what will they restore?

[bill]

It dawned on me recently that our Gbodys are probably the last generation of automobiles that will be worth restoring and keeping them running. My grandfather, born in 1918, loved the cars of his youth, the pre-war models (20's thru the 40's). His sons, born in the 40's, love the cars of their youth, the 50's thru the early 70's. My generation, born in the 60's love the cars built between the 70's and late 80's. I just wonder, what will the next generation do with the cars of their youth...will they be able to restore them? Will it even be possible? It will be interesting to see what happens.....

 

[cdg1984]

90S cars that will be, imo, the next gen. of classics....camaros, birds, caprice, grand marquis, 94-96 impala ss already is a collector car. Personally ive always liked the 90s lumina euro, monte carlo, grand prix and cutlasses. Fwd i know, but I think they look pretty good.

 

[jmt455]

There's already a lot of activity and interest in the performance versions of the GM FWD cars from the last decade. Regal GS/Impala SS/Grand Prix GTP all have pretty good aftermarket support and dedicated followers.

Full-size RWD cars have a strong support base, too. (GM B and D body, Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis)

Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds and anything else that has a "Performance" identity will probably always be popular.

Model A's were nothing special in the 30's, but they have an entire aftermarket industry segment supporting their restoration efforts. Same with 37-48 Ford cars and trucks...

Back in the late 50's and early 60s, nobody expected 1955-57 Chevrolet passenger cars to be valuable or desirable and look what happened to them!

Who knows, maybe people will be into restoring mini-vans some day...

 

[pencero]

80s / 90s cadillac, caprice, esp. rust-free siverado's w the 4 bolt 350 and 80s k5 / k10s and G Vans, fox body stangs, lincoln towncars, early Q45's, and last of all I predict rivieras. I had a 89 riviera and someone vandalized it, im thinking of getting it back myself and fixing it. I'm sure in the future v6 rivieras wont be required to pass smog so they will probably be able to come out w/ aftermarket 3.8SC building kits *_^ if someone made nice 3.8sc kits people would be all over a bunch of mostly fwd cars nobody previously cared about much such as W-body cars *_^ I've even seen a 3.8sc jammed into a cavalier before lol

 

[Evan11]

i believe car restoring will always be around. as far as what cars ppl will fix up, different ones will come and go. i know gbodys are becoming more popular to restore everyday. as for me, i was born in '91, but i have always like vehciles from the 60's/70's/80's

 

[axisg]

I see it as being generational. So speaking generally in the future the kids will restore whatever car brings them back to their youth. Much like most ( not all ) of the members on here remember these G-bodys cars as new and were young enough to desire one back then. Driving one now is like a time capsule back to the 80's much like some kid 30 years from now will want to restore a ( insert cool car here ).

 

[rustyroger]

Everything becomes collectible when there are very few left, not just cars.

One time you couldn't give away an Edsel or fins'n'chrome Cadillac, look at the prices they fetch now.

I wonder how much the whole cost of keeping any car in good shape for 40+ years, (storage, paintwork, interior and mecanical maintenance) would be, I'd take a bet it works out more than its value when you come to sell it even it turns out to be a desirable car at the time.

Roger.

 

[NY87SS]

If you think about and the trend direction we are going in, any gasoline engine might be worth restoring in the near future and beyond.

 

[bill]

I see your points fellas....but, if Im correct, doesnt the crusher get a lot more use these days?....so whole cars are fewer and fewer, and modern makes are not left in the salvage yards for a long period of time, correct?....unless im way off on this....that would make finding parts more difficult and the aftermarket less desirable or profitable?....IDK, IMO, its just not gonna be as easy for the auto restoration hobby to survive down the road....unless they go back to the cars of the 60's,70's and 80's....it will be interesting to see what will happen.

 

[dougfather]

I always wondered with many more electronics that cars have these days, how much restoration will take place in the future? As some of these systems age, how much after market support will there be?