Do you ever wonder if this conversation was repeated at the turn of the last century? What's going on with the youth of today? They closed 6 stables last year. Children are not riding horses like I did. And they are not riding trains, either for that matter.
These new fangled automobiles will ruin us all.
Dave M said:TurboFocus said:In reply to Dave M :
i thought flat brim bros were still cool? or have the times changed already?
lmao @ your 'bimbo mistress'
In reply to dculberson :
ya, something about that post got me all hot n bothered lol
Pretty sure the flat brim crew was cool in like 2003 but now the whole Monster Energy Drink and Vape act is desperate.
Flat brims were never cool. They were just worn by folks who think they are cool.
Cooter said:In reply to TurboFocus :
I think if you need to resort to name calling, it might be time to step away from the keyboard for a while.
If I agree with his assessment, do I need to step away from the key board for a while?
Everything else he wrote was pretty accurate.
I simply made an assesment that the enthusiast segment may not decline in proportion to the numbers.
Your example of the Mustang remaining in production, more enthusiast car than not, while all other Ford cars go the the way of the dinosaur lends some support to my assessment. Charger and Challenger as well.
T.J. said:Dave M said:TurboFocus said:In reply to Dave M :
i thought flat brim bros were still cool? or have the times changed already?
lmao @ your 'bimbo mistress'
In reply to dculberson :
ya, something about that post got me all hot n bothered lol
Pretty sure the flat brim crew was cool in like 2003 but now the whole Monster Energy Drink and Vape act is desperate.
Flat brims were never cool. They were just worn by folks who think they are cool.
Not sure what that says about me, I gave thought you trying to wear flat brim....
I'm not sure how I feel about this.
On one hand all the sport cars I like are classics now. Less people driving is nothing but a positive thing to me. I mean there are already way to many of you berkeleyers out there getting in my way as it is.
On the other hand... Well I got nothing.
I'm not sure if this is news, or even new news.
I had a Triumph GT6 in the 90s - a pretty cool, pretty rare sportscar for a high school kid to have. A few of my buddies who were into cars thought it was cool. But otherwise, nobody really cared, even then. Showoff cars have always been about either:
a) showing off to car people or
b) showing off how much money you have, to impress shallow people (primarily of the opposite sex).
c) the actual driving, in which case you don't care what other people think, one bit.
Point being, cool sportscars have been niche since at least the 90s started - when it was cooler to wear your ripped jeans and flannels in a beat-up Escort or Minivan than to have a Porsche. The 80s were truly the end of the time when the populace in general was super-impressed by your really cool sportscar.
I drive my Porsche 924S, and while it is a pretty cool car and does get some complements (even from non-car friends), I'm pretty sure most of those complements are not because it's "cool" or "exotic" or whatever ,but just because it's "vintage" lol.
A coworker has an absolutely beautiful Dinan M4 with great-looking wheels and stickers from the dozen or so tracks he's run on. And I'm always amazed that as it sits in the parking lot, 99 out of 100 people who walk by it don't so much as even glance at it. It might as well be a Civic. But 100 out of 100 people also aren't looking at the (insert random popular crossover vehicle here) parked a few cars down. The large proportion of people just don't care about vehicles these days - not sportscars, not 500hp sedans, not SUVs, and not pickups. They buy vehicles to suit their own purposes but aren't real interested in what other people are driving, I think.
Well, I own, and sometimes wear, a Tilley hat. I also drive a Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. I also ride a 1984 Kawasaki ZX750E Turbo, have owned and ridden a Honda RC51, a 100 m.p.h. tunnel boat, etc.. I guess I can outnerd the best of ‘em.
The Nerd is dead, long live the Nerd.
My faith has been restored - my 16 year old is working on her 50 hours on her permit and bugs me to death to drive.
Oh yeah, she handles a Chevrolet Silverado like a pro - I’m impressed!
m_walker26 said:SWMBO observed just the other day that the government now mandated that young families drive minivan, SUVs and the like due to having to put baby (excuse me, child safety seats) in the back seat and that children be in such seats until some weight was attained (65 pounds maybe). The inconvenience knocks out most four door cars, two doors are a nonstarter.
We stuff 2 kids, in car seats, into the back of Mrs. VCH's '68 Camaro.
Government? Huh, never heard of 'em. 
volvoclearinghouse said:m_walker26 said:SWMBO observed just the other day that the government now mandated that young families drive minivan, SUVs and the like due to having to put baby (excuse me, child safety seats) in the back seat and that children be in such seats until some weight was attained (65 pounds maybe). The inconvenience knocks out most four door cars, two doors are a nonstarter.
We stuff 2 kids, in car seats, into the back of Mrs. VCH's '68 Camaro.
Government? Huh, never heard of 'em.
not following. We fit two baby seats just fine in my WRX and our Mazda3. I mean, we have bigger vehicles now because kids have so much other crap that goes with them too, but it's a stretch to say that you can't do it in a regular car easily. Hell, my GTI has more backseat space than our 4Runner did.
Also, baby seats are only until they're big enough to use a booster seat - and those take up almost no extra space and are more related to height - so the car's seat belt isn't across the kid's neck (my 10-year-old uses a booster seat with stock seatbelt, my 5-year-old is still in a full "kid seat" that has its own 3-point harness).
I’m not an old curmudgeon, yet. I can see it in my future though. I buy things I like. I don’t care who else likes them. My cars, rc airplanes, rc cars, model trains and slot cars aren’t cool, but who gives a e36 m3?
Two things, kids today don’t care about cars. And to the previous poster, people today hate freedom. Just look around, watch the news, or read something......
In reply to irish44j :
My point was that you don't need an SUV/ CUV if you have kids. The Camaro works just fine, even with the modern monstrosities they call kids' seats these days. We also use my 2018 Mazda 3 hatch to cart kiddos around on local jaunts as well. Even stick dog-bone in the back.
You're correct about the booster seat thing- also, after the age of two, they get to face forward, which makes the whole packaging thing much easier.
Yes, Mrs. VCH "regular" vehicle is a Suburban, but that's mostly because we live on a small farm and she needs to be able to haul the kids and, say, a bunch of straw, animal feed, lumber, or whatever. Same reason I have a crew cab pickup.
I think I was the last generation to grow up pre-car seats. Late 70's. Earliest memories were sliding around on the hot red vinyl of mom's Oldsmobile Omega. God, I don't know how we survived.
Recap so far:
I probably missed a few. I'll add these:
We're a little more than 100 years or so into the car's main story. That's it. The sample size we're looking at, from a historical perspective, is miniscule. Additionally, the technological advances during that time have been proceeding at a pace that's pretty dizzying when you thing about it. In another 100 or 200 years, "sports cars" might just count as statistical noise.
This discussion has also primarily been focusing on trends in the U.S.A. The trends on driving in other countries are worth noting, as globalization continues and the economies of scale come into play. The U.S may sill be the largest single auto market, but taken together, all of the combined overseas markets have a huge influence on what automakers are doing, because platform engineering saves money. So, start convincing all your friends in China, Europe, India and SouthEast Asia to buy the cars you want to see.
Carrying that one step further, automotive regulations influence design- see pop up headlights. The regulations in Overseas markets as well as those domestically in the U.S. are also factoring into this.
I've never gotten the whole showing off thing. I mean 'hold my beer'? What damn fool lets go of his beer? 
In reply to Nick Comstock :
nutherjrfan said:I've never gotten the whole showing off thing. I mean 'hold my beer'? What damn fool lets go of his beer?
I find its usually better just kill it then do your dumb antics.
In reply to Justin :
irish44j said:I'm not sure if this is news, or even new news.
I had a Triumph GT6 in the 90s - a pretty cool, pretty rare sportscar for a high school kid to have. A few of my buddies who were into cars thought it was cool. But otherwise, nobody really cared, even then. Showoff cars have always been about either:
a) showing off to car people or
b) showing off how much money you have, to impress shallow people (primarily of the opposite sex).
c) the actual driving, in which case you don't care what other people think, one bit.
Point being, cool sportscars have been niche since at least the 90s started - when it was cooler to wear your ripped jeans and flannels in a beat-up Escort or Minivan than to have a Porsche. The 80s were truly the end of the time when the populace in general was super-impressed by your really cool sportscar.
I drive my Porsche 924S, and while it is a pretty cool car and does get some complements (even from non-car friends), I'm pretty sure most of those complements are not because it's "cool" or "exotic" or whatever ,but just because it's "vintage" lol.
A coworker has an absolutely beautiful Dinan M4 with great-looking wheels and stickers from the dozen or so tracks he's run on. And I'm always amazed that as it sits in the parking lot, 99 out of 100 people who walk by it don't so much as even glance at it. It might as well be a Civic. But 100 out of 100 people also aren't looking at the (insert random popular crossover vehicle here) parked a few cars down. The large proportion of people just don't care about vehicles these days - not sportscars, not 500hp sedans, not SUVs, and not pickups. They buy vehicles to suit their own purposes but aren't real interested in what other people are driving, I think.
Yeah, even in the '90s most girls stopped caring rather you had a cool car or not. I started driving and got my IROC-Z in 1995 and yes a lot of girls that didn't drive did ask for rides home. But they also didn't mind asking for a ride when I drove My Father's Oldsmobile due to weather or whatever. Pretty sure they liked me more than the car considering some stormed off in a huff when I didn't try anything with them! All of them were pretty but they didn't do anything for me personality-wise. Now when I got a sportbike the ones I actually dug were up for a real scare. Bikes were definitely better for action through the 2000s.
But man did the other dudes at school love the IROC!
In reply to Brett_Murphy :
Good points. Here's another one: cars are still about impressing people, but only 12 year old boys and gearheads are impressed by sports cars. Everyone else is impressed by SUVs of some flavor, or maybe even a pickup. Compounding this is that China is the biggest car market now and they picked up our stupid crossover fad as well.
I've had one specific female in my life that was impressed by my Mustang. Only because the top folded back and the weather was nice though. The rest of the people I know make fun of it.
T.J. said:Dave M said:TurboFocus said:In reply to Dave M :
i thought flat brim bros were still cool? or have the times changed already?
lmao @ your 'bimbo mistress'
In reply to dculberson :
ya, something about that post got me all hot n bothered lol
Pretty sure the flat brim crew was cool in like 2003 but now the whole Monster Energy Drink and Vape act is desperate.
Flat brims were never cool. They were just worn by folks who think they are cool.
Or by people with fat faces who want their fat faces to look less fat when they're wearing a hat
Source: I have a fat face and a flat-brim cap
People that get impressed by new trucks and SUVs are so flaky though. Like they only dig them when they are less than a couple years old -- similar to Dubai or China.
Maybe it’s geographic. Round these parts high school dudes who don’t care about cars get excited about Hellcats and Camaro ZL1s.
And the kids who care about cars want WRX STIs, Focus STs, or E36 M3s.
I hate to break it to you guys, but sports cars have almost always been the realm of nerds. For every James Dean, there's 10 college professors with patches on the elbows of their jackets and a beret trying so desperately to look jaunty while spending hours obsessing over the car's stats. Sports cars are cool to car guys, and car guys are and almost always have been nerds. Just a particular kind of nerd.
Classically, what's the opposite of a nerd? A jock. What do jocks drive? Trucks. Not sports cars. QED.
In reply to dculberson :
perhaps. A friend got an MGB whilst playing ball for Bear Bryant. But he was a lineman so somewhat less dumb. 
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