25 years ago, pretty much anyone could be a car enthusiast. nowadays, the cars that supposedly target that demographic are affordable only to millionaires kids. who in the hell can afford a Corolla GR, Civic Type R, Golf R, Integra Type S. there is a reason these cars are nowhere to be found. they are priced like the Saturn 5 rocket. Hollywood celebrities drive these cars. not car enthusiasts. the markups on these things is beyond insanity.
The death of the auto enthusiast.
- Thread starter macarose
- Start date
Eh, I'm old enough to think, anyone who would buy a car ready to go, isn't a care enthusiast. They might be a car driver. and very good at it, but unless if they built their car, spinning all the wrenches... and preferably after some time with a torch, making some any sheet metal mods in steel with lead filler...
When I was young I was a "car enthusiast". By the time I got out of college a Hemi car that was $20K when I was in high school was $200K and in the hands of some collector who had no clue what a box end wrench was. Lost interest.
Now I just like to fix things. Cars, toasters, old fishing reels, doesn't matter. The enjoyment comes from returning something to its original purpose using your own hands. I did spark plugs in my truck last night. Now I am fixing a box fan....
Now I just like to fix things. Cars, toasters, old fishing reels, doesn't matter. The enjoyment comes from returning something to its original purpose using your own hands. I did spark plugs in my truck last night. Now I am fixing a box fan....
Effective with the March issue-Motor Trend magazine has gone to a quarterly publication. They have been pretty thin each month the last year or so-and the type has gotten smaller, page count lower.
3783-KC1
Site Donor 2024
Personally I kinda think we are ignoring the elephant in the room.
Social media.
Takeovers and other shenanigans have damaged the car community's reputation pretty badly for a bit now. People who aren't too interested, but might be interested in cars tend to steer away from the community after seeing an event either in person or on the net. Worst part is that the people in those events aren't really car enthusiasts. They see and use cars as a method to do some wildin' in their locales. It represents the fair-weather mentality of a lot of "enthusiasts" from the 12 year old kid watching influencer #329 to the 36 year old buying ITRs, CTRs, Imprezas, etc because it brings some sort of imaginary cred amongst the people they hang with. Doesn't help that greatest imbeciles that I've ever met was/is associated with the car community near me. I'm talking people with actual morality issues not just general character/personality flaws. Personally, I love almost everything about cars, but hate the car community. I do not want to be a part any car community with the exception of BITOG and the small net of people who own stock RLs and RLXs.
Social media.
Takeovers and other shenanigans have damaged the car community's reputation pretty badly for a bit now. People who aren't too interested, but might be interested in cars tend to steer away from the community after seeing an event either in person or on the net. Worst part is that the people in those events aren't really car enthusiasts. They see and use cars as a method to do some wildin' in their locales. It represents the fair-weather mentality of a lot of "enthusiasts" from the 12 year old kid watching influencer #329 to the 36 year old buying ITRs, CTRs, Imprezas, etc because it brings some sort of imaginary cred amongst the people they hang with. Doesn't help that greatest imbeciles that I've ever met was/is associated with the car community near me. I'm talking people with actual morality issues not just general character/personality flaws. Personally, I love almost everything about cars, but hate the car community. I do not want to be a part any car community with the exception of BITOG and the small net of people who own stock RLs and RLXs.
Last edited:
Some folks like to gripe and complain a lot? I can't help you there.
Who was lusting after cool vehicles? Car guys and gals, all ages. Probably skews younger for lusting for what one cannot obtain. At local shows and drive-ins, I see car folks of all ages. The mustangs, camaros, and firebirds that I loathed in the 90s as new cars seem popular now. Guessing they are cheaper, especially if clapped out a bit. Modern day rat rod.
There have always been those that only want a car to go from A to B, and to spend as little time as possible behind the wheel. That's fine. I try to spend as little time possible cutting grass, trimming shrubs, and raking leaves.
There are plenty of affordable fun cars. I see kids out with 10 or 15 year old VW's and Hondas, or 4x4 pickups that they take to the local off road trail. While not my cup of tea, they are having fun. BMW E30 convertibles never caught the upswing in pricing of the coupes, and they seem to be popular with younger crowd and not expensive.
As for new cars, I think the Toyota GR86/FRS / Subaru BRZ isn't terribly expensive as new cars go. Base model with a manual is $30k. Its a fun drive. I enjoyed the one that I test drove a few months ago.
Go to SCCA, HSR, and whatever vintage racing circuits in your area, assuming there is a track near. Lots of car folks of all ages. Heck even the local drag strip can be interesting. All ages and even families.
I also live where there is no snow and salt. Cars don't rot away, unless they've been parked in a field for 50 years. That may be a big difference in what we are seeing.
I disagree with that statement. Those high end cars were always around and always expensive (i.e. Integra GSR, Civic Si, Supra of any kind, Eclipse Turbo, etc). Kids were always modding base models instead of the top end ones just like they would have today.
People my age would remember the days we modify Civic DX and Eclipse RS with spoilers, rims, lowering, stickers, loud mufflers, etc. Sure it is silly but it is just kids wasting money for fun like fashion statement.
The fashion trend change when smart phones come along and people just message each other more often instead of hanging out and going to each others' places. We don't drive as much as before other than long commutes, we don't buy a car to drive to friends' places at night or after schools anymore. I have a friend who wants to do a street mod business and I asked him when was the last time he saw a kid modifying his Civic? He couldn't answer.
These days people like to spend their addiction money on apps and games, streaming movies and doordash instead of driving around to pick up tacos from a hole in the wall. Nobody cares much outside of their own apartment now.
Main reason isn't the media, or the forums really. The main reason is people don't drive to each others' places to social now and would just message each other and hang out with "online friends" instead.
How many people are you sharing your hobby with online these days vs in person meet? If you don't drive much it is hard to really enjoy cars. We sure drive a lot more hours commuting but that's hard to justify spending money on a car as long as it is comfortable and big enough IMO. I don't want a V8 to commute, I want a boring Prius.
So yeah, maybe people moved on and car hobbies are now the same as horses hobbies. People find better things to do that's more convenient. Oh, people wear sweat pants instead of fashion jeans or dress pants, dress shirts, skirts, dresses, etc. Fashion people are real sad about that too.
How many people are you sharing your hobby with online these days vs in person meet? If you don't drive much it is hard to really enjoy cars. We sure drive a lot more hours commuting but that's hard to justify spending money on a car as long as it is comfortable and big enough IMO. I don't want a V8 to commute, I want a boring Prius.
So yeah, maybe people moved on and car hobbies are now the same as horses hobbies. People find better things to do that's more convenient. Oh, people wear sweat pants instead of fashion jeans or dress pants, dress shirts, skirts, dresses, etc. Fashion people are real sad about that too.
and what happens is they get stuck into a lease....then they got em.....for years and years...People can't afford new cars anymore, and even used cars are getting more expensive
along with Hot Rod...Car Craft..
I am 76 years old and I am a car enthusiast. I own 9 vehicles and drive all of them and keep them ready to go at anytime anywhere. My old 65 VW beetle is almost 60 years old and it is the one that always starts and goes. No electric anything to keep it off the road. My 1975 VW Westfalia is equally dependable. I am not saying they are the most comfortable cars I own but they are the simplest and most dependable. My wife and I love camping and the old VW's started us down that path. We have taken our Vanagon Westfalia all over the west and never had a breakdown to prevent us from enjoying our adventure. I have rebuilt each one of those motors to make them reliable and I maintain each one myself. There is nobody in our part of America that has the training or skills to maintain them. My wife wants me to thin the herd and I have managed to hold off doing that, but I do see the writing on the wall as our health declines. Newer vehicles are of no interest to me. They have nothing to tinker with. The EPA and government regulations have fixed that now so who would find having skills for them to be possible. My first car was a 1936 Ford 5 window coupe that came out of a junk yard. That was a cool car and had many things to tinker with.
That is just gatekeeping. Jay Leno has an amazing collection of vehicles and he is absolutely an enthusiast. You think he built and works on his massive collection? No way.
Also whether you modify a cheap car or buy an out of the box fast one it takes funds. And lots of it. Donut Media has several high/low builds showing exact how hard it is to make a cheap old car as good and fast as a brand new high performance car. It ain’t cheap either way.
When my kids get out of college I’m getting a weekend sport car. And I’m buying it not building it. I want to enjoy the vehicle not make it a choir.
I was one of those kids tuning Japanese cars back in the day. I had two 90’s Civics and a Sentra SER SpecV. I got into the tuner scene early on before Fast and Furious blew it up and took it mainstream.
The problem is during the 90s and 2000s cars were easier to work on. You could get a base model Civic or Eclipse cheap and go along way for a little money. I was spanking stock Mustangs and Camaros with a naturally aspirated 1.5L Civic on aftermarket parts and tuning.
Nowadays a lot of cars are coming stock turbo charged and are finicky when it comes to throwing on parts. I’ve seen modern cars freak out and misfire just by putting aftermarket spark plugs in them. You’re better off today getting a tune and leaving parts stock. It is a way harder proposition to modify cars today.
Also what does a decent base model Civic cost now - $10,000? That early 90s Civic I was spanking V8s with… yeah, I got that for less than two grand. I understand there is inflation but the barrier to entry today is a lot harder. There is no denying it.
He literally set himself on fire not that long ago, working on one of them.
No, I suspect he doesn't turn the wrenches on all of them, and maybe he only does the easy jobs, preferring to leave lots of the work to those better qualified. But I suspect he's gotten his hands dirty a few times. You're right, we could argue over threshold of being a gearhead, and that would be quite subjective, fair enough.
I've come to the conclusion that I was never an enthusiast. Read lots of magazines in the 90's, had lots of dreams. Never got past that stage, and now won't. Too expensive to do it right--let's face it, whatever "cheap" money I could throw at a car today, would be 4 or 5 times that amount if I invested it for 20 years. Let alone longer.
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2023
- Messages
- 1,434
This sums up “car enthusiasts” better than I ever could:
One of my favorite things to do when a loud car or motorcycle comes screening by is to yell “nobody cares.” If I am in a crowd it usually gets a lot of laughs and smiles. Because, indeed, nobody cares.
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2023
- Messages
- 1,434
For every truly interesting car person out there, there are 100 of these dudes. I think it has turned people off. It certainly has me.
Not to mention when a $40,000 Tesla outperforms nearly every other road car it’s hard to get that excited anymore.
Most definitely. I think that is what happened to Harley. The image has been completely ruined and it is basically just motorcycle cosplay at this point. Jeep is headed that way too, if not already there. It is just off-road dress up and a reason to purchase rubber duckies.
While I still receive C&D and MT in the mail (the subscriptions literally cost a few bucks a year), the problem with these publications is the articles are largely written by effeminate men and homely women. All they seem to cover in-depth are the "infotainment" systems and wireless phone charging. In retrospect, I should probably save the four bucks per year...
Similar threads
