Car Culture

Quote: Ayecarumba

What has replaced the car as status symbol amongst the yoots?

Phones and hi-end sports shoes

Quote: Ayecarumba

Cars used to be status symbols amongst the teens. Expensive, fastest, lowest, highest... While street racing still exists (fatalities go up every summer), cruising isn't as wide spread. What has replaced the car as status symbol amongst the yoots?

I would guess phones.

Quote: Evenbob

I graduated in 67. In HS you wanted anything
that got you where you were going. As soon
as you're out of HS, you wanted either a
muscle car, or a souped up 55 or 57 Chevy.

Jesus. It just sunk in that Pops is 60. AND that you're not an old man. Worlds are colliding, here @.@

Yup. Though that wasn't my age, I grew up with a father who was still in that age lol. A to B from about age 5 to 15 was done in the back of a '72 Cuda. 'Cept winter when the Cuda would go up, then out came the 442. Not a 90's 442 4 banger job, either. 70's. A V-8 volcano for winter lol.

I remember he was fishtailing down the back roads at midnight, killing time 'til mom got out of work. Overcooked it and put it in a ditch. Tried to rock it; way too deep. So he, in his infinite wisdom, plops me behind the wheel. "Just give it gas. The skinny pedal. If the car moves, let off."

I was four! And I stood on that sumbitch; if he'd have loosed her I'd have been doing 20 by the time I hit the other side, and hit the other side I would have! XD

Mom with the 5.0 Indy Pace car, uncle with the '71 R/T 440 'vert. That was "normal". That's how you got around, went for groceries and s#$%, to little league, to grandma's house. /sigh.

Quote: Face

Jesus. It just sunk in that Pops is 60. .

My brother is 60. Rides his Harley all
summer. Has a wall covered in 200+
Harley hats. Still buys more off Ebay
all the time. He has a $5000 sound
system hooked up to a 60" flatscreen.
He thinks it's still the 70's.

This is just part of them.

Quote: DRich

I think you are right. Back when we were younger the world consisted if your town and maybe a few around you. Kids wanted cars to go out and explore. Today the world is much bigger for kids. Airplane flights are cheap and many people travel more now than ever before. The internet has also expanded their worlds because the can now see or read about everything in real time. Lastly kids are not bored like they used to be. There is just so much more available to them today.

A car is now just a necessary tool for most people.

I think it is a few things converging. Years ago, kids had seen the car culture. Today's kids were born in the late-1990s, a point way past when cars had become appliances. Their parents may well have even leased. "Classic" cars came from years they cannot even relate to.

Then there is that internet and phone thing. Why drive to see your friends when you can just sit and text? The mall is no longer a hangout to drive to. Schools are likely making it harder for kids to drive to.

A few years back some kid in his early 20s moved from CA to get a promotion to supervisor. He did not have nor had he ever had a driver's license! From CA! Heart of the American car culture and never had driven! Amazed me.

Anybody have an opinion on the TV reality show - Chasing Classic Cars
I'm not much of a car guy myself
But
I love this show.
They feature some unusual cars
Currently watching an episode on a Muntz car

Must be new(ish), I've never heard of it.

There have been some good car-oriented shows over the years. I see Car Talk is still on public radio. All reruns obviously, but it's still a great listen every single time. Trucks! with Stacy David used to be a Saturday morning staple, but once they brought the girl in and then lost the other guy, it kinda jumped the shark. It went from Shadtree stuff you could use, to custom stuff only a millionaire could afford, and could only hire out. Bleh.

I never really got into the reality type shows, cars or not. Monster garage, the one with the Count, that type of stuff doesn't appeal. I mean, Monster Garage did do some good stuff; his turning an El Camino into a figure 8 racer was a great show. But a lot of it is too absurd. It's fun if you like metal work, but it's not "real cars". The rest of the shows from the west were just American Pickers / Pawn Stars, only with cars. Bleh.

The most amazing car oriented show I have ever saw (and suspect, will see) was Bull Run. Hosted by Bill Goldberg, it was a Cannonball Run-esque game show. Guys showed up with their personal vehicles, and I'm not talking about aunty's Delta 88. Some memorable ones I remember were a Hennessy Viper, a REAL Hemi Cuda, plenty of "typical" hot rods like a '68 Camaro, a Gallardo, I'm talking cars that, minimum, ran $70-$80k and maxed out at over a million. The overall gist was just like Cannonball, get from point A to point B fastest. There were penalties for getting caught speeding, all fines were yours to keep, and, if you wanted to win, that meant traipsing across the desert on donkey trails, or, in some cases, just blazing your own trail across the wilderness. This in Lamborghini's and Hemi Cudas! Can you imagine? And after every stint, there would be some sort of challenge, all centered on disaster. I recall one were they had to "race" on a track, smashing through palettes and plate glass here and there, doing drive-bys with paintball guns, just a whole to-do. The track? It was a freaking CORR track! Prolly even the gearheads are like "Huh?", so, it was one of THESE....



You imagine a 68 Camaro, a Lamborghini Gallardo, racing around this? When the guy in the Cuda put it into the wall, I nearly died.

I have no idea how that show did not succeed, other than for it being on the Speed channel. If you can find it, watch it. And provide a link! I could watch it a hundred times.

Quote: Face

Must be new(ish), I've never heard of it.

There have been some good car-oriented shows over the years. I see Car Talk is still on public radio. All reruns obviously, but it's still a great listen every single time. Trucks! with Stacy David used to be a Saturday morning staple, but once they brought the girl in and then lost the other guy, it kinda jumped the shark. It went from Shadtree stuff you could use, to custom stuff only a millionaire could afford, and could only hire out. Bleh.

I never really got into the reality type shows, cars or not. Monster garage, the one with the Count, that type of stuff doesn't appeal. I mean, Monster Garage did do some good stuff; his turning an El Camino into a figure 8 racer was a great show. But a lot of it is too absurd. It's fun if you like metal work, but it's not "real cars". The rest of the shows from the west were just American Pickers / Pawn Stars, only with cars. Bleh.

I watch Autoline daily for my fix of industry news. Seems to be half an indie show, but the coverage is pretty amazing. i watch as much for the financials as the cars themselves. Autos is just an industry I follow.

"Motorz" via Roku, also on their site. is another half an indie show with sponsor backing. I really like it because even though their garage is nice, it is really close to what some people may have. They do work with tools most guys have or can easily get. They do doable projects, not something like shoving a 440 V-8 into a 1984 Omni.

And that is my thing, I never liked the crazy mod shows. I like a show where it shows me how to do something I might have concievably done at one point in my life. No more, all I want now is a nice, modern, Camry-size convertible as a toy. All I want. If I had cash I would get a Year-One kit maybe, but do it restomod, new underpinnings.

Over-the-top stuff just cannot hold my interest.

Couldn't find the thread I mentioned it before...

But Fiat just killed me. They got their stink all over everything now. Here's a taste of their genius design team...



Someone looked at that and said "Eureka! We has it! Make this a feature of ALL OUR CARS!" And it was so...



I said it looked like a catfish. And it GD does. They just ruined the prettiest truck on the market. But even with that "victory" in their billfold, it wasn't enough. Oh no. Let's also go and ruin another mainstay...



Jesus Christ. Someone teach them how to catch a shark or something.

In my search I think I found a leaked pic of the '18 Chrysler 300's...



She's a real beaut! =p

Face: Hockey player, race car driver, ammosexual, MOPAR man.

Quote: Face

But Fiat just killed me. They got their stink all over everything now. Here's a taste of their genius design team...

Why so sarcastic? For all we know this came from the top of the "ugly car department," and then it is genius. Putting what looks like the front end of a car on top of the actual front end of the car borders on avant garde ;)