Are classic cars going to suffer a slow death?

I started Miles Through Time Automotive Museum in 2017. Since then I have lost count of how many times I’ve heard people express their concerns about the dying interest in the automotive world. I find the concern fascinating since my only interactions with the “classic car” world before inheriting my Pop’s 1959 Cadillac were met with, let’s say disinterest.

Between the ages of 15 and 30, the only “car” I ever owned was the own I drove daily. I’m never one to leave my car alone and I had plenty of cars over those 15 years. From a 1984 e30 BMW to a 1998 Honda Civic and Mazda Speed3 to a Dodge Ram and lifted Silverado. Believe me, there’s more, maybe I have a problem, but the point is I’ve had an automotive passion my entire life. I just haven’t always been able to afford more than my daily.

Does that mean I can’t go to car shows?

Does this mean I’m not a true automotive enthusiast?

I don’t believe so, but the reality of my personal experiences begs to differ. I can’t tell you how many times I showed up to a car and got poo-pooed on by the old guy driving a hotrod. Even today, at 40 years old, if I show up to a show in something that is not 70s or older, I’m almost shunned. Shoot try showing up in a customized Tesla and you can knit a sweater with all the hate being thrown.

I’ve always had an issue with this mentality and I do everything in my power today to at least make people aware of what they are doing when they have such a close-minded idea of what it means to be an automotive enthusiast.

My interest in the automotive world is super broad. I like a lot of different things. I like vintage cars, classic cars, rad-era cars, motorcycles, trucks, ratrods, exotics, and especially the weird oddballs. Yet so many in the automotive world have very niche interests. Sometimes to the point that if it’s not even the right brand it’s garbage. Or if it doesn’t have a carburetor, it’s not worthy.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with this kind of specific interest, but if it is projected to the other automotive enthusiasts, specifically the younger generation, it does two detrimental things.

First, it makes the other automotive enthusiasts feel unwelcome. Imagine being a 17-year-old, super proud to bring your daily driver to a car show, you’ve worked so hard on to make it yours only to be greeted with disgust that you are there. It’s a terrible feeling, I know. It’s amazing how quickly some people forget that the 17-year-old probably can’t afford a 2nd vehicle just to take to shows.

The second thing that happens is that the young person becomes disconnected from the “classic car” culture.

The ideal scenario would be a young person who is embraced with their current level of automotive interest and ability and they are shown more. You can easily broaden the automotive interests of anyone if you give them a chance. The idea would be that one day that person would be able to buy a show car or weekend car, or dive deep into daily driving a true classic, and keep the interest going.

Instead, what happens, is that the young person ends up having no connection to traditional “classic cars,” and when the opportunity arises to be able to buy that second car, they choose something else. Especially, with the prices of some of these classic cars.  It would be a hard pill to swallow to drop six digits on a classic when there are so many more options that might be more interesting to the young enthusiast.

The good news is none of this is abnormal. 

When teenagers were driving brand-new muscle cars in the 70s, guess who was talking crap and concerned about their 30s and 40s hotrods? This is the circle of automotive life.

The amount of interest in specific types of vehicles will always vary. Shoot, it only takes one popular movie or video game to revive an entire genre of vehicles.

I know it is hard to imagine but brand new vehicles will eventually become desirable classics. I know, it’s super hard to imagine, but I come from an era where I remember 90s cars being complete junk. Now it is arguable that they are still complete junk, but their desirability has still increased and they have become the new cool classic car. Keep in mind those cars are now around 30 years old.

This brings me to automotive museums. So many people are concerned about the level of interest in classic cars, especially in museums. The bottom line is there will always be an interest in automotive culture. The best thing we can all do is to embrace as much of what the automotive world has to offer as possible.

Lowriders may not be your favorite, but it’s hard not to appreciate the skill set required to build them. You may not be in a position to ever buy a supercar, but they are the peak of automotive engineering on a major manufacturing level. You may prefer shiny paint, but the creativity in rat rods cannot be denied.

Automotive museums play a major part in preserving and sharing as much of the automotive history as possible. However, every individual can also do their part whether they are at a car show or just doing a weekend drive. Use the opportunity to engage with other automotive enthusiasts, especially the younger ones, and get them excited about what a wonderful culture the automotive world is.

BONUS: This is also the best way to prevent so many car clubs from dying off. Embrace, young enthusiasts and teach them the way or be content with the club eventually going away.

Image via Sean Mathis

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