Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

[ponchoman]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

OK I guess. All I know is that it's completely different around here. I have yet to see a single 18-23yrd old for example building an old Merc in these parts. Or a rat rod, or a 55 chevy, or a caddy, or whatever. There are a small handful of gearheads that are younger who are trying to build muscle cars - but they're REALLY the minority and to be honest none of them are making much progress. In these parts, the customs and muscle cars are really 35-75yr old territory. I know it's not CA here (thank god) so maybe things are just different. And again - it flies in the face of what the vendors are saying.

Do you guys REALLY believe that "late 50s to the early 70s" are the "growing trend" again and that the 20 something crowd is focused on that? :-\

The majority of these kids have absolutely no means nor experience to build a custom. WAY too much fabrication. The same kind of kids that 30 yrs ago were throwing a 4 barrel carb and headers on that Nova and wouldn't have had anywhere near the skill or experience to back-half a car? Somehow without body experience they're building 50 year old Mercs or rebuilding Buick nailhead motors? And using them as daily drivers? Really? The only '65 Wildcats or whatever you EVER see around here are in the summer at Car Cruises. Remember - we're not talking about the exception here. We're talking about the average Joe HS and right out of HS kid. That's what starts it. Maybe we're just talking about different groups of people.

[CDMBill]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

I don't know where your there is, Ponchoman, and I can't make conclusions about places I don't live and drive in, but these cars are being driven, not chopped channeled and sectioned body work from scratch, not rebuilding from pan to air filter, just getting them running and having fun. The raw materials are here and because they aren't 'muscle cars" the prices are good.

The current Summit catalog I just received has special sections for trucks, motorcycle tools, late model Mustangs, LT/LS, current Mopar, Jeep and Diesel, no import, no lead sleds, no dare to be different and yet there they are at Donut Derelicts and Cars and Coffee (two local Saturday morning no rules cars shows) despite the overwhelming number of grey hairs in attendance myself included.

We may never an time like the mid fifties to sixties again but this hobby has a lot of life left in it AMX to WRX.

[squirrel]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

one of my kids has a 70 camaro, the other a 59 chevy pickup. They're both in college....they both have six cylinders...but they are both in the 55-72 range, and not imports.

I think things might be different here where cars don't rust away.

[antmnte]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

After I entered my post last night I went over to talk to my friend about this .He said the just what I remember him saying
about the import thing at least here, but, he said the serious guys are still into it and these werent the guys with fart can exhaust and lighted washer nozzles. I hope that the after market isnt going after this scene unless its kind of high end because they arent going to get anywhere.

[1988montecarloss]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Detroit has figured out how to put soul back into some cars..... They do Retro body styles back to the 70's of the Camaro, Mustang and Challenger..... But now they are $30,000 plus

they still have no sould...they just look like cartoon versions of the older cars IMO

[ponchoman]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

I don't know where your there is, Ponchoman, and I can't make conclusions about places I don't live and drive in, but these cars are being driven, not chopped channeled and sectioned body work from scratch, not rebuilding from pan to air filter, just getting them running and having fun. The raw materials are here and because they aren't 'muscle cars" the prices are good.

The current Summit catalog I just received has special sections for trucks, motorcycle tools, late model Mustangs, LT/LS, current Mopar, Jeep and Diesel, no import, no lead sleds, no dare to be different and yet there they are at Donut Derelicts and Cars and Coffee (two local Saturday morning no rules cars shows) despite the overwhelming number of grey hairs in attendance myself included.

We may never an time like the mid fifties to sixties again but this hobby has a lot of life left in it AMX to WRX.

I'm in SW PA. I wish it were like you're talking about in these parts, but it is clearly not. I'll be blunt. I have not in the past year as an example seen a single, solitary "older" car being driven on the road by a "young" guy/girl (somebody under 25) like you're talking about. In all the shops I deal with, there are two instances of "relatively" young (meaning under 30) guys building cars. A dart, and a charger. Neither are daily drivers. Both will take more than 2 years at best to complete. At most of the car cruises which average at least 100 cars, you can typically count on one hand the number of 20 something owners. It's not a big deal - there's plenty for everybody.

Summit? http://www.summitracing.com/search/M...?Ns=Rank%7cAsc or http://www.summitracing.com/search/?...d=subaru&dds=1

SCAT H-Beam rods for boxers? Yeah, I think Summit is paying attention to WRXs and the like!

I guess maybe it is a regional thing. Here, finding even 60s cars that are "rebuildable" (not remotely drivable) is tough - and expensive. And you never, ever, ever, ever see these cars on the roads in the winter. Did I say never? It's an expensive hobby. SBCs are cheap to build, but nailheads are not. Neither are the more "exotic" meaning less popular motors. And the average kids don't have the knowledge, tools, experience or resources to fabricate motor mounts, etc. The kids that can do that are not the "mainstream". They're gearheads.

Back to the topic at hand, because of all the stuff that's already been mentioned here, I doubt that the "newer" cars will ever have the devoted fans that the 50s-70s cars do. They will have some fans, but I'd guess it's kind of a generational thing. When I was 20, I'd have wet my pants if I could have built something like my current project. But I didn't have the patience, skill, and more important - the money/resources to do it. I'm thinking that the mid 20th century will always be viewed as a "golden era" of cars, and as todays kids get older, they'll gradually turn their attention that way. Problem is, no matter what you say - pickings are getting slimmer every day. And certain political organizations are hell bent on obstructing the hobby and would like nothing more than to force the scrapping of them all.

[ponchoman]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Detroit has figured out how to put soul back into some cars..... They do Retro body styles back to the 70's of the Camaro, Mustang and Challenger..... But now they are $30,000 plus

they still have no sould...they just look like cartoon versions of the older cars IMO

Do we sometimes mistake "soul" for "basic" or "rough"? What would detroit have to produce for us to consider it having "soul"? No cup holders? What? Serious question.

As a "fun" car that I would not drive every day, give me a true '69 Camaro Z28 302 over a 2010 version every day. If I had to pick one to drive every day? No contest. I'm driving the new, faster, better handling, higher economy, more comfortable car.

I don't like choosing between sweet and sour. I like both.

[squirrel]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Living in PA it's a good thing you don't see old cars being driven in the winter...they kinda need to be preserved.

Must be hell for a car lover to have to live up there in the cold snow salt land.

[Big Bad Blue]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Sin City-Marv: Modern cars - they all look like electric shavers.

[ponchoman]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Living in PA it's a good thing you don't see old cars being driven in the winter...they kinda need to be preserved.

Must be hell for a car lover to have to live up there in the cold snow salt land.

True words. There are other benefits, but it's sure tough on the car scene.

[IRONHEAD]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Detroit has figured out how to put soul back into some cars..... They do Retro body styles back to the 70's of the Camaro, Mustang and Challenger..... But now they are $30,000 plus

they still have no sould...they just look like cartoon versions of the older cars IMO

Do we sometimes mistake "soul" for "basic" or "rough"? What would detroit have to produce for us to consider it having "soul"? No cup holders? What? Serious question.

As a "fun" car that I would not drive every day, give me a true '69 Camaro Z28 302 over a 2010 version every day. If I had to pick one to drive every day? No contest. I'm driving the new, faster, better handling, higher economy, more comfortable car.

I don't like choosing between sweet and sour. I like both.

kids today.. do build cars that are not all import , but there are some that flat out fly./.
most that want a v8.. are in a grand mark (box 79-89) gm b body caprice.. or 4 door g body from grandma..
and or a pick up..
there are two reasons for this..
there hasn't been a ton of cars to pick from.. and the v8 ones that they might want cost a ton to insure as a young driver..
a v8 f body will cost a mint to insure ,but a pontiac lemans g body 4 door doesn't.. a fullsized pick up doesn't
but insure a mustang..$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.. the imports are mostly daily drivers for alot of people so.. the insurance rates are not sky high like the mustang/f body /etc
there are tons of these being driven by young guys/girls.. and just like me highschool days.. they are beat ,rusty bodys with killed interiors..
and they add what they can when they can..
alot of kids are in imports, cause they are hand me down cars.. and they use what they got..
the subaru turbo isn't cheap even used..,, and like the f body /mustang of my highschool days.. is a cop calling card..
the ones with sickly fast imports look like the normal run of the mill d/d with wider than stock tire/rim package...
and nothing else..
there is a dodge k car that has a 2.2 turbo worked that is quick for what it is..

[CaminoKid]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Getting back to the original question,why this era of cars?

I think that for the most part the cars that we choose to revere are those that we grew up with or those that a parent swayed us into liking along the way of growing up.

My two boys grew up in the 1990s and they like he new stuff as well as the old.
One drives a 98 BMW and has a 62 corvair currently in restoration mode.
The other has a 67 mustang,a seventy ford short bed and a 64 comet.

From my stand point the kids got a lot of their opinions on cars from me,but they still have their own likes and dislikes.

[IRONHEAD]

Re: Why do cars from the late 50's to the early 70's have such devoted fans?

Detroit has figured out how to put soul back into some cars..... They do Retro body styles back to the 70's of the Camaro, Mustang and Challenger..... But now they are $30,000 plus

they still have no sould...they just look like cartoon versions of the older cars IMO

Do we sometimes mistake "soul" for "basic" or "rough"? What would detroit have to produce for us to consider it having "soul"? No cup holders? What? Serious question.

As a "fun" car that I would not drive every day, give me a true '69 Camaro Z28 302 over a 2010 version every day. If I had to pick one to drive every day? No contest. I'm driving the new, faster, better handling, higher economy, more comfortable car.

I don't like choosing between sweet and sour. I like both.

HA , good point... most think they build junk now.. and d/g will tell you imports are so much better. can you ,fathom.. if g.m./ford/mopar build cars like the golden year....
anyone that's seen a survivor car.. knows dam well what I'm talking about... the cars we hold dear..
had fitment issues(even with all the body shims) that you'd not even find in the cheapest 80's hundyi.. , the paint sucked (orange peel/etc)
cheap plastic interior parts.. hard as a rock vinyl seats..
if they built a true retro car.. no one would buy it..