Re: Thoughts On Recruiting The Next Generation

Posted by Miles Whetham On 2011/12/30 10:48:26

Hey Guys,
I find this topic very interesting and important. Aside from the Packard aspect of it, it also speaks to a situation common throughout the classic car culture. I live in northern Minnesota and belong to a local car club here and we in the club are having a lot of the same conversations. Our club if made up mostly of muscle cars and street rods but there are also a few of us who are into restorations. I think that we are coming to the realization that we are going to have to embrace that most common of all things--CHANGE. We have been (passively I think) encouraging whatever younger people in the area that have any automotive interest to come to our cruise nights. And once in a while one or two will show up. However, and I think this is where we are shooting ourselves in the foot, we tend to ignore them because they are more interested in what they are more familiar with. They tend to drive the later model mustangs and other small cars that I think we don't show much appreciation for. Oh, they do like to come see these cool looking old machines that we drive but they don't seem to have much on a interest in having one of them themselves. I guess that I hope that someday they will develop more of a love for these vehichles we have, but, if not, I guess that is the way of life. It kind of reminds me of my grandpa they way he used to talk about a spirited horse he used to ride or the team he had in the field that could out pull any of the neighbors teams. What is that old saying, "the only think constant in life is change itself".

Miles