Sad but true - I was well aware of this when I left gainful employment 12 years ago. Sometimes I hate being right.
Following a huge surge after 9/11, demand for restoration and repair parts has declined steadily. While a dwindling number of restoreable/repairable cars, rising gas costs, the economy, and other factors play a part, this article hits the nail on the head. As we all age (or not, in some cases) our ability and desire to restore and maintain these cars declines. The Rah-Rah cheerleading you see in the media is an attempt to bolster sales for advertisers, but there's no changing the calendar; time marches on. In the coming years there will be a glut of these cars and very, very few people interested enough to care, even if they can still buy gasoline.
My thought (and excuse for buying all this junk) was that I would create a "rolling retirement" - as time went on and I had less energy to work on the cars, sell one off once in a while for a little extra cash. Hopefully the supply of cars would last about as long as I do.
We've now decided to leave each of our kids (my 3 and her 2) the car they most enjoy when we're gone. But as much as I hate to think about it, the cars might be more of a burden than the cherished keepsake we intend for them to be.
Our hobby, including hot rods of all shapes - finned cars, muscle cars, pretty much any post-war iron, is reaching the end of it's shelf life. While there will always be a small market for the die-hards (witness Model T's or A's), the large catalog and internet suppliers we see will inevitably downsize, combine, or disappear altogether. We are already branching out and taking on additional work as sales continue to decline - we'll be making old Mopar parts until we can't get out of bed.
And on that cheery note, I'm off to the salt mines :)
Apologies for being what the kids would call a "buzz kill".
SC
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