NYT: The End of Car Culture?

[1935Packard]

Here's an interesting (but for us pretty depressing) story in today's New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/sunday-review/the-end-of-car-culture.html

If trends continue, I gather that the car nuts among us will become a rarer breed over time.

[stock_steve]

I've said in the past that I read (or at least browse) the NY Times to find out what "the enemy" is thinking.

Like so many of their articles, their insular northeastern liberal viewpoint shows through clearly on this one.

That's as far as my opinionated comments will go, however, in fear of my post being deleted!

[Guest Magoo]

The New York Times reporting on cars is like the Vatican Daily reporting on dating. The average New Yorker thinks an automobile is a big yellow machine with a light on the top.

That said, there's a little something to what they're saying, but like all reporting on cultural trends, it's way overstated. The chattering classes have to chatter, whether they have anything to chatter about or not.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I would not lose too much sleep, 1935, just the latest in a series of reports that may have some basis but also follow the "say it enough and it will be so" path of social engineering. This one is actually comical to me - the thought of the Chinese government being upset about a rapidly growing economy, and allowing the expansion of the auto if they did not want it - as much as the author would like to paint that picture is just ain't so...

[joe_padavano]

Is this the same NYT that printed a story in 1920 ridiculing Robert Goddard and claiming that rockets would never work in space and that it was impossible to get to the moon because of this? Clearly they are experts at everything - just ask them.

[avgwarhawk]

The end of a car culture? There is a car culture certainly. The participants are of same mind but the cars are charging! Tuners, drifting, etc. I can say some kids are taking longer to get their license. My daughter is one of them. Anyway, back in the day, getting a license was a right of passage. Not so much today. Kids get around using the internet. No need to run to the mall when Amazon can ship it.

[1935Packard]

I fear there may be some "whistling past the graveyard" going on here, at least to the extent the hobby hinges on large numbers of car nuts to keep it going. But I guess I'm being a downer by flagging it in the first place; I suppose the future will bring what it brings either way.

[LINC400]

Some might not like what the article has to say. But there is definitely truth to it. When I was in high school, we could not wait to get our licenses, and then our first car. It was the most important thing at that age. Driving your mom's car, especially a station wagon or some other type of uncool car definitely got you laughed at. Even worse was having to use a bus if all your friend's had cars.

Now, many teens do not get a car or even a license. Driving mom's minivan or even taking a bus is just fine. Even better, why bother with going anywhere at all. Just do everything on your iPad or other device.

When I went to a family reunion last year, I had just bought my first brand new car. A 2012 45th Anniversary Camaro convertible. I thought this car would appeal more to younger people, but no one under 25 even bothered to get out of their chairs or stopped typing on their devices to go look at it, much less go for a ride. They simply had no interest.

[Bhigdog]

All you have to do is look at the cars today. Engineering, fit, and finish wise they are EXCELLENT. Of course the same could be said of a wash machine or refrigerator. Why would today's couch potato kids be excited or even interested? They don't even need a car to go "parking" anymore. They just take their friends up to their room while the folks grin and bear it because they don't want to hurt their self esteem...............Bob

[Rusty_OToole]

Car culture really flourished in the fifties and sixties. By the mid 70s it was dead. Now it belongs to a small clique of old timers and oddballs. It will keep going like Civil War re enactors but not as a popular phenomenon.

[1912Staver]

My son is close to driving age but even though he is surrounded by my car hobby he has little interest. He sees the cost of a hobby car first hand and knows that it is so far beyond his meager funds that there is no hope. He also has some older cousins that have had a couple of speeding tickets and are now bus riders due to the insurance premiums. When I was young with my first Mustang I got a few tickets and while it was a little expensive, it was something I could afford without parking the car indefinitely. These days 2 tickets equals a young man's take home salary for 2 or 3 months. In most cases this means no car for a more or less indefinite period. Pretty hard for the majority of young people to get excited about anything motor vehicle orientented in todays economic reality. Greg in Canada

[Guest Magoo]

I'm sure there's much to this story... but I also believe there is more to the story. For example, the demographic shift is partly regional. On the coasts, more kids are moving away from cars into other pursuits. No doubt about it. But out in the rural heartland, interest in cars remains strong, partly because kids need a vehicle to get anywhere or do anything -- school, the mall, work, sports practice, etc.

In 2007 when I was working the HOT ROD Power Tour, there was a small town in Wisconsin where the high school principal let out the classes to watch the Tour drive past. The entire school, along with much of the town, was standing on the curb as we came through. The editor and publisher, both LA residents, were blown away. Memorable quote: "You could give away free drugs in LA and not get this turnout." Naturally, we had to stop and visit. Good time.

Here is another take on the issue...not necessarily my take, but does offer another perspective:

Young people don't like cars: The story behind a manufactured crisis

Edited July 2, 2013 by Magoo (see edit history)

[tom82baur]

The rumors of the death of the car culture are greatly exaggerated. ----Paraphrased from Mark Twain. At least in MY neighborhood, here in the liberal Northeast, and on my Baurspotting blog!.

iMotorTimes - Island Import Day 2013 Mega Gallery: Tuners Show Off New York's Finest [PHOTOS] - iMotor Times

Baurspotting

Edited July 2, 2013 by tom82baur (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

My daughter loves cars and loves her car. She parks it way, way at the end of the parking lot and walks in to work. That means she has to leave a little early so that she is on time to work. If you've got a teenage daughter, then you know what a really big deal it is when they leave early to be at work early. We've had a blast updating the car with projector headlights, LED taillights and other 'modern' running gear. She wants to white the wheels out and I'll be right there to help her. I've learned to like this look because I see the joy in her face. I don't see that car as much as I see her pride in the car. She may not like them the way we do, but trust me, the passion is there.

[junkyardjeff]

It said in that driving was down and you can blame that on the high gas prices,I do not go to many of the out of town shows like I did in the past and I do not travel too far for vacations any more.

[DonMicheletti]

Cars today are a whole lot different than they were back before the '80s. Today with computer control, emission regulations and such, there isnt much the average person can do to a car - and they are a whole lot more reliable and maintenance free now.

I grew up tinkering and working on my cars to keep them going, always doing all my own maintenance - and I wasnt unusual, lots of others did the same. So naturally there was an interest.

Also cars were a whole lot simpler. I just cant imagine trying to "restore" a 2013 car 30 or 40 years from now.

To almost all kids today a car is simply transportation and to look cool (and maybe go fast)

[Guest sprint 75r]

I've been obsessed with cars since I first saw one but when I was 16 I had NO interest in any thing old! Now at 57 (as of today) I have interest in just about every car.You can't write off the youth vote at age 16, I've watched my son's views between age 16 and 26 and am just starting to see his preferences change and he has been exposed to my sickness heavily. This stuff moves in cycles, just like cars no one wanted ten years ago are now popular again. I'm in NY (upstate) and car shows here are packed with a variety of people and style cars. I'm more worried about swap meets disappearing to the internet, I use it, but enjoy seeing the parts in my hand before buying...

[John_Maine]

Eventually, we'll all end up on a spaceship in remote control chairs controlling everything in our lives with a computer screen of some sort just like in the movie Wall-e.

I also think that since manufacturers have gotten away from Alfred Sloan's concept of annual model changes and "stepping up" through the ranks, so to speak, they've taken away the excitement we all felt every fall. As much as planned obsolescence was a marketing gimmick, it kept peoples' interest. Car advertisements aren't as much fun or exciting, either. No one does things like the Chevy on Chimney Rock any more. Of course, there are other factors - fuel costs and the cost of a vehicle these days for two.

Edited July 5, 2013 by John_Maine (see edit history)