ClassicVW_imp said:
An '05 or an '06 Mustang is not the same category as the '64 muscle cars we started to comment about. I think they do appreciate the newer ballsy cars. I said the youngsters don't lust over the old iron, and that has been my experience. Nor do they have the do-rei-mi to purchase one. I can only state my experience, maybe it's a regional thing, maybe not. Not one 18-29 year old has looked at my CB and shown the least amount of interest. But it draws a crowd with the over-40 set.
Classic,
Certainly can't argue with your experience and in your area perhaps that's true. But the gentleman pictured below has been a good friend of mine for a decade now, has expended hundreds of thousands of dollars researching this exact issue coast to coast, and according to the Ford Motor Company, your experience doesn't correspond to their market research. His name is Jamal Hameedi, Ford Motor Company executive officer and head of Ford SVT (Special Vehicle Team), the performance division of Ford, and he was introduced to me in 2005 while managing SVT's Ford GT program (I am the Moderator of the Ford GT Forum).
I don't know what you mean when you state that an '05 or '06 Mustang is not in the same category as the '64 muscle cars we started to comment about, when the 1965 Mustang GT350 is the car that sat in the design studio when the clay mockups of that new '05 Mustang were put together. Ford was specifically using that 1965 Mustang because market research showed that it appealed to young and old alike. And after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars doing focus group research that included high school kids, that's not just an opinion, that's a fact. You have probably never allowed your son to drive a finely restored 1965 289 Mustang to his high school when his new 2012 Mustang was in the shop, but I have. That 1965 Mustang drew 10 times the kids to oohhh and ahhh over it than his brand new Mustang did. My teenage son told me he felt like a rock star that day driving a 50-year-old Mustang. And the fact that most kids couldn't afford one is completely irrelevant as every young man, rich and poor alike, would love to own a new or vintage Ferrari even though none of them can afford one. The fact that they can't afford one does not diminish their desire one bit. According to Jamal, when young men in the 18 to 29-year-old demographic are shown photographs of Mustangs spanning that models half-century of production, the three models that those young kids like the best are the 1965, 1967, and 1969 Mustang fastbacks. Again, according to extensive market research that is not an opinion, that's a fact. It is for this reason that the 1965 Mustang fastback GT350 was used as the styling basis for the '05 and '06 Mustangs.
When the Ford GT was re-created for two model years in 2005 and 2006, a 1965 Ford GT sat in the design studio and was copied as closely as possible by Ford GT chief stylist Camillo Pardo, who is also a good friend of mine. According to Camillo, that 1965 Ford GT scored higher with focus groups in every demographic including 18 to 29-year-olds, than any other Ford that has ever been tested.
When Chevrolet was doing their market research prior to reintroducing the Camaro, every single previous Camaro was shown to countless focus groups. It wasn't even close. In the young demographic of 18 to 29-year-olds that you tell us do not lust after old cars, the most popular body style by far was the 1969 Camaro. A 1969 Camaro sat in the design studio when those clay mockups were taking shape and the stylists were told to copy that 1969 design as closely as modern regulations would allow.
There are a lot of young kids today who don't lust after any cars. They like iPads and iPhones and computers. For most young boys and girls, having any type of car is a fantasy. And perhaps to them, looking at a vintage muscle car, a Ferrari, or a modern recreation of those designs as we see in the new Camaro, Mustang, Ford GT, and Dodge Challenger would be frustrating if they can't afford them. But the parking lot at my son's high school is filled with brand-new cars and the kids didn't need to be able to afford them because their parents bought them. At age 18 my son was one of the last of his friends to get a brand-new car, but he looks for any opportunity to leave that brand new Mustang in the garage when he can drive my 40 year-old Jeep CJ-5, or my 50-year-old 1965 Mustang. That's my experience. All the best.
Chip
