Back in the day they had rules...

Got these out of the readers mail in Deluxe mag, just reading them was like cruising down the blvd....for those who never saw them they still ring true.

THE RULES​

1. A girlfriend always rides in the middle of the front seat. A girl who is not the drivers girlfriend, but who is even half way cool, will ride in the middle anyway.
2. The driver may ride with his left elbow on the door sill or his right arm on the seatback, but never both.<O
3. If three people are in the car, they must all ride in the front seat. If two guys and one girl, the girl rides in the middle. If one guy & two girls, there is only one arrangement…girls don’t drive guys around.<O
4. If there are two couples in the car the guys sit diagonally opposite positions.<O
5. Weather permitting, all windows are rolled down completely. Rear windows that only roll down part way must be left up.<O
6. It is never acceptable to have the rear windows down with the fronts up.<O
7. In a convertible with the top down, all windows must be down. Having the rear quarter windows up with the top down in inexcusable.<O
8. If a car loses a hubcap, the other cap on the same side must be removed immediately. Best to remove all four.<O
9. Blackwalls and whitewalls may be mixed on the same car only if the rear tires are larger than the front, but they must be the same side to side.<O
10. A car with fender skirts must be level or lower in the rear. <O></O>
11. If a car is driven without bumpers, then the brackets must also be removed.<O
12. If pressed for time, it’s more important to wash the car than yourself.<O
13. If really pressed for time, at least wash the windows and the whitewalls.
14. If pipes are uncorked, driving at idle or part throttle is OK. Full throttle must be used sparingly unless smoking the tires or actually racing. Revving the engine in neutral is disgusting!<O
15. A lumpy idle is always correct. Use off the choke to enhance lumpy idle is permissible.<O
16. It is sometimes necessary to blow the horn, but it is never cool.<O
17. Flipping the bird, shouting obscenities out the window, or flipping lit cigarette butts at others is never cool.<O

 

LOLOL .... THAT SOUNDS 'BOUT RIGHT !

 

I've lived 100&#37; by those rules for the last 50 years.

 

I've caught myself doing #2 a few times when the Pit's are Ripe like on a hot summer day ! I won't do that anymore !
Rob

 

These things just go without saying.

 

Yep - that's the way it was.
They're all true, but I've never seen them written down before.

...........We must have known them instinctively...........

 

WOW thats nice to know!!!!!!! Remind me to drive in front of you next time we go anywhere

 

For sure, in the 60s there was certainly a very ridged cruising "etiquette" to be followed. The dork-geek-loser-spaz label was just a faux paux away.

 

I've broke number 14 and and 17 way to much. Except for the cigerette thing. (could start a fire) Damn Punk kids! Straight pipes on an inline six at 3:00 AM just sounds so cool echoing off city hall.

 

number 5 doesn't sound right to me.
on a hardtop all the windows must be down (2 or 4 door) BUT
2 door post it's front windows down rear windows up.
2 door hardtop would never have decals on the quarter windows either,only 2 door post.

 

Definately lived by those.

 

never got labeled but I did get my club plaque and jacket taken away a couple of times......
Road Agents Santa Ana

 

those were the short version of the rules....you be right!

 

"Back in the day they had rules..."

Ya mean things have changed ??????

 

":A car with fender skirts must be level or lower in the rear."<O</O

I'd prefer if it read...
All lowered cars should have fender skirts.

 

Those pretty much go without saying, heres the last one:
18. If you need the rules written down for your reference, you are surely a dork and will instantly get a swirly.

 

Excerpted from a book:


Seemed there were definite rules in California about how and where to sit in the car. Two girls and a guy, just like we were. The guy never sat in the middle. Regardless of where his girl friend was. Two guys and a girl, the girl always went in the middle. Girl driving, the boyfriend along, he sat all the way to the right. Guy driving, girl friend along, she sat in the middle next to him. Three girls or three guys, they all sat in front. The back seat went unused until one more person joined up. If there were... say, two boys and two girls and there were no boy friend, girl friend relationships involved and it was the boys car, sometimes you&#8217;d see the girls in the back and the boys in front. If it was the girls car, the opposite would hold true. Most times though, if it was the two boys, two girls thing, there would be a subtle rearrangement and it would be boy, girl in front and girl, boy in back. With everyone in their own corner of the car. Two couples, one couple in front and one in back. Although the girls always sat in the middle close to the boy friends and the boys sat on opposite sides of the car. If one of the guys was driving, the other guy would be in the right rear seat. There were other combinations, but it&#8217;s easy to figure out.

For a while there I thought it was kind of strange and maybe it was the same in Nebraska, but I didn&#8217;t think so. I couldn&#8217;t really say there though. Mainly because I&#8217;d never been on a date in Nebraska where we drove our own cars. It was usually mom or dad who picked us up and dropped us off.

I could see why it was the way it was. It sure made it easy to tell who was attached to who. With the girls sitting in very specific places it made a statement about the couples status. But not always a crystal clear statement. If the couple wasn&#8217;t going steady and the girl sat in the middle, they may have been thinking about it or getting close to it. On the other hand, they may have just been a couple out on a date. If the girl liked the boy at all, sitting next to him was considered the polite thing to do.
When the girls sat out to the far side, that was the sign that they were more than likely available.
All of it struck me as being a little like the Polynesian Island girls who
wore a flower in their hair. One side for married and the other side for looking or available. I had to hand it to them. It sure was a lot simpler than the California car seating system. Even so, it didn&#8217;t take too long to get a handle on how the seating thing went.

 

I read this with mixed emotions. I wrote those rules, word for word (except for #17, which isn't mine). They appeared on the HAMB a very long time ago, about five years.

I revised #3 to add: "Note: in certain seaports, three guys in the front seat are described as "sailor love". Avoid this."

I wrote them to amuse and entertain anybody who wanted to read them, so I didn't copyright them, but I would at least have liked to be given credit.

Goozgaz: no way. By the time I was driving (SoCal 1956), skirts were already out of fashion, and maybe 1&#37; of lowered cars ran them. I reported what the general community thought was cool, not my personal preferences.

Although I like skirts on period customs, I personally think most cars look better without them.

 

C9, I hadn't read your more detailed discussion of seating arrangements before, but you're entirely correct. I enjoy your reporting of how it was "in the day".

 

So, I have a question. These days, many of the chicks have there own hot rod or custom. If we take the '58 out, Mrs. buzzard usually drives since it's her car. I sit on the passenger side, usually with my arm over the back of the seat and maybe my elbow on the door sill.

Does this make me uncool? Usually when she's driving the '58, I feel pretty cool and sometimes a little funny in my britches. It makes me want to change the seating arrangement to something involving the back seat. Please advise, standing by.....

 

That's sounds about right

 

I grew up on a farm. The sheep always sat in the middle.

 

the back windows are my pet peve. my ole lady never understood why they had to be down if the front ones are. its a must in a hardtop. its funny that these are like unspoken rules but every one abids by them.

 

Exactly. If you got a hardtop, then rock-it like a hardtop

 

When I was in high school, unless it was below freezing, the rule was "when in town, windows down". Cruising through town with all windows down and heater blasting on a 35 degree night was acceptable.

 

There's a couple more rules that I've picked up without ever seeing them written:

- When you park your car, park it with the front downhill. This will determine whether you pull in forward or back the car in. This is mostly true for cars with a level- or nose-down stance. Taildraggers would do well to find level ground.

- Also when parking, make sure sunvisors are folded up, and seats are not left folded forward. Also straighten the steering wheel. Arrange seatbelts neatly. Vent windows may be left slightly open or closed.

 

Wish the new guys played by this one-

13. If really pressed for time, at least wash the windows and the whitewalls.

I HATE dirty whitewalls! And worse is a car with a TON of metal work and fresh BLUE walls- Yuck!

 

I was instructed in this specific rule by no less than the late Lloyd Chrisman (Art's brother). When HE said "back in my day", he was talking 1950!

 

If we're talking "in the day" etiquette, you'd have three choices:
1. Take your car. You drive.
2. Take her car. You drive.
3. Take two cars. You drive.
Of coure, these aren't those days...

Slide, these are good additions. On the subject of the steering wheel, though, an acceptable option is to turn the front wheels so that the front tire is viewed face-on by the largest number of spectators.

 

This is great! I'm soo guilty! I've been following these rules forever and never knew they existed.
This is some funny shit.


BloodyKnuckles