"Cars" of today are ancient:
-Made of steel chassis,
-Within such is basically a comfy box of various materials with shapes and properties,
-ICE mechanical (explosion chamber) power plant drive source,
-Connected to mechanical transmission feeding drive shafts through bearings to hubs/wheels/tires/road.

Today's shade tree mechanics now face:
-hollywood digital rights management(aka rootkit DRM) which also interfere with
-basic repairing farm tractor equipment (John Deere)
-alongside wild-spread genetic claims (Monsanto).
-message=don't touch your own property.
-It belongs to us.

All of these monopolies seek to destroy all new disruptive technology.

At the same time they seek to destroy existing technology.

Wut do?

Kinda what I was thinking... funny how inflation is supposedly non-existent yet EVERYTHING is going up in price - cars, bills, housing, clothes, books, tools, groceries, you-pretty-much-name-it. I’ve seen a perceptible uptick in nearly everything over the last 3-4 years. Couldn’t have anything at all to do with printing a few trillion new greenbacks, could it?

Naaaaaaaaaaah.

;)

Chinese new money. Its changing everything.

I think you hit on it. Time. Do I want to spend my time getting up and down off the concrete floor along with the endless frustrations of fixing cars? At this point not as much as I used to. The time spent vs. the happiness return doesn't seem to be there, if it ever was. At this point, with the remaining energy I have, I'm trying to keep old friends and make some new during my retirement.

I find working on cars therapeutic. It's hard to beat that feeling when you've just fixed something.

My humble SC will be with me for a while yet. ;)

I have way too much on my plate to enjoy the hobby anymore so I guess time is a big part for me too. I think inflation plays a big part too. For some reason many of us are ok spending $40k+ for a pickup or DD but a 'fun' car should still be 10k or 15k or whatever. I've been looking at MGA's for a while. Prices are pretty stable so why not get one and then just move on if it fades? Cant figure out how or why sometimes, with myself?!

I still kick myself for passing on a few long hoods for 10-15k, selling my 280sl.... too long a list. Each made sense at the time, gotta move on.

I do enjoy fixing things and it's in my DNA. I fixed a couple things today and a couple yesterday. I have a fairly large hobby shop space and lots of 2 and 4-wheeled vehicles. I totally agree that it's satisfying.

But going forward, I doubt that I'll ever get involved w any big restoration or rebuild projects. I know how much time and mental energy they take and I want to put it somewhere else. :)

Nothing like the sense of accomplishment when it starts, runs like a raped ape and puts a smile on your face. Some of the best times with my SC where after way too much sweat and work, then a backroad run and the world was right.

I understand what you mean. I would prefer to buy any of the $2K 944s over the few that are priced too high and then fix it up myself. If your're looking to buy one that needs "nothing", then yes, they are up there in price.

And no way you're finding a nice latest gen Supra for cheap. Maybe for $30k! The Fast and Furious crowd has swallowed all of those up.

Everytime I read 944, I think "LS swap and don't look back"...but that's likely enough for it's own thread. If only there were enough for it's own forum or pelican subforum.

Seen the price of beef these days? You'd think cows were going extinct.

You just need a lift - that's all! You may have even more friends that come by with beer and their car, if you had a lift! :D

G

Any other forums or sites discuss dropping a LS into a 944? Not that I would do it, it just sounds fun.

I would bet there are few vehicles on the road that have NOT had a LS swap done to them. The LS engine is CHEAP and makes lots of power from a small package. It would be interesting to know the real percentage of 32 Ford hot rods that have a Chevy engine over a Ford engine.

When the original 305 in my 1986 El Camino made it to 300,000 miles it was fairly worn out. I looked into the machine work needed to rebuild it and quickly discovered I could buy a BRAND NEW not rebuilt, not re-manufactured, but new 350 right into place. Delivered to my door, it cost $1,700. I still have the same water pump that used to be bolted to the 305 and the other external parts were just re-used. I have 357,000 miles and still driving it.

The hobby is more than affordable.

Cars may, in fact, be cheaper than they ever were.
In the 80s, I priced out a '69 Camaro for $3000.
That's $6500 in today's money.
Go price some Mustangs, Miatas, and BMWs.
You can get a ton of car for $3k to $5k.

Tools are also cheaper than ever.

Learning resources are at an all time high.

Greatest time ever to get into the car hobby.

I took on a moped for that reason. $50 and a few weekends of work to resurrect it.

I will trade it of for something similar when it's done.

If I get pissed off I give it away...

I do as well. I replaced 25 fence boards this weekend, changed out the radiator and all hoses on one of my tractors, sighted in my Browning Hi-power, and spent 1/2 a day cleaning my shop up after a busy summer.:D

I can see a driver of some kind in my future, just not a a basket case.

Bikes are a good alternative....no rust particles in your eyes, light weight parts, small to store, less money by far.

I do enjoy my KLR250 for kicking around the farm, but may consider starting to collect project bikes to restore.

I understand what the OP is saying - but I'd like to offer a different point of of view. The average new car comes in @ $34K. That's average. Of course there are cheaper new vehicles - but also a lot more expensive. Obviously, inflation over the years also contributed to upwards price creep.

One the replies above was spot-on where, like land, there's only so many of ________ made. As we age, we all ( hopefully) earn more and arrive at a point where we should have some disposable income to enjoy what makes us happy.

In addition, it wasn't that long ago that $3500 would buy you a decent beater in my zip code. Now it's more like $6-7K.

Another "up" side is the better quality of aftermarket parts along with cheaper price points. There are re-engineered / improved parts that didn't exist 10 years ago that solve poorly designed / executed replacement parts.

Even as a kid - I don't remember any car related hobby being 'cheap'. I remember the blue collar guy working overtime, working on the side, horse-trading, borrowing money from his wife or girlfriend to get that project on the road or ready to race. That was 50 years ago.

It's all relevant to the decade.