Relative to how it was in the 60&#x27;s? (which predate me) I&#x27;m sure it has lost a great deal of its luster. The big car manufacturers were competing with each other to produce the biggest sleepers - cars with underrated horsepower both for competitive and insurance purposes - and they could be ordered from the dealer with very powerful engines.<p>In my hometown in the 60s and 70s you had kids simply circling the park for hours to see, be seen and show off their cars. You had drag racing up and down straight lines of road the kids had marked off at exactly 1&#x2F;4 mile. TV shows featured cars as major plot points or even characters.   Think Grandpa&#x27;s Dragula in The Munsters, My Mother The Car and even into the 80&#x27;s with Kitt and Knight Rider.<p>I think the modding and racing culture is still there, but it&#x27;s moved on into pc building, make spaces and perhaps even open source contributions.  There are other ways now to do something interesting and get your name out there than spinning a wrench.  And gas prices and emission laws on the tail of the gas crises in the early 1970s certainly played its part in the death of car culture.  Just my humble opinion of course.