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All is not lost, there are still teenagers who love cars. Last weekend I took my 16 y.o. brother to buy his first car - a 1984 Porsche 924 which he is absolutely chuffed to bits with. As soon as he got it home he thoroughly cleaned it inside and out, and on Sunday he spent a load of time cleaning and polishing the engine bay. "Doing a Pollitt"? Is he going to take things off next, then put them back on again? Sorry, he sounds like a good kid, couldn't resist the similarities though.
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ThePollitt
Posted a lot
Fix up, look... at that car on eBay!
Posts: 4,696
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There's nothing wrong with the Pollitt technique. Taking things off and then attempting to put them back is a vital part of the learning curve.
And it makes you fell reet manly.
Chris
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I think its many combinations of issue's, most of which have already been mentioned.
I used to run my old V8 110, and a family car, the 110 got muddy (and broken) most weekends,so used to fix it up etc etc,then go out and do it all again,plus my daughter used to 'help' me fix it.She's now 14 and wants a landy as her first car I was the only person where i live who had a car being fixed at the weekend. ( mostly company car types round here,you know,wash them every sunday morning)When i was a kid ( i'm now 43) and nearly everyone fixed their own car.
I can now only afford to run one motor, so thats an 03 plate Pug 406 hdi estate. Going for a 'drive' these days is a financial no no, cannot justify the fuel costs.
I can remember going round a scrappie pulling bits off whatever car i needed parts for at the time,plus if you got stuck fixing it, you could always ask Tom/Dick/Harry down the round rd if they got a widget/spanner/bigger hammer etc etc ....
When i was 16/17, i couldn't wait to get a car,i loved tinkering with them, but then again, when i was 17, there wasn't really anything else to do, no computers/internet/mobiles/satellite tv etc ....
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seven
Part of things
Posts: 69
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The article is lamenting millenials not buying new cars, well they can't afford to, but they still have an inspiring car culture and are still into cars, modern or otherwise. Couldn't agree more. The problem isn't that "millennials" have lost interest in cars, or that theres no car cultures anymore. The problem is the new cars themselves, be it design, pricing or just general running costs/insurance. The only feasible way for someone my age (22 years old) to have anything new would be as part of a finance package. Which in turn means no modifications without voiding the warranty/insurance that come with the car. Heck you can't even have them serviced elsewhere without voiding the warranty so D.I.Y is pretty much out the question as well. This is all assuming someone my age has a job with enough stability to be able to agree to a contract of that scale in the first place. And even then you still end up with a standard car that lends weight to the "millennials have lost interest in cars" claim.
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Has it ever been feasible for under 25's to go out and buy a brand new car? I have had 1 new car, it was a 05 Megane CC on Personal contract hire when I was 22, so I never owned it and only had it for 1 year (I wouldnt advise anyone to buy the car I had lol) The only people I know that have had new cars (under 25) were bought them by parents.
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seven
Part of things
Posts: 69
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At some point it must have been a viable option somewhere else this whole debate wouldn't exist That's what I assumed anyway. If the only difference is parents no longer buying new cars for kids, then a large portion of blame probably resides with insurance companies and police cracking down on fronting tactics.
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I must live in "krooz central" as every Sunday there's a gathering of up to 30 "millennialis" at my local Aldi. 90% of the time they don't really bother anyone but you can garauntee that at least two traffic police cars and a riot van turn up. I think there's plenty of kids who love old motors and cars in general. As has already been said though, insurance prices and the constant harassment of drivers by the powers that be is enough to put anyone off. My two lads are 11 and 9 and they're already talking about "having an old car like Dad" which is good, and hopefully, they'll be able to afford to make it onto the road..... Passing your driving test is a BIG achievement in life and important for working but with insurance prices etc we could have a shortage of drivers in the future!
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1993 Mercedes-Benz 190e LE in Azzuro Blue.
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At some point it must have been a viable option somewhere else this whole debate wouldn't exist That's what I assumed anyway. If the only difference is parents no longer buying new cars for kids, then a large portion of blame probably resides with insurance companies and police cracking down on fronting tactics. The only thing I can think back to that had youngsters buying new cars was when Citroen offered free insurance for any age driver on the VTR/VTS - I very nearly went out and bought one but it was pointed out to me that I would have to pay for the 2nd year of insurance & so on lol. Sounds daft but I was paying ÂŁ2100 a year for insurance at the time so paying the same for a brand new car a year that included insurance seemed a good idea. I think if manufacturers offered free insurance/subsidized insuracne they would see number of young people buying car's increase an awful lot.
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When Peugeot did a similar scheme on moped's their sales went through the roof (at one point they also discounted the 2nd and 3rd years insurance too), would you like to buy this one year old ped sir and pay ÂŁ700 insurance or this new one for only ÂŁ500 more and the insurance is free/ cheap for the next few years.....
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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I'm 24, and I don't know many people my age who would or could buy a new car... most of those who have a recent car don't actually own it, it's a company car.
May I tell my own story : I've always been into cars, but as I got closer to driving I found myself disinterested because liking cars was chavvy and cool cars were expensive. I loved driving, even my parents' Twingo, but drove like a 80-year-old. In 2009 a friend of mine bought a 700-euro Renault 12 estate because it was large, cheap and fun, and as soon as I got in it I knew my passion was intact: old cars it would be then.
2 years later I got the mk1 Cortina, and I've been into old cars since then. What's really cool in these days ofnot needing a car is that you don't need a cheap runaround. I walked to work and used the Cortina and then Giulia for errands and longer journeys.
Whenever my car isn't roadworthy, I hitchhike instead. I love travelling and take it as an excuse to go for a drive! I drove the Cortina to Stratford, to Stockholm, the Giulia I've had since June and already has seen many a spirited drive all around France.
I've seen a fair few young dudes driving 2CV's, Peugeot 204, Honda Prelude 2G and others because it's so cheap, and so much fun. You're not as stressed by deadlines and journey times, you just go and take you time.
Leave us time to figure out how to have fun with cars in a society that has moved on from cars, and things will be back to normal.
Think about it: when you don't need a car, you can have any car you want and your choice will never be a problem. If you drive a car daily, then you have a lot of things you have to pay attention to... and it can get boring.
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I guess a key factor in the Detroit story is that back in booming post-war America, cash was abundant and life was cheap, so it was far more normal for young people to be buying new cars (or, at least, having them bought for them by well-off parents), so there's an ingrained sense of youth culture being inextricably intertwined with owning the latest muscle car, and it's the erosion of this that the article is lamenting. Kinda.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,939
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Interesting article (I never knew I was a millenial for a start.. ) As mentioned, cost has got to be one of the major factor in less people buying cars, though saying that a mate of mine is considering buying a new car on finance to improve his credit rating for mortgages and stuff in the future... But its nice to see there are still plenty of us millenials who still enjoy cars and car culture and I for one have been out before 'just for a drive' as you can still enjoy driving so long as you know where to go and have the right car for the job, though some of the roads are in pretty shocking condition.. not fun in a car with 40 year old suspension
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I think it's all down to the death of velour. Since cars have been fitted with so called better quality fabrics, people covet those cars less. Velour is linked to all good things.
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Mental note, velour for next awards night
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I guess a key factor in the Detroit story is that back in booming post-war America, cash was abundant and life was cheap, so it was far more normal for young people to be buying new cars (or, at least, having them bought for them by well-off parents), so there's an ingrained sense of youth culture being inextricably intertwined with owning the latest muscle car, and it's the erosion of this that the article is lamenting. Kinda. Yes, this very much seems to be the case. I wasn't there at the time, but I have seen and read many interviews with US hot-rodding/custom car old timers. It seems that for a lot of them, or at least the ones who were at the forefront of the car scene, it was very common for American kids in high school to have 1 year old or even brand-new cars in the 1950s and '60s. Even the big V8s! If you read some of the stories of people who were into drag racing, muscle cars and custom cars in that era, some of them talk about kids who worked at a restaurant/malt shop after school and had saved up to buy a new car whilst they were still at high school. This would be a full-size car with a V8 as well. Not only that, but a lot of 1950s young Americans seemed to have money to customise their new cars. Almost all of the classic custom cars in the early '50s were based on nearly-new cars, in some cases current year model, and they were mostly owned by 20-somethings who paid for all of the work to be done by professional custom shops. For example, the famous Hirohata Mercury was commissioned by Bob Hirohata in 1952, when he was 21 years old. It was a 1951 Mercury (only one year old), and was extensively customised, not just with wild body mods but a top-notch paint job, full custom interior and an engine swap as well. The same story is repeated over and over by most of the prize-winning custom cars and hot rods, they were built by kids but no expense was spared. When I was 21 I was driving a $300 Beetle! For another example, please see here: www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Jerry_Quesnel%27s_1949_Mercury Another earlier car done by Barris Kustoms, a brand new Mercury made into a full radical custom for a 20-year-old in 1949. He worked at the shop, so I guess it was done "mate's rates", but the fact that he could afford a brand new car to cut up in the first place is astonishing. Would you take a hacksaw to a brand-new car?!
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,926
Club RR Member Number: 174
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I think the internet makes the modified car scene seem more vibrant than it is.
Are there a lot of people who modify cars? - YES
Are there as many people as there were 10 years ago? - NO
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