Got this from a friend a few minutes ago....sumptin tuh think aboot, no?
From "Automotive News"...


Cruisin' in the future� with what?

Edward Lapham

While we're up here in Traverse City trying to sort out the future of the auto industry, some of our friends and colleagues are happily living in the past.
Some are en route to Monterey, Calif., for the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Others are polishing up their 1960s muscle cars for the annual Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit.
Maybe you plan to join them.
Whether it's something as high brow as a concours or something as basic as an after-work get-together with your buddies who bring their hot rods and muscle cars to the local speed shop to share hot dogs and soda pop, there is something that's just plain fun about old cars.
Over dinner the other night, a friend and I discussed which of today's cars would turn up in dream cruises 20 or 30 years from now. We started out talking about Audi R8s, Porsche Boxsters Dodge Vipers, Chevy Corvettes, new Dodge Challengers and Ford GT40s.
But then it hit us: None of them would be on the list. Those are cars we like today, not cars we would have driven back in the day. And they're certainly not the cars of today's young people who will create tomorrow's cruisers.
So we listed the common denominators of today's classic cruisers. Mostly, they were relatively inexpensive, impractical two-door coupes with big engines. And they were immortalized on Top 40 radio.
But most importantly, we bonded with our cars because we busted our knuckles working on them. Because of technology -- including the kind discussed up here -- most of today's young people couldn't do that any more. Even if they wanted to.
So, which cars will be tomorrow's cruisers?
I don't know. The list seemed so short that we changed the subject.

Most of the cars of today can't be tinkered with unless you are from the factory, trained by the factory, or are a computer wizz.  I think one of the biggest things about the older cars of yester-year is the ability to be able to modify or rebuild them yourself.  I seriously would hate to see Ricers as the cars of future car shows.

I gave my 17 year old son my 1995 Chevy Stepside Pickup when he turned 16  that I bought new. It had always been Garage kept and was in real nice shape. I have enjoyed watching and helping him work on it. He has changed my "old school wheels" as he called them to some 20"s and added a roll pan and had my old school pinstripes removed. I'm happy that he's learning and interested in in cars but I don't think it's the same as when we grew up. I think Trucks and Vettes will always be cool.

The cars of today are so high tech, that this old dog is to old to keep up with them, and I am very select on which ones I will work on. Your Audi's, Mercedes, Beemers, etc. top the list. However the cars today are high tech compared to what we drove and worked on when we were young 30 or so years ago. OK so 30 years from now how much will the technology change? A bunch I bet, including using different fuels, ie elec., water, cow dung, etc. So my point here is the cars of today that will become classics later will be gas burners, high HP clunkers, and prolly be considered hot rods cars in 2038.  I think I'll go out and pick up a 2009 Z06 put it on blocks and when I'm 90 years old I can drive a Hot Rod. Iffin they will let me have my dang license.

my7T12008-08-14 09:09:54

Lonnie, good man u know the meaning of life  I also am trying to pass on some knuckle bustin knoweldge to my 10 year old son. We bought that red one in my signature pict. to tear apart and rebuild. It will be a great bonding experience as well as learning.

You can tinker with the cars of today. You use a lap top and change computer chips rather than adding carburetors...no where near as elegant...but every bit as effect. Based on watching my racing friends manipulate their engine management systems, it  doesn't appear to be all that diificult. If you really screw it up, you can always call up the default and start over.

What has been lost is the individual style. The differences between a "57 Ford and a '57 Chevy can be spotted blocks away. Today, you have to be close enough to see the emblem on the car the make of the car. They all basically look the same and it is virtually impossible to ascertain a model year. I posed the classic car of the future question to a young friend of mine and, without hesitation, he replied,"The '57 Chevy". In his mind there is nothing being built today will someday be labeled a "classic"...I agree

 

[QUOTE=my7T1] including using different fuels, ie elec., water, cow dung, etc[/QUOTE]


UH....no Terry....that's what we power C3VR with...



The '57 Chebby will ALWAYS be a "Classic", no matter what, as will the '57 Corvette...
I just got the latest Kruse Auburn auction catalog. Looking thu it, there are SOOO many cars I'd forgotten about, but will always have a place in my heart(and in my garage, if I had any $$$$!). Just think, the Model T is already over 100 years old, and still runnin around as T-buckets on the street. Imagine in 30 years....there will still be T-buckets and '34 Fords around.Adams' Apple2008-08-14 10:06:59

[QUOTE=cilrah]Most of the cars of today can't be tinkered with unless you are from the factory, trained by the factory, or are a computer wizz.  I think one of the biggest things about the older cars of yester-year is the ability to be able to modify or rebuild them yourself.  [/QUOTE]

I'm probably one of the younger guys on here, actually the same age as my Corvette.  Before I bought my c3, I spent the last twelve years tinkering with Toyota Supras so I kinda grew up with electronic ignition, fuel injection and emission controls.  The technology is more advanced, and certainly there is a higher cost associated with modifying higher technology, but its really not that mysterious and not that much different.  We stroke Supra 3.0L to 3.2L basically the same way you stroke a 350 to 383.  But instead a new carb, we install larger fuel injectors and a new e-prom chip.  Grass roots hot-rodding is alive and well in the modern tuner world too with people running around salvage yards figuring out what parts from this Nissan will fit that Mazda over there and vice-versa.  The same ingenuity that built T-buckets and put hand-me-down family sedans on the drag strip back in the day is now going into - gasp!  Civics!

Three main points:  1) alot of YOUR old-school knowledge is still applicable to the modern cars of today so there is a continuance, 2) ANY new technology can be learned and understood if one has the desire, and 3) there ARE people out there today who have the desire to play with cars even tho its not as common for the average joe to do his own repairs as it was 30+ years ago.   I'd worry more about whats going to happen to these old Corvettes in 25 years.  The Honda Civics will be at the shows because they got 35-40 mpg on the way there. 

Ya well I tend to think like the older clan.  Had a '65 Mustang Fastback that I could do anything on and now the '72 Corvette  Haven't attempted anything with the newer technology cars like Phil has (he is just as savvy with both the old and the new).  Little brother is showing such wisdom at such a young age eh?

[QUOTE=bio11] I gave my 17 year old son my 1995 Chevy Stepside Pickup when he turned 16  that I bought new. It had always been Garage kept and was in real nice shape. I have enjoyed watching and helping him work on it. He has changed my "old school wheels" as he called them to some 20"s and added a roll pan and had my old school pinstripes removed. I'm happy that he's learning and interested in in cars but I don't think it's the same as when we grew up. I think Trucks and Vettes will always be cool. [/QUOTE]

I totally agree Lonnie. Trucks and Vettes are cool!

Scott