it depends on where you are at. After all, certain communities still do Custom Car Modifications. The era itself is not really 'ending', but just not as popular as back in the day, no one really gave a crap about computers or such, and cars were one of the things a lot of people did focus on as something to 'stand out', next to motorcycles.

These days, the cars are becoming more computer oriented that not many people really mess with cars as much unless you are one for cars or car fanatics and even the car fanatics are either working on the older style cars or just plain buying with lots of money on other cars.

Cars, like computers, are becoming as skoorb says, an Appliance, where it is convenience, not a hobby item.

 

Could it be because the young people have found the awesomeness of internet and moved onto sites like car domain to showcase their "rides" instead of going to an event that everyone knows is just filled with senior citizens?

I like hanging out with my dad, but a full day or weekend with 200 dads is too much. People hang out with people their own age. The people that gather at a hot rod event are older. The people that modify, customize, and then post pictures online or throughout the schools are attracting another crowd.

 

Yes it could. He probably ignored it. Combine lower incomes, less gas, less interest in cars overall and social media and you end up with forums.

Besides, sure you can mod hybrids, but you mod them by turning them into PHEVs.

 

When trying to evaluate a societal trend there are usually numerous factors involved.
I'd say a large part of the decline in "hot rodding" is simply born out of change in automobiles themselves. The modern computer regulated or controlled engine does not lend itself to backyard modification or repair. In most vehicles today, you open the hood and you see a lot of plastic covers that suggest that somewhere underneath there is an engine.

I think the desire to modify vehicles still exists and is still strong. But most youth cannot afford classic vehicles to work on. So the whole process has morphed into what is "possible". Therefore, the "modification" desire that use to result in "Hot Rods" manifests today, in arguably less involved or hands on ways. You have customized sound systems/entertainment modifications. Body work, has more commonly been reduced to pre-fabricated body kits...or most commonly suspension (lowering) and wheel modifications.

My guess is that as long as there are an abundance of gas burning vehicles around, hot rodding will never completely die. But vehicles have changed, and we live in a society that despite it's best intentions, does highly value convenience and disposability. I think that has manifested in vehicles that are far less hands on or user sustainable...and a rise in the "Jiffy Lube" mentality.

I myself have witnessed, through participation in sites like this one, the dynamic passion of Hybrid Owners. Hypermilers and Regulars. But despite Toyota's amazingly successful mainstreaming of Prius, I think hybrids still are a relatively unique product that invites it's owners to interact with them in a very direct way. But the bond in many cases is based on "hypermiling techniques" or getting the most out of the technology of the vehicle. Generalizations are dangerous, but I think it fair to say, anyone purchasing and owning a hybrid, is at least factoring something beyond simple point A to point B transportation into their desires in regards to automobile ownership. This gives you a audience that is more "involved" from the outset.

 

Very well put, sad but true. My own kids fall in to this category. Even though I try to explain the pitfalls of depending on these Jiffy Lube types and the need to at least check behind them. They would rather just glance at the oil change sticker in the window and run by Jiffy Lube every 6 months or so.

 

I've got to object here. The average age of the fleet is the highest it has ever been. What has happened is pollution regulations. You simply can not easily change things with a 2000my car, you need to go back to an '80s era. The 80s were plagued by underpowered beasts because of pollution control, which means we are getting into 35yo territory. In a recent model year you can change the chip, or change the turbo, but boring out cylinders, changing rods, etc will likely be next to impossible.

I have helped a friend restore a '66 cadi convertable. It's never going to be as fast as a modern one, nor brake as well, but it is long and historic and interesting. It only goes about 500 miles a year though.

Here is the big thing. If you change your own oil, you still need to run to jiffy lube or a similar place to recycle the oil. They are quick and convient and not too expensive. People do need to check their oil, but my mom never did, its great that she can have them check it for her Cars don't leak or burn oil as much anymore. We pay more for electronic ignitions and long lasting spark plugs, but cars don't need tune ups as often, but when they do you need a computer to check it out. DIY is dead on new cars like the Prius.

My dad would have friends come over to tune up the cars when I was little and have me help. It would be nice if one of the companies made it easier to modify cars but those days are gone. I am too young to know if its a good or a bad thing.

 

With a laptop and the right software, it is actually easy to change things. With new cars it's just changing software on the engine and transmission side. The factory tune is a balance between performance, emissions, and efficiency. With the know how, these can be changed.

It's just that changing some code isn't as flashy as a chrome six pack.

 

I don't really get what you are objecting to here?
What does the average age of the fleet have to do with anything I said?

I never said new cars weren't durable or reliable.....

And I agree...that's the whole point...Hot Rods are usually, typically created from "Classic" automobiles. Which are becoming rarer and rarer, and more expensive to obtain for those that can obtain them.

It seems to me what you are saying in "objecting" is basically what I said. New cars for various reasons don't lend themselves to being modified in the fashion of typical Hot Rodding...

 

There definitely is not the interest in classic cars/hot rods that there was 20-30 years ago. Part of it seems to be less relevance of the car culture to the 15-20 year olds. My own 20 year old isn't terribly interested in cars, nor is my near 14 year old, that despite being in a 'car' household and having attended car shows regularly as children.

I have to admit, although I still have my 70 cuda tucked in the garage it doesn't even get pulled out very often and hasn't shown in years. It did give me a huge training ground for mechanical work though- something I truly loved to do. Carbs and points were much more finicky and gave lots of opportunties for learning that just can't be found on the xBox (yet).

On the other hand, I do really enjoy taking our Prii out and love our new Barcelona v. Times change, and just like there are fewer and fewer fanatics for the pre-war classics, the boomers who really had a car connection seem to be dwindling as well.

 

Young men once got all hot 'n bothered over steam tractors. Times change. Youth now see cars more as what they are and find other things more fun.

 

The thing I objected to was that the buyer had switched to convenience and disposability. Cars in the past were less expensive and more disposable. People keep and maintain them longer now. But the way they are built because of regulation, makes them harder to modify.

+1

People change the tires/rims, suspension, stereo, and the software. Its not the same as the guy in the article remembers. I don't know, maybe in some ways that is a good thing. For those with the money there are the M BMWs, AMG Mercedes, Shelby Mustangs, etc. It would take an act of congress to allow people to modify cars the way they did in the 70s.

They remade slacker, with a bunch of independent film makers, moderizing it. In the original 1991, the guy is modifying the engine in his car to go faster. In the new one he is modifying an older diesel to run on SVO (straight vegetable oil). Changes to cars no longer are to make them go faster, the factory needs to do most of that, but people still tinker with a few things.

 

How much of a role does the economic climate have to do with the fleet's age?
How many people know of someone that passes their car on to a family member, and gets a new one (it's how I got my current car)?
Cars are reliable and durable today, but that doesn't change the average person's view of wanting the newest model.

 

It is difficult to gauge how much of the numbers are in the slow down. What we do know is the fleet was aging before the recession. Higher reliability along with higher new car prices had a lot to do with the trend. This also has something to do with the spread on how much an owner of an old car is worth, and how much someone is willing to pay for it. This spread is responsible for many owners keeping cars longer, and paying for repairs instead of new cars. I don't think there is anything demographic going on about passing things to family members, the idea to do this in 1980 should be about the same as in 2012, both recession years. The average car in 1980 was 8, now it is 11. Pickup trucks have not aged nearly as much as cars, but they were more reliable than cars 30 years ago.

 

I know a lot of PriusChatters are old, so they really don't see where the interest has shifted in the past decade or so. While it isn't quite as intense as it was in the late 90s/early 00s (and with the debatable effect of the release of the Fast And The Furious), there is still no shortage of people in their 20s and 30s interested in upgrading and modifying their cars.

Let me make a completely gross generalization: Only old guys really go to "Classic" hot rod shows. Seriously. The interest in adding craploads of chrome and working on 60s and 70s cars is really not there for GenX/Y. Their interests are elsewhere - for example, flashing the ECU of their Evo or STi to make more power. There are modified car meets and shows virtually every weekend in Chicagoland (even more on the coasts; look up Wekfest and the 4-5 hour lines to get in). Old guys (like the author) don't tend to see these because they dismiss this crowd as being obnoxious and stupid, or don't see the amazing things people do with (for example) Honda Civics. Its not that the interest isn't there: it's that the interest has vastly changed from the the authors' (and many other older hot rodders).

 

The guy above is right on the money. The author of that article just went to the wrong show. I'm 25 and I've been modifying cars since I was 16. I still install and tune piggy back computers for side money. There are plenty of young people with modified cars, most my age with faster and more practical vehicles than the old guys. Sadly I think with the youngest kids coming up the focus has shifted from increasing performance to simply who can get their car the lowest and fit the dumbest looking wheel/tire package.

 

Hey I resemble that remark! Rollin' hellaflush.