New cars at Shows

[njsteve]

We, the people who were alive when these cars were originally built, whose parents drove them when new, and we who drove them in high school, etc., are DYING OFF by the thousands every day.

The easiest way to ensure the total extinction of this hobby is to restrict car shows and meets from people with newer cars who have an interest in the internal combustion engine.

Go ahead and cut off the attendee year at 1973, like they used to at most car shows and watch the attendance fall to nothing in the next couple years.

I have a helluva lot of fun driving my 2022 Redeye to a cars and coffee one week and then my grandfather's 1971 Lincoln the next. Guess what? Tomorrow I am bringing my 1995 diesel Suburban (that I bought new in '95 and now has historic license plates on it) to the local cruise night because there's a trucks, military, and first responder vehicles themed event scheduled.

The last time I brought the Lincoln, it got more attention than any car I previously brought, including 426 Hemi cars and SD Pontiacs. A 17 year-old boy and his girlfriend could not believe they made cars that humungous back in the day. I let them climb inside the thing and take pictures. They were overjoyed. They totally freaked out when I flipped the headlights on and the headlight doors opened up. They'd never seen anything like that before. This was a kid who had brought a little 2000's-era Honda to the cruise night. This is the next generation that is expressing an interest in these cars. We should feel privileged that they want us to pass the torch to them. Otherwise that torch is sure to sputter out through spite and rightfully perceived as "typical Boomer behavior".