so seriously.. who was really there?

Born in 59, on the parking lot at school in the mid 70's was 32 Ford 5 window, 51 Chevy, 55 Chevy, 57 Chevy, 57 Corvette as well as the 60's Mustangs and Camaros. Cruising was endless as was hanging out at the local Frostop. You weren't anybody if you didn't have a cool car! Now except for a few local cruise nites...it's non-existant. I still cruise but I feel like the last survivor! SC

 

I'm afraid you're correct. I got to see some of the "there" from the sidelines when I was a kid but by the time I was old enough to drive, the only thing that was left was the residue from the real "there".

In the 70s the AG type scene still existed in my area to a certain degree and I got to be a part of it but it was no longer the golden age of "there." I had missed it. Damnit.

 

Born in 57.' I can tell you if you mix American Grafitti, Dazed and Confused and throw in a beach movie, That was Socal for car/surfer guys in the mid 70's. Cruisin Whittier, Van Nuys, Colorado Blvd, Valley Blvd, street racing all over LA and Orane County as well as Orange Coutny raceway, Irwindale, LA county, Riverside (yes, it had a drag stip) and Ontario. We would cruise Whittier on a Friday night, maybe a little race mayhem at the "Box Factory", then cruise down beach blvd to Tin Can beach (Now Bolsa Chica), sleep on the sand and wake up for the morning breaks and tasty waves. If only could live it again! (of course, too out of shape to surf and the wife would not appreciate me sleeping on the beach or in jail, cuz now street racing is stupid and dangerous....lol)

 

"There" had a LOT of bull shit going down too, depending on who and what you were. It wasn't all cruising and trying to get to first base. The historical films are around to back that up.

 

I was born in '44, graduated in 62, in SW Iowa, friends had 55 Merc hardtops, (and I still like them) but in the next year or two the guys around my age were buying factory hot rods, 62 Chevy 409's, 62 Ford 406 and then a couple of years later 427 64 Fords and 64 340 horse vettes. One local guy had a 32 Ford with a Vette engine before 1962, I saw it run once, he kept it until a few years ago and finally sold it. The Vette engine had frozen and cracked and he soon after bought a new Z06 Vette that he doesn't drive either. By the mid 60's mopars with 383's and four speeds were common as was 300 horse 327 Impalas, one "friend" with a 64 Ford 390, 330 horse police special and four speed. Lots of drag racing in the local towns, every town had a hot shoe or two. My cousin had a "flag car" in the early 70's that got him grief due to the paint job, it ran a variety engines including a real L88 BBC. Also during that time a couple of brothers that ran a local repair shop were digging up old cars and brought home a 40 Ford 2 door with a Pontiac engine, I could have bought it for peanuts but I didn't even have an empty peanut bag then I was in college in New Mexico and before the interstate was completed going north from Las Cruces there were drag races held unofficially there for awhile. Saw a digger run as well as some real hot rods including a bug eyed sprite with a 348 or 409. The good old days.

 

A point of interest I have not seen mentioned that put the KABOSH on all the fun was the Arab Oil Embargo in 1973. At the time Chevron Custom Supreme (White pump -98 octane ?) on the West Coast was around 32 cents a gallon. Overnight, all gasoline went up to about $1.50 to $2.00 a gallon, depending who was scalping who.
Bad news is it never went back down to pre "embargo" prices. That killed cruising to some degree, and all the 425HP Detroit muscle suddenly stopped being made.
I recall a lot of 400 cu in. cars being dumped for cheap. Enter the Vega and Pinto.

I supposed a lot of far looking collectors could have/and did swoop up the Hemi Challengers, HemiCudas, L88 Vettes, GTOs, etc. By that time I was "with family" and shed a tear for The Best Years were in the past.


"Had to watch for '50s cars that still had louvers and skirts !"

 

That's me @15 in the passenger's seat. First run, car built by the late John Fleckenstein, 17 at the time

 

so seriously.. who was really there?
I was there--And here I am! Still livin in the 50's. Some say it was the good ole days. Sure didn't seem like it then. But it really was.

 

a good percentage of pop culture back then was the creation of 50-something "suits"--a product to be bought. being a midwestern boy, i sure bought into the whole "california dream." not everyone was a surfer, hot rodder or outlaw biker. probably the only one of the beach boys who might have rode a surfboard was dennis.

 

Hello,

In our neck of the woods, So Cal, it was nice to have a cool car, but not everyone had a hot rod or cruiser. Some of the best times WE HAD FROM 1959-63 were had driving around in a 53 Chevy with a loud 6 banger making funny noises. Also, driving around in a 51 Pontiac sedan was a lot of fun. I even made a floor shifter for the Pontiac to make it really cool, but very little was spent on hop up stuff. After all, money and jobs were tight and it was fun that we all wanted while in high school. Sure, there were the nice daily drivers, but for the most part, it was “thanks for the keys and I will be back later…” the sounds heard all over the USA as the family 4 door sedan drove out of the driveway.

This was all before A.G. and in the suburbs of a big city, not in the country side. If you had a nice car, that was all good, but the list goes on for driving around in your mom/dad’s car just because you got your driver’s license and freedom. The drive in restaurants still had the racers and hot rods, but 4 girls or guys driving through the front row had just as much fun as the local cruisers in their flashy cars. The gravy and French Fries still tasted the same, the cherry Cokes still fizzed in your nose, and the banter between the girls/boys still raged on through the night.

Of course, these cars are classics today, but back then, they were just daily drivers and as we have heard in many movies, a form of teenage happiness. If we all were to look at the line of cars parked on the curb in front of the schools, the majority of them were family cruisers and not hot rods. The teenagers were just as happy to have a form of transportation with their friends. (sorry, new gen teenagers, can’t drive with other 16 year olds is a bummer, but safer)

So, the hot rod, cruiser memories will still live forever, but also, all of the fun that was had in our family 4 door sedans cannot be pushed to the back burner. Those are also historic. By the way, some parents were up for small hop up additions and a few spinner hubcaps to spruce up the family car… Those were the “happy days” of a teenager in the 50-60’s.

Thanks,

Jnaki

 

I think that the biggest misconception about the '50s and '60s is that everyone drove a rod or a custom and that they were all magazine quality cars or totally rusted out heaps.

A lot of what everyone drove was just a car that was screwed with as much as you could screw with mom's old car. or there were guys like me who kept an old heap to get to and from, tuned good enough to have a good time and as clean as budget allowed.

I remember once that a friend and I went halfsies on a '59 Impala. 283 power slip. he had a pair of Firestone dirt track tires, pretty much the biggest tires you could get at the time, and I had a pair of 8"chrome reverse. We jacked it up enough for the tires to clear. It wore original white paint and a friend who's dad was a sign painter lettered **"THE BIG MEATS" over the tires. He drove it to and from work and that was what we drank and caroused in. Not a hot rod or a custom just an old chebby that was within budget and fun.

**read whatever you want into that.