The Upstage Guitar

In this day and age, most every young or relatively young person is into their cell phone or social media. The automobile was a means of freedom for decades, but over time, these cell phones and social media websites have taken over as a means of freedom for very many people. Don’t get me wrong - I’m a seventeen year old that checks my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter multiple times a day. Maybe even too much. The problem is that the vast majority of today’s society doesn’t appreciate and/or completely ignores the old means of freedom and they ignore the people who live for it. That means of freedom being classic and old cars.

Nowadays, most people operate new or newer cars as their daily drivers. That’s understandable. There are, however, plenty of young Generation Z and Y people who enjoy driving their older vehicles. Vehicles from the twentieth century. Some don’t understand it - they claim the old car’s unsafe, they think it’s ugly if it’s a “rolling project”, they believe only baby boomers or senior citizens want old cars, or some attack us for hurting our environment. These people don’t understand the character and beauty of an old vehicle. They don’t understand that we are perfectly okay with not having airbags, only having lap belts, or owning a vehicle that never came with air conditioning from the factory. Take some car friends of mine for example - one millennial who loves his two Chevrolet Corvairs and two BMW 2002s, one generation Z member who loves his two Geo Metro convertibles, and another generation Z member I know who loves his Chevrolet C10. I myself own a Ford Gran Torino, a 1985 Volkswagen Jetta, and a 1991 Volkswagen Jetta - that’s all. A new generation of people who appreciates these glorious old machines always emerges, and society cannot ignore these new generations of car enthusiasts. We’d like our kids and grandkids to experience the hobby we love so very much.

Other groups of people may argue that we must support the greater good of society and that we cannot consider such a small group of people. These other groups include environmentalists or proponents of electric or autonomous vehicles. Compromises can be made. The days of diesel technology are numbered. They were numbered even before Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” scandal. Volkswagen almost certainly has tarnished the reputation of the diesel passenger car even more with this scandal. Some have said that Volkswagen can establish trust again and boost sales by focusing efforts on electric cars, which they have. The next Volkswagen Phaeton is set to be fully electric. Tesla is also developing electric and autonomous technology at a staggering rate, while eastern countries like Japan are focusing on hydrogen technology in automobiles. What I’m saying is that safer and cleaner methods of motoring are on the rise. These methods can slow climate change (yes, it’s at least partially man made), reduce drunk driving accidents and fatalities, or even allow you to do some things you’ve never been able to do before in a car. With this new technology, the new generation of car enthusiasts can enjoy their cars while we deal with various issues.

Although electric, hydrogen, and autonomous vehicles all have their positives, they may have too many. I have this very possibly irrational fear that the government will someday force us to drive an electric vehicle to protect the environment, or that the government will force us to own or operate an autonomous vehicle. Our government must realize that vehicles like those just aren’t for some people.  The use of an electric, hydrogen, or autonomous vehicle must always (and I mean always) be optional, except for special circumstances. An example of a special circumstance being a senior citizen that has gotten into an accident or injured people with a human controlled car and is then forced to use an autonomous vehicle.

Not all car enthusiasts are perfect though, and before long, may ruin it for the rest of us. You may or may not know what the term “rolling coal” is. It’s when a vehicle with a diesel engine (usually a truck) with deleted emissions equipment sprays a large, dark cloud of diesel soot at vehicles behind, or sometimes whenever the driver sees a Toyota Prius. This is now illegal, but coal is still being rolled, which unfortunately may lead to tougher legislation against car enthusiasts as a whole, which is unfair. The state of Michigan even proposed banning all aftermarket exhaust systems, but luckily the bill died. Another not so perfect group of car enthusiasts is today’s “stance” crowd. Stance is essentially how your car sits. Some stances include stock (yes, that’s a stance), 70s Street Machine style (very high in the back with massive rear tires, keystone, slotted mag, or Cragar wheels), or today’s “stance” (stretched tires, aggressive negative camber, and the entire car is very, very low). Camber is a vertical axis angle for wheels/tires, with negative camber being when the top of the wheel/tire is farther inward than the bottom. Small amounts of negative camber are good for track or racing use, but now, some car enthusiasts (these people are also commonly referred to as “scene kids”) have added so much camber that the contact patch (how much of the tire that is touching the ground) is reduced. I’ve argued with many people over “stance”, usually in favor of it because I think it LOOKS cool. Usually, the  main argument brought up is that it’s unsafe due to the reduced contact patch, which is a valid point. One person I argued with who was staunchly against it raised another point: it could negatively affect car enthusiasts as a whole. Legislation could be passed that prevents anyone from lowering their car at all or more than a certain point. I’ll say it again - I think “stanced” (yes, the word is commonly used as a verb now) vehicles look cool, but it could unfairly affect your fellow car enthusiasts. In other words, coal rollers and stanced car owners - THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.