My idea's on why alot of teens aren't interested-

[silverhawk]

In stude's or other classic cars. These are my opinions, feel free to judge them! I am writing a article on this for my chapter newsletter, and have the rough draft done; but would like some more input.[8D]

Why does it seem they aren't interested? First off, I'm sad to say, alot of them aren't exposed to working on cars, let alone old ones. They are intimidated by the mechanics of them, thinking they will be more difficult, and more costly to maintain than a newer car. Secondly, it is seen by many to be a rich mans hobby; and they don't even try to get a car and enjoy it; regardless of its condition. And thirdly; a repercution of the second. Since it is seen as a rich mans hobby, imports and domestic's must be cheaper. So, with that mind set, it becomes the "thing" to have, since ALL of the peers gots one. (Trust me on this one, I've picked up a little flak for owning a car as old as mine, let alone a Studebaker.).



Here is my personal idea on what we can do to help this. I think we should get the club and chapter name out there more, and maybe have one or two smaller (Heck, we could make them huge if we want) shows aimed at younger people. At these shows, we can have some stuff that is more "hands on"; not just looking at other peoples beauty queens. Have some just drivers, or projects, or maybe even rough drivers; to show you don't have to have a high dollar budget to enjoy them. Maybe have some that have a general cost amount with them, to show kinda what it costs to get into this. Hopefully from these shows, we can recuit members, and get some really enthusiastic ones. From there if they start getting involved in the club, and are trying to get a car, but are having problems doing so;such as monetary problems. I have observed that some of our club members seem to have alot of cars (Yes I'm jelous!), and part out some half way decient ones from time to time. What happens if maybe a few of these were saved, and when a ethusiastic new member comes along; we assist them in getting a car? Make the car in question available to him or her at a non outragious price, and help them get the car together into a safe and fun driving car. Now I'm not saying we do all the work for them; but help them do it. That way they learn, and they still get a feeling of pride and ownership of there car. Instead of frustration, depression about it, ect, from not having a good experiance with it; because they didn't get a chance to learn, and just jumped in.


This is a copy and paste of part of my article; and the main body of it. (Not a huge article at all) Please excuse my grammer and spelling errors; they shall be fixed as the article itself is refined. I'm not exactly gifted in the art of writing, so it comes slow.[V]

So, what are your thoughts on the matter? What do you think of my idea's?[?]

Dylan Wills
Everett, Wa.

'61 lark deluxe 4 door wagon

[studeclunker]

I will admit a bit of intimidation at showing up to a meet with either Bess or Ed (take a close look at my sig. line). I love my cars almost as much as my dog, LOL![:I][)] Yet, I'd be a perfect example of keeping these cars on a (very frayed) shoestring budget.[:I][8)] I'm sure there are more members out there just the same.


Home of the famous Mr. Ed!
K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Studebaker!
Ron Smith
Where the heck is Lewiston, CA?

[sals54]

I like the idea. I have a car, see below, that is now, and always has been a beater, daily driver hot rod. I have no trouble getting the attention of the younger crowd any time I go to a car show, or even drive it to the store. I've had kids in the car, standing on the front seat pretending to drive. There have been teens that have asked many questions about the car cuz they've never seen one or even ever heard of what a Studebaker is. Its often how we approach the young guns that influences what they'll have an interest in. Its part visual and part visceral yet also how the young guys are received into the hobby. Anytime I see some young people with a Stude, I engage them in conversation and I tell them how much I love and admire their car. You should see how they beam as they tell the story of how and where they bought it, and what they've done to it. Its not always a style that I like either, but I know that they love it, and I share in that love.
Auto Shops at the local High Schools should be contacted and invited to local and regional Stude shows. There's an audience that's already in the auto groove and yet still impressionable in terms of tastes and direction for their passion for cars.
Just a couple of thoughts.

sals54

[bondobilly]

tOkay
You can transpose that to any hobby you want. In model railroading youngsters have not been exposed to steam engines other than at museums and the same for first and second generation diesel engines. If a youngster is interested he can not find an entry level car or entry level budget to build a layout. If he looks in magazines he sees layouts he can neither afford to build or does not have the talent, if he joins a club he becomes a gofer. If he does have money he is scared off by the media all the magazines show layouts that cost thousands of dollars per square foot, or cars that would cost $30K to restore.

The "exposure" to the hobby is the hard part, most kids father's had the same problem the kid is having. Not every hobby is going to wind up with a MB Stude, if they did we would be in better shape, but it ain't going to happen.

In the 80's I produced a set of trains, the New York Central 20th Century Ltd in HO scale. each car sold for $14.95. Recently Wm K. Walthers came out with the same set, better detail, and built rather than a kit, but each car was $64.95. There are 13 cars in the set and the engines are $495 a pair. How does a kid "spring" for a set of them? My old $6.95 hoppers are now $29.95, obscene. Same is happening to our car parts. Youngsters can't afford the cost of the ride.

A few years ago Bill Fennessey told me that at today's prices I could not afford to restore my car......... and he was right.

Before you get youngster's interested, get the 30 and 40 year old dad's interested.

Last year at a car show I took some photos of a kid around 6 or 7 years old walking around with a Nikon D-300 ($2300) Dad had a D-3, this kid was shooting the antique cars on display with a truly photographic eye. I was impressed. He knew his cars lines and he knew how to use the Nikon. That is how you get them interested.

BG

[55s]

It's easy.

Open up a hood today and look inside. Yep. There it is! Lots of flashy plastic and chrome covering almost everything. To figure out what's wrong, you have to plug it in. To change a sparkplug, you have to unbolt it and twist it or take off another cover. Sometimes you can't even find the battery, although you know its in there somewhere!
Today, most persons can't even check the oil.

My kids did not want to be seen being driven in something different in high school - its all about blending in. Now that they're 19 and 21, they really do appreciate the Studebaker styling, and they like to be driven in them.

[COMMANDERPINK1]

Maybe something can be included in our Chapter meetings that would include some hands on time with younger and new members and there projects. I know that with the passing of our older members we loose a mass amount of knowledge of these vehicles. What could be better than guilding a person who is willing to learn while we nudge him in the right direction with inspiration and some war stories of things gone wrong or right in our experience.

Tom

[BobPalma]

You have some interesting and worthy thougths there, Dylan, and your approach and input is appreciated.

I am sadly reminded of Hemmings Classic Car Editor Richard Lentinello's remarks in the June 2010 issue. If you (the generic reader, Dylan, not necessarily you) have not yet received yours, or seen it on the newsstand, the magazine has ungone a bit of revamping as to layout, topics, and design.

In describing the changes, Richard said they deleted Next Generation, the page that had been devoted to an up-and-coming youngster in the hobby, because "it was a constant struggle to find young enthusiasts every month."

That kind of hit me like a ton of bricks, in that the magazine has a circulation over 100,000, IIRC...yet with that large a pool, they couldn't scare up a dozen youngsters a year? Gulp. Suffice to say, I was terribly sorry to see that.[V]

Dylan, I like your general idea of more hands-on and less formality within the club, but understand it is something that is hard to "legislate," so to speak. Just throwing the idea out there is a good start, encouraging members to be more aware of younger folks and help them along.

Many of us older folks are indeed too inclined to sit in lawn chairs and argue the "correctness" of a specific plating used on air cleaner wing nuts for the first five months of production in a given model year [], and cannot fathom anyone not being equally interested in the topic! [:0]

Awareness is the key, and you've lobbed a good volley over the net, Dylan. I hope you'll share your entire Chapter Newsletter article here when you've got it done. [8D]BP

[Nelsen Motorsports]

There are too many people of my generation who can't turn a wrench. I consider myself as "mechanically gifted" because I am the only one who can do more than start a lawnmower. Also most kids are ADDICTED to video games. It's no joke. IT'S A DISEASE![xx(] The fact is that young people are lazy and unwilling to have fun. They do not know what a drag strip is and it cost too much to go fast. Many of my friends drive later model trucks and go mud boggin, not caring what damage they are doing to their trucks. When it comes to cars those who are interested do not know what a 383 is (they think a stroked 350). Nobody knows anything about what a Studebaker is![V]


Alex Nelsen, 15 year old Studebaker nut.
1954 Champion Coupe
Lizella, GA

[rockne10]

"IF THE MOUNTAIN WILL NOT COME TO MOHAMED, MOHAMED WILL GO TO THE MOUNTAIN - "If one cannot get one's own way, one must adjust to the inevitable. The legend goes that when the founder of Islam was asked to give proofs of his teaching, he ordered Mount Safa to come to him. When the mountain did not comply, Mohamed raised his hands toward heaven and said, 'God is merciful. Had it obeyed my words, it would have fallen on us to our destruction. I will therefore go to the mountain and thank God that he has had mercy on a stiff-necked generation."

We need to determine where the opportunities lie to present our vehicles to the younger generation. It is not a task that can be accomplished without some thought and effort. They will not flock to us. We must flock to them, and hope one or two may be intrigued.

I wonder if there are any Vo-tech instructors who would be interested in having a few Studebakers visit his/her class?

I also think there is great merit in offering some forlorn but otherwise repairable models to young persons at discounted prices, and an offer to tutor in the repair and assist with parts procurement.

I know a youngster who received a '56 Transtar for his thirteenth birthday. By his sixteenth birthday he had restored the truck and took his driver's test in it. When I asked him if he would be interested in joining SDC or attending a club meet, his response was, "Will there be any hot chicks there?"

Well, ten years later and he has sold the truck. Fortunately, the new owner has joined SDC. Unfortunately, the new owner is sixty years old.

[okc63avanti]

quote:Originally posted by silverhawk

In stude's or other classic cars. These are my opinions, feel free to judge them! I am writing a article on this for my chapter newsletter, and have the rough draft done; but would like some more input.[8D]

Dylan Wills
Everett, Wa.

Dylan ... Why don't you send your draft to our resident #1 Studebaker Fan and also a Teen .... Chris Dresbach. He could informally discuss the subject with his teen friends and provide you with some valuable feedback.

John


63R-2386 under restoration & modification

[Steve T]

That is a shame about the "youth column" in HCC.

We do--sort of--have a "leg up" in the Stude community over many other old-car communities: yes the cars and parts are trending upwards in price, making Stude ownership costlier and more challenging than it was for those of modest means (especially in climes where the car would be in use only part-time, thus would by default be a second car); but that effect is not as pronounced with Studebakers as with some of the more familiar makes. Case in point: I was heading up Highway 6 north of Hamilton last weekend to drop by my stall at the Freelton antique market. Saw a 1957 Chevrolet in a driveway, for sale. Had to stop and check it out. It was a slightly-scruffy 210 2dr post; not the coveted Bel Air, nor was it remotely a showcar. It was a decently-presentable driver: the exact sort of car I was shopping for in 2007 (and found, ultimately, in my cherished Lark). The price on the sheet taped inside the windows? $19,500. Quite possibly not an out-of-line valuation for a decent tri-five Chev two-door. But what did I immediately think? "If this thing were a '57 Commander 2dr, it'd be a third the price and just as much fun"... Now that mightn't matter, yet, in the case of an enthusiast who doesn't have access to $6K, much less $19K: but the point is they may eventually be able to scare up that much...just as I eventually did...and our favourite marque has that cost-effectiveness going for it...relatively speaking of course. It's a great start having someone riding shotgun. (I'm reminded of Jeff Rice's anecdote about his neigbour Josh taking the wheel of Jeff's drop-dead-gorgeous Coupe Express.)

The quasi-apprenticeship concept Dylan mentions is terrific. I could well benefit from that sort of arrangement myself; many's the time I've bemoaned my lack of a garage (or even a driveway)...I'd love to try my hand at working on the Lark, but all but the smallest tasks currently have to be farmed-out (which also costs money)...

There are so many angles to this issue. I can imagine an entire sequence of TW articles on it (including contributions from "whippersnappers" who are already involved). But more than that, here's one of the reasons for having an online discussion forum like this. Pile on, everybody, with the ideas...nothing's too wild!

S.

[tluz]

Hi, All,

Thanks for posting the topic, Dylan. I have not conducted any formal survey, but here are my empirical observations.

I have two teenage daughters and two old cars. I coach Little League for my son. Our neighborhood has about 40 kids under 18. So I see and talk to lots of kids, aged 6 to 22, all the time. The girls and their friends have some interest in the cars and the boys tend to think they're cool and that it's an OK hobby (for old people). None of them, however, want one.

What do they want? They want new SUVs with 8-way heated leather seats, moonroofs, and iPod jacks. They want immense power on demand in perfect comfort; they want big, shiny rims, great sound systems, perfect reliability with no maintenance. They want the newest, the raddest, the shiniest. They want back seats with flat-screen TVs, they want GPS systems and Bluetooth synchronicity. The automobile is a modern technological appliance, albeit a big, expensive one, that tells the world that the driver is part of the here and now. They want the future, not the past; the seductive gleam of possibility ahead; the gradually emerging form of the time that that they will claim as theirs.

Are they different from us? Of course not. How many of you guys who were teenagers in 1955 did not want a new Bel Air, an eye-popping T-Bird, the technological monster that was the Chrysler 300? That was your time and you seized it as tightly as you could. Ten years later, what teen did not want a fire-breathing Corvette, a sleek E-Type Jaguar, or that fantastic GTO? Weren't these the emblems of your era? I was a teenager in the 70s. We had black Trans Ams with screaming chickens on the hood, British roadsters, and new imports form Germany and Italy.

It takes a while for people to develop an appreciation for what came before. Some of today's kids, as they age, and as the Escalades, Hummers, and Land Rovers they now love fade into the rose-tinted past, will become re-interested in the cars of their youth. Some of them will look at the cars of previous generations with a different perspective and new appreciation, as I have come to admire cars of the 30s and 50s, made well before I was born.

We car guys just have to be patient.

Respectfully,

Tom

[JDP]

I sold a very nice C cab truck to a young Navy Academy midshipman that liked the idea of a old truck. He drove it a few 100 miles to visit his parents and called to ask for my help in selling it. He had only known air conditioned, cruise controlled comfort, and could not make the transition to bare bones, basic driving. Try and remember that when you put down a kid that "upgraded" his Studebaker with a modern chassis, drive line, and maybe a big stereo. They may love the "look" of a old car, but want the creature comforts. If they show up at a meet, and someone says they "ruined" the car, don't expect them to feel welcome.

JDP Maryland

[62SY4]

I have to agree, with BP and bondobilly. Is a battle no matter what the hobby is. I'm a year or two older than MB thus a few years older than Dylan and Chris. I'm odd, I know it, doesn't bother me a bit, take me how I am or not. Most of my generation can't grasp that, well that goes for you older guys too. Do you recall somebody you knew that really dug the gay 90's or the roaring 20's etc.? We are the exception, not the rule.
All my friends dig my car, and projects (else they wouldn't be a friend, eh?[}]), but it takes a special person. Most of my friends have borrowed my car, its fun to drive, but requires more maintenance than anything they are used to (excluding their respective significant others), and 'round here it good for what half the year maybe three quarters if we're lucky?
I'm not so sure that it is purely a monetary issue, for what I have invested in my car I could have just as easily bought a ~10 year old midsized semi-trendy car. Ok so its the labor and/or talent?? Don't think so, I have freinds that put just as much time in on late models.
It has more to do with taste (gonna get ripped for this I know). I would rather have less than 10 grand in a 40 something year old four door six cylinder gutless uncomfortable car, than say my best friends $10k '01 Audi S4. Ok so his Audi is fast, yes, sexy, yes, a blast to drive, heck yes. Do I see myself driving that everyday? No. He feels the same about my Stude. Ok back to the comfort thing, stock interiors of any pre 70's automobile are very crude by todays standards. For crying outloud the neighbor's new Buick has a heated stearing wheel, and air conditioned seats, really nice, not necessary, but still nice. Nothing like that in a Stude.

Bottom line is, its not trendy to be interested in old S%#!. If it was: #1 I couldn't afford it, #2 I would probably have no involvement anyway, part of my thing is to buck the trend.

To sum this up, at the foundry tour Da Tinman and I were talking and he said it best
(I'll quote this as best as I can recall).
"You know, I drive my car everyday, and at some point along the way, whether I am getting gas or groceries or where ever I stop eventually I get this:
'Eeahh a Stoodiebaker, you don't see one of those everyday!' "
Da Tinman says to me:
"You know sometimes I just have to say it like it is, and I reply
'Well actually, I do, and quite frankly, I'm $^#&ing sick of it today'"

quote:Originally posted by BobPalma

In describing the changes, Richard said they deleted Next Generation, the page that had been devoted to an up-and-coming youngster in the hobby, because "it was a constant struggle to find young enthusiasts every month."

That kind of hit me like a ton of bricks, in that the magazine has a circulation over 100,000, IIRC...yet with that large a pool, they couldn't scare up a dozen youngsters a year? Gulp. Suffice to say, I was terribly sorry to see that.[V]

BP, we are out here; 12 a year isn't a big number. I have quite a number of friends (peers) in the old car hobby our take is this: It is enough being 'famous' around here. Pretty much everybody knows 'that kid with the grey Studebaker' or 'the kid with the black '68 Bonneville' or 'that kid with the blue '72 Mustang'.
Thats enough for me (us). I'm glad Matt, Dylan, and Chis are visible, I'm happy standing in the shadows. I talk to lots of people who are glad to see young guys into (insert hobby here). Btw, I also play with model trains and tube radio/hi-fi.



Jon Krimm
1962 Lark Sedan

1961 Champ

[PlainBrownR2]

I better throw some ideas in here as well, since this is still in my age group. First, the guys I knew in high school did take interest in cars, just not the one I was driving back and forth to school everyday. It gained me notoriety for the first two weeks, and after 10 years they know the owner of the Lark that's out and about when it's operating, which is me. However, after a few weeks, the novelty kinda wore off and things went back to semi normal around the high school The other guys had pickups, mustangs, firebirds, and camaros, and those were the primo vehicles to own. These days it's also Lancers, WRX's, Neons, Supras, VR-4's, Avengers, as well as the pickups, SUV's, Mustangs, Firebirds, and Camaros. I've also known these guys and some of the guys I hang out with in the Yahoo chatrooms, to pull engines in and out of vehicles, so a few of us aren't that mechanically inept, particularly the folks who like to do the performance work. I will add though that this situation does have it's "Money is no object" folks as well, which does go for a number of other hobbies. Most of the time though, the work may be done in stages or increments, or the parts may be collected for a given time and then added all at once.

This leads to availability of Studebaker cars and parts, of which can be sporadic this direction. I have been to 3-4 Brand X meets this month and last month, both with vehicles for sale. Usually if a guy keeps track of the dates, and needs something important, or a morning to walk through a swapmeet on Sunday, this is not a difficult prospect to attend these affairs for the price of five bucks or so at the door. In addition, when you step inside, the availability of necessary parts is rather sizable. If you don't like the price of one guy's dual carb manifold, there's three(or more) other probable vendors on the grounds that may be selling the same part. LOL, when I go to the Morris show in the fall, I can walk now through row after row after row of guys literally selling the same block and exhaust manifolds. This situation also applies to the Jegs and Summit catalogs, LMC truck, or Ebay.

The last one I can think of, support. Having dealt with the chatters from Yahoo and in the model trains biz, I've retained a thicker skin, especially here. I've learned to brush past the sniping on the Ebay cars, the cars at the shows(which is akin to rivet counting to me), because as long as the owner of the vehicle in the photo is enjoying themselves, I could care less about what lettering goes on what panel or what color the engine block should be. This leads me to a couple of examples. One, there's nothing worse than a lack of positive encouragement to turn somebody off about working these here vehicles. I reference my fuel injection posts in that respect, 4000 reads and not much positive feedback!! Okay, that's understandable, the world may not understand how this works, until this works, that's fine. Two, having your vehicle ridiculed at, at a meet by people you never met. I had that happen in South Bend '07 by a few of the vending people from out west from when I first got on the blog. Now by about this point, most of the people in our chapter know my vehicle, and it's history as a driver, and the people in the surrounding communities here know me by the Lark. It's also taken me from high school, to community college, to the university, and again to a separate university in the span of about 8 years, back and forth. It's become like a limb by about this point(an expensive limb due to the R2, but a limb), and that it's seen places like Springfield, IL, Chippewa Falls, WI, South Bend IN, and it's gone some real distances quite a few times. However, that's far from cool, in fact, the guys my age usually tell these people "to take a hike" in a much less than civil term, if they're gonna do that. Now, I've been in this game a lonnng time, so I won't be going anywhere anytime soon(I just won't buy from people like that ever again), but for the new guy that gets one of these cars, that's a cue to not bring the car back,