Reviving the Hobby

I am far from a kid at this point. I am 44 years old... so at least still younger than most of the Model-A restorers. I have an entirely different up bringing than the general public that we all may need to promote to... I have had and still have quite a few old cars (pre war Fords only). Till this point all have been anywhere from mildly hopped up, to full blown race cars. Still all pre 1953 parts on all of them.... but, the point of my post is. I now have 5 year old twins, Henry and Alice. Both kids LOVE riding in the cars and Henry especially loves helping to work on them, etc. Me, at this point in life have been starting the search for a "STOCK" model-A for us to use as a family car. I am reaching that hilltop of middle age and I am ready to slow down and smell the flowers a bit more. So maybe the demographic that needs to be marketed to, isn't the general broad audience but the group nearing middle age. The group that already may have a set of wrenches and can maybe afford the approximately $10,000 that a lot of the cars have fallen to at this point. The ones with a family that likes to go to the races or other activities where they could slow down and enjoy the ride to get there, IN A MODEL A.... maybe hopefully that will then inspire their kids, and the neighbors kids, and the kids along the way.... I think it's going to be a hard sell to an 18 year old with no background in anything mechanical as seems to be proving the case....but I know a handful of my friends that are now aging to the point of wanting to spend our upcoming middle age, in the slow lane.

I have hope! At least a little bit....

Zach
 
Zach
Great that a 44 year old is involved!
I make a line of specialty parts for Model A.
My concern is based on the fact that most that contact me are my age or older….
I’ll be 79 Saturday…..so far, blessed with great health and abilities! Praise the Lord!
 
Glad to see somebody your age interested And it looks like your children will be also On another note middle age believe it or not Is in your late 30s the average lifespan today for a male is 76-77 years of age. I myself am 63.
 
Oh Oh. "the average lifespan today for a male is 76-77 years"

I am 77, but I am taking the Clint Eastwood attack on age. I don't let the old man in. Tomorrow I am going to pick up another A to purchase and work on.
 
My late brother was in his 20's and 30's when he restored our grandpa's 1929 Model A about 10 years ago. But when he'd go to the club meetings, he was probably the youngest person there by at least 40 years. I had no interest in driving it because it didn't have power steering, power brakes, etc. The clubs really need to all be online (not just a website, more than that) and where younger (20's-40's) people are (reddit/youtube/twitch/etc.) other than just car shows. Also it would be a good idea to have a point person in each club whose responsibility it is to respond to emails/DMs/phone calls/etc and update the club at each meeting about them.

When I was trying to sell my late brother's 1929 sedan and parts as part of his estate, I contacted the local Model A club by phone and email and never heard back. So I ended up selling the car to a classic car place and giving them the parts with the car.

I remember when my brother first got the car from grandpa, I asked him where he was going to drive it after he got it running. He said, "On the interstate!" I said, "You'd better not, it barely goes 65!" Then he started laughing because he was just kidding around and messing with me. :) Here's a picture of him with his car.
 

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Until this xyz generation gets off their phones, iPads and gaming consoles and actually gets outside to experience these marvelous examples of early engineering, I believe there will be a continued declining general interest. That doesn't mean there will not be some that will become interested but will it be enough to be sustaining? A recent Hemmings sales survey showed that the younger car enthusiasts today are more interested in late 70's and 80's than in anything prior. Not a scientific gauge, but look at how many pre '40's languish on the "For Sale" sites before selling at discounted prices, if at all. That is not just limited to vintage cars. Our kids don't want our parents and grandparents dishes or silverware or antiques. Most of us have to admit that we truly are dinosaurs of this hobby. I would love for my grandkids to someday have my '30 Roadster to enjoy and keep roadworthy but there is little interest yet other than the occasional ride despite my dragging them out to the garage to help with little tasks. It is time consuming to work on these cars, sometimes even for the most mundane fix and in this "want-it-done-now-push-button" mentality of many young people it's out of the question. The younger kids today do not have the kinds of toys we grew up with that inspired mechanical creativity. When was the last time you saw an Erector Set in a toy store? It's not just our hobby but there is an immense lack of skilled machinists, welders, mechanics, etc. because we, as a society, somehow gave in to the prevailing notion that these sorts of trades were not what we wanted our kids to pursue. Consequently, we have a whole generation of folks who seemingly need to call an electrician to change a fuse. Now, with AI looming large, there will be even less dependency on the "I can figure it out and fix it myself" mindset. Times are a-changin', my friends...
 
Oldbluoval said:
Zach
I make a line of specialty parts for Model A.
My concern is based on the fact that most that contact me are my age or older….
I’ll be 79 Saturday…..so far, blessed with great health and abilities! Praise the Lord!
Click to expand...

Just make sure that when you decide to not make the parts anymore, that you pass the tooling onto someone that is willing to keep it going. Sell it to someone, give it to someone, just don't let things get tossed out by your family that doesn't know what something is.

It's happening too much these days. Either someone wants a fortune for a small, niche item, and they don't get a buyer; or they never pass it on and the tooling is thrown out because family doesn't know what it is.
 
SUHRsc said:
I am far from a kid at this point. I am 44 years old... so at least still younger than most of the Model-A restorers. I have an entirely different up bringing than the general public that we all may need to promote to... I have had and still have quite a few old cars (pre war Fords only). Till this point all have been anywhere from mildly hopped up, to full blown race cars. Still all pre 1953 parts on all of them.... but, the point of my post is. I now have 5 year old twins, Henry and Alice. Both kids LOVE riding in the cars and Henry especially loves helping to work on them, etc. Me, at this point in life have been starting the search for a "STOCK" model-A for us to use as a family car. I am reaching that hilltop of middle age and I am ready to slow down and smell the flowers a bit more. So maybe the demographic that needs to be marketed to, isn't the general broad audience but the group nearing middle age. The group that already may have a set of wrenches and can maybe afford the approximately $10,000 that a lot of the cars have fallen to at this point. The ones with a family that likes to go to the races or other activities where they could slow down and enjoy the ride to get there, IN A MODEL A.... maybe hopefully that will then inspire their kids, and the neighbors kids, and the kids along the way.... I think it's going to be a hard sell to an 18 year old with no background in anything mechanical as seems to be proving the case....but I know a handful of my friends that are now aging to the point of wanting to spend our upcoming middle age, in the slow lane.

I have hope! At least a little bit....

Zach
Click to expand...



Hey Zach! It’s Jim, we met at Clark’s place (999 build maybe? Something Latimore related for sure) years ago when, just like you, I was a young guy in love with old Fords and early hot rods. I’m 43 now and finally have that ‘29 Roadster I’ve always wanted, albeit stock and not hotrodded. A few of us run around Hanover in our Model A’s, if you’re in the neighborhood. We aren’t an official car club, but my garage is always open. Hope to catch up soon!
 
Our club has a few younger members, including a 17 year old. The AACA has a Greenhorn Region for the younger members. Both MAFCA and MARC are making better use of social media, including Instagram.

I am lucky that my son, who is now 39, has been a car guy for a long time and likes my old cars, which I didn't have when he was growing up due to work, family, $ and no garage. He is a bit of an anomaly. He doesn't know a lot of car guys his age. It probably won't be like it was when most of us were growing up.

I was a bit of an oddball because I was one of the few guys in my cohort who liked old (think 20's and 30's) cars in the 1960's. My best friend did, so I had someone to do things with and his father took us to Hershey. Those numbers have gone down, but we need to do everything we can to promote this hobby. It's a great one.
 
The other day I was driving thru a local neighborhood, and I actually saw a group of kids playing baseball in the back yard of one of the houses and they were having a blast! None of those stupid phones in sight.


I about ran off the road in shock:p Loved seeing that!!
 
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