I think we as a society have had some many creature comforts for so long than the youth think they would die without power accesories and all the technology in their lives.

Meanwhile at 38 I’m rolling backwards thinking all I need is a decent 60s vintage car with A/C and manual everything else. FWIW I work with technology everyday at work and most days a little at home.

Getting tired of the technology bloat in my daily life. Not that I am losing my facination with it or that I’m unhappy with my career – just that the more “modern” appliances become, the less technology I want involved in keeping them useful or keeping them in working condition.

Why?

Modern setups in terms of independent suspensions and good power output, but with no traction control, computers, other handling nannies and hell, NO CUP HOLDERS!

And there were a lot of instruments and switches in that cockpit! No wonder you like your gadgets.

I was a T-33 and F-86D instructor back in the Korea era and during the Berlin crisis. Later, I flew C-119 and C-123 in the Reserves.

The F-86D was the first single-pilot interceptor with radar, electronic fuel control, etc. An intercept mission at near Mach 1 could burn the fuel load in 30 minutes. That taught me to be constantly aware of what the instruments were telling me. That habit has stayed with me ever since.

Yes. Young people (mass market as a group) have no history of cars. They have history of pickup trucks and SUVs, with cars a strange third thing, lingering from their parents’ past. They have no idea of a vehicle designed to be driven on roads. Certainly no idea of minimalist, fun to drive sports car.

So combine electronic bling with bus-like vehicle dynamics expectations for average young, and you see where we are.

This will change, fast now. 6,000 lb, 12 mpg personal vehicles will reduce to a lunatic fringe from the gum chewing public at large. New young will grow up without riding in tahoes, and will experience 2,400-3,200 lb mass market cars instead. Some of which will be nice, all competent.

Bling will not go away, it will keep increasing.

I’m leaning towards easy to live with cars. Nice interior materials, comfy and enjoyable to play with. I love the older E34 BMW. I wish it had a nicer interior though and looked a little more like extravagant and flamboyant. Drives great though.

All cars have interesting sides to them, but without a practical inclination its literally a pain in the butt to pursue owing them to much for me. So Muscle cars, Rice Rockets, Exotics and Numb Luxury are dumb relative to my inclinations. A generation gap looks like an education gap, some folks just get some things more than others I guess.

Which brings us to the question… what brand has attracted the most owners who care deeply about their footwear?

The final exam begins…. now.

Answer in 24 hours…

I _hate_ imported sticker-over-run/22″ bling rims/coffee can exhaust/aftermarket crazy wings or anything goofy like that….yet I own an STI. The reason I bought it was because it is 1) fast and 2) functional.

It’s bone stock & it will stay that way most likely until I get rid of it (might be a while as I’m averaging a tad over 8k miles per year….).

In the same vein, I love my suzuki gsx-r600 sportbike. I also love my wifes dodge neon.

Summer Speed = bike
Winter speed = STi
everyday long/distance car “2-up”: Neon.

In general I love to see stuff work it’s way down from the top (F1, not nascar). Unfortunately I think alot of people don’t appreciate that as alot of people don’t read about inventions in F1….

I also love to use something for it’s intended purpose….I find pleasure in having the “right tool for the job”

A car is many things to me – transportation, a work of art, an office, freedom, personal history, a rolling window to the world. It may be an entertainment system, but if it is, it’s a mechanical one, not an electronic one. It is not a four-wheeled computer. It’s a car.

Can’t afford a Corvette, Grandpa, but that Miata down the street is looking better all the time.

Me and my boomer friends love the original xB. Go read Paul Niedermeyer’s paean to the xB, which is somewhere on this site.

That’s not to say I don’t appreciate a well maintained and well turned out older classic. I just have no desire to devote hours of my life to restoring/maintaining/fixing one of them. Well, maybe a Series I E-type. My son is into the RSX’s, Civic Si’s, Supras, S2000’s, etc. And there are some very good reasons for that. First, even without $4.00/gallon gas, most of the big thumping V-8 cars that many of us grew up around are simply out of reach financially for a 16 year old today (and of course the car of my 10yr old’s dreams is a 911 GT3). Secondly, there is a lack of CONTEXT to most young kids when it comes to those cars. Look around the classic car auctions and tell me what the median age is. I would bet real money that it is at least 5 years older than I am. That’s because those are the cars those guys grew up with, the cars they fantasized about when they were 16, or 24 with a wife and kid and not a lot of extra cash. Now they are at a point in their lives where they can make up for lost time. How many 24 year olds get jacked up about a ‘67 427 ‘Vette? How many 24 year olds want to/ have the wherewithal to pay six figures for a ‘68 Camaro? Not many, especially after they dust one off with their slammed Supra out at the track. I see it almost every Friday night out at the local drag strip and on the streets.

At some point in time the cars we get off on are going to be considered “old-guy” stuff. Just like a ‘50 Merc with a flathead Ford is to me. Hey, if they look nice and if you enjoy it, great! It just does nothing for me. No offense intended!

Wandering off topic, I know, but what did you fly?

I’m 75. I designed computer equipment at IBM starting in the 1950s. I built my own PC in the 70s and I had an IBM PC on my desk before the PC was ever announced to the public. I was also once a fighter pilot, so I enjoy cars that perform well. I bet I would like the glass cockpit in the current planes.

I love my GPS and all of the information I can pull up on the display in the instrument cluster. How much diesel did it take to tow the Airstream up that mountain, and is it better in the current terrain to turn on tow-haul or take advantage of 6th gear? What lane should I be in because a turn is coming up? How many minutes to the next rest stop or fuel?

These things aren’t distracting like a cell phone. They take only an instant to display. I think they keep me alert and in tune with my truck.

By the way, I own a 2006 Azera Limited and a 2007 Silverado Duramax/Allison LTZ.

well put!!!

Costs … $1,500,000/$73,000 = 20.54

Here’s something any generation can understand. I’ll take 20 GT-Rs over 1 Veyron any day.

Were the guys to pick between the GT-R and a Porsche 911 Turbo, the UberBeetle would get nod of respect, but the line would form behind the Nissan. It’s new. It’s hip. It’s THE car on Grand Theft Auto for cryin’ out loud.

Not Gran Theft Auto, Gran Turismo
;-)

But congrats on the dialogue, that was hysterical.

An interesting trans-generational point is that the majority of people, either older or younger, have NO clue about cars, at all.
No idea that Infiniti is a division of Nissan.
What FWD/RWD even is.
What ABS does (”well, it helps to brake, duh!” “How?” “IT HELPS!!”)
That 4WD helps only when accelerating
That a 160hp engine is more than enough to propel a 1.5 ton vehicle above legal speeds

And so on.

Most people, regardless of age, fall for coolness and marketing.

The difference is that the “cliched” older people lust after vinyl roofs and corvettes, while the “cliched” young crows lusts after big rims and GT-Rs.

That said, I think that the new Nissan isn’t suffering from “ageism” or any such thing. They had an opportunity to make something that was art instead of just a car. It’s what distinguishes the original Olds Tornado from the later (boring) versions.

The GT-R is a really fast car. There’s lots of those. There aren’t a lot of cars that ooze sex appeal or take automotive design to a higher level. Sad, really.

also, with the sub 25 crowd (not necessarily car enthusiast), lots want basic, safe, reliable transportation (with GREAT gas mileage) – no desire for the frivolousness of any sort of ‘bling’, big wheels, 6 cylinders, etc… – 30 mpg is NOT impressive – show me 40-50+… without a hybrid system…

When it comes to concepting, designing, and marketing a vehicle, the age of the consumer for which it is being created for is (or at least should be) in the forefront in the mind of every person involved.

So yeah. Buicks = Last Time Buyers.

Scion = First Time New Buyers.

And an age difference of about 60 years. Seriously. Really.

The number of automotive examples (and tedious power point presentations attempting to explain them) is endless.

I could bore you to tears with them, but I won’t.

Suffice it to say, it’s more fun to experience the generation gap, and each generations’ taste, firsthand.

My daughter (21) and her friends (guys and girls) love to talk up cars with me, as I’m known as an old guy who still gets passionate about 4-wheeled transpo (a rarity, they presume).

A Corvette to them is a relic. Any vintage. Just doesn’t register, really. Sure, a few of the guys will maybe look up from their laptop at Starbucks if a Z06 passes…then, whatever. Corvettes are mostly for old guys with hair-holes and beer bellies.

But if a 10-year old Acura Integra riding on 22s with a coffeecan muffler and a faux carbon hood pulls up, they’re all over it.

Were the guys to pick between the GT-R and a Porsche 911 Turbo, the UberBeetle would get nod of respect, but the line would form behind the Nissan. It’s new. It’s hip. It’s THE car on Grand Theft Auto for cryin’ out loud.

American anything, unless it’s a lifted 4×4 truck, a Viper, 4-door Wrangler with the top down, or a Shelby GT500, doesn’t do a thing for any of ‘em. Guys or girls.

My daughter’s 3-year old Ford Focus is nothing more than a necessary evil — cheap on gas and insurance. “Why can’t we trade it in on a Honda…c’mon! A Civic or Accord coupe. Or even a used Scion! Ford sucks. I look like a tool in this.”

“What about a Cobalt.”

“You can’t be serious. Nobody would even ride with me.”

“Good.”

“I can’t wait till I’m done with college and can get whatever I want…like a Nissan Z.”

“Neither can I. Neither can I.”

I am an officically-documented Scion Nerd (2005 Gen 1 xB!), and I’ve looked at every driver in an xA and first-gen xB (you know…the real one) for the last four years.

The xA is kind of a wild card, but the xB appealed to only two markets: kids young enough to be hip, and people too old to give a damn. IT wasn’t just “older people,” it’s like 65 and up. I could count the number of people in the 30-55 age range (that’s you, Boomers!) on one hand.

On the other hand, the NEW xB has been accepted by no one more than the Me Generation (that’s you again, Boomers! I know how much you like to talk about yourselves!). I’ve seen exactly one person UNDER the age of 40, and believe me, I’ve been looking. Predictably, this has been the Death of Cool for the Scion xB, as the only people I know who like it are…let’s face it, old.

After the utter failure of the redesign, I think the tC is the only reason Scion’s retained its hold on the highly-sought-after “youngest demographic” market.

And I found the GT-R totally uninteresting also.

the factors that determine one’s like or dislike of any specific car has much more to do with personality, income and family status.

Also, Buicks kinda have their own demographic.

Strangely enough, I saw an obviously senior male driving an EVO earlier this week. No stickers plasterd across the sides and windows, though.

I think some cars appeal more to some demographics (duh!), but I don’t think that there is necessarily an automotive generation gap. I’m in my 30’s but I still talk with other guys (and gals) in there late teens through 60’s about cars. If I see a car that I’m really interested in and the driver is there, I’ll go up and ask him about it. I have had young and old people ask me about my various cars through the years. I used to use my ‘58 Chevy as a daily driver and I got more thumbs up and hollers from teens than from “old farts.” A love of cars spans the genrations, and each generation has a mixture of people that have different tastes in automotive machinery as well as a majority that don’t really understand cars.

By the way, I also enjoyed playing Need 4 Speed Underground 1 and 2, including modifying the apearance of my car in the game. There’s a kid down the block with an S2000 with plenty of artistic changes to the sheet metal that look absolutely gorgeous in my opinion as well as that of my 30 something wife. He did it right. It’s when they do it wrong that I have to laugh, and that has nothing to do with my age.