Future classics!

[LeRich]

Originally Posted by clf

ahh, but did 'your' previous generation not say something similar about 'your' generation of cars? As time and reliability move on there is less necessity to work on cars. How many kids even change a wheel after a puncture? from what a recovery driver told me, not many, male and female - mainly down to the £99 per month deals, with RAC cover, making the yoof ignorant and lazy. Go back 40 years, where the 40-60 year old driver reminisces on greasing a trunnion, or gapping the valves every so often. For me, it was gapping the points, cleaning out and inspecting the distributor cap, changing the spark plugs every service (what happened to 6-12,000 mile spark plug changes?).

As tech moves on, it will come down to electronic and LED customising, screen displays etc (this has already started). Or perhaps hacking or illicitly activating the various electronic features that you pay for remotely - it is this that will keep the youth interested. And this all depends if people actually buy cars in the future rather than leasing or hiring them (which is also killing the interest).

I think you hit it on the head with the term 'being a user'. Bit like a computer game?

My contemporaries and I grew up in the era of fuel injection, hydraulic tappets and, for some, even airbags. Certainly none of these trunnion things you mention. .

Most of our first cars were bangers - mine was an inherited Peugeot 205. She was very much an analogue beast - power assisted nothing, a manual choke and no 5th gear. This was only 20 years ago.

It astounds me how so many of today's young drivers drive new or newish cars, most likely obtained on finance or on lease. Cars that do not encourage development of driving skill nor mechanical sympathy or interest. Tenure that does not require engagement with the machine, only use as a device or appliance.

Fortunately there is an appreciation for 'retro' cars amongst many younger motorists. This is very evident on Facebook and at local car meets. In particular, cars from the 90s have a big following as they are modern enough to be safe, reliable and usable but old enough not be considered modern and viewed with a nostalgic tint. The cars are also affordable to buy and because they are still simple, cheap to run and maintain. Whether newer cars will be held in the same esteem as they slip into retrodom is to be seen...