Where do you think the hobby is going ?

[js27]

Like most of us older folks I have been into the hobby since the late 60's. We have lived through the ups and downs of the hobby. As we all learn that time catches up to us all. A lot of the above comments are true. The hobby is evolving. Back in the 60-70's they were everyday drivers. 80-90 were when people got tired of driving 4 cylinder puddle jumpers and started missing their beloved muscle cars. There were still plenty around and the demand started to increase and so did the prices. 2000's brought about the popularity from car auctions and people started seeing cars prices get crazy so more people jumped into the hobby. Later in the 2000's NOS parts started to dry up and their prices when crazy. Then original cars started to dry up so the clone craze started. $175.000 for a clone 70 or 71 Hemi Cuda. Then the Retro Resto's started with new age technology. All the baby boomers who grew up with these cars and bought them are now dying off. Look at how many MAJOR Collectors have passed in the last few years. Most Kids today don't have the finances to buy and restore a Mopar today let alone the ambition. If they have money they just go down to their local Dodge Dealer and by a new Challenger with all the creature comforts and modern technology. When did any of us old timers ever have a 700 HP car with Air Conditioning ?? I was lucky and bought my last two muscle cars in the early and mid 90's. Original Parts were still available and you could get all the body and paint work done for $4.000 to 6000.00 bucks. Now you pay that for materials. I think there will always be a market for the extremely high ends ( 6 and 7 figures) collector cars for the ultra rich collectors. I think most of the lower end cars  (5 figures) will be around for awhile. They will be mostly passed down from Father to Son or grandson. I do not see kids today hunting down and buying-restoring cars. Who know what the Future will bring so if you got one DRIVE it and enjoy the hell out of it. If you are a young kid and want one but can't afford it then find an old guy who has one and who doesn't have any kids and make friends with him and maybe just maybe he will leave you his-HAHAHA.
JS27

[Purepony]

I hope so. I see a lot of euro cars around here but mostly newer like m3s
I hope your right and I agree with the parts

[Purepony]

I whole heartedly agree brother. That's what I was thinking .

It feels like it gets hot when a muscle car hits the screen but the prices just make everyone forget

[Purepony]

Sorry but that's a crap out   

If that were me I'd will the cars to a true buddy so the wife don't get nothing and give the nephew the challenger since like you said you'll be gone anyway

Gran Torino style

[Purepony]

Exactly !! Leave him both to piss off your son and your wife 

[Purepony]

That's not really a rich mans game
Mc laren, gt3, lambo, Ferrari 125k-10 million is a rich mans game

[Bossgold]

I don't think the hobby is going away but it is evolving. I think it's fading for the crowd that gets excited by the late 50s cars and in it's prime for the mid 60s to mid 70s crowd. Some time, in 20 or 30 years, there will be a whole segment of auto enthusiasts that will be searching for their old jacked up pick up trucks in the same way as we looked for our old muscle cars. The value any given vehicle will flex accordingly. For now, I just plan to enjoy the ride, pun intended.

I agree 10000% with this...

I think with time everything evolves and just like Ham Radios, Photography in the late 70's and other trends (remember when 55 T-birds/Bel airs were hot) things change with time. I personally believe that when the money element of Auction houses and Classic car show rooms got hot earlier in this decade it did a disservice to this hobby. It made the buying experience painful in general and people got burned on over paying and bad purchases.

Now, I also believe that Covid quarantine and cheap money has raised prices in the last year. Combined with the refinance piggy bank mentality but that will soon end as well. resto shops will lose current demand, prices will come down and supply will increase as the population that owns these cars will pass away. In the end, the true loyalists will remain and good solid quality cars (no rust, nice restoration, original metal/motors) will stay at higher prices. I also think that cars in the over $ 100K range will lose demand and they will be placed in a much more palatable cost bracket. I don't plan to ever sell my cars so I have to think what will become of them when I am not here anymore. And that will bring the final question do I plan for keeping the hobby alive or will it even matter what happens to my cars since I won't be here to worry about it.

[Purepony]

Sad but true
I too wonder what'll happen to my cars when I leave 

[JS29]

I am not to worried about my cars, It's just to bad I won't get to see the battle over who gets what. 

[Poolshark314]

My nephew wants my 2012 Challenger but my sister will kill me if I let him have it. My son has no interest on either of my Challengers. My wife said she get rid of both as soon as I hit the dirt. In the mean time, I will keep them and enjoy them. Not much you can do when you are not around.

Make sure I'm contacted 😂. I'm only 33 so still have more classics to get in my lifetime.

Sweet! I'm 35 and have wanted an E body since I was a kid. I think there are plenty of younger folks that would be into 70's muscle cars, but it's cost prohibitive for most. Think about why the older generations were into muscle cars in the first place. They were cool colors, made to go fast, and CHEAP! Kids today are not much different, they just have to find those qualities in cars of the 90's and 00's.

[worthywads]

To bad cars aren't like vinyl, I have a collection of 1000 albums most bought before 1990 and mostly new so they have been kept well.  Suddenly everyone 13-35 has a turntable and wants to be hip.  I'm not selling, but I need to check with my insurance agent on how to insure them properly.

Listening to Aerosmith Toys in the Attic right now.

[dodj]

That's not really a rich mans game
Mc laren, gt3, lambo, Ferrari 125k-10 million is a rich mans game

Depends your idea of 'rich' I guess. To me, these cars are too expensive to be called a hobby by most people. You wanna hop into the ebody group nowadays? You need to be willing to buy almost junk for 10-15K and spend 50-150K fixing it. That's not a hobby..IMO....

[DeathProofCuda]

That's not really a rich mans game
Mc laren, gt3, lambo, Ferrari 125k-10 million is a rich mans game

Depends your idea of 'rich' I guess. To me, these cars are too expensive to be called a hobby by most people. You wanna hop into the ebody group nowadays? You need to be willing to buy almost junk for 10-15K and spend 50-150K fixing it. That's not a hobby..IMO....

Everything you say here is true; however, it seems to me that insane restoration prices are resulting in another evolution of the hobby, which is the more recent interest in driver condition and "ratty" musclecars.  The younger crowd especially are not interested in trailer queens or numbers matching cars.  They don't want to spend their weekends polishing their cars and sitting next to it in a lawn chair.  They just love the styling of the cars and want to be able to drive the wheels off them like Freiburger and Dulcich are doing on "Roadkill Garage" or Dylan McCool is doing on his YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Y_b_oBV6k

[Joegrapes]

25 years ago when I bought my car the prices were pretty reasonable. Everyone wanted 70-71 cars and 72-74 cars were cheap. After I built the car I did the local car show scene for a few years. Car shows were more fun then. They had classes where e bodies competed against each other. Then the car shows changed where it became just a popularity contest between Mopar, Chevy and Ford cars of the same years. Now when I go to shows to just to look most of the cars are new Challengers and Corvettes. Even the local clubs are full of members with new cars. There's a limited number of these cars and people that can afford it will spend pretty much what ever it takes to buy them. Driving most young people out of the hobby. The cost of restoring the car is just way to high. When I did my car I did all the work myself. I would have had 3 times the money into it if I had to pay someone to do the work. The cost is just to high for most young people especially when they can go into any Dodge dealer and buy a new Challenger for less money.

[dodj]

The cost is just to high for most young people especially when they can go into any Dodge dealer and buy a new Challenger for less money.

And this is mainly why I call it tooo expensive to be a hobby anymore. Labour of love?...sure. But hobby?  those days are dwindling.

Maybe it's because when I got my car I would drive down to the local scrap yard (recycle establishment...) and find parts for my 'hobby'.... for a few bucks and a box of donuts for the guys...