Hagerty Study Finds Gen Z Loves Driving, Gravitating Towards Collector Cars

[00:00:00] Now in the middle of one of the most significant eras in automotive, Carl Anthony amplifies the minds and voices behind this historic transformation as the host of AutoVision News Radio, all while coming to terms with middle age, father loss, and what it means to be successful in Detroit.

[00:00:16] There's an adage in Detroit, writes Tom Glatch on page 44 in The Art of Mopar. You can sell an old man a young man's car, but you can never sell a young man an old man's car.

[00:00:31] Glatch opens chapter five with this adage in reference to the 1967 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi. At that time, baby boomers were hungry for a different type of car, evidenced by the debut of the Ford Mustang in April 1964 at the New York World's Fair.

[00:00:49] By 1966, Ford had sold its one millionth Mustang, with data showing that the average age of Mustang buyers was 31. Almost 30% of Mustang buyers were younger than 25, a noticeable contrast from the average age of a regular Ford car purchaser at 42.

[00:01:10] In The Art of Mopar, Glatch writes about how the 1966 Dodge Revolution advertising campaign was meant to jumpstart the brand in the public eye, as a counter to Mustang and that tiger under the hood of the Pontiac GTO in the commercials, this new era for Dodge

[00:01:28] would show the brand as youthful and vibrant, not an aging and irrelevant nameplate, and a brand that had exciting and powerful cars in its lineup. Although we are admittedly fast-forwarding a bit and skipping over some other essential

[00:01:42] aspects of automotive history that warrant further study, we can see how the muscle car era in the United States resulted from the Big Three's targeting of the younger demographic. The consensus by the Big Three was that baby boomers wanted to drive, but they wanted

[00:01:58] to drive something they considered their own. Younger generations and their interest in cars and driving may elicit a different conversation in the 2020s than in the 1960s and 70s. Financial, environmental and safety concerns are cited as reasons why younger generations

[00:02:17] are less apt to own a vehicle or delay getting their license, relying on public transit or e-bikes or e-scooters to move about. Meanwhile, other bodies of research show that younger generations are interested in cars and driving, fueled by their exposure to things like film, video games and

[00:02:36] social media. One such body of research is Hagerty's 2024 Future of Driving survey. Hagerty commissioned one poll to survey more than 2,000 Americans about the role cars play in their life and their sentiments related to automobiles and driving.

[00:02:52] Join me now as I summarize the key findings from Hagerty's 2024 Future of Driving survey. Moving at the speed of mobility, this is AutoVision News Radio with Karl Anthony in Detroit, Michigan. Hagerty's survey indicates a growing interest in collector cars among Gen Z, defined by

[00:03:11] the Pew Research Center as those born between 1997 and 2012. In the survey, nearly half expressed an interest in owning a classic car, although interest from Gen Z respondents was significantly greater at 60% when compared to Baby Boomers at 31%.

[00:03:30] Among Gen Z respondents, 32% said they have owned or currently own a classic or enthusiast vehicle. Millennials were not far behind at 30%. SUVs were the primary vehicle of choice for respondents, with nearly 40% citing an interest in SUVs, followed by sedans at 26% and trucks at 19%.

[00:03:51] Gen Z expressed an almost equal interest in luxury cars as they did for SUVs. According to Hagerty demographic data, the most common car Gen Z enthusiasts inquire about for insurance coverage is a Mazda Miata. Millennials are most interested in GM trucks from 1988 to 2000.

[00:04:11] Depending on which body of research we are considering, there is likely a correlation between being able to do almost everything online and a tapering interest in driving among younger generations. In the 2020s, we experienced a cultural norm unlike any other, where a significant portion

[00:04:30] of the world worked and operated from home. And when most of what we need for our daily lives can be delivered to our doorstep or received through our Wi-Fi connection, there is perhaps less incentive to own a vehicle given the inherent costs associated with vehicle ownership.

[00:04:47] However, the inverse can also be true if we consider Hagerty's 2024 Future of Driving survey. With our lives online comes an opportunity for cars and the love of driving to permeate our screens and capture our imaginations, and this is the case with Gen Z.

[00:05:05] Gen Z respondents cited YouTube and Instagram as the top platforms for engaging with classic car content. Movies continue to fuel our love affair with cars, be it James Bond and his Aston Martin DB5 or Memphis Reigns with Eleanor.

[00:05:23] Just as motion pictures like American Graffiti would have inspired baby boomers, younger generations have the Fast and Furious franchise or the recent reimagining of the 1996 film Twister with 2024's Twisters to cite as origin points for their love of Ram Trucks, and

[00:05:43] popular video games still continue to stoke the fires of automotive passion. Since its founding in 1984 by Frank and Louise Hagerty, the company has worked to cultivate and support car culture abroad. To date, Hagerty has invested more than $22 million to preserve automotive culture

[00:06:02] and history for current and future generations. In 2021, the company launched the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, a 501C3 non-profit focused on building the nation's automotive archive and helping future generations access funding for automotive education. Through its partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Library of Congress,

[00:06:25] the foundation launched the National Historic Vehicle Register to record and preserve America's automotive past. Meanwhile, the Hagerty Drivers Foundation maintains a comprehensive YouTube channel that provides hours of free on-demand content for automotive enthusiasts. Popular videos on the channel include a drive with the infamous Black Ghost, the 1970

[00:06:48] Dodge Challenger that dominated Detroit roadways in the 1970s. Playlists spotlighting different vehicles are organized by year as far back as 1901. Hagerty produced documentaries on the channel such as the Chrysler Turbine Car Engineering a revolution and the fabulous Hudson Hornet have garnered millions of views.

[00:07:08] To learn more about the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, see the links in the show notes. Auto Vision News Radio is available on the digital antennas of Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean and more. In Detroit, I'm Carl Anthony, Auto Vision News Radio.