I just wanted to make a comment on something I was thinking about a while back.

I'm 35. I got my first vehicle, my 1975 F-150, when I was 15 which I still have though it's being used for parts now due to some serious rpm abuse on my behalf. Back then it was just another used truck. It was 23 years old when I got it, which when you compare it to today, that's like getting a 1995 F-150 in 2018. Now my current truck is a '77. That's a 41 year old truck. I still see dentsides all over the place. On the road, off the road, sitting in fields, in the junkyard, just everywhere. When I was 15, 40+ year old trucks would be like my favorite F-series such as a 1956 F-1. I NEVER saw those driving around. EVER. I live in a smaller community and yes they were at car shows occasionally, but you never saw 40+ year old trucks driving around. I never saw them on road, off road, or in the junkyard, though if I actually try I know I can find them in fields out here in Idaho or tucked away in barns. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the production numbers of the different generations of vehicles and the jumps in technology as far as drivability is concerned, but still, these trucks are going strong. Time's changed and still changing and we're getting into EV's more and whatnot, but seriously, with the way modern vehicles are more and more disposable, are we going to have a bunch of 2018 trucks driving around in 2060? As long as I don't kick the bucket before then I'm sure I'll have one of my trucks around whether or not it will be allowed on the road anymore in 2060.

When I think about it, I probably have one of the oldest daily drivers where I work and that's out of 700+ people. There's a supervisor on my day shift (I work nights) that drives a bumpside to work quite often and he's probably got the only vehicle older than mine that's driven there.

Just food for thought.

 

I agree that a 2018 truck will more than likely not still be on the road in 2060.

I am sure I will be REALLY old in 2060 and or probably dead by then. But I hope all my grandkids are still driving the hell out of my 71 and 73 Bronco, along with the 77 F250, 78 F250, 79 F250.

 

In 2060 you'll just use your 3D printer to produce whatever body you want, and put it on over whatever crap they'll be selling then.

 

Agreed. Trucks of today, while lasting mileage wise, I don't think they'll last timewise. My silver 2000 has 291,000+ miles, my red 2007 had 246,000+ miles on it when it got wrecked a couple of weeks ago, the 2014 that replaced it has 44,000 miles on it and I doubt they'll be around in 50-60 years, too much plastic and too many electronics to last.
My '73 had 435,000+ miles on it when I retired it in '96. I still have it (one day I might actually finish it and get it back on the road!) and I can see it easily being here in another 60 years even though I won't be.
As for the hybrids and EV's gaining favor. One of my "dream projects" is to take a new 5.0 Coyote and mate it to a Porsche G50 transaxle (there are adapters available) with the transaxle flipped to make it a mid-engine setup and put all that in the back seat of a Prius! Why? Just to give all the self-righteous enviro freaks a stroke when they see it. Not to mention the Corvette/Viper clans, after all what self respecting 'Vette or Viper owner would want to admit to getting dusted by a Prius

 

 

.............

 

 

OTOH, I'm seeing more and more instances of older vehicles with younger, computerized innards. For example, this As well, one can buy a 1940 Ford coupe or 1967 Ford Mustang fastback made of new sheet metal. Time can be warped.
Given the poor track record of prognosticators, I am not so sure that extrapolation from the present will be accurate. We, or our successors, will see.

 

Here in southern Idaho I see far more Chevy square bodies than I do dentsides, however, the Chevy square body style went on a LOT longer than the dentsides did. I rarely see Dodge's of any gen prior to the late 80's and early 90's. I know they're out there, but they don't seem to come out much around here.

I think this gen of Ford trucks kinda hit the sweet spot as far as being modern enough to still drive comfortably today, as is, without updates and still have an old classic look to them. I was a teenager in the 90's and I can't stand the look of the bullnose and bricknose Fords. It's like Ford took everything I like about a dentside and ruined it. They took all the curves and roundness and just flattened it all out. No more smooth curves and the fender openings that I love that aren't just big symmetrical arches, they still have the rear of the fenders sweeping back like the prior gens do.

 

 

 

You wont see any of todays cars on the road 40 years from now, but youll still see these old trucks. Every millennial is in a great big hurry to yank out time-proven simple and dependable 351s and 390s to "swaps" in some aluminum and plastic, ECU and PCM sensor and electronic controlled piece of crap. NEWSFLASH! 40 years from now, you wont be able to replace those electronic gizmos, but Ill still be able to pour a cup of gas down my carb, clean the points and throw a fresh battery in and be driving it the same afternoon . The reason these things are so dependable is how simple and easy to maintain they are.

Seriously, I cannot count how many old vehicles Ive pulled out of fields and barns that have been sitting for decades, got them running and added 20, 50, even another 75K to the clock. Equally, I cant begin to estimate how many hours I have spent on computerized/injected/sensored/ newer vehicles chasing down electrical gremlins that wouldn't let it run right once they've gotten a few years old.

 

That's true. Even our trucks have their share of problems, mainly in heavily emissions regulated states. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in California isn't it 'fix it or park (scrap) it' on '76 and newer vehicles?
I can see a cottage industry developing around keeping the switches, solenoids, vacuum diaphragms, ECU's, etc. functioning once they become "unavailable" from regular sources. This, of course, would probably be limited to the "collector" cars, you know, the 'vettes, Vipers, Hellcats, GT350's and the like.
But then again that's "assuming" (we all know how that works out!) that we're still permitted to drive vehicles that have internal combustion engines and gas isn't $250.00 a gallon!

 

Sorry, I have to laugh - back in the '70s a near-constant refrain was how crappy cars were, they had all this plastic that would never last as well as older cars, made out of tin cans instead of real sheet metal, etc. Expect to hear about the cars made in the teens as good old days in about 20 years.

 

I'm in NJ and see quite a bit more Dents than 70's Chevy's and way more than 70's Dodge's. Up here the key to keeping it going is to keep the road salt off of it in the winter. They dump so much salt it makes the blacktop white, and on top of that the brine the main roads prior to the snowfall. That stuff is the equivalent of a person breathing Asbestos, will eat your truck to nothing. So I decided to not drive them in the snow after the plows come by.