History What us trad rodders were doing in the 70's...

Wish I could go back and scoop up all those great deals that were floating around in the 70's.

My 67 Camaro convertible, 327-4 speed for a $1,000.




Traded the 67 Camaro even for the 65 Corvette that was loaded with performance stuff. It did look a little better when I first got it. I had to install lip flares and a few other custom touches.



Bought this 64 Corvette coupe for $1200 with all documentation from day it was bought new including the window sticker. Cost new was a little over $5300 for 327 3 speed. I made a killing when I sold it for $1,800. If I had only known.



And it seems everybody was into the van craze. One of several that I had.



Drew

 

Don't hate me for saying this, but man, thats one of the COOLEST THINGS Ive seen on the hamb in a long time! some pics on this even from A&M in Marlborough, MA! TOO COOL!

 

Drew, you musta been one rich SOB .... nice cars!

 

Man, I remember being in the 7th grade ('85-'86) and clipping out a picture of a brunette babe wearing a super stock jacket in the back of one of my old super stock magazines and hanging it up in my locker(I used to buy them at the local minimart with paper route money -when kids in mass actually had paper routes). Well, one bogus female teacher made me take it down...things have changed big time since then...that pic wouldnt offend anyone these days....anyone got that pic Im talking about? probably superstock magazine '81 - '83????

 

I was far from rich. I floated a lot of 90 day notes with my bank. I'd buy a car and over the next 30 to 60 days I would make some repairs and the car would be sold hopefully with some profit before my bank note came due.

$500-$1,000 for a decent running car in the 70's didn't look near as bad to me as a $5,000 piece of rusty junk without a driveline looks today.

Drew

 

deals today not so much back then I am afraid.

In '75 I bought a 409 4 speed bisquit for 1,200 dollars. Man I thought that was a lot of money. Same car today in the same condition as I bought that one in would run you 20-30K.

I can say this I had less than a grand into the Hawg I posted earlier in this thread. Of course I had a lot of sweat into it.

 

Man, that makes me want to try slots on my '68. I've already got the garter - didn't realize that was a '70s thing.

-Dave

 

Another $1000 vehicle that I had in the 70's.



And some of the more insane projects that I took on.







The Henry was really a late 60's project, but it got cancelled by that letter from Uncle Sam. This photo was taken by the guy I sold it to a year or so later. He had made some driveline changes and moved the engine back inside the engine compartment and added a scoop of some sort.



It was a drag car that I intended to bring back to the street. 371 Olds with a hydramatic, engine inside the driver's compartment, crosley steering, cae front axle, drove it from where the back seat was, tilt front that exposed nothing but the radiator and the fan portion of the motor. With all that rattling sheet metal and heat inside, it would have been tough to drive it on the street.............I was younger and dumber.

Drew

 

Wow, thanks for the trip down memory lane!!
I still like the looks of the '59~ Pontiacs jacked up way high in the rear with true scavenger pipes running straight under the rear end!
Cheers....

 

again from Hot Rod
http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1112_1955_chevrolet_bel_air_gasser/

This is the stuff I drooled over as a kid, and tried to make all my hot wheels and toys look like.

 

Don't remember where I took these pictures of this '60 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery but guessing it was either the NSRA Street Machine Nationals; Des Moines, Iowa 1975 or St. Paul, Minnesota 1977.

 

I remember my dad talking all about these cars. He was in his 20's at that time and owned a lot of cars. I asked him once what car he would have kept had he known what they were worth today. He immediately responded "'71 Trans Am with a 455 H.O. and a 4-speed." He got it for dirt cheap and they're worth some real good money nowadays. His highest ticket came from that car which was a little over 130 in a 65 zone on the highway.

He loaned it to a friend who crashed it into the back of a 18 wheeler that had the fork lift in the back. The forks went through the car into the compartment missing the friend by inches and totaled it.

He's owned several big block '55 Chevys, Camaros, Chevelles, Novas, he was a big GM guy. One of his fond memories was building a '59 Chevy short-wide pick up with a hot 327/4-speed and taking his dad for a ride in it. He grew up with his dad telling him he was wasting his money on all the model cars and magazines he would blow his allowance on. Well, he picked up his dad one day i the '59 and at the first corner, he turned onto the street and put it at wide-open, shifting through all the gears until he got to the top end and then slowed down.. He was afraid to see what his dad's response would be after all those years. He looked over and his dad had a grin from ear to ear.

It's a shame he's not here to share some more of his memories from that period.

 

Oh yeah, and he sold a perfectly solid '39 Chevy coupe roller for a couple hundred back then. I still have the picture of that car around here somewhere. He regretted selling it.

 

72 capri with a 289 & 4 speed

 

Cool, reminds me of this.

 

The 70's street machine was popular in New Zealand too. There were long shackles everywhere....

''

In 1977 I was 17. My project was a 46 Chevy PU. It was the first American vehicle that was a driver that I could afford. With a brain full of Nov 73 Rod and Custom mag and steady doses of American Graffiti I was traditionally minded from the start. I needed a chop top and whitewalls (OK, porta walls) I ran a McGurk equipped 270 GMC for a while and then a 235 Chevy after the Jimmy started knocking on the way home from the Nostalgia drags. What I really wanted was a Willys coupe, or a 2dr post 55 Chevy, or a 32 5w etc.

 

i was born in 76 and glad that i was alive while hot rodding was still going on.

 

One thing I remember was the number of new or almost new muscle cars with dinged up fenders or front ends. High performance cars with low performance drivers? Well maybe but, they did go MUCH better than they stopped. lol

 

1973 3-4 friends give me parts of a '30 ford coupester and i buy a Mercury Comet for the drive train. I join the Army and my uncle buys the project from me. After I come back from Germany I buy it back and finish it. One night I go out with a few buddies??????? drinking and sell it to one of the for 30 dollars, a case of beer and a bag of weed.

 

I gotta say those are the longest shackles I've ever seen, but I'm sure someone has seen or tried longer ones.

Drew

 

THOROUGHLY enjoying this thread!
Let's not wait 10 years for the '80s version either!

 

Ahhhh, the '70's. That was a cool decade. Everything was groovy. In 1970 I turned 16, got my license, met my future wife - it was love at first sight, lost my Dad to a heart attack, bought my first hot rod - an engineless '40 Ford coupe (had to sell it still unfinished.) Drove a '68 Torino Gt( all jacked up in the back) while working on my all time favorite car -- my '41 Willys Coupe. Graduated high school in'72, missed the "nam" 'cause my birthday that year was 320 something in the draft lottery (my birthday had been "numero uno" the previous year)[I am proud of you guys that did serve and then got such a crappy reception when you got home], got married in '73, had my first child just six months later (you know-- 3 months premature), bought my first home, bought an original '69 RS/Z28 Camaro for $1300.00 bucks(then "knocked it in the head" to make a drag car out of it in '75 when I bought a new Camaro), had two more kids(or maybe I should say- the wife had two more kids)these next two took the full nine months-imagine that, sold my Willys -- no room for kids, bought a van with shag carpet, velour captains chairs and all the other BS that went along with it, and generally enjoyed the rest of the '70's playing with my kids and building hot rods. There again though, I've been pretty blessed through the '80's, '90's and even through today. God's given me a good family, good friends, many hot rods and good times. It don't get any better than that.

 

If you recall the late 60,s and 70,s ................you were not there!!!!! just the facts man

 

All you vietnam vets ....THANK YOU!!!

 

The 70's was a fun decade for me. I owned this Van, went all over BC and down to San Deigo in it.

 

Boy do I remember those days, my first car was a 59 chevy belair 2dr straight 6 and 3 on the tree. It smoked like a bug sprayer and had to go, then the reliable 283 headers and Hurst 3 speed went to the floor jacked as high as I could get it with springs from a train car and shock extentions. Road rough but held it high and proud. Boy those were the days!! Oh that picture of my 69 chevelle was from 1979 and I still have it. Just refreshing the motor and back on the streets!

 

If you recall the late 60,s and 70,s ................you were not there!!!!! just the facts man

Oh I get it, wait maybe I forgot what you mean!

 

It was a short term memory loss, after I toked up the last of my seeds and stems, my memory got better. And then I started getting Old, whole new problem now...
...

 

Why do you think they call it "dope"?

 

Bring on the period correct 70's cars