A sign of the times...
 

Last night my wife's brother stopped by to drop something off. He has 2 boys a 12 year old and a 10 year old.

They had never seen my Firebird and asked if I could take them for a ride. So I said sure....I'm always willing to show off the car and encourage young boys to have an interest in Muscle cars and not those fart can Honda's.

So I back the Firebird out of the garage and my nephew climbs into the front seat. Now I leave my windows about 3/4 up while the car is parked in the garage, my nephew says "Uncle Greg, how do I roll the window down?". I just looked at him in amazement.....I said do you see that handle there(as I pointed at the window crank)....he looks at the window crank like what do I do with that....he grabs it and I look at him and say "now turn it". For the first time in his life my 12 year old nephew rolled a window down manually. He said "wow this is cool"

My response was "get out of my car!" HA HA I did take him for a ride but I told my brother in law after that, that it's a total violation to ride in an old car if you've never rolled a window down by hand before.

I mean seriously is this is what the world has come to???

Sad to say but Yes, it has come to that. :(

Dude..he thought it was cool..cut him some slack..its a technology thing, most kids that young have never seen anything but power windows,a/c and auto transmissions..its your duty to pass the torch, and teach him the hobby and passion...

It is a sign of the times. Most kids these days have no idea about old cars. How basic they were and how to properly use the doors, windows, vents, etc. I took my daughters and nephews out for donuts last Sunday morning in my Firebird. My youngest nephew, who is 8, was amazed at the kick panel vent and how it operated. They also watched in amazement as I opened the console and slid a Led Zep cassette into the tape player. They also thought it was neat that the ignition key went into the dash. I agree with marxjunk that it's our duty to pass this stuff on, otherwise it gets lost.

I think you're lucky the kids were even interested in the car at all. Seems most kids nowadays are far more interested in their iPhones and Xboxes than cars.

One of my nephews didn't even want to go for a ride in my GTO. No interest at all. Another nephew was genuinely bewildered that you had to shift the gears yourself. Apparently had never seen or heard of a manual transmission.

My mother in law had a pill bottle she couldn't open (arthritis). I showed her that she could screw the cap on upside down with no child proof tab since it had threads on the top. "Well how modern!" she said.

Many younger kids pull up next to me and say.. cool lookin car! what is it! lol.

Had a similar situation 10 years ago. Was coaching the sons baseball team and we just won our first playoff game. Decided to go to the other coaches house for pizza and pop. Grabbed a couple of kids and got into the GTO to get some pop. The other coaches son sitting in the front seat asks how to get the window down. Before I could say anything, he says "Look! An old fashioned crank" For a second I felt old. But, all of these kids have only seen electric windows. Times do change - probably too fast.

Yes, I agree, cut them some slack. Young boys today are as mechanically inclined as a dog was 30 years ago. Most don't know how a screwdriver works, but they can tweet and play videogames.

Watch the comedy movie "Idiocracy". That's exactly where our country is going.

I was gassing up my Grandville a few years back and a kid looked at it for a minute and said "hey, did they like stretch that car, you know, like a limousine?" :D

Another time I was cruising the main drag and a kid in a Honda with blue headlights, a fart-can exhaust, and giant rims pulled up next to me at the light and smiled. He was revving the engine waiting for the light so I slipped it down into low and waited. He took off with a fast start. I gave him about 2 cars and floored it, rocketed by him in low, shifted to second and chirped the tires, and then let off it and pulled into the grocery store in the next block.

He pulls in and parks next to me and says "Like, old dude? ( :mad: ) What's IN that car?" I just smiled and said "a dinosaur engine."

Teenage boys are teenage boys, but you're right, these youngsters don't have near the knowledge we did back in the day. Few drag strips and smog laws. No wonder they're limited to mostly cosmetics, is it?

Amen,Bob!

That's one reason why I can't wait to get the Cat back on the road.

god, amen to that! they can barely air up a bicycle tire much less work on a car. all they know is computer games n how to screw! (guess one thing gets passed down) hee hee!

You can tell him that cranking the windows by hand is new technology and will soon replace the automatic button to control the windows :)

Mark

You should always make up a story. Tell them it is a prototype and it will soon be seen in every car in a few years...... :rolleyes:

I picked up my nephew in my Jeep he ask "why are you doing that?" I look at him dumbfounded and said "Im shifting.".... no clue what a manual trans was.

Our old cars must seem so alien to kids today. No cup holders, no in-dash DVD entertainment and GPS system, no GPS suction-cupped to the windshield, no USB ports, no heated seats, crank windows, manual headlight operation, no keyless entry, a radio without satellite capability, a carburetor, having to wait for warmups, no rear view cameras, etc.

There's been a few articles recently about how younger people have no interest in getting a driver's license anymore. They walk, ride a bike, use the bus, and either can't afford a car, or the gas, or the insurance, so they have no desire to get a license.

When I was a teenager, I counted the HOURS before I could get my permit! Nowadays, thanks to the nation's Depression, kids don't want to drive or leave home. They're happy playing videogames and hanging out on the web, living in their parents basement. I guess with no hope of getting as job, and no future, there's no point in getting a car.

my birthday is in January, and when i turned 16 we had a horrible ice storm, and couldnt get out of the house for over a week...(the good old days) i didnt get my DL til the first week of Feb and it was the longest month of my life..waiting..geez, it was the most important thing in my young adult life..i cant imagine not wanting a DL..weird

Kids today I know seemt to be split on a getting a license. If they live in town they'll walk and not worry about it. Rural kids still WANT their license in this area anyhow.

Mike

When the new GTO first came out I drove my 65 down to the car lot to look at one. A young salesman came out and we started talking about the new goat.
He then looked at my car and asked what it was. When I told him it was a 65 GTO he got a bewildered look on his face and said "I didn't know Pontiac made a GTO before"!

As I put my Firebird back together, I've been on the fence about doing power windows. After reading this post, it made my decision - keep the crank. Thanks for the post.