oldsguybry

Not very easily I would imagine .

Diego

How would you correct him? That's what the air cleaner says.

1969w3155

He, like many, assume that it is the engine size, when it is the torque of the 401 and 425 engines.

455man

Recently I tried asking a mopar owner at a car show about his car and he referred me to one of those mopar guys a few cars down. Apparrantly he bought the car finished and didnt know anything about it. Nice car though.

firefrost gold

I can see how people are miss informed half the info out in magazines dont match up either calling a 64 gto a 65 or a hurst a 442 or other way around.
I Just try to get the best info I can and show what I have found is the person wants to see . fusicks has on their site the wrong info for the Rallye 350 they show two F-85's and a holiday coupe with the build numbers ?

s i 442

I just tell them 442 stands for a perfect 10 and then explain.

Sampson

I have noticed this trend around here too. A lot of the new owners are pretty far removed from the history of the cars.

m371961

I agree with the problem of magazines giving wrong info. When Olds went out, a mag I was getting noticed it's demise, stating it was started by Barney Oldfield !!
It was a 4x4 rag, but that should not be an excuse.

sammy

I have to share this...
A 12 or 13 year old boy saw my car at a show, and came over and started asking me smart, intelligent questions about it...where it came from(history) ,what rear end was in it, motor size interior options and on and on!
He knew that it was not a HO nor a 442 and proceeded to tell me why
It was a great conversation and lasted for over an hour....all the time his father stood looking very proud....
You guys get my point...there is hope that our cars will fall into the right hands when the time comes

Ted

oldsguybry

That's great . He knows more then most of the adults do .

droldsmorland

Great story. Here is one from yesterday. We have many local cruse nights here. We were at the Monday night Wegmans cruse. My buddy shows up with his 11 Challenger SRT 392 special edition hemi, blue white stripes. We were one of the last people to leave the parking lot my dad included with his 68 roadster vette. This nice looking lady walks up to us with her 10-12ish year old son and proceeds to tell us about her uncles 70 Hemi Challenger. My buddy says to her boy....would ya like to sit in it. The kids eyes lit up as Ed opened the door to let him in. Then mom was whipping out her camera to snap a shot and I said "grab the wheel and make it look like your driving it"...kid smiled ear to ear...Thats how you get the younger generation on board. Thats how it happened for me and most likely the rest of you. In fact that would be a cool thread. Ill start it.

1969w3155

I took my niece's son for a ride in my '71 when he was about 15, that hooked him, he want's my '69...we'll see. My buddy's son grew up with these cars as one of us always had something to drive. When I bought my '69, he was about 17, (seems like he was younger) and I dropped the clutch at 4000rpm, with the car fishtailing and hazing the tires....he shook his head, because his dad had first dibs on the car before I bought it.

Mike77

Drolds has it right. Let the kids sit in your car they will never forget it. i had my 32 ford roadster hot rod at a big show 2 weeks ago in downtown Victoria. At our parliment building.Lot of Japanese tourist in town. I let this 10 year old sit in the rod. OMG his face was red his eye's huge and Mom and Dad taking a 100 pictures. They all had the biggest grin i ever saw. I know that kid will never forget his trip to Victoria.
For me that the best part about the car hobby.
Mike

Diego

You are mistaken - they were taking tons of pictures because they were Japanese.

Nilsson

Go to Disney in CA to really witness this ritual.

Junkman

A friend has a 1972 Oldsmobile hearse, and he gets lots of strange questions.. A few are......

1)... is this a real Hurst?

2)... is there a dead body in back?

3)... ever have sex in it?

Then the questions go down hill from there. I have an ambulance, and I always get the "Ghostbuster" comment. Mind you that the ghostbuster vehicle was 1959 Cadillac, not a 1963 Chrysler. It never ceases to amaze me the comments that are generated by the general public at a cruise night or car show. Seems that most of the spectators are experts in everything automotive!

s i 442

I got popular vote at a show one time with my 70 Camaro because my info card asked what year and I put 70 1/2 Camaro and people flipped out and was treating it like a COPO or Baldwin Motion car!

Diego

You think that's bad, try the Internet.

rocketraider

Seems y'all would have learned by now that:
a) all 64-72 GM A-bodies are Chevelles
b) all 62-66 GM B-bodies are Impalas
c) all Oldsmobile Ninety Eights are Cadillacs
d) all Oldsmobile Toronados are Rivieras
e) all other Oldsmobiles are "what kind of car is that again? Ain't never seen no car like that."

Seems that whatever an Oldsmobile is, to the general misinformed/ignorant public it is always some other make or model.

I don't even bother with them anymore. I just turn away and stop talking, because to continue such a conversation only pisses me off. Dealing with people like this is a big reason I quit taking the cars to cruise nights, though people often tell me I should bring them out again so people can see something besides the endless sea of Tri-Five Chevys and 1st gen Camaros.

The deal with the Mopar owner who bought his car already done is another detriment to the hobby. I cannot fathom anyone buying an old car and not having some clue about it. These guys are not true car people- they want it for "investment" or because they think it's cool to own one. I for one am damn tired of hearing cars referred to as "investments". Makes me wanna smack the hell out of whoever's prattling about it.

But once in a while, you run into a youngun like Sammy's young friend and you realise there IS hope for the hobby.

Sampson

Quote. ".kid smiled ear to ear"

DROLDS nailed it. Can you imagine how many times that kid had been told that day Don't touch! Or how many scowl faces he had seen as he got close to their cars. Hell I am 57 yrs old and get funny looks at car shows. Imagine how a 10 year old feels. I had an opportunity to take a kid for a ride in my Charger recently. I will never forget the look on his face and I doubt he will ever forget the ride!

Redog

The worst I ever got was "You have a big block Chevy in your Olds"

I said "No, it's an Olds 350"

His response "No it isn't"

Back and forth for a good 5 minutes with this clown until it started to get really nasty. As in I told the guy if he said it was a Chevy engine again, I was going to kick his f*****g ***. Then he started to get flip with me saying crap like "I'd like to see you try"

The reason this sticks in my head so much, this was the guy at the front gate and was a judge in the show. Let that sink in for a second.

BTW, the agruement ended with another judge taking one glance at my engine and then calling the guy a moron

rocketraider

Redog, if that was an Oldsmobile show, that judge should have been shown the gate himself. Most people with any car gumption at all can tell a BBC from an SBO with a simple glance. Maybe not displacement, but engine family anyway.

Koda

I would have told the other judge that this idiot makes me afraid for my personal safety and that of my car, and that he either leaves the show now, or I do.

Of course, that would have probably meant you get a hasty refund and shown the door.

rustyroger

Don't wind yourselves up at the lack of knowledge showgoers often display, if they paid to attend it's what keeps the shows going.
No doubt enthusiasts are appalled at my lack of knowledge about Ferraris, ricers, motorbikes, English soccer, fishing or any number of hobbies I don't have an interest in.
I hope I have learned to ask rather than come up with my own ill informed judgement, but sometimes I find what I absolutely knew to be a fact is completely wrong, I dare say after I have displayed my lack of knowledge there have been withering comments about the jerk who hasn't got a clue.
On the other hand occasionally I find someone who will correct my misinformed opinion, politely and without making me look a fool.

But you will always find plenty who aren't interested in learning, or cannot admit they don't know everything. Put up with them, when I come across such people I console myself with the thought that there are none so stupid as those that don't want to learn.
When the display of ignorance gets to me I say "taps" as they leave. It's an acronym for "Thick as pig s**t", works as a pressure relief valve for me.

Roger.

oldcutlass

Ummm, no they can't! They tell their kids that it's a 4 forty two engine. I don't argue, just smile and nod.

My car has no badging except on the back and front grill plus the assorted stock Olds emblems. I can always tell a show goer that has no clue by the dazed look in their eye as they make their way to the rear of the car to see what it is.

66 Olznut

I'm teaching my 4yo nephew about Olds, his family are Ford fans, he knows what a Mustang is except for the 71-73 & II era, Dad is building a Cobra replica that he goes nuts after, he says Camaro "Cawehwo" and can get out "Olzum" but the rest is mumbles. Got plenty of time but he's definitely on the right track. His 3yo brother hears me coming in my Cummins Dodge and says "TRUCK".

Greg Rogers

Went to the Lincoln house in Springfield while at the Olds Nats. It was a tour that left the host hotel in a bus, so the whole tour was Olds people. We all went in to the old house and the tour guide ranger started small talk, asking us about our cars,etc - just trying to be friendly. He said that one of the best cars he ever had was a Oldsmobile back in the 70's, always started great,lots of power,etc. One of the group asked him what type of Olds it was and he said it was a Impala and that big 450 engine was great. You could hear the collective sigh from the group, but no one corrected him or said anything.

StarGeneral

+1 ....every damn time haha.