Austin Vert Laments The Classics

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Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Messages
3,085
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438
Location
Brisbane - Australia
My Car
1973 Mustang Convertible
Hi to all,

I guess i'm just downright naive sometimes and out of touch, but a good friend of mine has recently returned from his first holiday visiting some parts of America and Canada. Granted, he only went to places like New York, San Francisco and Vancouver, but when i was going through the hundreds of photos he took, i noticed that pretty much most the cars on the streets seem to be Asian. Would that be a correct assumption?

I have never been to America or Canada, but as i'm approaching 60 years of age,the American tv shows, films and magazines that i grew up on here in Australia from the 50's through to the 80's had lots of beautiful American cars on the streets from those eras. My God!, have they all disappeared off the streets in your countries, no more to be seen?

I guess time has certainly rocketed by, and the classic 50's to '80s made cars logically would fade away from use these days. So in reality, how many of these old cars are still on the roads over there percentage wise?

The same story is true here in Australia, as most of our daily driver cars are Asian made as well. Our Aussie made classics are hard to find these days as well out on the streets.

Oh dear, where have the years gone, and boy, things certainly change don't they!:(

Greg.:-/

 
Unfortunately a lot of the modern cars look alike! It's hard to tell from a distance what make of car you are looking at. Back in the 70's and before, I was very good at being able to tell make and model and approximate year from a distance. My father knew a blind man way back in the day and he could sit in his chair on his front porch and tell you what make of car was driving by just by the sound of the engine!

 
Time claims all things and seems to be especially fond of classic/older cars. 80% of new cars look like door stops or bulbous insects. It is the same for foreign or domestic. The choices in automobiles that drive the proper wheels are very limited as well. Add to that our government decided, a few years ago, it would be a good idea to pay people to have their old cars sent to the crusher. I was saddened to see some drivable 70s models sitting in the death lot. Having said that, we still have a number of gear heads that preserve and restore cars from a period where they did not all look alike. In my area there are a lot of us and I see nice old cars on the road every good weather weekend. So, to celebrate your upcoming birthday, come visit America and go from car show to car show. Chuck

 
Greg, your observation of classics disappearing from the streets is not far off. I know in a city of around 100,000 (granted, in the middle of nowhere), mine will pretty much be the only '71-'73 around when I finally get it on the road (until Auron73Mach1 gets his '73 up and running, that is).

 
Greg, I think you also see that in the big cities that people are prone to be more utilitarian. A car is an instrument to get from point A to point B. And people want their car to be maintenance free. American companies really sucked at quality in the 80's and 90's and people found the Asian cars more reliable. The trend has faded some what (waiting to see how GM's new problem affects long-term sales), but people tend to stick with what works. Also, as mentioned, the beauracrats stuck their nose into the free market and incentivised car crushing. Being that those crappy 80's and 90's American cars were prime targets, they probably saw the crusher the quickest.

I think if you go outside in the more rural areas of America, you will still find American cars and most certainly American trucks! Most of hte classic cars are either in storage/garaged or sitting in the backyard waiting for restoration (meaning they are rusting away).

 
Thanks for your comments and feedback guys. I agree with everything you've said. Basically, modern car design and styling has lost individual character and soul, as most of todays cars look like clones of each other.They're made to a cheap formula, and are not made to last for long. Yes, auto technology has come along a fair way since those days, but the quality has fallen away as well i think. Also, hi tech concepts built into todays cars create their own problems as well for owners in many ways too.

Yes, it's very sad to see the end of an era ('50s, '60s,and '70s American cars) when flair, style, and individuality was king. I guess you can understand why these classic cars receive so much attention and are popular when they get driven around the streets these days, and will become and have become collectables for so many.

So i raise my glass, and pay tribute, and thank America for making these cars of yesterday that stood out as world standard works of art and style.::beer::::beer::

Greg.:)

 
So i raise my glass, and pay tribute, and thank America for making these cars of yesterday that stood out as world standard works of art and style.::beer::::beer::

Greg.:)
Agree totally Greg.

American car designs have appealed to me over the local offerings right from way back when I was playing with Matchbox and HotWheels cars in the early 1970's. When I got my license in 1984 I was on a keen lookout for a 1968 pillarless Chevy Impala for my first car. Aussie built Impala's were cheap as chips back then, but fate (and my father's sagely advice at the time) saw me ending up with a tiny '74 Celica instead. Three years of apprenticeship wages (and a bank loan) later though I had a 70 Mach 1, which was waaaay cooler than an Impala, so my thirst for American car ownership was finally fulfilled....

For nostalgia's sake here are some pictures from the early 1970's from the car-park of the company that I work for - a good cross-section of what the average Aussie Joe Blow factory worker was driving back then. Plenty of Aussie Holden's and Ford's, some percentage of Japanese and the odd sprinkle of UK classics:

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Thanks for your feedback Brett., and thanks for those great pics. They sure do tell the story of how it was in Oz way back when. It also rienforces how classic American styling was so beautiful and inspiring in it's own way. I too, ever since i was a child truely loved the old American cars and how they looked with their style and flair.

Greg.:)

 
If you want to see American cars you have to come to the midwest. Everyone on the West coast and East likes to drive the imports and a lot as to do with higher gas prices. I live in Michigan and there still lot of plants here and we still build American cars. A lot people here know now that you better buy what you build or you won't have a job for long. It took us a long time to figure that one out. I just bought a Ford Focus for my wife to drive that was made in Michigan. I like the car a lot and the 28 MPH driving in the city is making like it even more.

John J

 
Austin...you're not far off. Take my family for example. I see daily drivers as daily drivers, nothing special.

Asian cars to me are just that nothing special. While I drive those to save gas like anyone else and play with the good stuff on the weekend. The American car makers have chosen to allow the Asians that part of the market (economy market) or through strategic marketing of their idea of trucks and todays version of muscle car. Or for an inside deal with the government for global economic sharing and deployment, we dont know.

Which ever....the Asians understand that the mass low income population is significantly stronger market than the lesser 10% that will pay more for the American car by the fact of their ability. lose the battle win the war. Therefore the classic is rarely seen on our streets in a movie or real life.

 
Hi to all,

I guess i'm just downright naive sometimes and out of touch, but a good friend of mine has recently returned from his first holiday visiting some parts of America and Canada. Granted, he only went to places like New York, San Francisco and Vancouver, but when i was going through the hundreds of photos he took, i noticed that pretty much most the cars on the streets seem to be Asian. Would that be a correct assumption?

I have never been to America or Canada, but as i'm approaching 60 years of age,the American tv shows, films and magazines that i grew up on here in Australia from the 50's through to the 80's had lots of beautiful American cars on the streets from those eras. My God!, have they all disappeared off the streets in your countries, no more to be seen?

I guess time has certainly rocketed by, and the classic 50's to '80s made cars logically would fade away from use these days. So in reality, how many of these old cars are still on the roads over there percentage wise?

The same story is true here in Australia, as most of our daily driver cars are Asian made as well. Our Aussie made classics are hard to find these days as well out on the streets.

Oh dear, where have the years gone, and boy, things certainly change don't they!:(

Greg.:-/
Hi Greg it's happening all over the world? That's sad because they make copies of eweri thing not just Cars! But it's so good that wee have the Mustang and they Makes and American icon? and all of os there have a Historic Car wee will continue to Love them everyday wee start's them? And think wee are doing and important think and wee put on a big smile?they don't? Regards DK73

 
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