Well you have to take one other thing into account when talking about older cars; The plethora of young mechanically-minded people willing and able to repair damage done to those old cars. These days the shadetree mechanic is a dying breed, and asking them to work on your 2017 Prius isn't going to have a happy result, meaning that your only option in getting them repaired is an obscenely high-priced dealership-backed shop.
Have you not seen current car culture? Those same kids are doing it, they're just now doing custom tunes and making their own engine mappings and things like that.
The car culture is very much still alive - and very, very healthy.
For example, there are now more drag strips than there have ever been in the USA. Racing gets more viewers than it has historically ever had - including in-person and at the track.
Car culture today is just as vibrant as it has ever been - but cars do need fewer repairs. So, they're mostly modifying and then repairing 'em when they break.
What it is, is different. It's not the old flatheads and gassers (though those are still being made), they're ricing out Honda Civic Type Rs and things like that.
It's still there. It still exists. It's still vibrant.
Use your favorite search engine and I suspect you're gonna be shocked. Start with "cars and coffee" and find the closest to you. Even better, find your nearest track and go to the next event.
Trust me, you'll love it!
It did kinda die down, but there's been a huge resurgence in the past decade. Car culture (including shade-tree mechanics) exist still. They just use laptops and a cable to the OBD port.
I'm somewhat aware of modern car culture because their interests often coincide with my own (I build computers as often as chance allows).
It's entirely possible that I'm not aware of the depth of such culture.
Maybe it's the fact that newer cars don't have the throaty rumble and lope of the old big-block engines that puts me off. I don't get nearly as excited about ricers with aftermarket fart-cans buzzing down the interstate.
Big muscles still exist in cars. During the summer, my daily driver is a bespoke M6 that looks like a fat bastard (and is a fat bastard) that puts down 0 to 60 times in the low 4s mark. It's "only" 445 HP with a nearly equal amount of torque. It's got 4 doors - and weighs something retarded like 4200 lbs.
It is symphonic. Hold on! LOL I made a symphony with just ripping on it.
https://clyp.it/hlyf3jqc?token=5c2520db8dd497d1bde3f26f120a8351
But, yes... You're generally correct - until you hear today's muscle. Have you listened to the new Mustangs, Vettes, etc? They cheat and tune the exhausts - but damn aren't they sexy sounding.
Of course, you're more likely to hear a Ford Focus - but that was true back in the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc... You were far more likely to see a sedate sedan than you were a muscle car, 'cause they were more practical and better priced.
Rose colored glasses!
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