I think kids are still very much into learning...just not so much about cars. From a student's standpoint....everything in life at this age is about your education. education, education, educatin....blah, blah, blah. It's about doing good in school and going to college. if you dont do that you're in serious trouble according to all the "smart people" around. Life is so stressful now. Kids are very much into hanging out with friends, going for a drive, going out to a movie and dinner with buddies on weekends but for the most part; life is not as simple as it was back in the day. Believe me; you guys who grew up in those eras are very very fortunate. I'm sure if kids realized the somplicity of life back in those years, the friday night cruises to the drive in or the diner with the friends....most kids these days would love to be able to experience that. When us kids our age think about the glory days and the really cool days...we think back to the 40's, 50's and early sixties. Granted im not your typical chick but i love driving and i love going scenic roads and just kick back and enjoying the experience. I can bet that most kids enjoy doing the same...just not in classic cars like most of you remember it as. Cruising, wrenchin', etc is still very much alive...just in a different form
um..........Bagged this bad boy at work. Was told it was ......READY? $800 bills! Times that by about 5!
I went to High School in Visalia, Ca in '99-'02 and cruising was HUGE in Visalia and Tulare. That's all there was to do. I loved it! My brother went to high school in the Palm Desert, CA area and there was zero cruising there. I always hated it that he never got to experience it.
I think money has a lot to do with it... most of the guys who can afford to have the "cool" cars are now family guys with wives and kids, who probably have better things to do than go cruising. Prices vary from spot to spot, but up here in Alberta you usually can't buy a rusted up basket case for anything less than $1000. Then any traditional go fast parts are insanely expensive, as are a lot of repro parts. How many high school kids have thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to put into an old car? On top of that, unless their dads already own them, how many kids can spend thousands more on proper tools, a welder, paint, etc? Or have garage space to work in? And then after high school, if you decide to go to university you're gonna be $50-60k in debt in a few years, with no guarantees of a decent paying job. (and from what I hear your universities and colleges are even more expensive there in the US) It's unfortunate but the pre-64 cool cars that everyone loves are now so rare and collectible that the prices have skyrocketed well out of reach for most young people - the people who traditionally would have been the ones out cruising.
The kids around here quit cruising long before the internet,and a good while before the latest wave of video game population. There weren't many gearheads or cool cars,but we had a lot of crusing in the 80's and early 90's. It followed US 67South /10th street,turned onto Clinton,then turned on 8th street by the car wash,then back on 67 North/Caddo,and back onto 6th/67. Turn left at Sonic,and then do it again. There were various hangouts along the way,but the Sonice and the Daisy Queen Drive-in were the biggies along with the Methodist church parking lot and car wash. It seems the city fathers and businessman couldn't stand all those kids standing around. They forget those kids might grow up someday and remember that. Hot Springs,Little Rock,and Benton all had great cruising scenes,but they all passed ordinances and curfews. I think a shooting actually ended the Geyer Springs cruise in Little Rock. I like to go to cruises,but you see the same old cars over and over. There's just not that many people involved in it like there used to be.
Well here in Brunswick ohio we have a.cruise spot and pull in any where from 200 to 500 or more cars every sat. Night been doing it since 1984 and the cops have been cool with it but after the show people seem to just cruise home. Now last year they just built a sonic drive in here and a few started to cruise rt 303 our main drag. So come on down all you northern ohio cruisers let's get this party started this summer and yes you could.park in kmart or anywhere and not be kicked out.
I know here, in East L A gangsters , who were always around, just couldn't control themselves, the shootings started, the killings then poof it was done. Let me tell you I was a cruiser, racer and a low rider and I thought the Sheriffs had it in for us and wouldn't let us have fun, then I was a cop for 30 years and them rotten kids wouldn't pay attention and wouldn't just drive around without robbing and killing each other- Man I need a donut-
I don't think any one of you has a right to make such broad generalizations about teenagers today, seeing as you aren't one. I'm a senior in highschool right now, and I can say for certain that people still DO cruise. You just don't notice them because they're driving newer cars. I didn't think what you were driving was even the point. Hanging out with your buds is. I'd LOVE to be able to take a HAMB-friendly car out cruising. But I can't even afford a bare shell of an older car, let alone an entire build. So I stick to drooling over build threads on here in the meantime, and hangin' out with friends wrenching.
You all need to listen to what this kid just said .. he is spot on . When we were kids 200+ cars would hit the streets and just maybe 20 cars of interest would show up , not every one wanted or could afford a cool car until later in years and by then hangin with kids on sat night wasn't goin to happen . myself i went racing and never looked back .
I feel for you, guy, but what you're describing isn't "cruising"--especially if nobody notices. That's just driving around with your friends. And the car does matter. A lot. Not saying it had to be high dollar, because it didn't. But hopefully it had something cool going on.
newrider3 the best cruise i have ever been to was the golden super cruise . I would bring a car up from texas for just one night .. you guys are lucky we dont have a good cruise here.
I see no difference. Back in the day, your run-of-the-mill $300 used car would've been something that is badass or a classic today. Then it was just a cheap used car. A $1000 Honda is just a cheap used car to people today. People sure still call it cruising. The point is still the same.
Im young and I love to cruise. Dosent matter what car Im in. A lot of my buddies though are just looking to get to then next party, the drive means nonthin to them. That and all the good cruise strips are heavily patrolled now. Cops see you pass them twice in 30 mins and they flip the lights.
im from dallas and the spots we use to cruise are heavily controlled by cops because no one wants to cruise and hang out anymore everyone just hates on everyone elses rides
That's what happened her anyway. It is kept to a minumal. Some gangster wannabes shot each other a few years back. And then some kids out street racing got killed bein stupid in their tuners. And if that wasn't bad enough, kids here can not even tell you what a hot rod looks like. Sux real bad.
AMEN! seems to me, anyone with an interest in automobiles- I dont mean stickers and tanning bed spoilers- I mean engine tuning, paint jobs, custom interiors ect. Weather you have it now or want to do it "When you have the cash" its all good. Model A's or Scion B's.... If you care about your ride you belong! Have fun and learn from each other
AHHHHHHHHHHH I remember the days cruising West Colfax! Look at it now Lakewood! I grow up in Lakewood and my Dad was on Lakewood PD and loved the cruising. My boy is 16 now has no idea what it is about. Whats better than cars and girls! Cruising had both.
The Golden Super Cruise is amazing, I can everytime I have the day off. Colorado really is cruise friendly, we also have a Havanna cruise, and Colfax cruise. It's awesome
I know exactly what you mean. The chevy impala ss was only available in a 4dr. The new Dodge Charger is a 4dr. When was the last time you saw a cool new 2 door sedan? I dont mean a new retro muscle car like a challenger or mustang. I mean a 2 dr Sedan, like my old Skylark,or something similar.
We literally have a city ord you can't cruise between certain times there's road signs that say no cruising zone
I think a lot of people confuse "cruises" with "cruising". Back when I made $1.25 an hour I had a 50 Mercury and spent a lot of hours going up and down Front street and Milton Ave. The guys would pile in and we'd take up a collection for gas at .29 a gallon. Chief McCarthy would set in his Chevy 6 police car by the church and we'd wave to him every time by. The girls would join in sometimes along the way. Somehow we would score a couple of quarts of beer and park somewhere in the toolies and drink it and act like idiots. Cruising was a part of life for kids back then and I will always miss those days. So, once in a while I take the 34' and just tool around town like I did 50 years ago, "with no particular place to go".
cruising dead? yes is slowed down...we out almost every weekend from april till halloween..cruising 1st ave and alki beach in seattle....but one weekend in the summer we bring it back like it the 90's frome desmoines to dick drive in near the space needle..
Late 60's thaught cruzin would last for ever 4th st San Rafael San Leandro Santa Rosa Freemont San Fransisco drove a 56 No Mad still have my TT truck in Aviator i still find spots in Pensacola FL every so often still crused after we got maried for a while then they put a stop to it
I'm not buying this answer; when I was cruising back in 1978 gas was $1.00 per gallon, and I was working for $3.00 per hour.
I don't know. The parking lot cruise nights here are overflowing. The interest in old cars has really boomed over the last few years. But having an old car wasn't a must for cruising. I remember plenty of daily driver hondas full of girls cruising the turnpike Pull up at a red light at 11pm on saturday night on that strip now, and odds are you'll be the only car at the light. I'm glad to hear that its still alive in some parts of the country though.