Davestuff

1911 Franklin valves Originally uploaded by proscriptus The browning of the old-car hobby You know, when I started as an autowriter, my experience with really old cars was limited. I’d hung out at shows, had a couple of ridealongs in prewar cars, but I hadn’t been exposed in more than a passing way to early automobiles. So it was a big eye opener when I got assignments for Hemmings Classic Car, to go shoot cars from the Teens and Oughts. Actually, it was more than that; my first serious time with early cars turned into love. Was I the only young guy who dug this stuff? Young for the old-car hobby, anyway. No, after a couple of years, I began to realize I had company. If you’ve been to any major show in the last couple of years, well, firstly you may have noticed how well-attended they are, but you might also have seen the crowds around the evergreen Fifties and Sixties cars thinning out. Oh, the people are still at the show, but they’ve moved on. When I was at Hershey last fall, th...