Remembering back when...

[clovis]

I thought it might be interesting to hear some of your "remember when" stories about cars, back in your day.

I was in high school during the mid-1980's, just about when old muscle cars were becoming popular.

Here are a few of mine:

The high school parking lot was half full of 64-68 Mustangs. Those Mustangs were everywhere, it seemed, and were relatively affordable for many high school kids. It seemed like the other half of the parking lot was full of Camaros, and many kids, especially those who were well heeled, drove '67 through '69 Camaros. It was also commonplace to see 60's era Chevelles and Novas, many of them SS models.

You might find this story odd to mention, but I remember when I was in high school, there was a local junk yard that had a row of VW Bugs as far as the eye could see, and those Beetles were stacked two deep, for almost the entire row. If you owned a Bug, that yard was the place to go for used parts. If they didn't have it, you were probably out of luck, at least in our area. I think I witnessed the end of an era, with all of those Bugs finally being sold off as non-repairable junk to the junkyards. Those rows sat in that yard for years, with many bodies bought by those wanting something cheap to drive. It seems to me that they sold complete bodies for $150, but I could be wrong. Then, one day, I showed up at the yard, and the owner had sent every last VW to the crusher.

And something that is funny, in this one little pocket, located in one zip code, back during my day, nearly everyone drove GM and Ford, but during my era, GM was king. Our town had Chevy, Buick, Pontiac and Ford dealers, but not any Chrysler brand dealers. Chrysler was considered the bottom of the list, except for one guy I went to school with, who proclaimed we were all wrong. I can still hear him proclaiming "Mopar stuff is hot in other places, just not here...and it is going to be worth a fortune someday." We all thought he was crazy, but it turns out, Jack did know something none of us ever did.

So what stories do you have to share about 'back then'?

[Ace-Garageguy]

My senior year in high school, the fastest kid drove a metallic blue '62 Nova with a sweetly built 283. One morning he wound it up running by the classroom windows down to the stadium, and just as he went to shift into second, the engine let go. It scattered parts and hot oil all over the drive, and the principal wasn't at all impressed.

The kid maintained a low profile for a few days, and then showed up one morning with a shiny-new '69 Z-28, metallic blue with white stripes, and the o-so-rare crossram manifold.

I was a recent Yankee transplant, didn't run with the cool kids, and I never knew how he got hooked up with such fine cars.

[Agent G]

My first car was a '62 Pontiac Catalina 421SD. Bought it in 1972 for $850. No one really "knew" what it was. Won a lot of burger meals at the local Steak n Shake racing that beast. Wish I had that one now, I wouldn't drive it much though. I too had a Mustang if only briefly. It was a '68 that looked and ran great. Lot of those in and around St Louis. We had Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler plants in the immediate area back then. Big mishmash of autos on the streets.

My first real girlfriend had a '62 Imperial. Now that was a boat, the car was bigger than my first apartment.

My first wife had a '72 Grand Torino Sport her father bought her. Beautiful car, but the goofball couldn't drive it more than a mile without getting a ticket. I drove it until I shipped out in '74. Now that's one I wish I had for sure.

G

[Greg Myers]

Auto maintenance wasn't the same to all when I went to high school ('61- '65)

While doing a little week end maintenance on my '56 Chevy, a friend pulled up in his 1950 Ford coupe. "Hey, whatcha doin'?"

"Changing the oil"

"Why would you do that?"

after a short discussion on the matter we walked over to his ride and popped the hood, after awhile my friend found the dip stick and gave it a good tug. It came out leaving a nice little rectangular slot where it fit. Of course we noticed there was no oil on the dip stick. At this point he said he just added a quart ever other fuel stop.

[Ace-Garageguy]

. At this point he said he just added a quart ever other fuel stop.

I've had some leaky beaters that were so bad, I seriously considered lashing a gallon can of oil to an inner fender, with a drip-feed into the engine.

A quality solution being, of course, job one.

[slusher]

When I was in high school , the kids who had parents with money drove, Silverados, 69, 70 and 72 Chevelles, and a few Novas. seem like the rest of us drove what ever we could get but I did have a very nice long wheelbase 80 Dodge truck with a slant 6.

[disabled modeler]

Back in my school days there were many very cool cars out and the family owned many cool ones too. Plenty of muscle cars were parked at the high school...69 GTO,Pantera,SS Novas and Chevelles,etc. My family owned many cool cars...

71 Cyclone

69-72 grand Prix

64,67,68,69,70 Bonnevilles

70 GTO

75 Trans Am

66,68 Chrysler 300

64,68 Chrysler Imperial

72 Firebird Formula

70s AMC Hornet,Rebel,SST,69 Ambassador,74 AMX

53 Pontiac Chieftain

59,64,69,70,72 Bonneville/Safari wagons

late 50s Desoto coupe

29 Ford 5 window coupe

70s International Travelall

67 Chevy Suburban

mid 70s Dodge factory custom van

early 70s Dodge window van

and the list goes on and on...seemed we were always trading and getting another.

[58 Impala]

I remember my junior year in high school (73) my best friend buying a 66 GTO conv. for $1200. Later that summer I helped him pull a turbo 400 tranny and the Hurst dual gate console out of a wrecked 67 to replace the power glide all for the grand total of.........$200. Junkyards were full of goodies for cheap, those were the days.

Edited August 11, 2014 by 58 Impala

[Jaguar man 21]

You guys are lucky to have been around to see all of that, my school has no exciting cars. My dad's first car was a red 1973 mach 1' all his friends had pintos, chevettes, his one friend even had a huge buick skylark which he always wrecked.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Jaguar man 21

[unclescott58]

I'm with Jaguar Man 21, above. I don't remember anything too exciting in our high school parking lot either. I was in high school from the fall of 1973 through the spring of '75 (before I was asked to leave). The only student vehicle I really remember is one kid a year a head of me had a fairly new Chevy Blazer. Popular and common at the time were mid 60's Chevy Impalas, first generation Mustangs, etc. The Impalas rarely had more than a 327. Mustangs, 289s. Maybe 302s on later models. Neighbor next door had a '68 Torino fastback. Across the street a '68 Merc Park Lane 4-door sedan. A buddy up the street first had a '70 4-door Valiant. Later he owned '72 Capri and MG-GT.

My first car was after high school. And that was a '53 Chrysler New Yorker 2-door club sedan. Then I had a buddy with a '69 Mustang Mach I that was fairly fast. Another had a nice '69 Charger. A guy I still hang around with, had a nice '67 Firebird convertible, 326, automatic. His girl friend at the time drove a nice '69 Cougar.

Local cars that influenced me as a yout. A cool shop teacher in junior high drove a '66 Riviera. A buddy's folks had a very fast '70 Buick Electra 225 we cruised around in. With a factory 8-track tape player no less. Had one cool teacher in high school that drove a junker early 60's Rambler. He'd park the car behind the drafting classroom, so he could get several of us to help push start the car from time to time. In general the area in grew up in was basically pretty blue collar. Not well off. But, not poor either. Chevy Impala was the best selling car in America at the time. And that, along with Ford Galaxies and Plymouth Fury IIIs were the type of cars people drove in our area.

Scott

[doctor phillips]

(I very seldom get to tell this story... it's really only for "car nuts")

Back in 1962 I was a freshman at the high school in Mulvane, Kansas. One day in study hall I heard this incredible hot rod sound coming from the street in front of the school. I stood near the window and waited to see just what was making this sound... it turned out to be the "Lil' Coffin'" being driven by Mulvane resident Larry Farber (the first owner of the car). He stopped in front of the school... I thought he was just showing off. I found out later that the "Lil' Coffin'" had a horrible over heating problem due to the fact that the radiator was too small for such a large engine. Later that day he even had to have it pushed into a garage at the Marauder's Car Club location in Mulvane.

The next year I moved with my parents to Tulsa, Oklahoma where I bought a '53 Plymouth with a three speed on the column. Not the sexiest car in the world but it got me where I wanted to go.

Edited August 15, 2014 by doctor phillips

[Jon Haigwood]

I didn't come from a big money family. Any car I bought I bought with my money. The first drivable car I had was Yellow 51 Plymouth wagon that had only been rolled once. I got me about 10 miles before it threw a rod. It then became a donor car for my next set of wheels, a 49 Plymouth 2dr that had hit a power pole. I bought that for $45. From here the list goes on and on.

[Rob Hall]

I was in high school (a small town in the Florida Keys) in the mid to late 80s..there were a few '60s-70s musclecars around, but they were all pretty much worn out or rusty (S. Florida salt air). Probably the nicest of the old cars were a pair of twins that had restored '65 Mustangs (burgandy coupe, bright red convertible) and a '50s MGA and early '60s Austin Healey. A buddy had a succession of beater '65-68 Mustang coupes, another had a well-worn silver '65 Coupe de Ville, another had a sharp red '76 Buick Electra 225 coupe.

Lots of '70s-80s full size and midsize cars at my school (Olds 88s, Impalas, LeSabres, Regals, Cutlasses, etc), and quite a few new or nearly new '80s performance cars (Camaro IROC-Zs, Trans Ams and Trans Am GTAs, Monte Carlo SSes, a Buick Grand National, a sharp '84 Hurst Olds, a couple Buick T-types, several Mustang LX 5.0s and GTs (incl. my '87 GT), a variety of Hondas and Datsuns.

There were a couple of 'exotic' cars in my senior class also--a mid '80s Merc 560SEL AMG (white w/ gold BBS wheels), and a 'Magnum PI' style Ferrari 308GTS (bright red). Also remember a black Porsche 944 turbo and a girl w/ a white BMW 3 series convertible..

As far as teacher's cars that I remember, the football coach had an orange Porsche 914, an English teacher had a diesel Peugeot 504, another had clean black '73 Firebird.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Rob Hall

[johnbuzzed]

My next-door neighbor was about 6 years older than me and he had a series of cars ever since I can remember, back to when I was about... 8 years old?... starting in the early '60s. Some of them were really sweet, but the one that stands out in my mind is a '62 Olds Starfire 2door hardtop. It was a metallic red and had all that stainless and brushed trim, with an automatic and 394. I was in love with that car and still am. One evening, we were returning from running an errand for his uncle, heading south down NY 231. Along comes a '68 Coronet R/T. Yeah, we ran- my first street race. That R/T had us off the line, but when the Olds got wound up, it was "Bye, bye". Holy BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH- "Satisfaction" on the AM radio, windows open, sitting on that big vinyl bucket seat, no seatbelt- what a rush!

[Jaguar man 21]

I hope to get something good when I get my lisance in October

[Ace-Garageguy]

One of the cars I drove in high school (first car I ever drove, too) was a 1963 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convertible, 330HP 394 cu.in. ("Skyrocket" optional engine, not the top-line Starfire). Not my car, but my mother's actually. Why they ordered the hot engine, I'll never know. (I think my mother probably just liked its looks sitting there in the showroom...sand beige, black top, dark red interior). Lots of "working on mysteries without any clues", as Seger says, went on in that car.

When my mother died, the car got away.

I tracked it down many years later, in Texas, and brought it back up here...very rough, now waiting to get restored. By me. If I get to it before the Reaper gets to me.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

You guys are lucky. I didn't have the money to buy a car in HS...and I sure could never have afforded the insurance! The only cars I ever drove then were the cars in Driver's Ed class! I didn't actually get a car until I was halfway through college...

[Ace-Garageguy]

You guys are lucky. I didn't have the money to buy a car in HS...and I sure could never have afforded the insurance! The only cars I ever drove then were the cars in Driver's Ed class! I didn't actually get a car until I was halfway through college...

All I drove in HS was the parents' cars when I could wheedle one out of them for a couple of days, or a date.

First car I actually owned was a '62 Beetle (for $200, in my summer before college...and I had to work for the money) that some schmo had put a leaky 36hp engine in (shoulda been a 40, but I knew no better). And I mean LEAKY. Oil would POUR out on the ground at idle, and leave a blood trail everywhere I went.

My first heavy mechanical experience was pulling the engine and re-sealing it. Man, I got so filthy I looked like a coal miner. Everything black but my eyes.

Then in my ignorance, I decided that all that heavy tin all over the engine (the poor little thing's cooling system) was just dead weight, slowing it down. After all, with only 36HP you need every bit of weight-reduction you can get. And after all...air-cooled motorcycles didn't have all that ugly sheetmetal all over the pretty finned cylinders, so why did I need it?

So I took it all off. It worked OK for a couple of days, but progressively started smoking and slowing down. When it finally dropped a valve, I learned it was far far better to actually KNOW SOMETHING about a particular engine and WHY the engineers had done things like they did, than to just barge in stupidly and start modifying...cluelessly.

My second heavy mechanical experience was putting a junkyard 40-horse in the hole the little 36 had died in.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[1930fordpickup]

I lived in a farming community . Not many Cool cars back then mostly trucks in the parking lot. Came from a family with 11 kids. Had a few of the older brothers and sisters wrecking moms car put the squeeze on me driving anything until after high school . Dad drove 45 miles one way to work, you could not touch his beaters. I think the nicest car that was in the parking lot in my 4 years of high school was a red 55 Ford Thunderbird mint condition. The kid got it from his grandfather as a gift when he turned 16. I liked that car more than he did. He was a good kid and took care of it last time I heard .

[DrGlueblob]

My Dad would go hunting quail and from about eight or so, he would get me in the drivers seat of this Chevy Apache pickup, put te truck in granny gear, jump on the roof next to his buddy Donald, and I would steer the beast over miles of Arizona dirt road..

In addition to steering, my other job was to fetch beers from the ice chest alongside and hand 'em up to Dad and Don. This was around ..1964..

I was riding motorcycles around Phoenix at 13. No license, natch. By High School it was a Triumph Bonneville, Cushman Eagle, Bultacos.. Anything I could scrounge as a basket case and get running.

One rich kid had a Plymouth Superbird, Brand new. By now it's 1974, and everyone else drove Chevelles, VW's, All kinds of '60s iron.

I was one of the few bikers to hang with the HS crowd. Last kiddie car I had was a '71 Dodge Coronet four-door police interceptor. With that big 440 I could do longer burnouts outta Central High School's parking lot than anybody, even that Yuppie's Superbird. ..

Nowadays, I keep my old links to juvenile delinquency with a 1700+cc Yamaha Warrior and a 600 Honda Supermoto.

[1972coronet]

I grew up in the western section of Whittier (Ca.) , just north of Whittier Bouldvard ; yes , that Whittier Boulevard ! As far back as I can remember , I witnessed many cool cars ; the Lowriders and the Classics , and every-thing in between .

By the time I started high school ( 1985 ) , there were only a handful of really neat vehicles around on a daily basis (the Whittier Boulevard cruising scene having died-off by 1982) . The part of town where I lived mostly consisted of lower-middle-class families ; all of the upper-middle and well-heeled folks lived a stone's throw away in the hills , or a few miles to the east in East Whittier .

As a result , the cars around the H.S. lot varied greatly ; any-thing from the 1965 Oldmobile F-85 with the base 225 Econ-o-Jet 225 Odd-Fire V6 , to some beat-up 70's VW Bugs , and finally , the super-rare 1986 IROC-Z with the 350 ( at that time , the 305 was the biggest V8 , as the coveted 350 wasn't emissions certified for the F-Body ) . Only around 9,000 were made , all automatics.

Its owner was the premiere football player . I was friends with his younger brother . Apparently , my friend and his older brother got a sizeable inheritance ; the older brother was able to cash his in as he was 18 .

Nice family , too . Totally deserved a nice ride .

The teachers had some cool cars , from a 1969 Dart Western Sport Special ( 225 Slant , column-shift auto , white vinyl top ) to a 1970 Challenger coupe (fixed quarter glass and a plug for the window crank) . It was a 318 , 3-speed floor shift , in B7 blue .

The coach and the shop teachers both had 1962 GMC pickups with the "odd" GMC V6 (305 cubes) .

In the mid-80's , there were a few Mod kids around . The majority of them rode Vespas and Lambrettas , adorned in Quadraphenia livery ( 20 mirrors , chequered splash guards , RAF decals , etc. , etc.) . Their appearance had a huge influence on me personally ! I especially dug the "Softies" (longer-hair version of the classic Mod) , and was afraid of the "Hard" Mods (Traditional Skinheads ; not the racist skins , but rather "bald Mods").

Believe it or not , there wasn't much in the way of Muscle cars around . Maybe a few small block SS Nova and Buick GS models ; the real Muscle being owned by older guys (late 20's and older) and seldom seen by any-one.

As for me ?

I didn't get my license until I was 19 !

[Jaguar man 21]

Thanks for your Input lee :|

[Old Nasty]

When I was about 15 years old my dad had a '64 Pontiac Catalina with the 389 & a 4 barrel. He bought it for the styling without knowing he had a bonafide muscle car in the garage. Anyway, my buddy Billie Rickart came over one day when my folks were gone (in moms car) & showed me how to hotwire the beast. We proceeded to do numerous neutral drops in the driveway sending up a huge cloud of tire smoke that covered the neighborhood. Moments after we put it back in the garage the parents returned home. When my dad asked about all the lingering smoke we told him some kid down the street had done a burnout in front of the house. This explanation lasted about 2 minutes before he noticed the huge black marks running the length of the driveway. Needless to say, Billie was sent on his way & I was escorted by my collar to the basement for a meeting with my dads belt. It was still worth it.

[wayne swayze]

This changed my ENTIRE life! It was either 1958 or 1959, and I was returning home from the local store with a loaf of bread. I really wasn't paying attention to the roadway, but suddenly I realized a noisy car had come around the corner and was pulling into a driveway just 15 or 20 feet in front of me. I had never seen a hot rod...ever...and there was a "T" roadster pickup...fenderless...Chevy V-8...big and little tires!!! My jaw felt like it was on the sidewalk! I was in love! And on the "tailgate" was the car's nickname... "Roamin' Chariot"!! That began my love affair with hot rods...there I was...11 or 12 years old....in love with a car!!

[kitbash1]

When I was in high school in the 70's ( 72 - 76 ) our student parking lot had a few cool cars, mustangs, dusters a couple of 55 and 57 chevy's and one or two firebirds and camaros.​ The coolest car belonged to a female gym teacher, who drove a Super Bee. I had a 69 Nova in my senior year, it had a 6 cylinder engine with a automatic. Not a hot rod but it was a fun car to drive.

Edited August 12, 2014 by kitbash1