Future is looking grim. Went to a late model show

[jkaylor68gmc]

This weekend I attended slammin and Jammin. Great show, nice venue, good entertainment.

But what bothered me was the attitudes, the trucks and the characters of the next generation. I know I am young but come on, the guys were dragging their show trucks? Cops had to pull people over that were doing this inside the fairgrounds?? What is wrong here?

Secondly the burnout contest, tearing up your truck for tires??? I saw blown engines, trashed fenders? What the heck.

Soneone explain this to me. Is this where ourt hobby is going. I love trucks, early, late model, whatever but what is wrong here?

[Shyguy]

I know what you mean. I have twin grandsons that all they want to do with their classics is smoke tires and go fast.

Danny

[69long"n"low]

Im only 20 but im not like that i like to cruise with no music and i only do burnouts every now and then but only for a second but i know the type of guys your talking bout their the same guys that are building the donk cars

[jkaylor68gmc]

I am only 22 and I do the occasional hot rod burnout but the extremly loud music and tearing your crap up is rediculous.

[clean71]

When mommy and daddy pay for your stuff, it's easy not to give a sh!t. 99% of the people doing that crap didn't pay for or do the work on their rigs. It means a lot more when it's your own blood sweat and tears that went into building it.

[lowriden58]

well i can only say this for Minitruckers.. as i AM one of them. we do love to throw sparks! most of the true minitruckers do all there on work
this was my latest project..

before bodydrop
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...iden58/216.jpg
after bodydrop
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...iden58/001.jpg

[AllenKarber]

I don't get the burnouts either. It's fun to catch rubber in two or three gears,but just sitting there and holding it doesn't do much for me.

[dan42]

The name, "Slammin' and Jammin", in my humble opinion, says all I need to know. I don't think I would go to show called, "Slammin' and Jammin". That tells you what type of people the promoters are trying to attract - young partying kids. And if you are a kid and have a nice ride, there is a very good chance that it was given to you or whatever. I'm sure there are young guys that work their butts of to make someting happen, but usually you just don't make enough money to have that kind of luxury in your life. So your either throwing every penny at it at the expense of and other bill/responsiblity you have, or it's given to you. Either way, no sense of value.

[chevy72blu]

I have noticed the same sort of mentality. Heck, I went to highschool with quite a few of them. Im twenty as well, and like most of us on the forum that isnt how I act (when it comes to my truck or otherwise). Of course I've been known to lay a few parallel black lines down some asphalt, and I used to bracket race my truck every weekend (and I will again, soon); but that doesnt mean I was ever irresponsible, put anyone else in danger, or didnt take care of my rig. In response to Shyguy, smoking tires and going fast is part of the fun that comes with owning, maintaining, and driving an old vehicle (for many of us, at least). The question is how we do it, where we do it, and whether or not we have the right to;if your daddy is building your car or has payed someone else to do it- you have ZERO right to do anything to it other than drive it like a grandma on his terms.

Despite what you see around you, there are many younger guys carrying the torch onwards. Im really proud of all the "Young Guns" on the forum (not to mention all of us in general, who are a dying breed afterall). Car people are great people about 75% of the time. Thats much better than I can say for the general population.

I have been at a few car shows where I really get shunned by some of the older guys, though. There seems to be age-based sentiment on both sides of the coin. I suppose I can see why with the majority of people my age acting the way that they do... But, if I compliment 15 things the average person at a car show would never notice on your truck and ask you a few tech questions, you'd think they would turn around. Many of them have a snooty- "What the hell do you know" attitude that really goes against the grain of what this hobby is all about.
just my .02

[jayharrell]

i agree. I think it goes to the ol saying

"daddy's buying the tires"

[steelhorse]

I remember friends/family asking me why I was tearing apart a motor that runs fine.I said to get more power.They said you can only go so fast.Many of us here use to run muscle cars and do burnouts.While I dont understand tearing your car up on purpose ,I broke many a part a the track.Each to his own.

[1968SWBBigBlock]

Sounds like 1983 - Car Craft street machine nationals to me.
Any of the Car Craft events had this kind of action, mostly out on the city streets.
I think this same stuff has been going on for many years.
Some venues have a different culture to them. You would not find that happening at a good guys event 95% of the time. They will throw your fanny out!
All you can do is be a mentor and help point them in the correct direction.

[68Stepbed]

It's one thing to build a vehicle to race and things being broke is just simply going to happen. I can't see building a show truck just to tear it up though. My truck was a whole lot more fun before I restored it, because it was nice enough to take to shows and get attention, but not so nice that I couldn't do an occasional burnout or take it up a back road to see how quick I could get it to 100mph. I've went so far with it now, that I won't even consider doing a power brake burnout. I've done a few peelouts, and even that wasn't as fun as it used to be. I have more fun with 1-2 chirps now.

I live near Pigeon Forge, and I've had my fill of mini-truckers, "NOPI" style rice burners, and kids showing off in their Daddy's Mustangs and Camaros and all of their "I'm better than you" attitudes. Josh I know exactly what you're saying. It's not the hobby that makes it look bad, it's the few buttheads that make it look bad. In other words, it's not mini trucks and tuners that I have a problem with. It's the crowd of spoiled brats that usually comes with them.

[Shyguy]

I guess I was showing my age in my earlier post.

I too was young once, eons ago. If memory serves me right I use to lay a couple of paralell patches of rubber with my '56 Chevy Belair, '69 AMX or other vehicles I owned owned when I was younger.

People should build and enjoy their vehicles the way they want. Now that I am an old gezzer as my grandsons call me. I still lay a little scratch now and then but mostly I drive real slow in my old Chevy pickup and enjoy the experience of driving an old classic.

That's what I like about this forum is the varied ages of the people on here with their differing opinons.

Danny-Shyguy

[jkaylor68gmc]

There is nothing wrong with having a little fun. ANyone that attends a Goodguys or NSRA show knows I am usually the one driving my truck until it overheats or runs out of gas. As for drag racing, tearing things up and going fast is what you do. I am just talking about the way they all act. like they are 12.

For instance, offered to shoot a guys '02 Fullsize, bagged, slammed really nice, told me o.k., he would love to. 3 hours go by, I tell him what we are doing he says o.k..

I go to the field to shoot the truck, get set-up and he tells me he would rather go eat.

Secondly. talked to the owner of a shop. Asked him he would be interested in allowing us to shoot tech stories, he wanted to be cockyand ask me how much I would pay him per job? he gets paid by the customer!

[HuggerCST]

Originally Posted by chevy72blu

Car people are great people about 75% of the time.

I agree, and I'm sure that most mini truckers are better than the reputation makes them out to be, but classic truck people are great people 95% of the time, which is why I'm still here.

[Gray Ghost]

Like most of you I see no reason to act stupid. We had a blast when I was young [early 70's], but no one really went to the extent as to tear up a perfectly good truck or car just to say we did it. In fact, we were all pretty careful cause we had to fix what we broke ourselves. When gas rose 400% that fateful day, the careful part of cruisin' really reared it's head.

I don't know what caused this latest rage, but I've been worried about our youth since the first rap song showed up on the charts. Luckily I'll be too old to care when the world is run by this bunch [that is if they live that long]. And yeah, anything carrying the names slammin' or jammin' pretty much leaves me out.

PS....I really don't like any part of lowering a truck to the ground either although I have heard that it makes them harder to steal.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Definitely not a fan of mini-truckin' although I have considered lowering my S-10 a couple inches, nothing drastic, stock 5 spoke wheels, just lower. Around here "mini-truckin'" events have a "reputation" and I stay away from those shows. I also wouldn't attend a late model show either, I see late models everyday on my way to work, I don't really care to see an '02 silverado slammed with 24's with a 10K paint job. Maybe in 20 years I wouldn't mind...

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by HuggerCST

I agree, and I'm sure that most mini truckers are better than the reputation makes them out to be, but classic truck people are great people 95% of the time, which is why I'm still here.

I've ran into some that really stuck on their "knowledge" and don't care to be friendly, and then I've ran across guys that would pull a part off their truck to help you get home. It's a win lose or draw with most people... which is sad.

Originally Posted by clean71

When mommy and daddy pay for your stuff, it's easy not to give a sh!t. 99% of the people doing that crap didn't pay for or do the work on their rigs. It means a lot more when it's your own blood sweat and tears that went into building it.

I couldn't have said this any better... When they don't foot the bill what do they have to lose? Just the time to grab mom and dad's credit card.

Originally Posted by chevy72blu

Car people are great people about 75% of the time. Thats much better than I can say for the general population.

I think a lot of us have met the other 25%... But what is funny, it's no one on this board!

[matthufham]

its about attention, the ones getting pulled over and the loud ones get peoples attention, and others want your focus, so they do it too.

[Orange]

Originally Posted by 68Stepbed

My truck was a whole lot more fun before I restored it...

Couldn't have said it better myself.
Sometimes I miss the old truck I had. Now, I get a lot of compliments, but man, I miss acting goofy every now and then without the fear of tearing something up.

DLB

[68gmsee]

Originally Posted by Shyguy

I guess I was showing my age in my earlier post.

I too was young once, eons ago..............

......... I still lay a little scratch now and then but mostly I drive real slow in my old Chevy pickup and enjoy the experience of driving an old classic.

That's what I like about this forum is the varied ages of the people on here with their differing opinons......Danny-Shyguy

I know what you mean.. I like the power but don't showboat it anymore. My teen years -- mid 50's to early 60's-- was the era of the hotrodder. Plenty of us were into drag racing. Now I just toodle along in my six banger 68 GMC.

I told my wife I'm getting the urge to slap a 350 v8 with a 700R4 in it... She says to do that to my 69 Chevy. Leave the GMC alone. We'll see.

[chevybill]

I have been at a few car shows where I really get shunned by some of the older guys, though. There seems to be age-based sentiment on both sides of the coin. I suppose I can see why with the majority of people my age acting the way that they do... But, if I compliment 15 things the average person at a car show would never notice on your truck and ask you a few tech questions, you'd think they would turn around. Many of them have a snooty- "What the hell do you know" attitude that really goes against the grain of what this hobby is all about.
just my .02


I have experienced this exact same thing on both ends of the spectrum as I am 39 and have received the "cold shoulder" from both younger guys and older guys as well. This "attitude" you speak of is double for about 95% of corvette owners that I have encountered at shows through the years as well.

[piecesparts]

There is some kind of a great feeling: Knowing that the loud obnoxious little truck, in the lane next to you, cannot in any way beat what you have under the hood. He doesn't know it, but you do. The only hint that you will give him is that sharp, hard-hitting chirp to second when the tranny hits. If he is smart he will look further, rather than run his lip to tell you that he can beat you.

Don't get me wrong, I saw a ratty looking "Tuner" that a kid built and saw how he could take it to 9 grand and shift gears (repeatedly), this kid studied his craft. He drove it to the strip at 30 MPG ran low timed quarters and then drove it home. That is the kid that is going to grow up to be something. However, the Daddy's boy that is drivng the truck or car that was given to him and displays his love for it by sitting on the hood with all of his friends, is going to live life with that silver spoon in a dark spot forever.

There are some great builds in the tuners and the slammers, but it is not my bag. I take note of the clean lines (if they are there), but I don't hover there long. Now, put a nasty V-8 in that S-10 and my attention grows fast.


Attitude is everything and a crappy one is usually the baseline that all of the others rise above.

[jcdeuce]

As I drive just a bit slower than everyone else aorund me just enjoying the air from outside and the country roads, i hear the sanford and son theme song play in my head and just cruise the old truck and enjoy the things that make me happy. FOr me the old chevy truck takes me back to when i was a little kid and my dad or uncle were taking us boys out fishing or hunting all my childhood i experienced many miles in the bed of my dads 67 chevy or my uncles 69 chevy. for me the classic chevy truck is a piece of my childhood that makes me happy and yeah i like to hear the growl of my 327 come to life and how the first time ti fired it up after the headers and exhaust the neighbor came outside and had 50 questions but most of all I love to just drive and let things slow down just for a while cause life, it moves just a little too fast sometimes.