Absolutely-hence my first post. But this was in response to the post that only stated that the author wished he was alive and 20 in 1949. I was alive and 1 in 1949. Happy to be here in 2013
56-64 in my estimation was the hay day of hotrodding. Cruising, street racing, drag strips and looking for hyde. Factory muscle cars like 409's, 389's and to a lesser amount Mopars. Just like American Graffiti. Too bad most on this site missed it.
Although I am hard pressed to choose 1 decade only, I would have to pick the 50's if pressed, Ford and Chevrolet had some outstanding body designs in that period.
Born in '49, I enjoyed the '50s and '60s, but having owned two '29s and just loving the '30s and '40s - especially those biggies like Packards and Chryslers - gotta say I'm a big "free love" kinda guy.
I concur! Anything pre crazy Gubmint intervention. I have a special spot for mid '60s performance machines though. Drag racing, road racing, oval track, whatever. Race cars looked the gnarliest to me during that era. Most of the music I like is post '73 though, oi oi oi!
Well, not starting or ending with an even number, but my decade would be about 1957-1967. I loved all the cars in this era. 1968 started getting unattractive to me even though the powerplants got much better. I especially love the rods styled in the 1957-1964. Full fendered, chromed out hardware. White running boards, top inserts and R&P interior, chrome reverse with wide whites.....loved it.
54-59, the end to the really rounded cars and the step into the futuristic, space age, finned designs.
57-67 for me. The best of the finned cars, and the early musclecar era, with a good mix of engines and transmissions to choose from.
For me it would be the 60's with everything going on it was just so cool to be growing up and every Sunday heading to the drag strip. I also found time to get married in 1969 and 44 years later we are still together and counting the 3 years we dated while I finished building a car it's 47 years with the same beautiful person. Jimbo
So basically I would be living the life of your parents, being young in a post war world. I was under the idea of an industrial boom from about 49-53? One thing I do know about 1949, is what are the junk yards full of?
I choose the later 60's because after that cars lost their flavor. The later 60's look older but, they have the modern engines, transmissions, suspension and brakes that make them the best drivers. Now lets hear something like that about why you choose your decade I started this thread to find out why people choose the cars they do, not just what their favorite years are.
I was a teenager in the '50s, so that's really my deal. That's when I learned about all sorts of car stuff, and developed most of the tastes that I still carry. The front half of the '60s were great too; interesting stuff from Detroit and a great era for road racing.
Born in '47, I believe the '50s would have to be my favorite time because of all the hotrods I saw, two of which I own now, a Deuce Highboy with the normal "stuff" and and a '40 Ford 2dr(same-same). Now 67 almost, I live my second or third childhood daily, so hooray for the 50s. Those cars built then are more "pure" than other styles.
I choose the 30's, I like the over all smallness of the cars, compared to bigger 50's, 60's vehicles. I enjoy the simplicity when working on this kind of machine. And the ability to swap parts from that decade.
We are supposed to claim one decade as our favorite, but I can easily agree with TexasWebb on his choice(s) !
From Chuck Berry's " No Particular Place To Go " to the Beach Boys " Little Deuce Coupe " . That to me was the golden era of hot rodding !!!
I like 'em all (like most of us). My junior high/high school years were '68-'72. The height of factory muscle wars. I like 'em. I've had one for a long time (36+ yrs). Oddly enough, that really isn't my favorite era. There's just something about the time frame from '55 to '65 that really hits home with me. Maybe it was my 'formitive' years or something.... When I was a kid, it seemed like EVERY older dude had some kind of hot iron. Hot rods, street cars, race cars (both kinds), early factory 'hot cars' ( the term 'muscle' wasn't invented yet). Hell, there were more hot-rodded '55-'57 Chevys, Vettes, full bodied Fords & Mopars, a few 'old hot rods' (that would be Hamb material today), than a kid could shake a stick at. This was '65 and earlier, and in a one stop-sign community in the middle of nowhere, Ohio. It was car 'overload' and it's still imbedded in the back of my brain to this day. Might have something to do with why I hang around this site too damn much...
They are a bit off topic but I love br*** era cars. The auto industry was in its infancy and there are so many innovative ideas on these cars. Plus I really like all the pinstripes and a lot of the bold colors. As far as hotrods goes I do like 20's and 30's cars.
I like most all years. If I had to choose an era it would be mid 50's to mid 60's. Anything after 66 is dead to me. But that's just me. You have to admit all three car makers came out with some real cl***ic stuff in the 50's & early 60's.