Classics & The Top Gear Generation
Discussion
I was at a supercar show at the weekend, I took along a modern car, about a hundred vehicles were on display the majority of which were 911's, M3's/5s, GTRs, Astons, McLaren, Lambo/Ferrari and similar. There were perhaps half a dozen classics.
This was a charity event and the spectator turnout was huge, I was positioned near the entrance and for the first hour or two there was a constant queue of people waiting to get in. I was parked alongside a pre-war Bentley and opposite a Dino, the latter being finished in a rather lovely blue.
The thing that struck me was the 20-40 year old generation, and children, walked straight past the Dino hardly giving it a glance, I heard quite a few comments along the lines of "a Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang Car" with reference to he big Bentley, it got more attention than the Dino but not a lot. In contrast, the gull-wing door Tesla parked on the other side of the Bentley had a crowd around it all morning and likewise McLarens and the few Ferraris and Lamborghini attracted a lot of attention.
Granted it was a supercar show and I can understand that it is what the Top Gear generation wanted to see however at the same time I was surprised that there was so little interest and or knowledge of the supercars of earlier generations.Without wishing to sound too grumpy old man, it seemed to me to be reflective of a mindset or indeed obsession that new is cool and old is dull and it did got me about the thinking about the demographic divide for the affection for classics.
I see it a lot with people my age, I’m 28 and have a 65 mgb. At a lot of classic meets I’m probly one of the youngest owners there. I don’t really know anyone my age with a similar interest in the older vehicles and my pals just laugh when I point out another old car when out and about! However I probly couldn’t name the latest Ferrari, Lambo etc so it’s swings and roundabouts really!
22 year old with a '93 TVR (okay, perhaps not a bona fide classic) and the level of understanding amongst my age group for older cars is frankly frightening. Almost makes you wonder how all these lovely old things will continue to be cared for in time, particularly cheaper/less desirable but still quirky and worthwhile ones. Personally I find most modern supercars pretty dull.
Classics in 20 yrs will all be 'slammed and stanced' Golfs and 205's
The REAL cars of the pre -60's(just), will be looked at with utter contempt.
There is nothing better that to lok insode the engie comp of a car built before 1960 at thw work put in on an engine and just wonder how an old !d coin can stand on its edge without overbalancing at tick over
Still off to Farnham on Sunday. Hopefully someone will ask to look at my engine!!!
The REAL cars of the pre -60's(just), will be looked at with utter contempt.
There is nothing better that to lok insode the engie comp of a car built before 1960 at thw work put in on an engine and just wonder how an old !d coin can stand on its edge without overbalancing at tick over
Still off to Farnham on Sunday. Hopefully someone will ask to look at my engine!!!
I think each individual's 'Supercar era' is what their teenage years is.........i.e just pre-driving era, or maybe even earlier, and relating to whatever the Supercars were that were made by Corgi and Dinky 
With a few exceptions, I'd pretty much lost any interest in 'Supercars' once I'd started driving, so pretty much most made after 1980 hold little interest for me.
Likely if you're 10 years younger, your 'era' will be the stuff of the 80's and early 90's, not the 60's and 70's. Likewise if you're in your 30's or younger it will be 90's and later etc.,etc.
To me anything made after the mid 80's is still a 'new car'
Given the significant drop in people under 21 even learning to drive these days, I'm not in the least bit surprised at what the OP saw, but then, as said, I'd expect exactly that at such an event.
Having said that, its still encouraging the amount of under-30's that you see at the Revival meeting and other such events, so there's still some hope for the future
After all, the people that are now custodians and owners of veteran & brass-era cars and even most pre-war cars now were not born when they were new, so no reason that in time younger generations won't be drawn back to earlier era's in time.
With a few exceptions, I'd pretty much lost any interest in 'Supercars' once I'd started driving, so pretty much most made after 1980 hold little interest for me.
Likely if you're 10 years younger, your 'era' will be the stuff of the 80's and early 90's, not the 60's and 70's. Likewise if you're in your 30's or younger it will be 90's and later etc.,etc.
To me anything made after the mid 80's is still a 'new car'
Given the significant drop in people under 21 even learning to drive these days, I'm not in the least bit surprised at what the OP saw, but then, as said, I'd expect exactly that at such an event.
Having said that, its still encouraging the amount of under-30's that you see at the Revival meeting and other such events, so there's still some hope for the future
After all, the people that are now custodians and owners of veteran & brass-era cars and even most pre-war cars now were not born when they were new, so no reason that in time younger generations won't be drawn back to earlier era's in time.
CanoeSniffer said:
22 year old with a '93 TVR (okay, perhaps not a bona fide classic)
Well done! They were classics the day they rolled out of the factory. I must admit I see less and less old cars these days, even seeing an MGB is quite rare. I do wonder where they've all gone, as even on nice days I hardly see anything older than my '94 car.
Admittedly, I don't bother with car shows these days, but even so.
I attended my first FoS in 1994, as a young man I went to see the likes of Lambo Diablos, Ferrari F40's and the new McLaren F1. However, it opened my eyes to a whole new nostalgic motoring world. Within a couple of years I wasn't that fussed about the modern supercars, it was Auto Unions, GT40s, Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagatos and Lotus 49's I was hoping to see. Now I own a 1965 Gordon Keeble and barely go to the FoS. The Revivial and Members meet are far more my cup of tea. Hopefully some of the throng surrounding the F1 paddock will start to notice a bit more of what's there and the seeds of passion for older cars will start to grow.
Edited by Mellow Yellow on Tuesday 5th June 12:53
24 and no interest in moderns/supercars/EVs whatsoever, always been into classics and quirky stuff and fully intend to be for a long time yet! As has been said I can see the classic bubble popping in the future as there's less people around that actually hold an interest in this stuff.
My first car in 1987 was a lovely 1975 Hillman Imp. It was barely 12 years-old, but certainly considered a quirky old classic car by that point. All the daily-driver Imps had long gone off our roads by then. Nowadays, that's like calling a 2006 Fiat Grande Punto a classic, which it really isn't! Only one other person of my age had a classic car (the ubiquitous rusty Beetle). No-one else in my school year was remotely interested in old cars.
The housing situation also doesn't help.
I'm 33, and would have a classic in a heartbeat if I owned or rented a property with a garage. However around here that is way above my pay grade, so it's not feasible to entertain the idea of anything pre-1990.
Also- i'm the gran turismo generation
I'm 33, and would have a classic in a heartbeat if I owned or rented a property with a garage. However around here that is way above my pay grade, so it's not feasible to entertain the idea of anything pre-1990.
Also- i'm the gran turismo generation
designforlife said:
The housing situation also doesn't help.
I'm 33, and would have a classic in a heartbeat if I owned or rented a property with a garage. However around here that is way above my pay grade, so it's not feasible to entertain the idea of anything pre-1990.
True.I'm 33, and would have a classic in a heartbeat if I owned or rented a property with a garage. However around here that is way above my pay grade, so it's not feasible to entertain the idea of anything pre-1990.
Plus the fact that not much post-1990 designs will actually fit in any 'standard size' garage, even in a post-2000 built house...!!
and it's hard enough stopping a 2002 JDM integra rusting tbh, yet alone a classic!!
For me, my interest in classics has grown with age, they didn't interest me at all ten years ago as a young pup...i'm sure this interest will continue to grow until i can eventually buy and store something cool and old.
For me, my interest in classics has grown with age, they didn't interest me at all ten years ago as a young pup...i'm sure this interest will continue to grow until i can eventually buy and store something cool and old.
It's all about nostalgia. Let's face it, there's very little logical, objective reason to run a classic beyond "I enjoy it as a hobby".
The current boom in classic car prices (which seems to be coming off the boil) is in no small part driven by the retiring baby boom generation. This is (in general) the most affluent and time-rich generation in history. They have the means and desire to finally purchase that slinky sports car they ogled through the showroom glass when they were young, treat themselves to a wafty luxury saloon to go on holiday in, take on a restoration project or just indulge in some nostalgia about the old Ford Cortina their dad took them to Southend in (and then they will soon discover why the Greeks considered nostalgia a negative emotion and why it literally translates as 'returning pain'...)
Of course the upcoming generation don't feel the same way about the 'carbs 'n' chrome' type classics their grandfathers like so much. In the past few years we've already seen prices for "that'll never be proper classic..." cars from the late 1970s/1980s/early 1990s soar as the centre of gravity in the classic car scene starts to tilt from the boomers to the Gen-Xers who are reaching the point in their lives that the boomers did in the 1980s and which precipated the classic boom then (kids grown up a bit, nice house, career at a good point, bit more disposable income kicking around).
Why would Gen-Y/Millenials, give a stuff about an MGB, a Rover P5B Coupe or even something 'pukka' like a Dino 246? These are cars built 25 years before they were born and belonging to a completely different cultural, sociological, aesthetic and technological era. I know there's a tendency in the classic car world to think that knowing how to use a choke or change some contact breakers is verging on a moral imperative ("Kids these days....!") but it's like expecting someone born in the 1950s to know how to tack-up and drive a horse in harness or fire a steam engine.
There's a lot of socio-economic factors going on which could (and does) fill a book, but it's pretty obvious that (again, speaking in generalisations) Gen-Y does not view cars with the same cultural esteem as their predecessors. They aren't a means of liberation, they aren't signs of affluence, they aren't a force for good. At best they're a non-descript white good that has been a standard part of family life before they were born, at worst they're a financial, sociological and ecological burden that we could increasingly do without.
Of course there are Gen-Y car enthusiasts. I am one. And of course the cars they favour will be the ones that they in turn grew up with. Not so much the Top Gear Generation as the Gran Turismo generation - certainly I can attribute a lot of my tastes in 1980s and 1990s cars to the ones I encountered in digital form.
There will always be some 'proper' classics with universal appeal - the Mini seems pretty timeless, as does the E-type to name just two examples off the top of my head. Then there will be some Gen-Yers like me who favour the 1960s/1970s stuff. In my case that's because my Dad was into classics so I grew up around old Minis, MGBs, Triumph Stags, Alfasuds and the like in a way that wasn't entirely normal in the '90s. The 2CV, Spridget, Beetle, and Morris Minor clubs all have thriving youth registers because, again, these are cars with pretty universal appeal, can be run for very little effort and relatively little money even by a generation that faces a massive uphill struggle and economic uncertainty. And they all excude a certain retro-vintage-hipsterish charm which is very fashionable right now.
The VSCC proves that a core of people will enthuse for cars from the pages of history (the Austin Seven scene is another one with a surprisingly buoyant youth presence) but I don't think many Gen-Yers will be jumping for joy at the prospect of inheriting Dad's MGC or immaculately restored Hillman Super Minx. Especially when they're still renting a flat with one undersized on-street parking space, haven't seen a real-terms pay rise in five years and can't rely on being gainfully employed beyond the end of the financial year. Before too long there is going to be a glut of these sort of middle-of-the-road post-war classics on the market with relatively few willing buyers and the values will drop like a stone.
The current boom in classic car prices (which seems to be coming off the boil) is in no small part driven by the retiring baby boom generation. This is (in general) the most affluent and time-rich generation in history. They have the means and desire to finally purchase that slinky sports car they ogled through the showroom glass when they were young, treat themselves to a wafty luxury saloon to go on holiday in, take on a restoration project or just indulge in some nostalgia about the old Ford Cortina their dad took them to Southend in (and then they will soon discover why the Greeks considered nostalgia a negative emotion and why it literally translates as 'returning pain'...)
Of course the upcoming generation don't feel the same way about the 'carbs 'n' chrome' type classics their grandfathers like so much. In the past few years we've already seen prices for "that'll never be proper classic..." cars from the late 1970s/1980s/early 1990s soar as the centre of gravity in the classic car scene starts to tilt from the boomers to the Gen-Xers who are reaching the point in their lives that the boomers did in the 1980s and which precipated the classic boom then (kids grown up a bit, nice house, career at a good point, bit more disposable income kicking around).
Why would Gen-Y/Millenials, give a stuff about an MGB, a Rover P5B Coupe or even something 'pukka' like a Dino 246? These are cars built 25 years before they were born and belonging to a completely different cultural, sociological, aesthetic and technological era. I know there's a tendency in the classic car world to think that knowing how to use a choke or change some contact breakers is verging on a moral imperative ("Kids these days....!") but it's like expecting someone born in the 1950s to know how to tack-up and drive a horse in harness or fire a steam engine.
There's a lot of socio-economic factors going on which could (and does) fill a book, but it's pretty obvious that (again, speaking in generalisations) Gen-Y does not view cars with the same cultural esteem as their predecessors. They aren't a means of liberation, they aren't signs of affluence, they aren't a force for good. At best they're a non-descript white good that has been a standard part of family life before they were born, at worst they're a financial, sociological and ecological burden that we could increasingly do without.
Of course there are Gen-Y car enthusiasts. I am one. And of course the cars they favour will be the ones that they in turn grew up with. Not so much the Top Gear Generation as the Gran Turismo generation - certainly I can attribute a lot of my tastes in 1980s and 1990s cars to the ones I encountered in digital form.
There will always be some 'proper' classics with universal appeal - the Mini seems pretty timeless, as does the E-type to name just two examples off the top of my head. Then there will be some Gen-Yers like me who favour the 1960s/1970s stuff. In my case that's because my Dad was into classics so I grew up around old Minis, MGBs, Triumph Stags, Alfasuds and the like in a way that wasn't entirely normal in the '90s. The 2CV, Spridget, Beetle, and Morris Minor clubs all have thriving youth registers because, again, these are cars with pretty universal appeal, can be run for very little effort and relatively little money even by a generation that faces a massive uphill struggle and economic uncertainty. And they all excude a certain retro-vintage-hipsterish charm which is very fashionable right now.
The VSCC proves that a core of people will enthuse for cars from the pages of history (the Austin Seven scene is another one with a surprisingly buoyant youth presence) but I don't think many Gen-Yers will be jumping for joy at the prospect of inheriting Dad's MGC or immaculately restored Hillman Super Minx. Especially when they're still renting a flat with one undersized on-street parking space, haven't seen a real-terms pay rise in five years and can't rely on being gainfully employed beyond the end of the financial year. Before too long there is going to be a glut of these sort of middle-of-the-road post-war classics on the market with relatively few willing buyers and the values will drop like a stone.
aeropilot said:
I think each individual's 'Supercar era' is what their teenage years is.........i.e just pre-driving era, or maybe even earlier, and relating to whatever the Supercars were that were made by Corgi and Dinky
Exactly, my dream garage would be full of 355s, Diablos, Jap cars etc. I've got little interest in E types, Minis, Golf GTIs, Capris etc.generationx said:
Nowhere is this more clear than the Goodwood Festival of Speed - the place is stuffed full of rare and wonderful classic cars and bikes, but the biggest throngs are around the modern F1 stuff. I find this difficult to understand.
I dont think thats too hard to grasp this one example......its hard to get close to modern F1 machinery so people take their chances, the older stuff is definitely more accessable.....Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff