Get Together: The History of Car Culture

[@ajvonline]

I'm so glad we don't all talk about how much carriage power our engines put out 🙂

[@rogersmith7396]

And how the car behind you does'nt try to hump yours.

[@mpetersen6]

Just think if Watt had used a term involving the drop of a Mill Wheel. "Well, the 327 in my Chevelle has an implied drop of 450ft"

[@ajvonline]

​@@mpetersen6" ...an implied drop of 450ft? That's wickedsic, mate!" 😎

[@owenshebbeare2999]

I suppose we would be used to it, at least those who still use cave-man units instead of wattage. Kilowatts is better, and more widely used for power.

[@IchibanMoto]

love vintage car shows!

[@joeleonard9965]

I deal with 50 to 100+ year old classics on a daily basis for work and this channel is a huge help when interacting with owners. There are still tons of pre-war car enthusiasts out there.

[@UberLummox]

Good to hear. Where did you work?

[@kaneCVR]

Yet your profile picture is of an E30 :) - great little cars - just came back from a relaxing drive in my 318is.

[@joeleonard9965]

@@kaneCVR That it my 1991 318is in my profile picture! Are you still running the M42?

[@kaneCVR]

@@joeleonard9965 I am now. My car is an '88 318i from the factory - but all engine perishables were gone (hoses, gaskets), and two of my fuel injectors went as well. I really wanted to restore the M40, but some parts are very expensive and others damn near impossible to find - but I had a couple of M42 engines lying around so I decided to convert the M40 to an M42. The engine blocks are identical except for holes for the knock sensors - so I kept the car's original M40 block and oil pan, and installed everything else from a '96 M42 - crank, rods, pistons, timing case, head, intake, wiring, ECU etc. I had to fabricate a custom oil dipsitck tube, as the E30 one was the wrong shape and would not clear the flat transmission belt the M42 uses, and I re-flashed the DME to disable the knock sensors (the E30 318is doesn't have them anyway and I didn't feel like drilling holes in the block). New shell bearings and piston rings, new gaskets, completely restored head. I also fitted the AC compressor that came with the M42 I used as a donor engine and I plan on installing AC in my E30. I just need to find AC wiring and a condenser, as I have the rest of the parts. Project took me about 2 and a half years, but I was able to start the car last week and I drove it for the first time this morning.

[@giggiddy]

​@@kaneCVR Is there a specific reason you gravitated towards the 4 cylinder as apposed to the 6 cylinder? I'm a Beemer fan as well.

[@maxsmodels]

Ed I don't usually comment but you touched on a great point. There is a 30-40 year window where us aging folks (I am 61) begin to wistfully look over our shoulder at our youth. The rose colored glasses we see the past through make us long for those times thus the 30-40 year old window of what is popular again in cars. As you said, the boomers are starting to age out and the next generation is starting to do the same thing for the cars of their youth from the 80s and 90s. I see the same thing on my channel which delas with plastic kit models including vintage kit model cars. Was-rinse-repeat. Great episode

[@Immortal..]

Partially true. There is going to be a certain amount of nostalgia involved, but there were better times for cars. As a guy in his late 20s I'm driving a car that is twice as old as me, from a time I never experienced myself. Yet I can see the advantages over what is sold today, so there is no reason for me to buy anything new.

[@UmmYeahOk]

@@Immortal.. Depends on the era. I am 40 and still drive the exact same car I drove when I was 16. It was a 94 mustang that I got in 98. It may not have had abs or traction control, but it had everything else, and even had heated seats, reverse camera, and a touch screen CarPlay infotainment installed. It doesn’t really seem all that different than a modern ICE car beyond having to physically put a key into an ignition. That said, I also own a 1967 Triumph GT6. While certain technologies existed during that time, it is not a car I would ever feel comfortable daily driving. Manual windows, manual locks, manual transmission, no power steering or powered brakes, no AC (I live in Texas). I had to add seatbelts as they weren’t standard equipment. There really is no safety features beyond that. Driving it around town feels like driving a go cart, which is both physically and mentally draining as everyone is so much bigger than you. That car is really only 16 years older than me, and 27 years older than my 94 mustang, yet there is so much that is different from the two. I suppose it would be like comparing a 1990 computer to a 1995 computer. So much different, yet a 5 year old computer today doesn’t seem like such a big deal since technology kept a slower pace. I used to own an 88 BMW 325i. It handled about the same as the 94 mustang. I am not sure how old the vehicle you’re driving is, I just felt the need to point out how even the 88 BMW felt significantly more modern than the 67 Triumph.

[@Immortal..]

@@UmmYeahOk I'm driving a '72 Buick. I have seatbelts and seemingly endless crumple space if push comes to shove. A/C and cruise control too. The only 2 things I kinda miss are a working radio (my old AM is on its last legs) and a second ext mirror (original owner didnt want to pay for that lol). Sure, once a year I have to tune the carb. Thing is, I can do all the regular maintenance myself, and even more demanding jobs are somewhat easy. Unless its and engine or transmission teardown I can do anything myself. Saves me a lot of money (part of that goes right back in the tank) and a lot of headaches trying to find a competent, non-scamming mechanic. I suppose it really comes down to preference and expectations. I want my car to look and sound good, be easy to work on and get me reliably wherever I want to go.

[@vinesauceobscurities]

Welcome to generational myopia. It's been known that a lot of people tend to only care about the things that are emotionally tied to their time in the living. And it's not just a car thing, everything from art to entertainment to world events to technology are affected by this phenomena. At the rate we're going younger "car enthusiasts" 20 years down the line won't even give anything from the 20th century the time and day.

[@AaronOfMpls]

As an older Millennial (b 1982), I've seen the same kind of thing happening to computers now, too! Retrocomputing grew into a big thing in the 2010s, as techier people born in the 1970s and '80s -- the first generations to grow up with home computers -- got enough time and money to start messing around with the old computers of their youth. And even before the boom, there were enthusiasts who kept trying to probe their computers' limits -- from Commodore 64s and Amigas, to early PCs and Macs, to the latest and greatest gaming PCs. Overclockers and demoscene programmers are very much the hardware and software equivalents of hotrodders, trying to push the extreme limits of what their computers are capable of. And there's a usability parallel to cars, too. Computers in the 1970s-90s changed _very_ quickly in how they could be used. But in the 2000s and 2010s, the pace of innovation got a lot slower and more incremental, as the major revolutions in usability passed -- and major increases in computing power no longer made as much difference with basic tasks like internet browsing and file management. (Much the same happened to smartphones in the 2010s, as the tech went from revolutionary to ordinary.) Though on the plus side, these increases have made those basic tasks much more affordable. Even a low-end Chromebook can easily browse the Web and play music and videos -- and do so better than the expensive PCs of decades past. As always, excellent video, Ed! And thanks to my fellow commenters as well! 😎

[@cdjhyoung]

My father and his buddies were hot rodding cars in the late 1930's. The returning soldiers may have increased the interest in car modification, but many middle class folks with the time, skills and interest were engaged in modifying cars before the war.

[@xxerin_gachaxx9127]

Yes I think a lot of the engine tuning and souping up cars began in the 1920s during prohibition when the bootleggers wanted faster cars to outrun the police.

[@giggiddy]

​@@xxerin_gachaxx9127 True. But I believe it was the fellas returning from war that truly exploded the hobby. I mean, these guys were strapping superchargers off of diesels to their car engines. I think the majority of that stuff was post war- not that it matters. I'm just glad they did. God bless those guys.

[@Hanafuss]

As an old millennial with fond memories of hopping in my grandfathers 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 to go get ice cream smoothies, I appreciate your focus the old chromed up 50's and 60's cars. Thank you for making these videos :D

[@thecianinator]

Ice cream smoothies? Is that just another term for milkshakes, or something different?

[@Hanafuss]

@@thecianinator I meant milkshakes, but I don't really have them anymore so I forgot the name :D

[@bighands69]

1950 and 1960s was the pinnacle of motor vehicles before governments decided to take over the design of cars and stunt innovation.

[@Iwat_08]

I just bought a 63 fairlane. I've been going to Back To The Fities since I was 4. I will always loves classics from the 40s 50s and 60s

[@iiiii5256]

Classic cars were mostly within reach until the 1980s, when the sale of bill Harrah's cars created a bidding war and drove the prices into 6 figures. Cars like Duesenbergs stopped being owned by regular enthusiasts and became appreciating assets. The good thing is classic cars gained a lot more respectability from the mainstream, restorations became higher quality and a lot more services like specialized insurance were available to them. This was the point when owning a classic Ferrari stopped becoming realistic also.

[@Torqyboi]

I'm so glad I found this channel because no one else talks much about the 50s/60s cars. Maybe the only other one i can think of is Jay Leno garage

[@connor8099]

I know that it most likely will happen one day but it's just so hard to imagine a world where cars from the 2010s are what's popular 😭

[@obelic71]

Children who are now growing up on the backseats of those cars will have a different opinion when they reach 40-50 years old. They maybe super dull grey boxes for us now but you underestimate the nostalgia factor

[@iiiii5256]

There are still cool platforms from this era worth hanging on to. And 2010s is the era of underground car meets and street takeovers, it may seem stupid today but kids in the future will get nostalgic of standing mere inches away from a car doing donuts in the middle of an intersection.

[@carguy862004]

The way I see it, in 25 years, as I'm approaching 60, Any car built before 2020 will be highly sought after and likely VERY RARE, especially here in the US as the government is trying to pass laws to outlaw internal combustion. And, to get the cost of purchase down on EV's, cheaper materials will be used, making the cars more or less short life-span throwaway appliances. Maybe even just sort of a rental deal, where you rent one if you need one (like those electric scooters in big cities). Or a subscription service thing, where you pay a monthly bill to have access to a private car. It's a dark future. I would love to see a rise in external combustion (steam power) to combat restrictions on Internal combustion...

[@carguy862004]

I know people who are in a car club centered around the 2008 and up Chevy malibus and impalas... I don't get it...

[@UberLummox]

Most US cars past 1972 are an insult to humanity.

[@baconsarny-geddon8298]

9:30 fun fact- Both Ed Roth and Von Dutch (legendary customizers) worked at Disneyland, building/repairing rides and props

[@UberLummox]

Ed, it seems like to me here in the US the pioneering film "American Graffiti" had a HUGE impact on amping up car culture when it was released in 1973. Fabulous video!!!

[@zerocool5395]

Great movie, I was so surprised when I learned that it was directed by George Lucas.

[@UberLummox]

@@zerocool5395 Right, he actually started out cool! 🙂

[@williammaceri8244]

That movie was a great way for all of us to model not only car culture, we all used it as a way for us to act. My friends and I saw that movie repeatedly, in fact, thanks for bringing it up. It makes me want to watch it again. I'm remembering the cars right now.

[@samiam5557]

The movie mirrored life in 1962, and they're already were alot of hotrodders, drag racing was big in the early 60's.

[@UberLummox]

@@samiam5557 Yes, but car collecting in general seemed to have gotten bigger after that point. Especially collecting & restoring '50s cars. I'm not really talking about hot rodding.

[@martijnvangorp]

Again an entertaining and again very informative and well produced video. Great job.

[@althejazzman]

It's true about the 40-50 year retro trend. I was born in 1980 and own a Porsche 924 Turbo from that same year. It's a fascinating and exciting car that I never thought I would own.

[@farmlyf]

Here in Australia, I've got a poverty pack 1982 XE Ford Falcon GL, which my parents bought new. With it being in good shape, I usually have someone come up to me wanting to buy it every time I take it out these days.

[@RedLP5000S]

Loved seeing the car culture in Europe during the late 1800s! ✌🏻🇺🇸

[@raptorfromthe6ix833]

you were alive then?

[@roberthoffhines5419]

I remember reading a "classic car" book of my father's written in the mid 1950s. To them, classic cars were brass-era. No interest in the great 1930s Packards, Duesenbergs, Benz-SSKs etc. Just forget about ANY postwar cars. They were dismissed as "appliances"... as interesting as your washing machine.

[@peloi111]

I love cars so much, I have all my life. I forgot about that for a long time until I came back home from university, and found a box full of drawings I used to make in art class since 1st grade. 80% of the drawings I found were some sort of red car. Today I have a collection of over 30 1950s 1:24 models and am a proud owner of a beautiful red 2018 Mazda 6 which I wax on Sundays before taking it for a rough drive on country roads. My girlfriend must be sick of my constant car talking, but at least at least she can spot a Cadillac or a Buick 😁 Her favorite episode was #28, since that's her country of origin. Thank you man!

[@AllBoardCreatives]

Great Video! It's a shame that cars of the 50s and 60s are so overlooked these days, but it also means less demand and one day hopefully lower pricing? We shall see...

[@iiiii5256]

I'm already eying a few 50s cars myself.

[@dennis885600]

@@iiiii5256 go get one! Especially 4dr cars are affordable. Although do note, the cars from the 50's drive quite a bit worse than those of the 60's. They are boaty, everything is made a bit crude and there's not as much creature comfort. But man do they have style

[@cpufreak101]

When I worked at AutoZone I had a customer come in that had to be like 19 or 20 who got a BEAUTIFUL '57 Plymouth from his grandfather who willed it to him, so that's also a good possibility!

[@AlexLR]

Prices fluctuate year to year but over the long term they only go up.

[@stevenbongiorno9277]

I own a car that there’s only 1200 made. It’s an 86 Pontiac areocoupe. It was made for NASCAR to compete with the other manufacturers during the second areo wars. It is a “boxy” car that needed a lot of help. They came out with the redesign, but didn’t have the time to get the good parts in it, so they had to do with the redesigned body, then find the other GM parts to make it successful. I’ve had this Pontiac since 94, and it was in rough shape. I decided to make it into something more, and haven’t stopped improving it since. There’s more to be done, cause I’m gonna have to start cutting some of the sheet metal. But like I said, it’s mine, and it’s going to turn into more that I want it to be. Great video, as always!

[@MrToranaGuy]

Awesome Video, thanks for posting! Interesting to see car culture over the decades. Here in Australia, the 80's and 90's cars are becoming popular with collectors and enthusiast's, as the 60s and 70s chrome bumper car's are getting too expensive. It's going to be interesting to see how car culture develops into the new era, with car's doing a 360 degree turn around and now going battery powered again.

[@cpufreak101]

I remember reading up about some 80's commodore special edition that went to auction and apparently sold for like $800k AUD

[@nolesy34]

@@cpufreak101 yes a hdt and walkinshaw type can get that high But most people keep them- because they love them.. and that keeps prices high

[@RosarioSound]

I've done the same conclusion about what ages of people are interested in a particular era of vehicles. And I can proudly say I abbreviate from that pattern. Im 41 now and my main interest is with old split window vw-buses från the 60's. Really enjoy your stuff, thanks for a great channel!

[@bossfan49]

deviate?

[@RosarioSound]

@@bossfan49 yep you're right. english is not my native tongue. Thanks for the comment!

[@WretchedHobbit]

This is why I love this channel. Growing up in the 2000s, I was never interested in cars from the bygone eras. Now they fascinate me

[@michaels1306]

Part of what drives the shift in classic car era collecting is the fact that cars get more expensive as they get older and more examples end up in museums or private collections. I personally collect cars from the 50's (opportunity plays a key roll there), though even my taste is getting prohibitively expensive and most junkers of that vintage are still over $5,000. As cars age, a car that once was great for a high school kid (like an 80's grand marquis in my day) and could be had for about $800 back then, is now priced well over $2,000 for the exact same car.

[@kailahmann1823]

I also guess, offers for anything between "already restored" and "hopeless wreck" are getting rare?

[@Donald_Shaw]

Yet another fantastic video posted by Ed. Thank you for your research and putting together all this fabulous information for our viewing pleasure.

[@jaycarlson927]

Another interesting subject and well researched. Keep it up Ed

[@TheOtherBill]

Thank you for choosing the era you did, Ed! The thought of car culture rehoming itself on "the malaise era" is frightening. WW2 to the Gas Crisis is the golden age of the automobile.

[@michaelbaka4777]

I've missed you, Ed!! You care about what you publish on your channel and you do your research. That said, I'm a 67 year old car nut. Newest car I have is a 2011 Chevy. BUT!!! The oldest one I have is an all-original 1973 Buick Limited that my Dad bought new in December of 1972. He loved this car so much, he pretty much stopped driving it after the first year so it wouldn't wear out. It now has about 21,000 miles on it and I keep it in pristine order. I only drive it a few times a year, to car meets and such. I no longer take it to car shows because my old bones can NOT take being in the hot sun or sitting in an uncomfortable chair for 8-10 hours, just to spend the next day cleaning her back up to new. What you said about ageing out of this really rings true to me. I won't be able to maintain her for much longer and have no family that would be interested in picking up the torch. So, I'll be putting her up for sale when I turn 73 [fitting!] and another enthusiastic person can carry her torch. Hope they love her like I do. Keep up the great work, Ed!!!

[@dave1956]

I remember that my father and his brothers really had a soft spot for the cars of the 1930’s from their youth. I came of age in the late 60’s, early 70’s and those are the cars that I am the most fond of. I work with a guy who is 20 years younger than I. He is fondest of the late 70’s, early 80’s cars of his youth. I look at him like he’s lost his mind. To me who would want a 1979-1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo? Give me a 1969-1972 Pontiac Grand Prix!

[@uncinarynin]

(And somewhere on the way to car culture the pedestrian was forgotten, only to be rediscovered sometime 1970s with the first old town pedestrian zones, but even those were reached from outside by driving your car to one of the parking garages ...) The essential car museum to me is in Mulhouse. Of course shaped by the Bugatti-crazy brothers Schlumpf, after visiting there I thought that at some point in history Bugatti was a really common car brand, and I was wondering why there were no more of them out in the streets. Only much later I found out that Bugatti had always been a luxury brand and never really went into mass production, though that seemed to make them even more attractive for the museums and collectors. Born 1970, all the "oldtimers" as we called them in Germany had already disappeared, that means, pre-war cars from before the ponton era, with separate fenders and headlights and footboards. I remember plenty of VW beetles and 2CV though (living near the French border meant a good influx of French car models, my parents owned a Renault 12, then another one post-facelift after the first one had started to rust). Taxis were often still tailfin Mercedes. I still don't own a car and when I rent one it's preferrably a compact contemporary electric model. The interest for 50 year old things is also seen in other branches. I'm in the model railway industry, usually dividing the history into six eras, we are now in era 6, with era 4 things (1970s/80s) becoming more interesting. There always seems to be low interest in "not quite young, not quite old" things that are still around but fading away. People want the latest or the really old stuff. Even in mobile phones. You're cool with an indestructible Nokia key phone but not with an iphone 2...

[@UberLummox]

In the '70s I still recall seeing an article about the Schlumpf Bugatti collection being loaded on to rail cars. Insanely COOL!!!!

[@UberLummox]

In the '70s I still recall seeing an article about the Schlumpf Bugatti collection being loaded on to rail cars. Insanely COOL!!!!

[@AaronOfMpls]

Yup, I follow a bunch of retro tech channels that mostly chronicle computers of the 1970s-2000s. I drew the parallel to classic cars pretty quickly as retrocomputing became a thing in the 2010s!

[@carguy862004]

Love the videos, man! Keep it up! You should check out Pierce-Arrow cars. Fully Die-cast one-piece bodies... like a hot-wheels car, but a full sized car! The pierce-Arrow museum is here in the state I live in in the US (Michigan). About a two and a half hours drive from the Henry Ford Museum you went to not that long ago. Also, we've got the R.E. Olds transportation museum here, as well as the Gilmore Car Museum. (Which also houses the Pierce Arrow museum, the Lincoln museum, the Cadillac / Lasalle museum, the Ford Model A Museum, the Franklin museum, etc.)

[@gregorijs3kivi]

I liked the part of the 20 year old tuner car/ hot rod. Watching this while sitting in my friends e46 coupe (20 years old) while he is working on it. Will be a 600+ whp turbo drift rocket. I also have a 16 year old bmw e91 with a custom made crazy loud stereo system. History repeats itself :D

[@Trendyflute]

I love that you do it different and go back further than the 30-40 year window, but also will touch on stuff in that window or newer too! Through the boomers, the nostalgia window was justifiable because pre-WW2 cars weren't very usable and then there was this sea change where, basically, the cars from the 50s through the 90s were all that mattered until the 90s ended! But as the history of the car gets longer, nostalgia doesn't cover the history anymore. The history's longer than the nostalgia. So for those of us interested in the whole story, thanks for what you do Ed!

[@josephmartinez8803]

Cars from the mid 70s, back are still the most popular cars at car shows. It's rare to see see cars from the 80s or.90s.

[@MrJommins]

Edward, you are still my favorite KZbinr! I love your videos. I watch them over and over to pick up information that I might have missed on earlier views. Please continue your very good work. Bravo sir, bravo.

[@zenithcoinsandhobbies]

My friend from the UK owns (or owned, can't remember if he sold it) one of the Land Rovers shown in that clip at 8:43. It still has the whole get up from that event, as I recall. The clip is from an old Pathe newsreel from 1964.

[@BigCar2]

Thanks for the shout out!

[@thezuguprojectANTHONYALBANESE]

Some people are just enjoyable to listen to, the flow, knowledge and production as well.....your videos are fantastic and very informative! You have a natural talent/gift for communicating and keeping the listener fully engaged from start to finish....and I love those graphics too, just perfect for the vibe. I find myself watching your videos just about everyday now, I've learned a lot too, I was a car fanatic when I was younger, esp had a love for the cars of the 60's and 70's..my very first at age 15 was a candy apple red '67 Chevelle with white racing stripes, a lot more show than go, but it was super cool for a kid back in the 80's:) Love your videos brother, esp. the history ones, exceptional work!

[@1_Papa]

I'm very glad that you review the cars and trucks that you do! You keep it retro! I can turn to those others when I want to specifically look at those eras again later. And yes, I do watch the new vehicle reviews as well. But your episodes here are the crowning jewel of the genre here on this otherwise disgusting platform called KZbin! 🥕 🐇

[@CJColvin]

Great video Ed, I have a 1996 Ford F150 (the same year I was born) with a 5.0L (302) Windsor V8 with 210,000 miles and still going strong and it turns heads alot.

[@carguy862004]

Those were good trucks. Hard to find a rust-free example here in the Rust belt...

[@CJColvin]

@@carguy862004 Agreed

[@nedronbronzebeard7118]

I feel like todays "classic car culture" definitely does follow the rule of 30 years... but it depends on the subculture youre in too. The import guys 100 follow that rule, with some outliers wanting the 60s and 70s imports. Muscle car culture though... we only really have the 60s and 70s to look back at... except for a select few cars and trucks. All in all I think the Internet is making it easier for the classic car collectors and enthusiasts to expand the years in which they pursue...

[@Mike81111]

Ed's Auto Reviews saved my day. Again!

[@Detah_]

the 90's stuff your talking about is spot on but your channel has made me see the appeal in 50s-70s American cars that I took for granted as in my neck of the woods most car shows near me are nothing but old American stuff whereas I am a 80's and 90's JDM fanboy but the tales my dad told me of his 68 Charger 440 and Chevy Biscayne have piqued my interest and every now and then I look at classic American stuff for sale like a 73 Ford Torino or 68 Buick Skylark I quite like. On top of that me and my dad are dabbling in more modern American cars such as restoring his 1996 Chevy K1500 pickup which still has what is basically the same 350 small block 50 years after it was introduced. As well as him ordering a brand new Chrysler 300C with the 392 Hemi. This channel has broadened my interests and made me see cars through the lenses of the older gentleman I'd talk to at car shows as they talk about how RARE their Chevelle is or something.

[@davidev4844]

Another great episode Ed good to hear from u again

[@TommyChardonneret]

So very grateful to you, Ed (my presently favorite Dutchman, after having spent many months in "het Nederland" during my youth), for yet another fantastically informative video about (this time specifically) "car culture" which has been the brilliant overall focus of your many YT videos! One point I think that's worth mentioning about the exponentially fast urban worldwide mass adoption of the automobile (in place of horse drawn transportation at all levels) is that the previous stench and health threat of TONS OF DAILY HORSE MANURE having to be removed from congested city streets was eliminated! I once read years ago that one in twenty blocks of New York City were devoted to collecting large mounds of horse manure before it could be transported (once again, with horse drawn wagons) to docked barges and dumped into the nearby waterways! The onset of automotive transportation actually (at first, mind you) greatly enhanced the quality of life especially in worldwide urban communities. It wasn't until decades later that massively numerous internal combustion engines themselves became health hazards. But if you had lived in ANY major (or, for that matter, also minor) urban landscape, the ELIMINATION OF TONS (once again) of daily horse manure buildup was (quite literally) "a breath of fresh air!" Thanks again, Ed, and please keep up the GREAT WORK of these very informative and downright hilariously witty videos!

[@bob_._.]

Having been a teen in the '60s and '70s I can tell you that the cars from the mid 1950s (especially Chevy) were already sought-after classics at that time.

[@UberLummox]

Yep, the 1973 movie "American Graffiti" had a lot to do with that. And I can remember restoration shops in the early '80s specializing in '67-'69 Camaros and Vett'es from the early '70s back to 1955.

[@Christopher.Colberg]

Agreed! I love the 51-57 chevys

[@ericschultz1073]

I love my old car. I love this channel, too. These two are the best, in my opinion. It's so interesting to see that some model t ford's are cheaper than most used cars at dealerships.

[@nicholasorr6051]

2:20 Ok the moment you said 'car polo' and 'popular in the early 1900s' I instantly thought how dangerous that sounds before you even said so. . . but that also sounds like so much fun! 21st century reboot of the idea, in small hatchbacks (or maybe even little go karts), with airbags and seatbelts and bumpers etc etc, to reduce the general 'death trap' vibes...? We have to make this happen! It reminds me of when Top Gear played football with Toyota Aygo's. (Also didn't Hammond and May play battleships with real scrapyard cars at one point? Either on Top Gear or The Grand Tour?? Maybe a slightly different game though!) I also remember an ad from the mid 2000s (I think for a little Mitsubishi iCar or something?) where they played football with those as well. 21st century car polo would be equally as much of a hoot. :)

[@agostinodibella9939]

Ed, a great video showing how things changed over the years but how similar they were comparing the horse with the car.

[@AlexAguirreC]

Gracias por compartir el amor por los autos!

[@Colonel_RamRod]

2:25 Ed, that's why car futbol was invented by the amazing prior top gear crew ❤❤❤

[@80fordmustang6]

Honestly that’s what I love about car culture how diverse it is I personally seem to lean toward big 50’s-80’s family cars as well at 80’s pickup truck throw in a few jeeps for good measure

[@maxpayne2574]

The much maligned Citation was a great car my family had 3 my last 1 had 300,000 miles and still ran great when I quit driving it. Had great interior space. good mpg, was easy to work on and was fantastic in snow almost imposable to get stuck.

[@OLDS98]

Thank you once again Ed. It was good because you put such great effort and work into the videos and it shows. I liked how you discussed the transition and the collector cars themselves. I liked how you discussed the different channels too. I subscribed to most of them but two of them. I enjoy your humor too.

[@privateprivate1865]

Im a pre 70s automobile fan especially the late 40s-50s

[@AaronOfMpls]

Excellent video, Ed! 😎 I'd long known how car culture had grown with car ownership, but it was fun to see the details of where so much of it came from. On a related note, as an older Millennial (b 1982) who's somewhat of a tech enthusiast, I've seen a similar kind of culture around computers my entire life -- with the retrocomputing scene in particular having a lot of parallels with the classic car scene. Retrocomputing grew into a big thing in the 2010s, as techier people born in the 1970s and '80s -- the first generations to grow up with home computers -- got enough time and money to start messing around with the old computers of their youth. And even before the boom, there were enthusiasts who kept trying to probe their computers' limits -- from Commodore 64s and Amigas, to early PCs and Macs, to the latest and greatest gaming PCs. Overclockers and demoscene programmers are very much the hardware and software equivalents of hotrodders, trying to push the extreme limits of what their computers are capable of. _EDIT: And much like with classic cars, there are now aftermarket suppliers making modern replacement parts to keep old computers usable. Various people make everything from SD card adapters to replace failing hard drives, to heat sinks to extend the life of aging chips, to reverse-engineered replacements for out-of-production chips, to entire replacement cases and motherboards._ Another commenter mentioned how cars' usability kinda plateaued in the 1980s-2000s, with quite a few 20- and even 30-year-old cars still used as daily drivers today. Something similar has been happening to computers in the 2000s, as the technology has matured. Computers in the 1970s-90s changed very quickly in how they could be used and what they were capable of. But in the 2000s and 2010s, the pace of innovation got a lot slower and more incremental. The major revolutions in usability had passed -- and major increases in computing power made eincreasingly less difference with basic tasks like internet browsing and file management. (Much the same happened to smartphones in the 2010s, too.) But on the plus side, these later advances continue to make those basic tasks more affordable. A low-end laptop or tablet can still browse the Web and play music and videos almost as well as an expensive gaming PC -- and the laptop is still as usable for word processing and spreadsheets as its expensive predecessors of the '90s. Again, excellent video, Ed! And thanks to my fellow commenters as well! 😎 (And yes, this comment is kind of a repost; I said similar things in a reply to maxsmodels here.)

[@thesimpleself-improver]

Ed, It just makes my day better everytime when you upload, keep up the hard work my guy.

[@williammaceri8244]

Hey Ed, thanks for the History of Cars video. I really enjoyed it, and having been a Gearhead all my life, I have an above average knowledge of cars, but you pointed out a few things I didn't know or ever thought about but certainly make sense. My mom always used to say, "History always repeats it's self". It seems that there is no finer example of it than our car history. Although I don't like to admit it, I'm one of those aging Baby Boomers, born in 1955, just like Disneyland. Today, I love thinking about the cars from the late 50s, through the 90s. I have so many favorites from those years that I now collect diecast models from that era. Like you and many other guys, my focus has always been American cars, mostly Ford and Chryslers. But now, as I'm older, yes, even a few from GM have managed to makmy list of all-time favorites. I repeatedly say I feel bad for today's kids because when they get older and think back 30 to 40 years about the cars they grew up with, they have to think about today's cars, which all look the same. Same shape, same boring colors, no wonderful V8s to admire, with the power and exhaust sounds to appreciate like we did. How can a kid know what those things are unless they go back 50 to 70 years ago. All they can brag about is how good the gas mileage is on their cars. How sad is that? We bought cars for class, not gas. And what about all those beautiful strong horses that made travel possible? We are thankful to have had them and miss them. However, I don't think anyone misses what the horses left behind on the streets. Can you imagine what that was like?

[@AaronOfMpls]

"However, I don't think anyone misses what the horses left behind on the streets." In that vein, people a few decades from now -- _after_ the transition away from fossil fuels -- will probably say the same thing about ICE vehicle exhaust.* 🙂 As for the the actual horse problem: I've _seen_ old photos of actual curbside manure drifts in NYC streets, and manure piles on vacant lots. Small towns and small cities had less of a problem with it, since people could collect most of the manure for local farmers and gardeners to use as fertilizer. But the bigger cities produced too much for their local market to use up -- and the stuff wasn't valuable enough to ship farther away. The problem wasn't ever truly solved until motors replaced urban horses. * Heck, I already said as much to my dad as a kid in the '90s, while we were driving behind a particularly smelly classic car. Sure, some of that was probably from the classic car's engine being old and worn -- but I'm sure plenty was from it being built before emissions laws, too. ☁☁☁

[@donnyaxe78]

The pronunciation of "echelon" at 2:29 is, without doubt, the greatest enunciation of that particular word in the entirety of recorded human history.

[@JasonFlorida]

Ed, I really love and appreciate your car videos! I really enjoy hearing this take on things and agree. Crazy to think that (hopefully) I still will be alive when cars from 2000 will be collectible! Thanks for posting and sharing your great work!

[@manuelvarela815]

great videos, congratulations! Please, the history of the automobile in Argentina, especially that of IKA and its Torino

[@noahkennedy229]

as someone born in the early 2000s I find myself attracted to 1990-2000s cars mostly but you videos have been great to learn about cars as a whole so thank you love the content

[@jumpjetcaptain495]

Absolutely love your videos Ed. Your research and story telling is so interesting and enjoyable!

[@funbuddyPDX]

I totally agree and couldn't say it any better. This was a great video.

[@anymancandoitwiththerightools]

Dude, Your videos rock! Please do these as long as you can!

[@KurisuDE]

Thanks for recommending some other auto channels. There was one that I did not know yet. You of course remain my favourite. Best regards from your german neighbour.😉

[@speedjunkie13]

I'm more into 90s Japanese sports cars, but I love all cars, and I really enjoy your videos about the older cars because that's what my dad got me started on. I think I was born several decades late.

[@petercrowl9467]

In my experience we want the car we couldn't have/afford when we were 17.

[@o8thman812]

A few HOLDEN'S in your vids... Keep up the good work!

[@darrens3]

Car culture is an evolution of carriage culture. There were multi-storey stables and coachhouses as well as carriage showrooms dating back to the 1850s. In every major conurbation in the UK there were carriage showrooms see Windovers of Huntingdon as ubiquitous as car showrooms are now. Also the docks, train stations, hotels, etc. had multi-storey stabling for horses as ubiquitous as carparks. Coach builders built carriages and put them on show in showrooms where you could walk in and buy them. Once the car had been invented the coach builders would then buy the engine and platforms and put their own carriage coach works onto that platform. They they put them for sale in the same showrooms. Its why places like Arnold Clark exist. They were coach builders that became car builders, that became car resellers, that became showrooms. Car showrooms predate the car by over 100 years. Ed this is a prime area to explore these connections in a follow up in like a primer video.

[@raymonster55]

Way to go, Ed! You put together top notch content and as you pointed out, you are covering a time where they built the best and most beautiful cars ever made and everyone else has moved on to a time that produced some of the worst (In my opinion). Thank you!

[@jeanbonnefoy1377]

2:08 Paris-Rouen was 78 miles (126 km long)! After 50 miles, you would at best have reached Cergy. And at 4:03 it was the "Salon" de l'Automobile" (inspired by the art salons of the time). The "Mondial" gimmick was introduced much later, in the 1990s.

[@ronaldjohnson1474]

Everyone seems to have their own favorite, which makes your observations unusually valid. Thanks!

[@Verchiel_]

Maple leaf rag always a hit

[@SonnyGTA]

Another great video! A car that exemplifies decades of what you’re speaking about is the AVANTI. Check out all the iterations if that one!

FANTASTIC episode!

[@jamesmisener3006]

Certain "regular cars" from all decades of manufacture will always hold interest. You are correct that the focus will always be between what your dad had and what you wanted as a teen. The market proves that point. Nice one Ed. Lots of video candy. Cheers 🇨🇦

[@b.1570]

As a gen Z who mostly likes JDMs from the 80s and 90s I like to learn much more of the history of cars from anywhere in the world from all eras and your content for sure has been blissfully informative. The whole history around it is something I find very fascinating not everyone I know could share this better than those I found online, yourself included and I'm glad for it. Great vid btw! 👍

[@RichieRouge206]

Excellent video Ed. The car community is so strong and wide ranging. I love it

[@jeramiemaddox1974]

You are by far the best car reviewer I watch

[@ShanGamer1981]

another great video Mr Ed

[@danichiIIa]

I was just re-watching your old videos what a time to be alive

[@4nascar17]

I own several rare cars. I love the custom or retro mods. They drive up the value of my collection. Which are kept as they came from the factory. To each their own. Please keep on retro modifying your classics. My estate thanks you!

[@hzhz3469]

Did you know where the word "Car" comes from? It was taken from the Celtic word "carrus", which referred to a cart or wagon. Live a lot, learn a lot 👍👍👍

[@armitage1950]

Surprised you didn’t mention the various aftermarket speed companies & hot rodders that came about from WW2 vets that were looking for the same rush they had while in service.

[@rick7858]

Ik geniet elke keer weer van je videos, Ed! Heb zelf een hele kleine beginnners verzameling van 4 Amerikaanse auto's 😄

[@nicolauslr9937]

Hey Ed, have you thought of making video comparing diffrent ,,People's cars"? Like VW Beetle, Citroen 2CV etc

[@strassenbahnfilmguy9306]

Having owned an old VW and Citroën and Fiat and Renault .. I would love to see this .

[@joandabest9010]

And the trabant 8)

[@saneauto]

There's a lot of different versions of "car Culture" here in the USA I mostly film car shows and museum cars when Im not repairing or "resurrecting" cars on my channel. I enjoy coming here to EAR to see how different and similar the car experience is in the Netherlands from Ed's perspective.

[@christopherkraft1327]

Hey Ed, great video of the history of the early automobile!!! I would have loved to watch a polo match with cars!!! I wonder if that's where the idea of the demolition derby came from!!! 🙄

[@TwoToneProduc]

This is truly a great video, I absolutely agree with you about cars from the 1950's, American in particular, when design really mattered and was perfectly executed inside and out. Yes of course I also like Euro sports cars and super cars from later times or Japanese tuner cars, American muscle cars and some other modern cars - the lavish, extravagant show for the eyes of 50's American cars will always have a special place in my heart

[@The555robinhood]

New favorite channel.

[@alex1949]

When I started driving in the mid 90s, I wanted a classic from the 50s. Couldn't afford it, and drove a car from the mid 80s that was handed down from my dad. I eventually got my 50s car, but was daily driving a car from the mid 90s, also given to me by my dad when he upgraded. Still have both. Today, my own son wants the 90s car because in his words, it's "iconic".

[@Christopher.Colberg]

That's awesome! Three questions, what 50s car, what year did you buy it and how much was it?

[@Tangoram]

Nice and very interesting. I am myself a guy who loves to drive a car that is a little bit one of a kind. So, if you do not have much money, you have to choose a special car. I am driving a Smart 451 from 2007 and it is very easy to pimp them up for small money. When I drive to a Smart Meeting here in Germany you will not find one Smart that looks the same.

[@gregfeeler6910]

Another excellent video about cars, people, and cars. Thanks!

[@stephenhiggs4553]

Finally, the answer we've all been searching for. Thanks Ed

[@uleiosu4582]

again a nice vid. thank you!

[@Marshal_Dunnik]

Very insightful Mister Ed. The car replacing the horse in people's affections, and the 30-50 year timeline for what classic cars are desirable. I was born in the mid 1970s and own a car from 1994 but it isn't just nostalgia. It's disc brakes all around. Fuel injection. Airbags. Seatbelt pre-tensioners. A stronger safety cage and better crumple zones. First gen engine management software resulting in fuel economy and power, and not one or the other. Standard options that were once optional luxuries (AC, power windows, doors, sunroofs, etc.). And yet, with its mechanical linkages, it's obviously a far more analogue experience over a modern car, and simpler to repair and maintain. In other words, modern enough for use as a DD today, but not so modern that it feels like you're driving a PlayStation.

[@CommodoreFan64]

I'm so glad you cover all eras of cars, as even though I was born in 81, I find all of them fascinating.👍

[@vjsupera2639]

Glad you stuck in the 50s and that's my favorite. For hot rods. Keep up the good work.

[@robertmills3682]

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into your videos. I thoroughly enjoy them. And I am with you, the cars from the 50s and 60s and even the 70s are where I am too! You can keep your 80s and 90s cars (unless of course it’s a Lincoln Town car 😂)

[@UberLummox]

Yep, there's a good reason why most car show were pre-'73 ONLY! Some still like that I think.

[@tonydagostino6158]

That Club de France picture at 3:58 was really interesting. I think your take on cars is more interesting than the channels you mentioned. They're pretty generic

[@SebastianATaylor]

I’m with you Ed I’m 21 but I love the 50’s and older when it comes to cars