Growing up in the 60's

[Jamesbo]

At the risk of boring the board to tears, I thought it might be helpful to some of the younger members to try to shed some light on how things were when the wondeful cars were made and how us "kids" viewed them in the sixties.

As is true today, Money was a problem even when gas was cheap. Oldsmobiles we a high end car and Very expensive. The list price for my 69 442 convertible with a/c was over $4,000. Mustangs were very popular IMHO because the base price was around 2K.

Unlike today,when you went to the dealership, most Everything was an option, am/fm, 8- track, a/c, posi, tires, buckets etc.[I believe 69 was the first year a stereo radio was avaliable in a car.]

Some factory options were not considered the "Gold" they are today. Many of us would select to personalize our cars rather than pay for and accept the factory options. In those years even a/c could be added [although with a few potential problems]

In my crowd no self respecting "cool dude" would have a Tic toc Tach and rally pac. We all wanted a big ole, Sun tach strapped to the steering column and a set of S&W gagues handing from under the dash.

I would imagine thousands of sets of SS I, II and III wheels were tossed in favor of the then popular American mags. Once again, Hurst Wheels were around but very expensive. A Hurst 4 speed shifter of course was a necessity in teenage 60's opinions.

Insted of getting a factory 8 Track we'd save up and get some aftermarkert [Like Lear] and install it ourselves and of course cut holes in the kick pannels for speakers.Then you could [bag some more groceries]save up again and purchase a F/M Cartridge that turned your 8 track into an F/M radio.

Mufflers, Why bother when you could go to a hardware store and by a short piece of pipe with a screw on cap and weld a set of "cut outs" into the exhaust before it ever neared the muffler to reduce noise. Drive home nice and quiet, leave home, crawl under car with pipe wrench and Voila LOUD exhaust.


Why waste money on a 69 3 spoke deluxe steering wheel [which today are worth a fortune.] We'd simply buy the leather wrap kits and lace them on our exisitng steering wheels or buy some custom Wood steering Wheel from J.C Whitney.

The long awaited point to this tome is this. When ya buy one of these wondeful cars, it comes with a history that somone [or perhaps many people ] have chosen to make it the way they wanted it to be. Now, it's your turn to either a] return it to origional or b] Do it the way you want to do it. It's your car and your time/money. I won't pass judgement on your purple ersatz H/O as long as you enjoy it.[ at least it's not a "Stang"]

Did we do stupid stuff? Of course, but we had fun with our cars. And I am glad to see the world now has forums like this one to share information and help [the old guys like me] and the younger gents.

Many thanks to all who participate.

[Lady72nRob71]

I am still wishing that I was 20 years older just so i could have experienced the muscle car era and the "easier" way of life!

[nohn]

Great thread!

[Jamesbo]

Yeah I got those cute e-mails with "In the still of the Night" playing in the back ground. Drink'in from a water hose, and catching lightening bugs etc.

But don't forget the Cuban Missle Crisis and the pleasures of knowing Uncle Sam was just waiting to cut your hair "high and tight" and send you to wonderful Vietnam.

I loved the 60's but they [I spose like any era], were far from "perfect."

Actually, I personally have witnessed many casualties[both he's and she's] who for reasons I will never know got so FUBAR on Acid and other crap from the sixties, they might as well be vegetables.

So "Carpe Diem" but as ole Johnny Cash would say, " Lay off the Whiskey and let that cocaine be."

[Pfiffle]

I don't go back to the sixties as far as driving but in the early eighties I remember seeing many cars in the Want Ad for real cheap. Buick Skylarks and Cutlasses with 455's in them for a couple hundred bucks. They were just "Old Cars" back then. Everyone wanted the turbo 4 cylinders like Dodge Daytona's and Shelby GLH's. At least around here in Northern NJ. 1960's Mustangs were popular though they were the exeption. I remember some cars I sold for practically nothing. Oh well. At least I got to see it.

[Lady72nRob71]

Of course "In the still of the Night" was a mid 80's song, assuming we are talking about Whitesnake.
That was almost my favorite song. I remember it blasting from an old GM car radio I installed on my souped-up go-cart as I terrorized the city of Richardson... That was about where my gearheadedness began.

The year was 1987. My mom's new Olds CS 4-door was then a year old and she wouldn't let me play any GOOD tapes when i rode with her... "Billy Jean" on the complementary Olds tape was the 'wildest' she would allow.

Ahhh... 1987 - the best year of my life...

NOW, back to the '60s!

[Jamesbo]

According to wikipedia the song has been recorded and re recorded by almost everyone [with the possilbe exception of Alvin and the Chipmonks]

Put to prove to you my impressively vast knowledge of 60s' music. Where in the song "Me and Bobby McGee" on an 8 track does it go "click" to change tracks when your listening to Janis Joplin's Pearl?

[citcapp]

I graduated from high school in a small town (Bothell, WA) 1964, 1930 thru mid 50 cars were cheap. Paid $90.00 for a 1950 chev coup, traded that along with 450.00 and bought a 1956 chev 2 door hardtop. Made $1.25 an hour working in a greenhouse shoveling S--t. Gas was 39 cents a gallon, spent our time cruising and going to drive in movies. Life was simple in a lot of ways but Vietnam was aways on our minds.

[Dapapadon]

I started fooling with cars in the early seventies! That was the time to be a teenager! Muscle cars were just used cars back then. But they were barely used and fairly cheap! And there were plenty of base cars that were even cheaper. Need a motor? No problem, buy a 4 door w/ a good motor for $25 - $50.

Gas was around 35 cents. Beer was $8.00 a case for name brands!

Great tread Jamesbo!

Don

[The_Jeremiah]

That was a heartfelt speach my friend. I graduated high school on the 5th. Had my 18th B-day on the 14th, and enrolled in perry technical institute on the 23rd. So basically I had 3 weeks of summer vacation, what am i upset about now ? not missing vacation, but not being able to afford working on my cutlass. Its a 69 4-door, i rebuilt the engine how I wanted it, and im going to build it how I want it, to take it to the dragstrip lol. Hopefully one of these days I will be able to afford that rearend and roller rockers...

[Run to Rund]

I graduated from HS in 67 and my favorite centerfold was the 2/67 Cars color photo of the Rund Olds (Detroit delaership) W30. So rare that I thought I'd never find one, but found 2 in 1973, each under $2K. As noted above, just get another engine from the boneyard and build it. . .the beauty of the Olds was that they took a basic 98 Luxury Sedan engine and added goodies (cam, ram air, battery in trunk, Tri Carbs) to go fast. The goodies (rare special parts) didn't blow up or wear out, either, unlike the competition whose special parts were things that blew up, L88, Hemi, etc. A friend put an L88 in his 67 Vette and blew it up when driving at 120 miles per hour. That special 6 qt oil pan dried up because the high vol oil pump was too much for it--spun all the bearings.

[Jamesbo]

When I was in High School [right after the Civil War] in some of the older sections of Atlanta, there were some streets paved with asphalt that had tiny granite gravel visibly protruding. When it rained, these streets were slick as Owl poop on glass.

One spring rainy day, I was driving around [probably to or from The Varsity.] when suddenly somehow, I got my mother’s 67 “Deuce and a Quarter” [Buick Electra 225] crossed up, over corrected and ended up zipping through some guys front yard.

Naturally, I had to pick the guy’s yard that looked after his grass, azaleas, etc. with manicured scissors.

Fish tailing a land yacht like a Deuce and a Quarter with a huge rear bumper up a manicured lawn on a slight incline was a very close equivalent to dropping the front blade on a CAT D-9 and bulldozing this guys prize winning yard. It took 4 bucks in quarters to “wand wash’ the grass and mud out of the rear bumper.

Needless to say, that year, I did not spend my Spring Break at Daytona Beach sipping “Thirst Slackers” and watching the bikini clad “Hard Body” parade. I re-sodded the front yard of a landscape perfectionist and “pushed bushes.”

Actually, considering what I had done, the gentleman was a nice guy.

“Dear ole Dad” however was…………..shall me say,

“Not very pleased”

Lesson 1 Learned- “When laying sod, the Green Side Goes Up”

Lesson 2 Learned- Always check for bondo in the rear quarters.

Teenage stupidity, Torque and wet roads just don't mix well.

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by Lady72nRob71

Of course "In the still of the Night" was a mid 80's song, assuming we are talking about Whitesnake...

AAAARRRGGHHH......

[Jokers69]

Where in the song "Me and Bobby McGee" on an 8 track does it go "click" to change tracks when your listening to Janis Joplin's Pearl?

hmm.. the brain cells that would have that info are long gone, but I think.. during the piano solo.
I remember cruising around in my 66 Mercury Comet with Steve Millers Book of Dreams and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in my Kraco 8 Track Player all the time. If you went top the flea markets you could by pirated 8 tracks with plain labels thayt had type written info, but they were "legit" because they were packaged in cardboard cases and wrapped in plastic....
I backed out of a parking spot at the party hangout and tagged the endura bumper on my buddies 69 goat, not a word was said, I bought him a beer and all was good.. try THAT today.

[Jamesbo]

[I graduated from HS in 67 and my favorite centerfold was the 2/67 Cars color photo ]


I knew it, I knew it..................someone was gonna mention "centerfolds."

Which bring back a WHOLE different set of memories.

Donna Michelle Playboy 1963-4 The lady would "Make a Freight Train take a dirt Road."

Unfortunately, I understand she has "Gone home to Glory" from Cancer.

[Texascarnut]

Originally Posted by Lady72nRob71

Of course "In the still of the Night" was a mid 80's song, assuming we are talking about Whitesnake.
That was almost my favorite song. I remember it blasting from an old GM car radio I installed on my souped-up go-cart as I terrorized the city of Richardson... That was about where my gearheadedness began.

The year was 1987. My mom's new Olds CS 4-door was then a year old and she wouldn't let me play any GOOD tapes when i rode with her... "Billy Jean" on the complementary Olds tape was the 'wildest' she would allow.

Ahhh... 1987 - the best year of my life...

NOW, back to the '60s!

"In the still of the Night" was a 1956 recording from The Five Satins and was frequently played in the early 1960's as a "moldy oldie." Every time I hear that version of the song it reminds me of cruising around town in my friends 1932 Ford 5 window coupe powered with a not exactly stock '56 Olds power plant sporting 8 (yeah 8) Stromberg 97 2bbl carburetors on an Offenhauser log manifold. Tranny was a floor shifter out of a 1937 LaSalle. Wasn't a car of any kind that could touch that thing within 50 miles. What a ride!

[Jamesbo]

One of my best buds in highschool had a two tone 62 Cutlas with buckets, black and white with grey interior. Although I sure it wasn't a factory option, it also came with a case of ice cold Blue Ribbon in the trunk.

He also was fortunate enough to have a father who owned a radio station here in Atlanta. "Big Daddy" as his father was name for having 2 large twin sons [and probably for being white and owning the only black radio station in town, WAOK] in the 60's had concert tickets galore.

We double dated [now there's a phrase I haven't said in a few decades] to free concerts all over the city. Ray Charles,Otis Redding, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, even Sonny and Cher [when he wore that goofy vest] et al.

But the show of all shows was "James Brown and the Famous Flames" held down on "Sweet" Auburn Ave." at the Royal Peacock.

I have been to hundred's of concert since, but Nothing can compare to the showmanship of James Brown.

"I Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel Good"

[Oldsguy]

I remember listening to the same old 8 track over and over again. I was only earning about $3.00/hr at the local Italian Restaurant and could only afford one. Anybody remember Dennis Yost and the Classics IV? "Stormy"? Over and over and over again. Maybe it was my 16 year old brain that couldn't switch tracks, or was it the machine? hmmmmmmm.

[citcapp]

all of that great music channeled through a reverb unit in the trunk. Does amyone remember sock hops in the school gym, dancing on the gym floor in our socks so no damage was done to the gym floor. Drag races late at night on a straight strech of backroad just for bragging rights............beats video games any day

[Jamesbo]

Reverbs, I had forgtten about those things A friend of mines mom had one in her Grand Prix.

I hate to say it but I remember 4 tracks also.

There's one thing we used to do, that I'm considering starting again.

After buying 3 gallons of gas for about a buck, we would shut off the pump and hold the loop in the hose up over our head to get the pint or so remaining in the hose loop into our gas tank.

[Lady72nRob71]

Originally Posted by Jamesbo

we would shut off the pump and hold the loop in the hose up over our head to get the pint or so remaining in the hose loop into our gas tank.

Does that still work? My ex-ladyfriend claims it does, but I never got more than a few drops out. I am thinking that was an "old day" trick!

Anyone have an 8-track recorder? I do and I used to use it back in the 80's... I still have the tapes, too.

What a cool thread this is...

[Jamesbo]

[quote=Lady72nRob71;36853]Does that still work? My ex-ladyfriend claims it does, but I never got more than a few drops out. I am thinking that was an "old day" trick!


Lady72nRob 71 I haven’t tried it in about 40 years so I’m really not sure you can do it with the newer pumps.


“Oldsguy $3.00 per hour” Holly Cow…………… you were in “High Cotton”……. I was at $1.25

I can vividly remember the first electric garage door I ever encountered. I was working for an outdoor furniture company delivering metal furniture. Come to think of it, I was working with the same guy whose dad owned the radio station I mentioned earlier.

One day we were making a delivery of some tables and chairs in a newer subdivision. We unwrapped the blanket covering a glass top breakfast room table, took it out of the Ford van, and carried it into the garage and set it down under the open garage door. I nonchalantly strolled through the garage and walked up to the kitchen door and pushed what I thought was the doorbell and all of a sudden the garage door started coming down.

I had not the first clue what was going on, I froze, mouth agape, in awe as if my “desert boots” were welded to the concrete floor. I watched a glass top table worth a month’s wages slowly grow closer to be destroyed by a garage door. My life flashed in front of me, knowing my boss would take it out of my hide and I would be the Indentured Servant of the company for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, the housekeeper came to the door and punched the button, I had mistaken for a doorbell, to stop the descending door in time to save my life.

[Jamesbo]

As a want a be writer, I have thoroughly enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. But, I am somewhat hesitate to continue.

Oh what the heck, I’ll give it one more shot before I get banned from my favorite Forum.

Below is a list of totally obsolete nouns from the 60’s. See how many you can remember/know.

Church key

Clam diggers

Record needle

Can Key

Walk in

Sock hop

Colorado Kool-Aid

8 track

Saddle shoes

Curb tray

Service station

Passion Pit

A fall

Wrap around

Soda Fountain

Metal policeman

Smudge pot

Nazarene Flyers

Tri cycle

Juns and Dras
[pronounced Jens and Dress]

Seriously, If ya’ll have had enough just say “calf rope.” [uncle] and I shall retire.