geezermobile?

[Baldwinvette77]

 
Why the hell would a young person want to be into this hobby?  


IMHO way too many adults in this hobby crap on teenagers no matter what they do.  If the kid has a raggedy car on the road then he must be abusing it.  If it's a nice car then the kid doesn't deserve it.  Either way they think the kid shouldn't have the car and doesn't respect it.  

The only thing a teenager can do right in their eyes is not have an old car.


And if no more young people had old cars, those same adults would complain about that too.  

You know to be completely honest,  even back when i was 15 i never experienced that... alot of adults are psyched that i have a taste for old musclecars, the only people that ever hinted at jealousy or something else, was a man with a jaguar, and a couple a middle aged women, that asked "were you even alive when they made that car?" i said "yup, Restoration began in 2012"

[Mike DC]

 
Well, maybe I'm wrong or outdated on this.  Maybe the youth in the hobby get treated better than I think these days.  That would be nice.

[Ghoste]

I thought they were treated okay. 

[Mike DC]

 
I agree that younger guys seem to get treated fine on DC.com. 


I was thinking more about the average man-on-the-street reactions with the original complaint.  They can be more dubious towards younger guys in musclecars IMHO. 

[Ghoste]

I guess I haven't noticed that locally but if it is going on elsewhere that is a real sad thing. 

[c00nhunterjoe]

Im 30, bought mine 15 years ago for $2000. Im still the youngest guy at almost every show

[terrible one]

No ill experiences here or out driving around. At 23, I guess mine is still crappy enough that people have no problem believing it's mine. 

[68RT440]

Im 30 and we got our '68 when I was 15. My dad knew nothing about Mopars, as he grew up all Chevy. I wanted a 68-69 Charger in the worst way after seeing DOH, Bullitt, DMCL, etc. So my dad said we will look for one, but if Im serious about getting one, I need to do my research. So I bought the numbers books and figured out exactly what we needed to look for. It was my job to decode the VIN/ fender tags every time we went to look at one. I was very fortunate that my dad was taking care of the financial part, on the understanding that I kept my grades up and put in time with him in the garage working on it. I learned a lot from working on it, and that drove my desire to make a career in the automotive world. I ended up going to WyoTech and learning how to weld, paint, etc. I have been working at a custom hot rod shop since I got out of WyoTech, and am currently doing a rotisserie resto on the Charger. Ive been teaching my dad how to weld, and teaching him the wonderful world of fitting aftermarket sheetmetal. So with him fronting the money over the years to initially buy the car (something that I never could have afforded at 15), and work on it, I feel like I am repaying him by doing a restoration on it for free labor. All of my buddies over the years coule never understand why I wanted to fix up an old car when there were perfectly good 5.0 Mustangs ( I like my stangs, I have an 03 GT that I drag race) or Camaros. I was the odd guy out in my circle of friends. So I think that I have a good deal going with pops, and if it wasn't for him letting my dream come true, I would have just been another young kid missing out on some of Detroit's finest....

[charge69]

Nice story, 68RT440 !  You will have the last laugh with your friends when you finish your dream Charger.  Being able to do your own body work and paint (Gotta learn that also!) will save you some serious coin as well as provide an enormous amount of self-satisfaction!

P.S.  I am more than twice your age and my friend that did most of the restoration on my Charger (an artist with a welding machine of any type and a paint gun) is probably your fathers' age (early '50's). Him, I, or both of us did the lion's share of work on my car at his special garage at my friends' home. A true "shade-tree mechanic's" restoration excepting the motor! Keep at your Charger restoration and know you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did a job well done!

[68RT440]

Nice story, 68RT440 !  You will have the last laugh with your friends when you finish your dream Charger.  Being able to do your own body work and paint (Gotta learn that also!) will save you some serious coin as well as provide an enormous amount of self-satisfaction!

P.S.  I am more than twice your age and my friend that did most of the restoration on my Charger (an artist with a welding machine of any type and a paint gun) is probably your fathers' age (early '50's). Him, I, or both of us did the lion's share of work on my car at his special garage at my friends' home. A true "shade-tree mechanic's" restoration excepting the motor! Keep at your Charger restoration and know you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did a job well done!

Thanks for the kind words. And yea, Im really looking forward to seeing the work pay off. It really feels good to repay my dad. He usually comes out and watches me and asks questions while Im working. He even bought another welding helmet so he can wear his and watch me weld. Its pretty cool because I remember watching my dad work and asking him questions years back when he was doing oil changes, brakes, etc on our cars out in the driveway. As for my buddys, they really have no idea the work that it takes to restore a car. I will spend 2 hours on something like fitting the quarter panel to the door jamb and getting it perfect, and they come over and ask what the heck have I been doing, the car looks the same as last time...but pops and I know exactly whats been going on..lol

[ws23rt]

Nice story, 68RT440 !  You will have the last laugh with your friends when you finish your dream Charger.  Being able to do your own body work and paint (Gotta learn that also!) will save you some serious coin as well as provide an enormous amount of self-satisfaction!

P.S.  I am more than twice your age and my friend that did most of the restoration on my Charger (an artist with a welding machine of any type and a paint gun) is probably your fathers' age (early '50's). Him, I, or both of us did the lion's share of work on my car at his special garage at my friends' home. A true "shade-tree mechanic's" restoration excepting the motor! Keep at your Charger restoration and know you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did a job well done!

Thanks for the kind words. And yea, Im really looking forward to seeing the work pay off. It really feels good to repay my dad. He usually comes out and watches me and asks questions while Im working. He even bought another welding helmet so he can wear his and watch me weld. Its pretty cool because I remember watching my dad work and asking him questions years back when he was doing oil changes, brakes, etc on our cars out in the driveway. As for my buddys, they really have no idea the work that it takes to restore a car. I will spend 2 hours on something like fitting the quarter panel to the door jamb and getting it perfect, and they come over and ask what the heck have I been doing, the car looks the same as last time...but pops and I know exactly whats been going on..lol

  When bringing one of these cars back to the road we can spend much more time building them than we do driving them.

For me those many hours are part of the fun with this hobby.  Great satisfaction can be had by learning new things and seeing the results.

I feel a greater pride of ownership in that I did it myself. 

[68RT440]

Nice story, 68RT440 !  You will have the last laugh with your friends when you finish your dream Charger.  Being able to do your own body work and paint (Gotta learn that also!) will save you some serious coin as well as provide an enormous amount of self-satisfaction!

P.S.  I am more than twice your age and my friend that did most of the restoration on my Charger (an artist with a welding machine of any type and a paint gun) is probably your fathers' age (early '50's). Him, I, or both of us did the lion's share of work on my car at his special garage at my friends' home. A true "shade-tree mechanic's" restoration excepting the motor! Keep at your Charger restoration and know you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did a job well done!

Thanks for the kind words. And yea, Im really looking forward to seeing the work pay off. It really feels good to repay my dad. He usually comes out and watches me and asks questions while Im working. He even bought another welding helmet so he can wear his and watch me weld. Its pretty cool because I remember watching my dad work and asking him questions years back when he was doing oil changes, brakes, etc on our cars out in the driveway. As for my buddys, they really have no idea the work that it takes to restore a car. I will spend 2 hours on something like fitting the quarter panel to the door jamb and getting it perfect, and they come over and ask what the heck have I been doing, the car looks the same as last time...but pops and I know exactly whats been going on..lol

  When bringing one of these cars back to the road we can spend much more time building them than we do driving them.

For me those many hours are part of the fun with this hobby.  Great satisfaction can be had by learning new things and seeing the results.

I feel a greater pride of ownership in that I did it myself. 

Absolutely! Plus its nice knowing every square inch of the car, and knowing that no corners were cut while doing the work.

[charge69]

You are welcome about the comments. Being able to share time and conversation as you work on your Charger will become great memories for you in the future. My father died of cancer when I was just 10 years old (I was the oldest of 4 kids!) way back in 1957 so, I did not get to share my MOPAR memories with him, However, he was a MOPAR man and I am sure we would have enjoyed these old cars together.

The vast majority of people out there, "car people" or not, have no idea how much time and money it takes to restore and maintain an old car, especially MOPARS!!

[boys3rt]

I was 24 when I got my 69 Charger. My girl friend at the time lent me the money to purchase the car for $1200. As this was a real Hemi car with no engine and transmission I ended up transplanting a Hemi drivetrain from a 69 RR (440 - SixPack car) that I acquired just two years before. I eventually got to meet the original owner and acquired quite a bunch of the missing parts from the car from him for very short money even at those times. I never paid my girlfriend back but I did marry her. She has been my biggest supporter with the car thru all these past 33 years. As our family came along and offers of money to buy the car came by she always said don't you dare sell the car. Although she may not go to all the cruises and events she still wants me to keep the car. I hope someday to pass it on to our boys. You have to admire all the stories on this Forum about the owners and their families as well. I can say that my best and dearest old friends are because of the car world we belong to.

Enjoy those Chargers out there!

[ACUDANUT]

  When bringing one of these cars back to the road we can spend much more time building them than we do driving them.

For me those many hours are part of the fun with this hobby.  Great satisfaction can be had by learning new things and seeing the results.

I feel a greater pride of ownership in that I did it myself.
X2

[Mogre]

  When bringing one of these cars back to the road we can spend much more time building them than we do driving them.

For me those many hours are part of the fun with this hobby.  Great satisfaction can be had by learning new things and seeing the results.

I feel a greater pride of ownership in that I did it myself.
X2

X3
And miles of smiles for 20 years

[viper r/t]

I'm 22, dont post much anymore but still hang around, mostly in the parts section.

I need to get some pics of my rt on here that i bought a few months ago.

[ws23rt]

I was 24 when I got my 69 Charger. My girl friend at the time lent me the money to purchase the car for $1200. As this was a real Hemi car with no engine and transmission I ended up transplanting a Hemi drivetrain from a 69 RR (440 - SixPack car) that I acquired just two years before. I eventually got to meet the original owner and acquired quite a bunch of the missing parts from the car from him for very short money even at those times. I never paid my girlfriend back but I did marry her. She has been my biggest supporter with the car thru all these past 33 years. As our family came along and offers of money to buy the car came by she always said don't you dare sell the car. Although she may not go to all the cruises and events she still wants me to keep the car. I hope someday to pass it on to our boys. You have to admire all the stories on this Forum about the owners and their families as well. I can say that my best and dearest old friends are because of the car world we belong to.

Enjoy those Chargers out there!

This says alot--These cars are not quite like pets but they can intertwine with our lives in a similar way.

Btw our dear pets pass on but the cars last as long as we want them to.----not like zombies though 

[Ghoste]

I need to get some pics of my rt on here that i bought a few months ago.

Yes.