Man this whole young people knowing nothing about cars business has an extra twist. I can safely say I know a respectable amount about the windsor series of motors, classic mustangs, and what and how components like boxes engine click together BUT: I own a 74 ****box I mean celica (nah I love it) and people who see the pretty paint come over and talk to me and ask me "Do you have the DOHC R38GTC-21 motor?" and I'm thinking "I don't even know wtf that is, and I own a car that supposedly could have one.". So I just say no, because I know what's in it, but that's about it. I've slowly learnt a little about it because there is a slight twinkle in my eye that might turn this little car into an embarressment for people with $80k+ cars but it isn't where my passion is. That kid could have been me, well, at least I would have known what a V12 is, but I would have known jack all about anything else Mercedes, like if it had variable dual tiptronic super ultra semi-auto transmission with a diddle switch. I dunno, maybe your car does have that lol!
Yes there are people of all ages that know about cars. And there seems to be a larger portion of the population these days that does not know a lot about cars.
I think that people loose sight of what this hobby and craft is supposed to be.
People who love cars sharing their love and knowledge of cars with people who show an interest in their cars. So one kid didn't know what a V-12 was. Instead of starting a thread about how clueless a generation is about cars, maybe you should say to yourself, What can I do to help spread my knowledge and love of the auto/hotrod hobby to the younger generation?
All of us started somewhere and we depended on others to help us learn. Many of us still have a lot to learn. Some about cars, some about other things.
Damn, so many people have responded to this letter already that I really don't want to put my two cents in and sound redundant.......Oh well. I'm 21. At 15 I bought my fastback. Before i turned 16 I rebuilt the entire suspension system. Since the age of 16 I've been hanging out with CART teams(Delphi, Ganassi, Rahal) and learning from the engineers and drivers. 16, I finished building a short block roller 306. 17, road raced porsche's till now. Road raced my car starting at 17(have been doing it ever since). I LOVE rat rods, gasser's, muscle cars, F1, CART, Winston Cup, Can-Am, Trans-Am, Drifting, 4wheelin.....i can go on and on.......Like many other things that people prejudicially claim against other groups of people, the "younger" crowd being intellectually numb is an offensive generalization. I don't go around saying:"Age doesn't mean wisdom", yet there are clear cases and cirsumstance which pertain to such idiocy......Give us a little credit.
jes72mustang is right, we all have to start out somewhere. Some of those who are lucky grow up around engines and rebuild cars with their dads well before they can ever drive one. Some of us aren't so lucky. When i bought my mustang a couple years ago, i had no idea what i was getting myself into. Thanks to this site, i have learned a lot, and also learned that i still have a lot to learn.
In the defense of the younger generation, modern cars are getting so incredibly complicated, you practically need to be a professional mechanic, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, rocket scientist, and God to even have a clue about cars.
So one kid didn't know what a V-12 was. Instead of starting a thread about how clueless a generation is about cars, maybe you should say to yourself, What can I do to help spread my knowledge and love of the auto/hotrod hobby to the younger generation?