Dear Listers,
There has been a lot of recent speculation about the future of the British
car hobby. That is quite a complicated subject. To start with, car shows,
like the all British Car Meets that I coordinate in Los Angeles and Palo
Alto and the 160 others that are organised around the world have been
insturmental in keeping the flame alive for the last 20 years. Not so much
for the general public to get interested and become involved, but to bring
together enthusiasts and show them that they are not alone and that marque
chauvenisim is silly and not productive. I remember a time when MG drivers
wouldn't wave at Triumph owners. These meets also bring together parts
suppliers, even the local "backyard wreckers," and people who restore and
repair unusual British cars with the clubs, owners, and prospective owners.
Other positive things that have helped are the expansion of vintage racing,
where at least half of the cars are British, and publications like British
Car Magazine and Moss Motoring. As a writer. I have made it my duty to
overwhelm the world with articles about British Cars, especially more
obscure models like the Morris, Austin and Riley, and I lobby (this is a
good word for try to sell my stuff to) non-LBC publications like Old Cars
Weekly, Time/Warner, Collector Car News and even the local papers to get
the word and interest out there. The best thing that has happened to the
hobby in the last few years is the internet and lists like these to get
enthusiasts around the world united. Now it is easier to find parts and
info from across the sea than it used to in our own cities and towns.
As for the hobby itself, and I'm also talking about ALL old cars as well as
British, things are changing rapidly as the "window of appreciation" is
moving steadily into the future. Prewar cars have less and less following
as the old guys get down to only single car collections (from the 2 or 3
they used to maintain) and the fact that restored prewar cars are basically
useless in today's traffic. That's why so many of these relics are being
"street rodded."
The closest thing to prewar transport I've ever owned was a 1950 MGTD that
I used regularily on the streets of San Francisco in the very early '90s.
Even then, I started to be quite uncomfortable driving downtown when my
nose was 14" away from 10 sharp and nasty exposed lugnuts on the SF Muni
busses and big rigs that are now forced to use city streets because San
Franciscans have freeway phobia and are tearing them down as fast as they
can!!!
People running red lights and cutting in front of you only to jam on their
four wheel disc brakes and scare the shit out of you has become a regular
occurance. I had a guy pass me on the dirt shoulder of Highway 280 in San
Bruno as I was driving 65MPH in the slow lane!!! Soon the TD became a
garage queen/weekend car and we added an MGB to the collection. And
speaking of us gray-bearded old guys, there are less and less of us
everyday as well!
I work with a number of local concours and the organizing committees are
asking for less prewar classes and more and more specialized postwar
classes (i.e. T-birds, 55 - 57 Chevies, five seperate Corvette classes, hot
rods, muscle cars and specific classes for postwar Cad, Rolls, Bentley,
Jag, Mercedes, Porsche etc.), as well as dropping classes for the "cheaper
collector cars" like Model As, Morris Minors, Mets and I've even seen
events that actually say "No VWs!"
While this elitisim should be expected to a point, replacing prewar Fords
with now, much more valuable postwar Chevrolet muscle cars, seems silly. To
limit the less expensive cars we all grew up with and expanding the classes
for exotics and bucks up postwar cars is unfair to collectors and to
automotive history in general. On the other hand, most events are charity
benifits and run by non-automotive event develpoment and PR people, and are
being genetically altered for higher attendance and a bigger bottom line.
Soon most events will be underwritten by large automotive manufacturers,
multimillion dollar parts suppliers(now providing parts for multi marques
from all over the world) and beer companies and ultimately, THEY will be
calling the shots!
I understand that a few of the bigger sponsored all British events are now
being opened to ALL cars as sponsor/charity pressure is demanding better
attendance and a more general audience at the gate. This is bad only
because once again our little "teabagger" cars will once again be pushed
into the "corner of the obscure." We will be forced into the same position
that we were in 20 years ago when we developed the first British car meets
to offset this same type of mentality. Don't get me wrong, the hobby will
survive, but it will be with either bucks-up exotics or the more popular
50s and 60s American cars. We will end up like those "cute little Stanley
Steamer enthusiasts."
As for getting out and driving your British car - don't do it for the kids,
don't do it for history and don't do it for the future. Do it for yourself.
We all put off using our old cars for a number of reasons: too slow, too
uncomfortable, no air conditioning, too much traffic, etc. If you love that
car so much - DRIVE IT!!! Otherwise it's just a big model car that takes up
a bunch of space in the garage. Keep the faith!
Cheers,
Rick Feibusch
Venice, CA
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