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MG TD TF 1500 - OT but relevant to the hobby...

A friend posted this on my facebook page. I felt it was quite relevant to our hobby.

She points out that she wishes that people would go out and get "grandpa's" car running and go have fun with it. This is something that speaks to me as a 37 year old guy with one of these T cars. So few people in my age group (or anywhere near it frankly) are involved in the hobby, and it makes me concerned for the cars and their longevity.

Get out there and drive your T (or whatever old car you have) and share it with someone younger. Hopefully they will be sparked by the experience and grow up to be the next caretaker of a classic car one day.

Alex

http://blog.petflow.com/i-love-this-woman-shes-101-years-old-and-drives-better-than-i-do/

Alex Waugh

Being the same age as my TF Vera, I try to put the young folks in my family behind the wheel of Vera every now and the, to see if someone will contract the diseases. So far no luck, they only talk about Tesla, Porsche, BMW and so on. If the dashboard of a car does not look like an Ipad with Elephantiasis they remain ignorant to it. I have recommended my children to hire a side loading garbage container when I am goen, as the TF otherwise will be difficult to get into a top loader. They are concerned that the TF will be even less environmental friendly as scrap than as the rolling piece of art it truly is.

The OT pic attached is all about modern times

regards,

Jan






Jan Emil Kristoffersen

Don't know where it will end but so far, my grandson Tom ( 2 1/2 yrs) shows passion for grandpa's TD and he loves to handle the steering wheel. Big fun for grandpa of course. Huib


Huib Bruijstens

Alex
I totaly agree with you,,, Our CT MG Club, the NEMG"T" Register, and many other organizations are really hurting for new younger members to take our place as conservators of these old autos,,,,
To go along with the video,,, we have a wonderful couple who attend our British By The Sea Gathering in their '31 Roll Silver Ghost, which they use as pretty much a daily driver in the summer.

SPW


STEVE WINCZE

Steve, do you mean this car? We see them up here too!
-David


D. Sander

Dave,
YUP!!!!!! They sure get around in that car !!!!!!!!

SPW
STEVE WINCZE

Here it is again in front of dad's '46 Cadillac.


D. Sander

Alex, beg to differ - even though the marque is different, I think this is (at least for lot's of us) our hobby. To paraphrase:

Today's CARS ain't got the same soul I like that old time rock and roll

Thanks for posting.

Jud
J K Chapin

When I grew up, the car was a big part of the family life. Dad was washing, waxing or tuning it on the weekend. Whenever anybody on the block got a new car, all the neighbors would gather arround it and kick the tires, ask which engine it had, which options, etc.
It was a big deal when we could help dad change the oil, learn how to adjust the points or the timing, overhaul a carburetor, etc. on road trips there were always cars to look for, cars to count, etc. it was always a good thing if the trip happened without any trouble.
I cried for days when dad sold his black '63 Valiant convertable.
Cars today are boring, and lack style and personality. They are nothing more than an appliance, with little more notice than a refrigerator in the kitchen.
Just my $.02
-David
D. Sander

Hey, grandpa, why is the steering wheel on the wrong side? Is this a save car? Can't we fall out of it during driving? Why are the other cars so near? Why have we to sit in the front? And no safety belts???

So we had to cope with some mental problems before going for a ride...

Jasper




JL Nederhoed

Many people worry about the future of the hobby, but not me. These are simply not young person's cars. When a person grows too old to enjoy their car and passes it to a new owner, it doesn't have to be a young person. A 50-something is the most logical buyer. Young people are more interested in technology. It's been that way forever - old cars are for old people. Hot rodders are the only exception really. They bought old cars because it was all the could afford, and then they tried to make them "cool" by taking off the fenders and making it faster.

Just my view, but I don't see a lack of buyers for these cars in the future. Even now the 40 and 50 year old crowds are buying T-Series cars as enthusiastically as ever.
Steve Simmons

After waiting VERY impatiently for 60 years I got my TD at age 66. I have the time and financial resources to work on it, drive and enjoy it and (hopefully) preserve it. Nonetheless, I agree that 40-50 year olds are probably the prime market segment. My fear is that a 40-50 year old who didn't crave a TD (a Model T, a Cord, a Packard - whatever - doesn't matter) at age 12 may not be that prime buyer.

At 16 I bought an 8 year old car for $152 (two year's of saving lawn mowing money) and I could do the maintenance and enjoy it. Sadly, with appliance cars, today's eguivalent (say $2,500) won't buy a car that the young owner can maintain and learn on. There's no going back but it's just a dang shame.

Jud
J K Chapin

There's hope! My teenaged son has put down his iPhone and is happily restoring a Triumph Bonneville. It's wonderful to have him in the shop and fun to watch him discover things. Maybe it'll carry over to cars.

He's 16. By his age I had been working in a garage for three years getting all sorts of informal training and buying and selling cars that I fixed up. The first car I actually registered when I got a license was my '40 Ford hot rod. It went through several different engine/transmission combinations and was a wonderful learning tool. The owner of the shop would let us stay working on our own stuff late into the night as long as the place was clean in the morning when he opened. That seemed to be the way of many of the shops where we hung and learned. Sadly, I don't think many such shops exist today.
JE Carroll

I've watched this routine before. Model T and A club owners passed away and the club disappeared and the value of the cars went down hill...big time. Recently I see a lot of the owners of the cars from the 40's and early 50's passing away and the large club in town is withtering away. I don't really see us as any different. To be honest I think we are on the downhill side of the equation.

That said I've made it one of my goals for our newly formed local group to try and get the younger folks involved. Will I be sucsessful? I don't know but I do have an in. A local college student with a broke down Spitfire.
MG LaVerne

Sadly LaVerne may be right. The local cruise nights in the summer have lots of beautiful rods from the '50s, '60s, and '70s driven by mostly guys my age or older. Some leave real early to get home before dark. :-(
JE Carroll

I have very fond memories of the 50s, mostly because it was a different period of time with a different atmosphere and we were kids! I remember leaving high school in my 51 Ford convertible loaded with girls! Ah, that was quite a time. Running a girl only taxi service sometimes paid off! Grin. Joined the Navy in 55, so after that the fun was over for the most part. Can't believe how short a period in time that was back then. my first car was a 1930??? Austin America. Packed so many kids in it once that the car was down on the axles and it had hardly had enough power to get up a hill. Broke the aluminum lower casing on the engine by hot rodding it and junked the car! Yeah I know, but back then when they quit they were junked! Old cars will always have a place in society and there will always be care takers for them, maybe just not as many. Memories, what would we have without them. PJ
Paul S Jennings

My nephew is 43 years old and really wants my car. so he is going to get it but not anytime soon. He thinks the car is great. He had a choice between the 51 TD and the 91 Vette and choose the TD.
Tom Maine

Model T values did drop significantly, but only after a period of huge inflation in the 80's. They are back to per-inflation values now and are still finding homes. The way I see it, the more values drop, the more people will buy them as a weekend toy, and in turn this will increase their popularity and therefore value.

The only bad thing I do foresee is the trend of putting classics in museums and private collections, never to see the road again. It's only getting worse as the more rare and exotic cars become tools for rich people to one up each other with.
Steve S

It's interesting to read all your thoughts on the topic. I am not really interested in seeing 20-30 year olds join old car clubs en mass (though it would be nice to see). What I feel should be happening is that clubs should have a spread of owners from mid forties or so coming in and 80s and 90s moving out as they sell their cars or retire from the hobby.

What I've seen locally is that no new younger members come in to replace those that go out. This is what concerns me about the cars not surviving. There just doesn't seem to be interest in the operation and maintenance of the cars. Just yesterday a guy stopped me and said he had one that he just sold (a 53 TD) that belonged to his dad. I asked him why he sold it and he said he was not a car guy.

Even stranger is that when I get out and drive mine, tons of people seem interested. Now if only I could figure out how to get them involved in the hobby somewhere. Even if they don't buy a T, just something to keep the cars in the hands of people that use them.

Alex
Alex Waugh

JL:

The steering wheel is not on the wrong side, it's on the right side. I have been driving RHD cars since 1978 and have had over half a dozen. I currently have 2.

Some years back I drove an old postal Jeep with RHD. I used to pick up an old friend and he always commented on the wrong side steering. I told him it was not on the wrong side but the right side. When I picked him up for the first time in my new Oldsmobile, he commented that I finally got a car with the sreering on the right side, I told him "Nope, this one is on the left."
John Masters

This thread was discussed between 14/03/2014 and 18/03/2014

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