Fewer Teens Are Driving–What Does This Mean for Vintage Cars?

Hello Petrolicious,
I am only 16 but am very interested in classic cars. I have a very low budget but would like to purchase at some point (1-2 years). I know I wouldent be able to drive it as a daily, but are their any insurance company’s that would offer some low amount of driving hours insurance?

smug attitudes from older vintage owners. Lack of interest or time from people (adults) who should be showing kids how to use their hands. Old farts overpricing their crap and pricing out all the good iron. I’d say a lot of it comes from the generation before me.

I agree with what others have said about younger people simply not being able to afford a car at all anymore let alone a vintage car. Most young are strapped with so much college debt that even the thought of buying a house or garage to work on the car in is unobtainable.

Also another thought on the matter. The article mentions pre-war cars specifically but I have had this conversation about muscle cars as well. The cars that I tend to gravitate towards are 80s-90s European cars and most of my friends of similar age would probably prefer an 80-90 European or Japanese car as car to collect, keep, restore, etc.. My father and other family friends often question how I can be into cars but not care much for American muscle cars or hot rods. My answer to them is simply is that those are not the cars I grew up with. I had posters of the e30 M3, 993 turbo and NSX on my wall and not 60s Muscle cars. I will admit that the muscle car era was a great era in cars but it wasn’t my era and I didnt live through it. If I have a little extra disposable income I am going to spend it on the dream cars I had as a kid. I also probably doesn’t help that the offerings of the big 3 during the 80’s and 90’s was pretty poor as a whole so a generation grew up not really appreciating any car made in the US. This translates to the same group of people not looking into, researching or considering the past or the future cars made by the big 3, the vintage cars and the cars currently on the lot. I have an appreciation now for vintage BMW and Alfa that I didnt even know about as a kid because I love my BMW e30 and now appreciate the whole brand and other cars like it. I, however, will admit that my knowledge of GM cars is pretty poor since there wasn’t really a car I grew up admiring that sparked me to research the brand and its history. I dont think a lot of people who lived through the muscle car era really understand this. So while the younger generation cant afford a a car, the ones that can perhaps do not necessarily like or appreciate the cars that the traditional cars guys of today want them to. I don’t think this makes us less of an enthusiast, just a different generation. The prices that Hemi Cuda and Shelby GT500s go for today, i think will be reserved for the R32 GT-R, Supra Turbo, RX7, e30 M3 and 993 in a few decades time. I know those are the cars I would want sitting in my garage when I am an old man and look nostalgically back upon my youth…

Being 19 I hope young people don’t have the same amount of car craze as older generations. Because then prices of classic cars will go down and I will be able to afford a bigger collection!

Well as an 18 year old student that life’s in the Netherlands I can say to you that overhere we are having the same problem. Its just to expensive….. And also, most of young generation don’t find it worthwhile to own a car while they are still in college. Luckily for me! I am the proud owner of a Fiat Barchetta from 96.

I think there are several angles to this (skip to the end for the punchline):
A) Jolocho has already mentioned how these days working with your hands is for chumps (it isn’t – consider 1) the rising standard (aka cost) of living in China and elsewhere and the jobs beginning to come back to the States, 2) the threat of zombiepocalypse (a fantasy) and natural/manmade disasters (a reality) and the need for basic skills and 3) the plethora of BS/BA degree kids looking for jobs while many blue-collar markets are on the rebound).
B) A 16 year old, entry-level Romantic/Idealist has more plentiful, cheaper and simpler options to escape than the old model of getting a job, buying a car, learning enough about it to keep it running (even if by proxy through a shop) so that you can get out of Pleasantville/Isolation City/Dystopia-ton and find your own path. Why don’t you just check out mentally on Facebook, Grand Theft Auto, YouTube or American Idol and create your own fantasy? It’s far cheaper, easier and won’t offend your parents as much because you can do it from the safety of your own room. Then, just get a ride from a rich friend or take public transportation and scratch the save-the-world itch by doing nothing.
C) A 16 year old, entry-level Realist who wants something tangible in their hands rather than an Idea To Follow is encouraged to pursue a career as a professional athlete, musician or other performer (they aren’t lacking self-esteem). Many schools don’t know what to do with them since they no longer offer much in the way of shop classes. These kids end up with a college degree in something they don’t love, with debt they can’t really afford, prepared for jobs they don’t REALLY want and it taking 6 years from their (historically, anyway) most productive, ambitious and formative years of their lives.

TL:DR
For all the Facebooking, Twittering, Ritalin-ing, Grand-Theft-Auto-ing, that we/they (I’m 29) are known for, this generation has the same heart aspirations and dreams as every other generation. We/they want to find That Thing that brings happiness and contentment. Technology has offered us/them FAR cheaper and more plentiful resources for tickling that part of the brain than ever before, short-circuiting the roundabout JOURNEY that previous generations walked in earning their gray hairs. As much as things change, they stay the same.

Well I’m a high school-er, and I read Petrolicious, so I like vintage cars. I get what this article is saying though, because save a couple of my friends, very few people at my school are interested in cars. Very few of them even have cars. When I was a freshman, I was really confused by this, because in my mind, you went and got your license and a car as soon as you were allowed to. I’ll be getting my license shortly, and I hope to be driving something vintage to school everyday!

As a 16 year old like myself, I too have found myself often surfing the different sites from Hemmings to Ebay to even craigslist looking for a project car, I have a really diverse taste and like nearly anything old. I must say though, in October I went to look at a 54′ F100 with a 239 in it and I really, really wanted it but when I started calculating costs it was going to be too much, also because, unfortunately for me I live in Upstate New York, where we have fairly long and harsh winters so as easy as it would be to go out and find a junky old muscle car and just build it back up to my liking or anything along those lines its very difficult due to the poor weather, which is the biggest killer. That being said, I havent given up and I keep looking for something!