OCW contributing author Bob Tomaine poses an interesting question in his recent article "Punks and Geezers: Can aging car clubs get younger?".

You can check out his article by clicking here.

I have to admit, that while I do see a few kids with their parents at car shows and swap meets, the number is still relatively low. Maybe I wasn't normal, but I started getting interested in old cars long before I was old enough to drive. When I turned 15, and the day I would get my driver's license grew nearer, I started combing the country side for an antique car that I could work on. Luckily, my dad found a '52 Studebaker Land Cruiser tucked away in an old horse barn that fit the bill. The hours we spent getting the old "Stude" up and running are ones that I will never forget and wouldn't trade for the world.

As the collector car hobby gets a little grayer, I was wondering if you think that younger people will be interested in the hobby?

And, what (if anything) are clubs doing to attract younger collectors?

Let me know what you think.

Matt

I read the article with great interest as I see this as a big problem.  I joke that in 1980 when I first attended car shows with my Dad that I was the youngest person there at 13 and now at 41 I still am. 

I guess the above thought is correct that it is hard for a kid to be really interested unless someone exposes them to some hands-on experience.  Thinking back, I was very interested in cars as a pre-teen, but I did not cross over into a real interest in restoration until my Dad actually bought a few old cars to experience.  I still remember a ride in his 1955 TBird, my first top down convertible ride on a beautiful May day and I was hooked.  HOWEVER, a problem in this is that we car people do not come off as very inclusive as a rule.  If we have a nice old car we can be elitist and we are certainly cool to kids coming around and possibly touching or scratching our old cars.  My whole life in old cars has been one old timer after another sneering at my perceived youth & inexperience.  Even at 40 I get second rate attention by parts vendors who must assume I am not going to spend enough money to take their attention from, say, a Corvette guy or something.  I wonder if other hobbyists feel this way too?   

As someone in the hobby for most of my life I truly have stayed in in spite of the poor attitudes rather than any encouragement from others.  I am still ambivalent about it now.  There were notable exceptions, the old timers in the local car club that let us ride in parades and such, that was always fun and they were nice.  But even then, when we took an interest in 20 year old cars (musclecars and such) rather than older ones they were not happy as these we just "used" cars too recent in their memory.  And now at my age as I see 1983 models at Hershey I see how they must have felt (even though I am more welcoming of these late models).   

So how do we include younger people?  I still do not know myself.  I think it is fair to say that the average hobbyist is in his 60s, possibly retired, and likes to be with others like him.  AND given the time and money the hobby can require I think it has always naturally skewed older demographically.  BUT even if we act inclusive to an interested 20 year old, does he really want to hang around the retirees?  Probably not, he wants to be with peers too, and the drift away continues.  This is a problem with the Street Rod world too, traditionally Street Rodders were younger than Restorers, but now they are all grey too and the kids are not attracted to that.  As far as clubs go, add in the fact that fewer people my age and younger commit to join ANY formal organization and this is a problem. 

Another problem is the idea of restoring a car yourself.  I knew I could never afford to HAVE a car restored, I would have to perform my own work, and in fact most of my friends also had to learn basic car repairs to keep on the road.  For a kid getting started now it might be impossible to gain the learning experiences I had.  A kid today cannot paint his own car in lacquer paint for a few hundred bucks (not exactly a proper job, but a learning experience toward better things).  He cannot park and work on an unlicensed car in the parents driveway in his suburban subdivision.  He probably cannot have a large garage available until he buys a country home ($$$), and he cannot visit the local junkyard to see disassembled cars and how they work because it no longer exists.  His friends do not know how to work on cars either, so it becomes socially a lot easier to just play video games.  And he has never adjusted timing or points or driven a car without power steering & brakes, so even if he likes cars his interest in authenticity is questionable and he probably only likes newer models or Street Rods. 

Regarding the article, what about the idea of an automotive history class or something for high school or community college students?  I wonder if anyone has done anything like that and how did it go?  If there are any younger people here on the forum, maybe a few words on what to do?  And to the old timers, remember that if the younger people are not educated and enthused who will be there to buy your old cars when you are ready to sell them?  If the hobby is to live on we must do something positive in this area.