Confessions of a Drugstore Car Guy

I was recently working on a schedule of Cruise-ins for Maryland and adjacent states. Cruise-ins are relatively informal, regularly scheduled events that occur through-out Car Guy season. The number and frequency of these cruise-ins is huge; every night and weekend day from one end of the region to the other. In our area there are over 50 separate events, many of them occurring every week! Some of these get-togethers draw hundreds of cars and, obviously, some Car Guys hit some cruise-ins every week and sometimes more than one a week. Still, that’s a lot of cars getting out and getting their stuff strutted on a regular basis.

Each month we update the calendar of events in our newsletter, typically devoting two full pages to events all over this part of the country. Included are usually not cruise-ins but shows, swap meets and other non-recurring car-related events. During Car Guy season we only have room for a couple of months-worth per issue, maybe fifty or sixty events. Although most occur on weekends, some of these events cover periods of several days and some involve substantial travel. Between the Calendar of Events and the Cruise-in Schedule, each month we are notifying our readers of approximately 150 choices for their Car Guy pleasure.

Is there a point to all this? I’m not sure but I think I’m working toward some observation about how healthy and widespread leisure-time interest in cars, cars as a hobby, is today. I find that encouraging. Besides involving cars, something in which I’m always interested, the Car Guy thing is also owned by my demographic. Sure, Car Guy stuff is opened to people of all ages; we get a lot of younger enthusiasts at our Shows and lots of youngsters show up at area Cruise-ins. But it’s us, Baby Boomers, that dominate the events; the AARP crowd is well represented! And this, to me, is good.

So, is there any way to exploit or benefit from all this activity involving car-loving Baby Boomers? Well, HMCCC is able to donate over $20,000 per year to various charities, money collected at our Car Guy Events. Several of the cruise-ins mentioned assess each car attending their event a couple of dollars which they then donate to a charity. That, I’m thinking, is a significant benefit; we’re able to have fun and do some good at the same time! Too bad more jobs don’t provide a two-fer like that.

Speaking of jobs that provide a two-fer, I have several friends who are parlaying their love of cars (and some expertise and talent a lot of us don’t have) and spare time into car-related enterprises. So many of the things that go into the building and maintaining of old (and not so old) cars exceed our skill level and guys who can lend a hand are worth their weight in gold.

Too many auto service businesses are too busy and too specialized to have any interest in supporting old cars. You can’t just take your ’55 Chevy or ’68 Roadrunner to the quickie lube or chain auto service center and get dependable help. Their equipment is not set-up to handle the cars and their techs are not trained to troubleshoot, let alone fix, stuff that’s older than they are. Ask an auto parts store about how to get a part to fix a fifty year old motor and, after the laughter the abates, they might explain that their parts books don’t go back that far.

You’d think, if there was money to be made building and maintaining old cars, there’d be an Old Car Garage in every town. There are certainly enough old cars and you know those old cars always need something (just ask my wife). Businesses that cater to Car Guys seem to do well, businesses like Jeg’s and Summit, Coker Tire and Eckler’s. SEMA is living proof that Car Guys have and spend money; so is Car Guy TV. That (Car Guy TV) runs the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous, or maybe from the just silly to the ridiculous. But it wouldn’t be on if it weren’t making money.

I’m thinking maybe there should be a government sponsored program that subsidizes Old Car-related enterprises; maybe grants to start shade tree mechanic business or tax credits for buying old cars. I know a lot of folks bought houses this past year or so because of the First-time Homebuyers Credit. It would be much easier to convince the Little Woman what a good buy that ’40 Willys Gasser is if you could get an $8000 tax credit for buying it. How about a bailout for ailing Hot Rod Shops or financial assistance for folks nearing retirement age and going back to school to learn paint and bodywork skills? I would certainly vote for any politician who supported legislation to subsidize my Old Car!

Speaking from the sublime to the ridiculous, I guess I’m digressing. Really, though, there’s a ton of Car Guys with tons of money out there and, hopefully some talented Car Guys with useful skills and ideas about how to snag some of it. I like free enterprise, especially when it means it’ll be easier to get the goods and services I need from people whose interests are similar to mine.