Where do you think the hobby is going ?

[JunkYardFind]

The biggest threat is probably fuel going away but I will say that I did see a good turn out last night

@Purepony
Was this at Bobs Big Boy? Been meaning to head out there soon.

[Yeya93]

Well I am a 27 year old who is tackling down a 70 Challenger SE model. It's been a dream of mine since I was younger to have me an ebody. I spent 7 yrs going to college,  graduated from grad school, and my father decided to provide me with a project car as a gift. I've been working on it for a year and a half now. I continue to put in a ton of hours in it before it becomes a back burner for if and when I get married and start having children. Once that happens, i know it would delay the hell out of the project, hence the reason I work on this car mostly daily. I want my dream to come true ASAP if able! Now I know it's not the major "want" in a 70 Challenger in regards to RT, matching numbers, yadda yadda, which is why I decided to make the car how I would like it. Keeping it with the original look (interior and exterior) of course to my liking, but have a modern drive to it. Now I grew up hating working on cars for my father in his body shop, which was minimal stuff; i could've cared less on learning how to do body work. But since this car has came into my life, i enjoy the hell out of restoring it so far. But, GEEZUS is this hobby expensive and laborious. Haha if it weren't for my father's body shop equipment, i would have NEVER entered this realm unless I bought one "ready." But by gosh I have learned so damn much about body work. I never knew how to weld until now. I've repaired and patched up all the rust that was present initially, hired body man to install the new parts on, and I took over from there trying to make it as perfect as I am able to make it.

I'm no where near done, but I've made some good progression so far. I have to give a HUGE thanks to this forum and everyone that has helped me through this journey so far.

P.S. my car came with a 71 grill for some reason. Still available for sale if anyone is interested.

And if anyone wants to donate parts, feel free to do so as well. Haha but seriously though. I'm tired of spending money on this thing. Haha


Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Purepony]

Yeah it was pretty good
I took the satellite out

[torredcuda]

The car hobby is not going away anytime soon, maybe someday they will ban gasoline powered vehicles and they`ll be stuck in museums but that won`t be for another 20-30-50 years. I see plenty of biulds going on from stock restos to big dollar Pro Tourers to low budget drives by all age groups. One thing I have noticed is many more newer cars at shows and cruise nights, I think either some have sold the old musclecars for a newer one or have both and just prefer to drive the new one more while the old ones sits in the garage.

[RUNCHARGER]

Good job Yeya and you have the right idea. Don't stop working on the car until it is finished. I always took 1 year max to do a car, I see other ones get stalled and sit in the garage for years at a time and that's just a waste.

[docmel]

The reason, I beleive, you dont see many 60-70;s MC,s is because its expensive.  Parts, labor, etc drives away the younger crowd.  A paint job alone can run 5K and higher, easy.   

And the reason MC prices are so high, started when Barret Jakson and the other high dollar auctions sites came on TV.  When that happened, prices SKYROCKETED, and its remains so.

Gas prices mean ZERO when it comes to MCs.  When gas prices skyrocketed a few years ago, prices did not go down on collectables   

Whjere is it going:  It wont be 20-30 years when the hobby goes away.    It will be MUCH sooner if the politicians have their way:  Dont think so?  They tried YEARS ago when the govt was considering stopping the sales of classic car parts.  Do your research, you will see.   

[DrEamer]

This "hobby" is as expensive, in part, as you choose to make it.   If you want to spend less on a classic Mopar, then start with an A, or C body. If you want to spend less on an E, then start with a 72-74, or slant /318 , or base car. Also, we seem to be prone to over restoring these cars. Many come out looking better looking then originals ever were. I love Ma Mopar, but build quality was not job one back in the day. Take a look at true survivor car, and notice the body gaps, not to mention the lack of good welds. My car came with old school patch repairs on the floor. Is it as nice as full panels, nope, but it is structurally sound, and no one will see it unless they want to crawl under my car. My value will come from driving my car and enjoying it with my family. 

[IRON MAN]

Whjere is it going:  It wont be 20-30 years when the hobby goes away.    It will be MUCH sooner if the politicians have their way:  Dont think so?  They tried YEARS ago when the govt was considering stopping the sales of classic car parts.  Do your research, you will see.   

FYI: Pres Biden owns a '67 Corvette. Gov Cuomo has a car collection which includes a C3 Corvette, 69 El Camino, 73 Camaro, 68 GTO, etc.   Sen Jon Tester owns a 56 Buick and 55 Chevy. Rep Bill Posey owns a 66 Chevelle and installs big blocks in his 30's cars. SEMA is to muscle cars like the NRA is to gun ownership. It is as American as baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie.

[torredcuda]

 

This "hobby" is as expensive, in part, as you choose to make it.   If you want to spend less on a classic Mopar, then start with an A, or C body. If you want to spend less on an E, then start with a 72-74, or slant /318 , or base car. Also, we seem to be prone to over restoring these cars. Many come out looking better looking then originals ever were. I love Ma Mopar, but build quality was not job one back in the day. Take a look at true survivor car, and notice the body gaps, not to mention the lack of good welds. My car came with old school patch repairs on the floor. Is it as nice as full panels, nope, but it is structurally sound, and no one will see it unless they want to crawl under my car. My value will come from driving my car and enjoying it with my family.

  The ones saying it`s too expensive need to lower thier expectations, learn how to restore the cars themselves or work more overtime.    We all would love a six figure Hemi car with 800 hp, natioanl show winning paint etc. but you can get in the hobby and have almost as much fun with a driver quality car with 300hp. There are plenty of decent cars out there for under $10k

[RSI700VIPER]

 Regarding Joe Biden - he checked out a few years ago and is now an empty shell.  The policies he is espousing are those of his far left wing socialist supporters who got him elected.  As for our hobby- most of us had these cars when we were teenagers and young adults.  We didn't collect and restore them back in the 70s, we drove the piss out of them because it was fun... and exciting!  Nothing like the rush of a huge thermoquad or a six barrel barking out that deep thwahhh noise as you punched the accelerator.   Now these same kids and young adults want to relive their youth.  The difference is that these kids are now adults in there late 50s, early 60s with kids out of college, mortgages paid off, and most in their peak earning years with cash on hand.  That is why the hobby is so expensive these days.  Supply and demand.     

[Spikedog08]

NO POLITICAL POSTS ALLOWED!   Let's stay on topic here . .

[nsmall]

I have been in 2 new challengers.  Tons of power and tons of fun.  No offense, but I would rather own my 73 Cuda any day over a new challenger even though I spent enough on my restoration to buy a nice used hellcat.

From the sound to the vibration and feel of driving it, there is no substitute. I see a future in these cars as long as younger kids keep the hobby alive.  I am 41 and it does seem like I am on the younger side at car shows.

[CudaA39]

Yeya I'm going through a very similar process and you're correct for assuming kids/house details projects like this.  Had I paid better attention I would have sold my racecar two years prior and jumped on my 71 Cuda GC much earlier (same color as yours too).  I'm only a few years older than you, but with daycare costs, home construction, etc there isn't much time or $ for this stuff right now.  I try to do as much as I can here or there, but until my house is done dedication to bodywork is out the window.  I'm also sick of spending money haha.

[Kowal]

I think there are a couple of things going on...

1. Prices are high right now because there is less for sale.   Dealers I know are struggling to find good cars, when they do they sell right away, hence high prices.   I think this will settle down post Covid.

2. I am amazed at how "alive" the morning car cruises are.   With lots of club activity, lots of attendance.   But...lots of new cars of course, including a bigger share of euro imports, less classics.   I give these participants a lot of credit though, they do track days, road courses and drag strips, they modify their cars...so really not any different than in the 70's when people modified current cars!

3. Older cars are fading away unfortunately.   People that understood the 50's and early 60's cars are aging out of the hobby, you rarely see them.   I think Mopar still gets a lot of action because its Mopar, I think people still understand that multi-carb cars are cool, I also thinks certain models get more younger interest.   I had a 69 GTX that was really nice and when I took it out no one cared.   I think most people at a show don't even know what an LS6 Chevelle is or care.   On the other hand, 70's Challengers seem to get a lot of young people attention.   The Hemi in my Charger gets lots of stares from all ages, mostly I think because you just don't see them that often "in the wild".   I know a guy with a Buick GSX and he laughs that no one knows what it is, on the other hand Grand Nationals get lots of attention at cruises and people know exactly what they were.   You can see that in Grand National prices.

I should add that I am 62, so when I say "young" it is a pretty broad category!!

[Poolshark314]

I think there are a couple of things going on...

1. Prices are high right now because there is less for sale.   Dealers I know are struggling to find good cars, when they do they sell right away, hence high prices.   I think this will settle down post Covid.

2. I am amazed at how "alive" the morning car cruises are.   With lots of club activity, lots of attendance.   But...lots of new cars of course, including a bigger share of euro imports, less classics.   I give these participants a lot of credit though, they do track days, road courses and drag strips, they modify their cars...so really not any different than in the 70's where people modified current cars!

3. Older cars are fading away unfortunately.   People that understood the 50's and early 60's cars are aging out of the hobby, you rarely see them.   I think Mopar still gets a lot of action because its Mopar, I think people still understand that multi-carb cars are cool, I also thinks certain models get more younger interest.   I had a 69 GTX that was really nice and when I took it out no one cared.   I think most people at a show don't even know what an LS6 Chevelle is or care.   On the other hand, 70's Challengers seem to get a lot of young people attention.   The Hemi in my Charger gets lots of stares from all ages, mostly I think because you just don't see them that often "in the wild".   I know a guy with a Buick GSX and he laughs that no one knows what it is, on the other hand Grand Nationals get lots of attention at cruises and people know exactly what they were.   You can see that in Grand National prices.

I agree completely with your statement. I also think ppl are more interested in Challengers than Chevelles because the new Challenger exists and they recognize the name but a new Chevelle doesn't so they have no clue. Same goes for Hemi and Charger names.