Around here the Northern Kentucky/ Cincy Ohio cruising scene stopped after our generation. All the bumper to bumper streets we used were empty. Almost all my friends had some type of hot rod but no one really got out. 2006 we did something about it. The car club was started and almost everyone from my teenage years joined. We tried to do the cruise in and car show thing and it went over huge! But the cruising part was still left out. We no longer do any lawn chair events. Most weekend we have local cruises that take us to different place anywhere between 10 miles and 200 + miles. Maybe to a car show in another state, grill out, old towns, historical back roads, race tracks or whatever sounds cool that weekend. The last big run we did in 2010 had almost 30 cars running over 200 miles in one day. Taking us through old towns, working soda fountain shop down the back roads of Ohio and onto a ferry crosing the Ohio River. It took 4 trips to get everyone across. On the other side in Ky was a sleepy town were we was greeted by Nick Cloony. Which just happen to be going to dinner with his wife. Nick is George Clooney's dad if you didn't know. After eating at the local pizza place we followed the old river road all the way back to town. If we see a yard with old cars we stop. Take our time and just had a blast. All trips have people we have never met before that day but are very welcome to join in. If you are around Cincy Ohio area or close enough to make the run you are more than welcome to cruise. Doesn't matter what you drive but most of the stuff is 1972 and down. But we turn no one away. We do some type of semi long haul monthly and local runs twice a month. If we don't have anything to do we will jump in our cars and take a run through the local townships and historical parts of town on the weekend. If anyone is local and wants to do a little cruising log onto the Scroungers web site. All of our runs will be posted soon for 2011.
New guy and was gone for awhile too, fighting health problems. I'm 52; I cruised as a passion when I was young, I think there are three or four primary reasons you don't see it anymore, not like we did it anyway. -The car culture has changed. The young people do not have the cars simple enough to work on the way we did, due in some part to smog laws. This is why you see the strong showing at import tuner drags, they've had to take the cars off the road to modify them. -The stereo competitions you have today are in some sense a replacement for cruising. It is a way to "hot rod" a car, show what you can do, and prove your skills. -The law prohibits it, and here is a key...the law has prohibited it for enough years that the youth of today have no memory of doing it; no memory of riding in their big brother's Chevelle on Friday night, and seeing the show. In many respects, they quite literally do not know what they are missing. -My generation has done them the disservice of not showing them how fun it can be. I do see a future for cruising, though. The younger guys and gals into the culture are involved in it so deeply that some will make a life of it. As that happens a couple will open the Diners and Burger joints that they see as central to the cruise. Maybe even a Drive-In movie or two, as all things old become new again. Hopefully, they will make money, and the people that patronize them will keep their act together. -And the cities will see tax revenue. -And the businesses will succeed. And more people will be exposed to the scene, and create those all-important memories that drive us all to find ways to do what we love, and the pay the price, no matter what it is. Money is another reason. There have been so many parents for so many years entertaining their kids on toys bought with HELOC money that the simple act of building and cruising a car has just not been exciting enough to keep those kids interested. As the economy has ground down, and people return to earth, perhaps the simple act of a Dad sanding the fenders on an old Model A with his son or daughter will be seen as the incredible value it is, a bang for the buck that cannot be beaten. I sure hope so.
yeah but that civic is not cool now and wont be ever. thats a problem with all cars today. theyre just stamped out, tasteless means of transpo. cool cars are just like land, no one is making anymore so if you have some, hold on to that shit
People still go cruising here in this little fly speck of a town, too bad it's all modern vehicles and a hand full of low riders and tuners and F#$%^ING modern mustangs! Everybody and their grandma's three legged dog has a mustang in this damn town!
I don't think the classic stuff is out of reach I think the insurance is. You can find something 50s that's decent for 5 to 10 grand and I don't think that's out of reach as a half decent used econo box cost that but the insurance for an oldy with a V8 is going to be through the roof for a highschool kid as classic insurance has no coverage for drivers under 25, at least my policy says no drivers under 25 allowed. Whyte ave is pretty happenin' on Friday nights you just gotta be careful you don't run over a drunk.lol Oh and don't even get me on the university education BS. Unless someone is going into a specialized profession such as engineering, medicine, law or a specific discipline in the sciences a BA or BS is a complete waste of time and money and only qualifies one to work as a supervisor of the shoe department of walmart for $25k a year with a debt load of 50 to a $100k. A skilled trade is far more useful and rewarding. I'm an electrician and millwright and made about $50k more than my manager and he's the type that likes to wave his degree around but is bitter and pissed because the " idiot uneducated greasemonkeys" that work for him make more than him! Management dosen't get overtime and it's double bubble baby that's over a hundred an hour Awww fuckit let's go cruisin' !
Agree with the comments about many more things to do these days, so many more entertainment options for the youth of today. A lot of people went Cruising because they had nothing else to do.
curious as to where cruisings been outlawed? as for the guys who are older then 35 things like life, family ,jobs, maturity and other things get in the way but , if i feel the need to go out and drive around (cruise) with no particular place to go (hmmm sounds like a song title) im going to do it all cruiusing is is just aimlessly driving around looking for something to eat , maybe finding a little side by side stoplight fun and if your single maybe hooking up with a willing member of the opisite sex wanna get cruising started back up? next friday or saturday night pick up your cell phone or i phone or email afew buddies who have running drivable cool cars and just go out and follow each other around town and do it on a regular basis around an area where people congregate (resturants, even shopping malls bowling alleys etc) maybe just maybe if the right people see you doing it they will say wow cool i aint done that in awhile and the next week they will join in with ya just dont get all high and mighty and run them off if they arent in a pre 64 car ...people who own and drive musclecars liked to cruise also as far as cuise ins go around here through the summer there are 2 cruise-ins every friday and 1 every saturday kids today could give two shits about doing anything that hasnt got something to do with sitting in front of some device with a screen on it my girfriend has 2 grandsons one is 17 and the other is 19 neither one of them has ANY intrest in getting a licence or driving or even gettin a job but they are both waiting for her to die to see which one of her cars they get (50 pontiac,69mustang coupe) its like they are literally sitting there waiting for someone to walk up and hand them a job, future, fortune, house, cars. food witrhout them having to pay them back or lift a finger for it this is an example of why cruising is dead
Bingo! That's exactly how it went down. We'd go out bowling, shootin' pool or somethin' and then we'd cruise over to Mr. Burger and then to a coffee shop and grab a coffee and take it down to the lake and then maybe cruise over to Wentworth st. to see if there was any street racin' goin' on. This was the scene in Oshawa Ontario. Now the Mrs. and me will just take the chevy and do the same here. I'm 5 hours north of Edmonton now.
I used to cruise Van Nuys Blvd in the 70s and early 80s and I think it is just the sheer number of cars that used to cruise then. The resurrected cruise on Van Nuys is great...but all the cars are concentrated in one or two parking lots (until they took that away) but back in the day there were shitloads of cars EVERYWHERE....it would go from Sherman Way all the way down to Burbank Blvd at least and that is about 3-4 miles or so...there would be groups of cars and people all over the place up and down the street, at the McDonalds, in different parking lots...etc...the amount of cars that show up to cruise now is cool and all but get them on the street and they disappear....
When I got my license twenty years ago Blackstone Ave. here in Fresno was bumper to bumper every Friday & Saturday night. Of course it was about 95% mini-trucks and Hondas with a few older Camaros and Mustangs thrown in but it was packed. Now its like a ghost town out there and cruising has been outlawed for over 15 years. There is still some cruising going on on the South side of town on Sunday nights but its not exactly in a part of town I'd like to be in after dark.
Well sorry to say but im not.cruising a hotrod im doing it in a 65 GTO or doing what I did in 85 ' in high school and that is popping the t-tops off the 80 trans am inch 500 pace car and cruising with some good 80's hair bands. My hotrod a 29 chandler is still a work in procgress. But your right and that's what I was doing.last summer in hopes.that more with follow. I even called a buddy last night and told.him we need to get this going but all I got was nobody into it in our age group, their all at home watching tv. We have cruise in every night somewhere in northern ohio.
Move on over to Sweden. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VWYHSpQ4Cc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6JGaHFvIo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73WaJGu2fR0&feature=related
I don't know what up with these kids today but when I hang at the cruise spot I see kids walking all over and looking at cars and don't seem to be causing trouble and the girls all looking.. And yes I see alot.of rice but I will walk over and look and talk to them hey they could teach us old timers a thing or two and they have some cool ideas on their rice yes its not a hotrod but like one said they can't even touch some of these cars and if they could im sure they would be all over them. I truely believe that its in the genes or dna. Here what I mean, my two boys r adopted and they were 2 and 4 and there dad was big time military guy and they have not seen him since that time and they are now 18 and 20 and yup big time into the military and don't car about cars, said that they are scrap metel now my daughter is mine and she is 14 and want to go cruising with me and go to drive in movies and work on the GTO and rod with me.
Sorry if some of my posts r hard to read im on a phone and my thumb keeps hitting letter and spell check is not hellping.
Hey cool video the #2 one I like the green car with the camper. Funny how you r in sweeden and it didn't look like it. I saw a ford pick up and liked like ohio. LOL funny how this world is slowly becoming one.
Im sorry but I can't seem to think how they can outlaw cruising we r free to go where we want when we want with that said we need to start taking these city to court.and fight them. You mean to tell me if I take my ta out to get gas and then down to parts.store.and.over.to kmart and oh lord I forgot to get a light bulb so back to the parts store and then home and then wife said she need bread so out I go and then later wife says let's go out for ice cream. Kiss on these city that outlaw it u can't tell me when and where to go. We need to stand up.
I think it is just in hibernation....I think the locals need to plan events, like a cruze to lunch or dinner or a club meeting make it more of a social function, maybe some good old fashion reliability runs, runs for charity, runs to the speed shop, rally, stuff like that. Red Ram Hemi
Here's an idea.for.all those city that bann cruising take your car.and your money out to some other spot and eat and spend your money. This is.why they have not stopped it here, the cruiser spend alot.of money here my wife works a store in the plaza and said it one of there most busy days of the week.
I agree that with you 100% about what real cruising was about. But the internet didn't kill cruising, ignorant public policy in the late 70's put the nails in the coffin. The 'cruise ins' they have today are mostly older people enjoying their cars. But without the 'hunt' for chicks that we were doing as kids, it's kinda just play acting. Social networking online is perhaps the new cruising but our style was dead and gone years before facebook.
You know what? That seemed to happen here. Main St. was in an area where lower income families lived, shady liquor stores, etc. I know there were some problems with the local scumbags starting shit with cruisers if you know what I mean (without getting racial).
Some of.this talk about.gang. crap makes me feel good to live in ohio. We don't have alot of that here unless u go up into clevelands east side or downtown. This is farm country.
As far as the whole kids these days thing, I like the quote.. "All the people that complain about kids these days, fail to remember what generation raised them." ha. But, around here its pretty boring. If you go out on Friday nights your sure to find some stupid young punks in mustangs with a CAI and exhaust thinkin they are hot shit, and of course Hondas everywhere, and the group of kids with the nicer imports that mommy and daddy bought for them. During the summer alot of people sit in the Lowes parking lot, and talk alot of shit but nothing ever happens, and you can maybe convince 3 or 4 of them to actually cruise. Seems like this are is more filled with cars that sound like a weed-eater than actual hot rods.
Yeah, I don't think I've ever lived in a town where some sort of anti-cruising laws were in place. I remember back in the day all my lowrider friends had those "cruising is not a crime" decals or plaques, little did we all know it really is. I'm grown up and married now, so there's no need to "cruise" but I still think it would be cool to have meets where everyone gets together and does a run to an old school burger shop, or something like that. I live in Dallas, and still don't really know anybody, so until then, I'll keep crawlin alone. Lol
As soon as my truck's on the road I'll be cruisin Whyte... I'm a single man, gotta see how many ladies will appreciate an old truck! lol $5-10k for an old car for you or I isn't too bad, but we're both out in the workforce full time making decent money. For a high school kid with a part time minimum wage job at McDonald's after school that's a LOT of money. Unless they have help from their parents that probably would be out of reach... and most parents nowadays would rather see their kids in some "safe, reliable" modern car with airbags, ABS, modern suspension, etc. And you're right, I never even thought about insurance.
This has become a most interesting thread. Since I will have the Sport Fury rolling on a regular basis(Gawd,I hope!),I plan on checking out the scene here in the Flint area. I was a part of it in the 1970's,helped resurrect it on the early 1980's and watched it die again in the early '90's. Same issues as mentioned over and over again here-effin' gang-bangers. One of our local street racers lost his life(RIP Opie) to some punk who first showered the guy's car with rocks with a parking lot burnout,then after the g-b got his ass chewed,he came back with his homies and started popping caps. A good man lost his life over words. Worse yet,the punks that shot the guy plea-bargained their charges down and got off light. As someone who often held the wagers,I can tell you that in the old days that it didn't matter if your skin color was white,black,red,yellow,brown or plaid;was your money green,and would you pay after a loss? And,yeah;we cruised together;black guys riding with white guys,vice versa,and the common denominator was showing off your car and testing its performance. It'd be great to see that again;sadly there is too great a divide now.
I know that I am truely "lost in the 50s" but here are my thoughts. We can try as a group to have some of the area businesses work with us. For example, on Saturday night, local ice cream/maltshops/drive ins etc owners have "specials" that will bring people and their classic cars together for all ages. It would be good for business and the idea of "crusin" can make a comeback. For example, in Buffalo, we have a Tuesday night cruise at the local Maltshop. If we could get the Drive in Theatre (up the road 3 miles) do do a friendly 50s theme, people could get use to going as a group form one place to another. That is essentially the idea of "crusin" We can all start the evening at my basement malt shop and go from there. ps Sorry about the pics but I couldnt help myself. At leaset there are a couple of Hot rod books on the table.
The Jalopy Journal
