Under 40 kids with pre 1940 cars: Beforty Rally !

In the Vancouver area the local MG and Jaguar clubs host an event to teach young people how to drive a four speed because most of them never have. The thought being this is the first step to get young people into old cars. There is a good selection of restored sports cars to be driven in a very large parking lot including E Types and a Ferrari. I am sure it is a great day that many young people won't forget

The Veteran Car Club of Australia (Queensland) has made a habit for years of visiting local schools when we're on a 4- or 5-day rally. One of our members will give brief talk and then the kids get up close with the cars and drivers. If only one in 500 gets involved we've succeeded. You can see pics of this on our web site - just google veteran car club queensland. The cost of entry is always a problem, but if you want something badly enough you'll find a way!

The British Bugatti club has been doing this for 10 or 15 years. I am trying to push more car clubs to do these kinds of events in the states, also to try and mix and match younger clubs with older clubs to organize events together.

All the previous points are very valid, but this looks like a group of people who have easy access to pre war cars. Nothing wrong with that except that in order to draw others back in years as has happened Erik, the other youngsters who are into the newer classics need to be encouraged. They need to see these people out on normal car rallies showing that young people can manage these cars and that the cars are able to keep up and able to be as useable as what they drive themselves. Having a small group of young people going off on a run themselves will not encourage too many more to join them.
Les is right with the mentoring approach, but how many of us, when we go to shows or rallies end up chatting in the same circles every event, sitting at the same tables making it look like a closed shop.
Most of us started with the cars that either we remember from our youth or maybe what our parents drove and like Les we migrated back through the years a couple of decades at a time maybe. Problem now is that the young people now have to migrate back 40 plus more years that the rest of us did.

Both of my kids grew up in the hobby. Much like my wife and I , they took different aspects away from it. My daughter, like her mom, tends toward the people aspect and my son, like me, into the cars a bit more. Well upon retirement I found myself finishing projects and always in the garage to a fault. I was always working on the cars, but not taking time to enjoy them. So as I neared completion of accumulating thinks to finish a 1910 Maxwell four cylinder, in walks my son into the garage. He had rejected brass cars as a hobby, due to the expense. So I asked him if he would complete the car and adopt it. With some querries as to my meaning, we arranged for him to take title of the car. Time will tell, if I did my part to advance the hobby to the next generation, but I sure think that I gave it a chance. I suggest those that have too many cars to properly enjoy and maintain, take a chance and share the wealth.

I am 72. When I became interested in vintage cars, they could be found as runners for thirty pounds sterling which translated into 2016 money is about seven hundred pounds. A reliable one would cost twice as much. Insurance was affordable even for a seventeen year old. Now the cost in real terms is probably more like seven thousand and insurance for the young is an impossibility. Young drivers of vintage cars these days are in their parents' motors and on their parents' insurance. What can anyone do about that? The past was another country.

Yes, sorry forgot space! When I first started my parents were very kind to let me take over their garage!

I have often tried to organise tours with a younger element, but has always been hard to find people. I have run many vintage cycling tours (pre war bicycles) to the continent, staying in tents etc for groups of friends.

If there was the appetite I would be happy to run a pre war car tour on the same basis to keep the cost down! It's always a lot of fun!

Ben

Marcus, do not feel too bad about not having a "T"(but remember, 100 words). (Keep the following to yourself).

The MODEL T was/is NOT a "car", it was NOT designed to be a means of personal transportation!
Long ago, ORES were transported out of mines on TRACKS pulled by MULES(more than a horsepower). Henry Ford saw this early on, and frowned, speed was needed.

So he created the "T", a means of transport for "materials", for a mere $300. anyone could purchase $900. worth of materials(including heat resistant sparse alloys).
We have Henry Ford to thank, he mediated the continued INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, and the prewarskyscraper age, 1908-1941.

This is an excellent idea. Need to do something like this in the USA. Esp if the participants didn't have to own the car.

As a 21 year old enthusiast, owner and driver of historic vehicles (particularly pre war cars, yes, this website is my homepage), I can definitely say that it is not easy for young people to get involved in our hobby, so it’s great to see the Beforty event going so well.

I bought my first car, a Morris Minor, when I was 17 (three days before I took my driving test, somewhat optimistically) with money scraped together from paper rounds and a Saturday job and I have been driving, maintaining and caring for it ever since. The hours spent teaching myself about car maintenance, scouring online forums for advice as well as dealing with oil leaks and contact breaker points have definitely been worth it for the sheer joy of being able to drive a piece of history.

In case you need proof of my enthusiasm for driving historic vehicles: within a year of passing my test and buying the car, I drove it 5,500 miles from my home in Oxford to Istanbul and back, unsupported (there was only one major breakdown when the exhaust fell off in Bulgaria, not a problem when you can have an new one welded up in the next town for €40). To the surprise of many, the little old car made it there and back, including crossing the Alps twice and many alpine passes.

My real interest is in pre war cars (I’d love a Ford Model T but don’t happen to have more than£1000 lying around), so after many years of gentle persuasion I recently persuaded my father to buy an Austin Seven Ruby, which is marvellous. This highlights the fact that those young enthusiasts who don’t have the money themselves, and whose parents don’t have either the desire or the money to buy a pre war car, will probably be shut out of historic motoring for years to come.

The enthusiasts and, more importantly, the specialist artisans who keep the worlds of pre and post war motoring alive are getting older and we owe it to our wonderful vehicles, lucky survivors that they are, to foster the kind of enthusiasm needed to keep them on our roads for the future.

I don't know what it is, but in the U.K. on heritage railways, there are lots of young people involved. The last time I was at the Severn Valley Railway, the train's driver was an 18 year old girl. There was a picture in the Guardian of an 11 year old boy at a steam show. He was leaning against the wheel of a steam traction engine, holding a cup of tea. He radiated confidence and competence. We need guys like that.

As a 21 year old enthusiast, owner and driver of classic cars, I can definitely say that it's not at all easy for young people to make a start in the world of historic motoring.

I bought my beloved Morris Minor when I was seventeen (three days before I took my driving test, somewhat optimistically) with money that I scraped together from my paper round and saturday job. I must say that it was one of the best decisions of my life, allowing me into the wonderful world of classic motoring, which most people simply don't comprehend. The hours spent scouring online forums for advice and battling with oil leaks and contact breaker points are certainly worth it for the sheer joy of driving a piece of history. Like many young drivers, the Morris is my only car and my daily driver, so it really has to be loved and cared for, come rain or shine, which is why I think most young drivers of historic cars are the most dedicated to their vehicles (there's no bottling out just because it's a bit wet or icy).

In case you need proof of my enthusiasm for classic cars and driving: within a year of buying the Morris and passing my test, I drove it from my home in Oxford to Istanbul and back, crossing the Alps twice and only suffering one major breakdown (the exhaust fell off in Bulgaria, no big deal when you can have a new one welded up for €40).

My real passion is pre war cars (yes, this website is my homepage) but it's nigh on impossible for young people to be able to afford to buy one. I would absolutely love a Model T Ford but I don't happen to have over £10,000 lying around. Fortunately, after many years of gentle persuasion, my father has recently bought an Austin Seven Ruby Mk2, which is wonderful. But this just goes to show that those of us who are not lucky enough to have parents with enough enthusiasm and money for a classic car, will probably be shut out of the hobby for years to come and some may lose enthusiasm all together.

The enthusiasts and, more importantly, the specialist artisans involved in our hobby are getting older and we must all try our best to inspire enthusiasm in the next generation of historic vehicle enthusiasts before it is too late.

I think its a brilliant idea
if this could come to the UK I would surly be in on it. I would love the chance to mentor a younger person and allow them to drive my cars too and to work on them as well.

well done Netherlands keep up the good work. Les.

I do understand the feeling of being born too late. When I was a kid,(10-12 years old) I tied to talk my father into letting me bring home Model T parts, which he hated. I remember looking at an proper SSK Mercedes that was for sale for 7,500 dollars, yet my dad would rather spend 9,000 on a new Porsche 911. My first old cars were from the 1960's as that was what was around cheap. A VW bug for 100 dollars, an MGB for 400. As time went on, my cars got older. I am now back to 1908 - go figure. In no way do I wish to diminish the attempt to bring in younger members to our fraternity, this is a great thing.

This is a welcome initiative and we need more. Well done the Netherlanders!

ben is right on all accounts the only other thing he forgot is space. Not all are so fortunate as you eric. I got a 1932 standard chassis when i was 16, it took me till i was 33 to restore it and that was only possible as it was in my parents garage. The other thing is that we are all too greedy, we think that our cars are worth too much money..... so i find my dream car that is up for sale, i speak to the chap and say this is my life´s savings, i can blag a bit from my mum and dad and stick a bit on the plastic that is the best i can do. old boy will not bend. Result, car sits another 2 years in garage. Lower your prices and see the youngsters enter the hobby. But at the end of the day you will not and it will continue to be just like the classical music scene: an audience perpetually full of old dodders who moan that there are never any youngsters in the theatres and halls, and so shall it stay.

Circa 1990, front wheel drive disposable for the masses. No character. That was 26 years ago, with nothing of future value in the driveways to fix(or to want). Add 26 to 18 and most of us have 44, which is close enough, you were 44 when they stopped making cars fixable, but you still had 20 years of good stuff to choose from. If you were born in 2000, forget about memories, by the time you were 20 there was no more good stuff on the road to be "seen", collectors had picked up the last scraps of the motoring age. Ciao.

Erik,

I think the point here is there are very few owners under 40. It's by no means young, but, because of mortgages, house prices, work and the price of cars, it's tending to be an older persons game, many of whom have enjoyed long term ownership and first owned them when they were not much more than scrap value in the 1950s,

A lot of clubs have average ages well into 60s and some even older!

So, although 40, even 30 is not a kid, it's still a rare age group in the pre war fraternity!

Ben

So, under 40 years of age is a kid?

I was married and owned a house at 23. I had old cars since I was 17. I am having a hard time understanding why a 40 year old would be considered anything other than middle aged?

You are making me feel old here, and I resent that.

Erik

This looks really good. We do lots of motoring with out younger friends (I am 35 and my girlfriend 25).

We run a very informal group and often go away touring Europe, sometimes camping as well to keep the costs down.

With the rising prices of cars, it's rare to see youngsters now. Selling a car over the last couple of weeks, I was asked if it was my dads!

Ben and Sorrel

Has no-one taught that young lady never to put your thumb around a starting handle in case of a backfire? A broken thumb would surely result.

We old b-ggers have our uses!

Brilliant! We need to be doing this in America as well.