If you have national club magazines back to the early 1960's through even the late 1970's, compare the age of the owners shown in them to what you see in recent years' magazines. It looks like their grandparents and GREAT-grandparents now own Model A's with very few younger people gracing the scene. And I don't consider mid-50's young!
No one denies that the hobby is aging, but WOW!!! The age difference of those Model A devotees versus today's is shocking. What does that tell us about the present state of the hobby, and more tellingly, its future? Apparently, the Model A cottage parts-making industry is aging in parallel, as we are seeing more and more parts becoming unavailable as these small businesses are folding up their tents due to age, illness or even death. Echoing Bob's Bidonde's comment, I fear we have lived through the zenith of Model A parts availability and are returning to the sparce offerings of the Dark Ages of Model A parts in the 1970's with their attendant poor quality and fit. Is Rick's Antique Auto Parts making a comeback? (Only guys in the hobby 35+ years will get that one!) It seems as though 25% of what I try to order from vendors these days is "Temporarily Out of Stock" or "No Longer Available". And 1/2 of those parts I do manage to receive need to be reworked in order to be used. Am I the only one experiencing this depressing trend in our chosen hobby or am I Chicken Little today, seeing the sky falling?
Marshall