NY Times on the demise of the automotive cult

[al's28/33]

With new internet technology it will become "cyber driving", just put on a pair of gaming goggles & headset and you can simulate driving thru the county........the internet may lead to the destruction of the human race!

[ronn]

"The way things are going camels will be our next mode of transportation."

Tom, believe you meant to say-electric camels................

[Bob Bidonde]

The car culture on Long Island is booming. There are more events than one can possibly attend throughout the good weather months. As for newspapers, they are a dying industry and cannot be trusted.

[Ted Duke]

As the kids say now, "it is what it is!"

US country folk sure don't see the demise of the automobile, walking ain't fun.

The old US highways used to be almost deserted here in this part of Virginia, but all of those trucks, and Northerners going south and Southerners going north, on I-81 have driven the locals back to US-11 and US country folk back to the 7XX roads (half of them aren't accurately plotted on GPS).

Most youngsters I know have a 4WD PU or Jeep and they work on them as much as they can (engineering nightmares. Fine when they are working, BUT!)

Nineteen year old fellow working for me this morning is fascinated by my Model A (still in pieces).

BUT, he can afford $5000 for a jeep to go up the mountain to hunt and up I-81 to community college, but not $5000 (or is it $15000) for a running Model A.

[Gary Karr]

If you think that the collector car hobby is going away, take a walk around the fields of the Hershey swap meet or look at how thick your Hemmings Motor News has become.

[brum1]

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Our society as a whole has become much more affluent in the US (with2-4 cars in every driveway) I think the auto hobby will remain strong

[KR500]

OK so maybe some may believe the love affair with auto is shrinking. I agree we don't offer wood shop classes, electric shop classes or few automotive classes i our high schools. Hell in my state they don't teach cursive handwriting. I guess you will get a printout of a bill of sale for a Model A and then affix your X on the paperwork. BUT I still see young guys going to the drag strips, pulling engines, reading Hot Rod magazine and for now when a little old lady widow offers a lathe or drill press for sale one of us rare breed will run over and make an offer. Is this what happened in Rome just before it collapsed? or will we always have a car interested group no matter how small?

[Will N]

Originally Posted by denis4x4

... one of its key explanations was the fact that driving isn’t very conducive to goofing off on your phone....

When I see stories about companies like Google developing cars that drive themselves, I say "who the heck would ever want that!" I actually like driving a car. But it all makes sense. If these kids today would rather be diddling on their idiotic phones than driving, then self driving cars is what they'd be interested in, and it will be the death of the car culture.

[Mike V. Florida]

Didn't the times also publish;

“The problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn’t have time for it.”
− The New York Times, 1939

[700rpm]

Sometimes I think my Tudor wants to become a self-driving car...

[updraught]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

The way things are going camels will be our next mode of transportation.

I grew up with my fathers stories of camel trains heading off over the sand dunes to take supplies to Outback stations (farms). Don't want to go there again...

[53RYDER]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

It's hard to believe that driving is diminishing when traffic (at least in Portland) is worse than ever.

Traffic in and around Seattle ain't getting any better either! I know, I drive a transit bus through it all!


Glenn

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by 53RYDER

Traffic in and around Seattle ain't getting any better either! I know, I drive a transit bus through it all!
Glenn

I lived in the Seattle-Tacoma area for around 35 years. After being away for nigh unto 25 years now, I can't stand the traffic. When we go visit the grandkids, I let my wife do all the driving.

[29er]

This has made the circuit before, but seems an appropriate time to bring back Bitterman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb1pxwaRjIg





Mike in Oregon

[Ted Duke]

Originally Posted by mshmodela

One could envision folks with our cars say, 30 years from now needing to do this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Gasoline

Since all car might be Electric or Hydrogen.

I wouldn't worry about that, the CORN industry will ensure we have plenty of crappy gas!

[holdover]

read an article in I believe Time the other day by NADA , it said that 50K new vehicles are purchased every day in the USA.The American people are car crazy, just look at the traffic. A slight slowdown in driving for the report might be caused by expensive fuel.
I have 9 vehicles with plates and insurance with 2 drivers, my son has 5 with two drivers, most everyone I know has 3-4 on the road. I'm with Yogi!

[monto]

"SOCIOLOGISTS" "RESEARCH STUDY" ............2012.............."study" "theory" .....

I suggest this article was sitting in a basket waiting to be printed in the paper on a slow news day.

[denis4x4]

In as much as I started this thread, I thought that it might be appropriate to comment on the comments. First off, everybody here is a car guy or gal and based on our collective experiences as well as our friends that share our love of cars, we refuse to see that the larger picture indicates that the love affair with the automobile is waning. Like others here, I have multiple cars registered and insured along with a couple of RV's. On the other hand, my sons, grandsons and assorted offspring of other friends could care less. My first car cost $65 and my share of the insurance on my folks policy was about $45 every six months. Gas was 29 cents a gallon and minimum wage was 95 cents an hour.

Priorities change and cars are just not as important to the current 16-25 year old generation as they were to our generation. Several posters have referred to HOT ROD magazine. Circulation peaked in the eighties and even counting electronic subscriptions, today's count is less than half of what it was.

Look at it this way; with less interest in things automotive by the youth of today, there's less competition for the cars we're interest in buying!

[steve s]

My theory is that the change is in large part due to the change that's happened in popular music. Has anyone else noticed that when you've got an oldies, classic rock&roll station on the radio, there's a strong urge to drive faster and do what my mom used to call "cowboy" around with the car? Cars and driving were even popular musical themes. The Beach Boy's were probably the apex. Today's music just doesn't make you want to move.

I think that the other large contributors are changes in sexual mores and bucket seats. It used to be that a car was about the only place a guy could be reasonably alone with a girl. Nowadays, even if you are alone with your date, there's that damn center console to deal with.

I don't think that increased traffic congestion is relevant; that just means there's too many people who, for whatever reason, choose to not live within walking distance of their jobs. I doubt if most jammed up commuters see their daily drive as a fun part of their day.

[Fred K-OR]

Results of studies depend on who pays for the study!