1979 Gas Lines ( Vintage Footage )

[1972coronet]

I was 9 , 10 years old when the 2nd energy crisis hit ( I vaguely remember the October '73 - March '74 debacle ) . 

I seem to remember that diesel fuel was around $0.25 / gallon in '79 , '80 , whereas gas was upwards of $1.00 / gallon ( average ; unleaded cost more for certain ) . 

Without further ado...

 

 

[Rob Hall]

I remember hearing about it on the CBS Evening News (I was 9 in 1979), don't recall lines at the gas station but my Dad did mention about the cost going up...probably took a lot to fill his '79 Lincoln Continental and my Mom's '77 Thunderbird then. 

[1972coronet]

2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

I remember hearing about it on the CBS Evening News (I was 9 in 1979), don't recall lines at the gas station but my Dad did mention about the cost going up...probably took a lot to fill his '79 Lincoln Continental and my Mom's '77 Thunderbird then. 

Oftentimes, one wasn't permitted to receive a full tank ; that was due to shortages. Only commercial vehicles, emergency vehicles ( including emergency personnel in their person vehicle ), and city/state/county vehicles were exempt from that (as well as the "odd & even" days' rule ).

IIRC, there was a 5 gallon limit - stations' hours were also limited... or until their fuel supplies dried up for the day. 

[TonyK]

Oh yeah. I think I remember you could go to the gas station on whatever day your license plate ended in an odd or even number. And wait in line!

[bobss396]

The 1973 one, I was commuting to college. And had a gas hungry Olds 88 to feed. People were dumping big cars left and right. One guy in my class picked up a '71 Caddy real cheaply.

In the 1979 one, my mom was in the hospital. My dad was concerned about getting out of his driveway. The line from a local gas station went past the house. It was close to a half mile long.

[Dragline]

I would go get gas with my Dad on Wednesdays. That was our day. Uncle Steve would often come with us with his 68 Charger. I was 14 and didn't understand the world then. But I did have a dog in that fight since my 3hp mini bike and Honda 110 ATC didn't run on wishes. I was working on my Aurora VooDoo Vega that year. When we moved it got basically destroyed, never to be finished. Was a real heartbreaker that.

[espo]

In '73 and '74 had to deal with the gas crunch thing while living on the central coast area of California. The company Christmas Party was in San Diego and it was a command performance to be there. Driving a new '74 C-10 short step side with the 454 that would wheeze when every I passed a gas station. Left San Diego Sunday morning to go home with less than half a tank of gas in one tank and empty in the other. Someone thought it would be a good idea to close all gas stations on Sunday in San Diego and barely got to Los Angeles County where I could buy gas, but only 10 gals. This got me into Santa Barbara, and I knew of a gas station on a side street off 101 in Isla Vista that let me buy all I wanted. One advantage at the time was driving a pick-up with what California called Commercial License Plates, that were required if you wanted to put anything besides dust in the bed of any pick-up, so I was exempt from the odd-even license plate number thing.   

[MeatMan]

20 hours ago, espo said:

In '73 and '74 had to deal with the gas crunch thing while living on the central coast area of California. The company Christmas Party was in San Diego and it was a command performance to be there. Driving a new '74 C-10 short step side with the 454 that would wheeze when every I passed a gas station. Left San Diego Sunday morning to go home with less than half a tank of gas in one tank and empty in the other. Someone thought it would be a good idea to close all gas stations on Sunday in San Diego and barely got to Los Angeles County where I could buy gas, but only 10 gals. This got me into Santa Barbara, and I knew of a gas station on a side street off 101 in Isla Vista that let me buy all I wanted. One advantage at the time was driving a pick-up with what California called Commercial License Plates, that were required if you wanted to put anything besides dust in the bed of any pick-up, so I was exempt from the odd-even license plate number thing.   

I worked at a gas station in 1973 at a Union 76 station., so I was on the front line of that mayhem! That one was due to the Arab oil embargo. One of my most irritating memories was the person that would demand that I check their oil, even though I was jumping from pump to pump trying to get people out of there.

Also, back then, few credit cards were used for gas, and if they were, you had to go inside to put their card put through those old manual card presses that used carbon paper, then run back out and pump the gas. Fun times I'll tell you! 

[espo]

2 hours ago, MeatMan said:

I worked at a gas station in 1973 at a Union 76 station., so I was on the front line of that mayhem! That one was due to the Arab oil embargo. One of my most irritating memories was the person that would demand that I check their oil, even though I was jumping from pump to pump trying to get people out of there.

Also, back then, few credit cards were used for gas, and if they were, you had to go inside to put their card put through those old manual card presses that used carbon paper, then run back out and pump the gas. Fun times I'll tell you! 

In the mid-'60's I also worked at a Union 76 station in Blue Jay Ca., a wide spot in the road near Lake Arrowhead. We had an imprinter at the pump island and would bring it in at night when we closed. This was before any fuel rationing of course so we just had to deal with the "Flat Landers" that would invade from the L.A. area on the weekend. Had great relationships with all the regular customers and most of the tourists as well. Later I went to work for Union Oil Co. at the distribution center in Colton. One of the best parts of that job, for me anyway, was working at the Union station in the pits at Riverside Raceway since Union Oil was a sponsor.  

[von Zipper]

I remember those days very well !

 

[Falcon Ranchero]

This is neat, I watched the whole 20 minutes. A time I never new but sometimes wished I did. Was cool to see. Thanks for adding the footage on here

Edited October 29 by Falcon Ranchero