[lra]

Recently, I saw a local advert for a ‘Show and shine / Cars and coffee’ event which I thought would be a good way to spend a Sunday morning. Forum members can guess who, and I’ll point.
I am 71, early baby boomer, and have always been a car nut, having lived thorough the ‘glory days’ of Oz cars, and having had my own 70s ‘collectable’ car until 8 years ago when I sold it, reason …… loss of interest, and inability to properly maintain and restore it. But, I still drive and enjoy a late model V8.
The anticipation of the event waned on arrival, where it became apparent that it was disorganised, the cars were locked, and the owners in a small group only interested in themselves. The cars appeared immaculate from a distance, but a closer inspection showed untidy interiors, and little things in the overall presentation of the car, which had me scratching my head about why a proper job could not have been. The onlookers all seemed to be about 50 years old.
Reality bit as I left, wondering if it was me, loosing interest in a life long passion, or legends not being presented as they deserved, or owners not being willing to interact with an ‘outsider’.
I definitely think that the current ‘collectables’ will not be so when the baby boomers fall off the perch, the current generation with ricers will grow out of it as petrol prices rise with shortages of the stuff, and the following generation will be collecting mobile phones, with no interest whatsoever in cars, or other personal transport vehicles.
The future may come, or be forced upon us faster than we anticipate with the ‘collectable car’ being as relevant as a horse and buggy today.