Practically Classics Forum

Its not very often I have a gripe, but today I have. Its not about the younger generation of classic car owners, but actually about my own generation and older.
I am of the, shall we say, older section of us who lust after the 60s metal and have done for years, owning and restoring many cars of the era. I have two children who have grown up around classic cars and now both own cars of their choice, neither of them modern, following in my footsteps as it were. My son has a mini which we restored together from a scrap yard find and is his daily driver. My daughter has a vauxhall nova GTE. These are both 80s cars and are classics in their own rights to the up and coming generation.
The gripe is that today my daughter and her boyfriend took their GTE (which is a rare mint original one) to a well known show. it was well within the organisers age range for entries so they were looking forward to another good day out with their pride and joy. Imagine their disappointment when the owner of the "older" car parked next to them spent the day passing dark looks and mutterings in their direction because in his eyes their car wasnt a classic. They were just sitting there quietly behind their car minding their own business. I have had a similar experience with a manta and mk1 astra in the recent past (yes I like 80s stuff as well). On this occasion though, my daughter chose to cut their show short and go home because she was so fed up with the constant mutterings. A shame as they had been looking forward to it. Yes they could have probably just moved away, but that wasnt the point.
I know it comes back to the eternal question of what is a classic, but surely any car of interest which is preserved and lovingly looked after is a classic in its own right. We desperately need the younger generation to come up and keep the movement going and its a natural progression that they choose cars to suit. Its only the same as my era choosing cars from the 60s after all.
Yes, this today is probably the exception rather than the rule, but if just a few get the same treatment and lose heart, then it will snowball.
I am genuinely proud that my kids are carrying on the tradition and we do go to shows together as a family when we can.
As I have said, I hope that this is the exception, but come on my generation, a bit more tolerance please, we need to encourage our kids, not turn them away.

It's a shame that this f*ckwit put your daughter off and I hope she'll not lose any of her fondness for an older car as a result of that sort of attitude.
In that situation, as I tend to be when I have an 80s car at a show, I usually make an effort to be extra nice to the person with the attitude problem as they really hate it when you don't bite!

And something else to ponder over; I see far more Morris Minors, MGBs and 60s cars in general on the roads than I see Corsa As/Novas being used so for that reason alone it's always good to see them at shows. The thing is to avoid letting these people get to you and that comes with age and experience, here's wishing your daughter well with her car and good on her for choosing it over something less interesting.

Amen to that. There were probably Minors and MGBs appearing at shows when they were younger than the Nova.

I imagine that the "old farts" were the type that say things like "I've been bringing my Minor here for forty years and things are going downhill." Their Minor being a 1965 model that would have been newer then than the Nova is now! Of course, they could be meaning anything that hasn't Jaguar/Ferrari/Rolls Royce or similar "snobbish classic status" simply isn't a classic.

I can sort of see why he doesn't feel the fledglings' cars are classics - after all, they are "modern" to someone who, like me, has been driving for forty odd years and might have owned a second hand one as a daily. However, that doesn't give him/them the right to be obnoxious and critical of other cars and their owners (unless it is a BMW Mini or new Beetle that someone thinks is classic). As said by others, the young are the future of classic motoring and preservation of our past. These "modern" cars will be lost to their grandchildren unless someone preserves them - just as the Austin Seven, Model T, Silver Ghost and other similar old cars would have been if previous younger generations hadn't preserved them. None of our Minors made classic status, which might be seen as a shame because there was a very early MM convertible and a '55 split-screen Traveller amongst them!

The annoying thing is that this thread will never be seen by such bigoted people. Members of this forum appreciate classic and neo-classic stuff for what they are and not just how old or "classic" they are as much as they appreciate the effort that owners have put into the vehicle to keep it in good usable condition.

tractorman wrote:I imagine that the "old farts" were the type that say things like "I've been bringing my Minor here for forty years and things are going downhill." Their Minor being a 1965 model that would have been newer then than the Nova is now! .

Spot on

My 16 year old daughter wants an MG Metro - car which these fogies don't regard as a real classic. Insurance dictates that she will be starting with a Rover 100 but she's dead keen on old cars (including my MGC). The last thing that the new generation need is to be detered by these sort of gits

Seen this first hand on saturday. Was at a local show with my son, just mooching not showing, and looking at a 1989 mx5. Mine is of a similar age so was having a good look. Another exhibitor who i know from years ago commented tgat the mx should not have been at such a show due to its young age.
The bloke commenting was there with his 1986 mogan which as far as i could see was based on a ford sierra ( he wasnt best pleased when i asked if his kit car was actually a ford sierra mind)
There is a lot of snobery at many of these shows in my opinions which is a shame and can be offputting (if you let it)

Kev

Totally agree, I always try to include the more "modern" cars with their owners when I'm at a show, the 1980s was now quite a long time ago and it's amazing how many people "of a certain age" think it was just yesterday. If a car is old, intersting, cherished or rare then why shouldn't it be included.
Those of us with a more understanding nature should keep a lookout at shows for the young owners of classics and encourage them, especially if we see close by bigots as in the first post. Make a point of being more interested in the Novas and Metros on show and see how they like that!
The other thing I believe we should do is to encourage the under 10's to come and get close to the cars. One of the things I hear most is from paranoid parents telling their kids not to touch. They are amazed when I open the door and invite the kids to sit in the car. These kids just may be the classic owners of tomorrow, let's give them that much needed boost to spark their enthusiasm.

It would seem that what my daughter experienced at the weekend isn't an isolated case then. Its a real shame, but on the positive side, it hasn't put her off, but she is going to concentrate on shows more suited to her car like the VBOA show at Billing and more club orientated shows. Both her and her boyfriend get real pleasure out of driving it and getting positive comments, as we all do. So, as I said to her, "rise above it girl"!!. Its just that folk going to the "ordinary" shows wont get to see these cars.

I don't think we will really see this sort of bigotry disappearing altogether unfortunately. There are too many folk who have been on the show circuit for years and are used to their cars getting attention, which is fair enough there are some gorgeous cars out there which have been on the show circuit for as long as I can remember. What they don't remember is that at some point, their car will have been "modern" to other show goers as well.

Anyway, rant over, lets just enjoy our motors, get on with it and ignore the minority who don't appreciate good cars when they see them.

Anyone going to Moffat car show at the end of the month?

Yes, I'll be there with a very similar car to the one you see to the left of this post. According to the site, they're expecting upwards of 1000 cars again this year, it's fast becoming one of the best shows locally.

I agree with getting the young uns interested. My son is always in the garage with me working on a project. Been teaching him the basics on painting etc. he also enjoys weilding a spanner under supervision.

Kev