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

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Ah yes, VHT and dry hops

 

Damn that girl's got some big-assed feet

 

THAT'S what you're looking at?

 

thats what i was thinking thanks

 

LMAO yeah i was looking at other things myself had to scroll back up just to find her feet

 

Yeah, I thought she was pretty damn cute and helluva body for dude to be looking at her feet.

 

If that's the only thing you notice, then I've got some bad news for you..

 

Springsteen&#8217;s Tri-Five



I never really thought about Bruce Springsteen as a car guy, but looking back over his catalog, it should have been obvious &#8211; &#8220;Born to Run,&#8221; &#8220;Thunder Road,&#8221; &#8220;Backstreets,&#8221; &#8220;Racing in the Street&#8221; &#8211; those are more than just casual nods to car culture, they&#8217;re the work of someone who&#8217;s had his hands under a hood.

Literally, as it turns out, because according to his autobiography Songs, &#8220;In &#8217;70s New Jersey, the car was still a powerful image. That summer I bought my first set of wheels for two thousand dollars. It was a &#8217;57 Chevy with dual, four-barrel carbs, a Hurst on the floor and orange flames spread across the hood.&#8221; He says all the songs I mentioned were either actually written while driving it, or inspired by it.



He traded it for this in '76...




via: http://blog.hemmings.com

 

Holy shit, Rocky, it's been a LOOOONG time since I saw a pic of Bruce's car.
I don't know if I've told this tale here, probably not, as it is NOT 50's traditional.
I used to hang out with a bunch of guys in the mid-late 70's with 55-57 Chevies. We'd go down to the shore, to parks, hang out, I think we might have gone to a car show, but usually "newer" cars like ours weren't accepted there.
Well, on night we were hanging out just past the amusement park area of Keansburg, NJ. On the stretch of road where you have beach access, so at night it was empty. Well, a skinny little guy comes up and starts talking cars with us, hangs out for a while looking at the Chevies, really digs mine (a 57 convertible). Well he DID tell us his name, Bruce Springsteen, but none of us recognize it, it is pre-Born to Run. After BTR came out, we all had a laugh about it. He had 2 previous albums out, but they didn't make him a big name yet, and we, being "old school" car guys, pretty much listened to older music, not the modern stuff!!!!!!!

 

I had been wanting to scan some old pics and include them in this thread for a long time, so now I finally got the time and incentive.
First, this is the 57 ragtop I was talking about. My parents bought it for me, as a daily driver (of course I was the one who picked it, instead of a more sensible car), to go to college with, as they couldn't afford to board me there. I went to Rutgers, Livingston campus, only about 40 miles away.
First up was when I just got it. Pretty pathetic, but with potential!
Next, with my first paint job, after learning the basics from my Chevy club buddy Jimmy Catrone.
Lastly, after driving for a couple years, and having to fix it all the time, I took it off the road, and rebuilt it. This is it a couple years later...all done on a part time Burger King salary! Bontempo Brothers built the engine, the only thing I did NOT do myself, and they are still in business, and still building hot rod engines, I use them often.

 

When I realized I had to completely rebuild the convert, as it was always breaking down on me, the Belairs and I (the 55-7 Chevy club from Linden) found and put together this 57 hardtop. I did all the bodywork and paint on it, as well as other mechanicals and a junkyard 350 engine, with Muncie 4 speed...pretty much the driveline combo of choice, back then!
Here is "Baby Blue" with my GF of the tim, Patty Henkenius, at Rahway park.

Next, after the 57 was done and tearing up the streets of Rahway and Linden, probably the fastest car on the street for a while, it got stolen at Raceway Park, Englishtown.
I quickly bought one of the 56 Chevies Jimmy and I had built for an old high school friend, Keith Campbell, and repainted it Porsche red, and drove that for a while.
That's it for the 70's. In 1979 I went to work for John Pazcik, bought a 55 Olds, and stared building Kustoms!

 

Way cool ! Thanks for posting .

 

hmmm i was chasin hippie girls !!!

 

Larry here you go

 

Draglites came out around 79-80. I remember wanting a set for a dodge dart I had in high school, back around 81. If I get a chance I will look thru some my old car craft mags from that time period. Wasted lots of study hall time building that dart in my mind.

 

Yes, that's it. I have that copy too, but couldn't find it. I belive that's Jack in the Box on Van Nuys Blvd. A street racer hang out on Wedneday night cruise night back in the 70's. The yellow Vega was really famous around here too. Mike Golembeski's car. It had a 302 with a lot of parts from Bill Jenkins and a 4 speed. It had the perfect stance and he'd rock 3 sets of wheels that he'd switch almost weekly. SS Cragars, Centerlines, and Halibrans. All fit the wells perfectly. One night Bob Brandt (Snake's crew chief at the time) was gonna drive that Vega in a race against one of the faster cars from over the hill in L.A. Bob launched the car hard on the 210 freeway and it might've hit 2nd gear when the seat brackets broke, tossing Bob into the back seat area as the car stumbled to a hault. Good times. LOL

 

Thanks for sharing your Tri-Five stories chopolds...
...

 

Late 70's Mom & Dad's XR-7, My 64 Impala

 

Ahhhh the 70's. tri fives were plentiful and cheap.

Yellow hardtop, 327 4 speed
yellow sedan, 350 4 speed
red primer convert, originally 20 dollars. 300 for a tuck and roll and new top then, 327 4 speed.
blue convert, 250 dollars in Tn junkyard and drove to Vt. 283 3 speed w/ straight pipes.
black convert, is the blue one painted black 327 4 speed later, we flamed it.
red sedan 350 auto. drove cross country to Ca.
3 chevys, the red one we drove cross country, a gold 55 I bought for 150 dollars, 327 4 speed.
the primer 57 sedan was 283 auto bought for 250 dollars. painted it smoke gray.

 

man there were also some great radio stations back in the day. miss the great rock n roll

 

KHJ AM over here in Ca.

 

No kidding, when I was stationed in Norfolk, VA in the mid '70s there was K-94, out of North Carolina I believe. Great rock and their motto was "K-94 never talks while the record is playing". Half the time I think the DJs were too stoned to talk anyway. lol

 

Living in the greater L.A. listening area (The Inland Empire) we were lucky to have one of the first free form FM stations KPPC, which later became KROQ, also KMET,and KlOS were great. In our area the most popular local station was KCAL.
...

 

I remember hearing kmet and kcal............in in so il, it was kshe95 out of st. louis

 

KOMA
WKY
WLS
WBAP (country)
KVWC and KTAT (small local stations)

 

Great pics! Anymore?

 

WAKY 79am out of Lousville playing on a AM radio pulled out of a junker sitting on top an old battery and speaker wire everywhere.........hadn't thought of that in years.

 

Oh yeah. wife and I are total gearheads. we've had alot of cars.

blue 55 wagon. 50 dollar special. removed the 6 cyl and placed 301 with
4 speed, cut the wheel wells and painted grabber blue.
57 4 dr hardtop 327/auto. paid 75 dollars. only wanted the motor. used it to tow the 57 convt from Vt to Ny. with a tow bar.
the red primer 20 dollar convt when first purchased.
63 ford 4 wheel drive falcon convt, free with a bad frontend. placed it on a 67 bronco frame.
36 chevy coupe. 30 dollars, never finished it.
41 ford coupe. paid 500 dollars for it. (a small fortune) had a mopar 273 with 4 speed. eventually I got a 340 for it.
28 model A another freebee that never got finished.