The Admiral's getting paint.

Well .... sort of Chris. With due respect I view my role as one of a caretaker. Most likely anything we have will be around well after we are gone and the "caretaker" role will be passed on. I would not feel right about allowing the degeneration of the finish to continue, and snowball.
I think Patina is a fad, or trend that will not be embraced by many in the future, except those who cannot afford, or have the good sense, to do it right.

Like I said Will do what you want to your car. If preserving it for future owners is important to you go for it. I'm not a fan of patina myself but if someone wants to keep the patina at least it's not doing anything irreversible. Over time yes it will rust more but at least it's better than cutting the frame and installing air bags or putting an aftermarket flip up sun roof in it. I'm not sure anybody is even gonna care about these cars after we're gone.
 
Will I can't wait and see the shiny new Admiral at Carlisle. I like my cars, what ever age to look new.
 
What I have been thinking...

I have two 30ish sons and Grandkids starting the teenage years. While they all love cars I don't see how they will ever have the disposable income it takes for this hobby. They will not have pensions or Social Security so they will have to save every dime for retirement. The cost of everything is going up and wages are not. If I leave behind a valuble classic car it probably will be sold so my heirs can survive a little longer.
 
Like I said Will do what you want to your car. If preserving it for future owners is important to you go for it. I'm not a fan of patina myself but if someone wants to keep the patina at least it's not doing anything irreversible. Over time yes it will rust more but at least it's better than cutting the frame and installing air bags or putting an aftermarket flip up sun roof in it. I'm not sure anybody is even gonna care about these cars after we're gone.

I do believe the entire car hobby will see a decline in decades to come, but I really hope that doesn't get to the point of nobody loves these cars anymore. Air bags and Patina paint jobs will go the way of the DIY sunroof and 70s murals... we will continue to see them for years to come, but the feeling will be "why did they do that?" and they will detract from the car, not enhance it.
 
Every generation of car lovers has the same lament about the hobby dying off. It was in critical condition in the seventies and yet we got through it.

Air bags, patina, rat rods etc. are all just passing fads. Remember "Pro Street"? That was hot for a while and now it's "resto mod". This stuff comes and goes.

I build my cars to what I enjoy. The paint is shiny and I like it. If someone else likes my car, I think that's great, but if they don't, I don't lose sleep over it.
 
If someone else likes my car, I think that's great, but if they don't, I don't lose sleep over it.

that is the best way to see it.

And I don't drive/own my cars for others.
I just do it because I have enjoyment out of it.
I don't care what a trend is. I have always driven the same kind of cars no matter if they were popular or not.

Carsten
 
somebody will definitely care about our cars when we're gone. so long as there's gasoline, there'll be gearheads! and all this talk about how people from one era can't appreciate or value things from an earlier era? must be all those centenarian car enthusiasts that are driving up the prices of model t's. like the car dealers say, there's an *** for for every seat. a day will come when they'll be fighting each other for yours. now about disposable income... SG
 
They're buying Nissa Versas with 84 mo. notes, now. No extra money for fun cars anymore here.
They are all going overseas.
WE NO LONGER HAVE A MIDDLE CLASS.
 
I have two 30ish sons and Grandkids starting the teenage years. While they all love cars I don't see how they will ever have the disposable income it takes for this hobby. They will not have pensions or Social Security so they will have to save every dime for retirement. The cost of everything is going up and wages are not. If I leave behind a valuble classic car it probably will be sold so my heirs can survive a little longer.

Exactly when to comes to our cars. The car hobby is generational. You get whatever made an impression on you when you first started to drive. Was the case for my father's generation and the case pretty much for ours. We just took it to a whole other level that won't be seen again. My nephews, in their 30's, are into cars from the 80's like the fox body Mustang and Camaro. The current generation, when they do drive and when they do buy are going to want cars with connectivity. A great majority don't know how to wrench but they do know how to spend all day on social media via their cell phones. By the time they are 45, which is 20 years from now, our cars will have nothing they want. Forget about having any connection. I have been saying this for awhile but being an inconvenient truth makes it an inconvenient truth for many.

All my car impressions were made in the 60's when I went from 7-17. The first a 1958 white/red Corvette convertible in 1960 when I was selling lemonade in front of my house. The first truly strong impression as I can still see it. The second a 1965 white Mustang convertible that the daughter of one of my father's friends gave me a ride in. The third being the 1964 Galaxie 500 we took cross country. The fourth being my PE teachers 1963 split window blue Corvette.The fifth my father's red 1967 Fury III with black vinyl top. Then his 68 Cougar which fell into my care when I was 14 and became mine when 16. To end the decade it was the 1970 Olds 98. After that nothing much more made an impression on me in the 70's onward although I did get a kick out of driving the 1973 911E Targa. Almost forget Father Byrne's 1970 Charger RT 440 in gold. Of course from 1974 onward to the mid 80's there wasn't much from the Big three to be enamored by.

Another obstacle could be the wife of the family. Believe it or not but there are three guys in my Cougar club where the wife absolutely will not allow the kids to rides in the "old" Cougars with their Dads. No anti skid brakes and no air bags to name a few. I'm not kidding. So if I have run into three then how many more will be out there to say no?
 
ok, here is my 2 cents:

Yes, I think we are caretakers only.

But I doubt there will be much interest in C-Bodies on the long term.
In 20 years they will probably not have much demand anymore.
It is the same with cars from the 30s and 40s. As long as they are not special cars (like a Duesenberg etc) they won't have a big following anymore.
Right now I can't see much enthusiasm for cars from pre 1955.

They might become museum pieces but then again there will be cars like a 57 Chrysler 300C, maybe a Hurst but not many average C-Bodies.

Muscle cars will still be doing better as younger generations are influenced from films like the fast&the furious etcetc so they might be attached to them.

It is not clear if and how our cars will be used in 20+ years. Will there be still affordable gas for them?

But do I really care?
No, I just enjoy them while I can.

Carsten
 
Hey fella's.....

I remember a long time ago when the guys that were born from the turn of the century up to about World War II were always after Model T's and A's and other cars from that era during their hot rod/restoration craze during the 1960's. I was amazed at their passion for those cars. Then again.... I thought why would anyone want that old junk when there was Charger's, RR's, Barracuda's, Dart's, etc everywhere. Different generations....different passions.
 
When I was in high school (1969-1973) everyone was driving 55,56,57 Chevy's. You could get running ones for $100 all day long. I never had one and thought they were junk even back then.
 
and with the demise and passing of generations the interest in cetain vehicle groups goes down
 
So many " C Body" guys negative about our cars

I'm not being negative about "our cars" I'm negative about the future of the hobby. Mopars at the strip, Fall Fling and our local Mopar show here in Phoenix are all getting smaller the last few years. If it weren't for all the new cars in the show field it would be even smaller. The few people under 30 who are into cars here are into ricers. When we were kids turning 16 and getting a drivers license was the most important thing in the world. Now kids are in no big hurry to drive. Even if the hobby survives it's going to change so drastically that at 90 years old we won't even want to go to any car shows. As far as our "C" Bodies I have no interest in model T's or model A's and guys of tomorrow probably won't have any interest in our cars.
 
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