seansolds

So today I watched one of my favorite movies of all time called dazed and confused.
The movie is premised on a last day of school in May of 1976, in preparation for the summer. I was 7 years old in 1976 and grew up near midway airport in Chicago. My memory still serves somewhat well, my mother drove a early 70s ford econoline van, she would sometimes let me sit on her lap and let me drive down the alley before school some mornings. Turns out she was part of the Midwest Van club back in the day. I used to ride my bike to the airport when the Goodyear blimp would come around, I think for Indy 500 events. That was the first year I took a bottle rocket near my eye and survived. And my grandfather would pick us up from school in his 1973 caprice 2dr black on black on black it had the small block 400 in it. He sparked my interest for being a gear head. What a great time to exist! Anyways, I suggest to see the movie if you have not and post what you where doing at that time. And how many cutlasses you've seen in the movie? I'll let you know when I watch it again...Sean

brownbomber77

For the record. And surprisingly, there are no 76-77 cutlasses in that movie. It's my favorite movie.....ever. Most of the cars are from a few years earlier, but it is A small town in Texas.

64Rocket

What is the name of the movie?
Who stars in it?


Ok, read the post word for word and found the name. my bad

Gene

BangScreech4-4-2

I was the same age as the kids in that movie, and my high school experience was VERY similar, even though we were on the Canadian Wet Coast instead of in Texas. Except our cars weren't quite as nice.

Diego

I don't "remember 1976" but I am sure I remember some things from that year. That's when my dad bought his Lincoln. I don't remember the Bicentennial but I do remember the memorabilia, such as a kid in summer camp with a "1976" T-shirt.

My neighbors also moved next door in 1976 - they had moved from Williamsport, PA. The Mrs. had a light green 1973 Le Mans coupe and the hubby had a Top Banana 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible.

My mom had a 1972 Buick Estate wagon. Our family friend had a '74 Cutlass wagon. My babysitter had a 1967-68 Cougar. And someone with whom my dad worked had a 1968-69 Skylark - I had admired them because the taillights looked they were going to be hidden from the angle of the bumper.

seansolds

@ 64Rocket, the name of the movie is Dazed and Confused which may have debuted Mathew McConaughey, Ben Affleck and several other actors. Movie was released in 1993.

66luvr

I remember 1976. My first divorce was that year. Running around in a 57 Chevy I had built, BBC 396/402 375hp, Muncie m-20, 57 Pontiac rear with 488 gear and posi. Having a ball in 1976.
Sorry for the pic size, I scanned a photo and have no idea how to make it larger.

slantflat

I was 9 in 1976. I grew up in Park Forest, which is just south of Midway airport. My Mom drove a 74 Mazda RX4 wagon(which my parents bought new in 76) and my Dad's company car was an AMC Matador wagon.


Really liked Illinois' Bicentennial license plates. I think I still have a few around somewhere.

seansolds

I would also like to add I live with my cousin who was more like a brother to me. He being three years older and favorite with my grandparents he got to enjoy the new year model Schwin Stingray, banana seat, blue in color and I think it was the 5 speed with chrome hurst like shifter for his birthday..that was a nice bike! All I got was a Happy Days Fonzie T-shirt that said Ayyyyy on it. Lol. But did happen to get for Christmas the Mattel Version of the Eagle space craft from the series Space 1999 which I still have but missing a couple parts. And Tyco released its Glow Santa Fe train set. I still have and appreciate them.

wr1970

March 1976 bought a 1965 GTO 4 speed on the floor midnight watchman blue. Didn't know at the time but it had a olds motor in it. It was a 330 found out later. I got married dec 26 1975 and taught my wife how to drive that GTO. We own it for six months. I bought the car back three years ago as a basket case with all the parts even the olds motor. It had been setting in a field since 1977. The motor had a blown head gasket.The floors are bad the trunk is bad some rust around the front windshield. The odometer reads 49,000 miles. It is a PHS documented GTO. The wife thinks i am nuts to buy this car and rebuild it.

RonFX

Guys:
My memories of 1976 are WAY Different, what little I can remember! Nuff Said
Thanks, Ron

toymobile

In 1976 I bought a 64 GTO conv 4 speed for $85.oo and drove it out of the guys back yard, That was the best deal EVER for me, Wish I could find more like that. I was 34 at the time, found SEVERAL "get it out of the yard and you can have it" Deals, Those were the good old days for me.

oldcutlass

The late 70's was a great time for us kids. You could buy any used BB muscle car for around $500-1500 dollars. Everyone thought the gas crisis was the end of the world and were dumping their so called gas guzzlers. If we only knew then what we know now...

Greg Rogers

I went in the Navy in Feb. 1976. Thought at the time it was the worst mistake I ever made. Turned out to be the best thing I could have done. I went to San Diego from Michigan. Bought a 67 442 from a small car lot in National City Ca. for $500.00. That seemed like big bucks to me as the cars I had bought in Michigan were less money. But much less rust on the California cars.

Macadoo

I know of the movie but haven't seen it. Maybe it's time.
I was just entering High School in '76. My dad had just bought his 442, '71 or '72, not sure, brown with white stripes. The next year he bought my mother her 4 door Supreme, a '74 I think (the car I learned to drive in).
I was in awe of the cars pulling in to the HS parking lot; late 60s Camaros, Cougar XR7s, Barracudas, Trans Ams, Chargers and Challengers, you name it. And back then they weren't classics, just hot rods. We even had "The Gig"; I think it was a Kips curb-side burger joint where all the rodders hung out. Bought my first car in '79; a 1967 Convertible Firebird with a two speed and 326 motor. We had a long, maybe a mile or more, straight, flat road in the country where we used to race. At the end of the road was a gravel company and the owner used to keep a short pile of pea gravel at the end of the road....just in case.
I want to say that "those were the days" but the truth is we were way to into drugs and booze to appreciate our lives.
They were good times though. My only regret is that I sold my vert for $800 of tuition money.

TripDeuces

I graduated in 1976 so that movie has some special meaning. I can even place each character in the movie to real life people I knew and grew up with back then. My friend Dennis even had a Duster like the one in the movie. It's classic.

Koda

I had a red Schwinn like that. We gave it to a museum.

Tedd Thompson

I'm from the American Graffiti era and find it interesting how a movie can inspire and bring you back to your youth. Without that movie I probably would not have gotten the Mistress. Bought originally in 1977 With the inspiration generated bu American Graffiti movie...Tedd

m371961

1976. Out of high school in 74. Just beginning a career job, got married and bought a house. 19 years old. The job and house I kept for 31 years. The wife about 2.
Oh, was driving a 71 Duster, 4 speed bench seat.

Diego

It's suburban Austin - hardly a small town.

redoldsman

I turned 30 that year and I remember the Bicentennial. I remember the bicentennial minute where they would have like a one minute spot about and event in the history of America. I remember watching the July 4th festivities from Washington and Ne York by the Statue of Liberty. That was the year Jimmy Carter was elected President and so I do not get in trouble with the admins, I will not comment on that.

seansolds

How great it is to read all the unique experiences you have had! Thank you for them, I hope there will be more.

oldcutlass

My HS days were a cross between American Graffiti and Animal House.

Oldsmaniac

1976 I bought my 67 442 vert 4spd. A year out of a 2 year community college and I was looking for my way in life, come to think of it I still am!

Macadoo

American Graffiti House? Sign me up!

steverw

In 1976 I was 22, going to surgical technician school. I bought a new 1976 Grand Prix and kept it 6 months. It was a very nice car, loaded with all options, but i didnt like it because I couldnt work on it. It didnt need work I just like to work on cars, so I bought my 65 Corvette Coupe and work on it I did. I paid $3300. for it. Still have it and its in better shape than its ever been since I have owned it. I smoked alot of reefer... lol, maybe thats why i cant remember much today. I had a Tahoe Turquoise 4 speed 442 when I was 19, it was a really fast car. Blew the engine, rebuilt it then sold it and bought a 70 Toyota Carona wagon. Wish I still had the 442. 76 was a good year, didnt make much money going to school, but i survived. It was definately the good ol days.

seansolds

I think this thread is great. We know a little more about each other.
I've been waiting for Eric to chime in. I'm always interested to read his posts.

MDchanic

Eric's made a comment or two already, but around here it seems as though there's always room for another Eric to say something as well.




1976 - Everyone painted the fire hydrants on their blocks red white and blue.

Modestly-skilled art teachers directed their minimally-skilled students to paint hideous murals on the walls of my school, and every other school in the land.

Every sale at every used car dealer and mattress store used the words "Spirit of '76."

Every placemat, calendar, flyer, and other throwaway had some sort of Betsy Ross flag on it somewhere.

Dad drove a '75 Suburban with stripes, a CB, and an air horn with a lanyard-pull.
Mom finally sold her 289, 3 on the column '67 Fairlane wagon, and bought a '68 Pontiac A-body wagon with actual air conditioning (for $75).

I think it was the year we were cleaned out twice at my mom's house by junkies - I lost my little Sony black and white TV that I used to watch "When Things were Rotten" and "Charlie's Angels" on, as well as anything else of value I had ever owned. They stuffed their faces on dates and chocolate we had had on the coffee table and left a mess. They drove away in a dark blue '70 or '71 Grand Prix with "Blue Angel" written on the side. The police never found them.

Mom would often take us to movies at the Quad Cinemas, the Art, and the Waverly, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and the Marx Brothers.

I did have one of those Schwinn Apple Crate bikes - candy apple red, with the five speed stick shift (better not stop short, unless you want to be a star at choir practice), front drum brake, speedometer, and shock absorbers (still have it stuffed in the top of Dad's garage, too - you never know, they may be worth something some day...).

The next year, I went to high school. It was the height of the punk and new wave rock era - CBGB's, Max's, etc. I used to spend a lot of time at a blues bar called Dan Lynch's on 2nd Ave and 13th St. I could drink in bars at 13, and did, usually vodka, because I still didn't like the taste of alcohol, and it had the least flavor.

In high school I had a girlfriend for a few months, who, at 16, worked for Penthouse magazine after school. One day she took me to the office and introduced me to Bob Guccione. There was nothing weird about this.

In high school, I got my first car in 1979, a '71 Celica, which I spent six months fixing up before I got my license, then wrecked in ten days. Then I took the insurance money and bought a Chevelle SS for $550.

Never did see Dazed and Confused, probably because I was busy living some version of it.

- Eric

seansolds

@MD..Eric, like the others I knew you would have something interesting to say. Thanks for posting! Would have been like watching a Stooges short without actually seeing Moe Howard!

MDchanic

Why, I oughtta...

TK-65

I was born in 1976.

hookem horns

Dazed and Confused was filmed in Austin but supposedly based on Linkletter growing up in Huntsville, TX. He must have a thing for old GTO's because of the Judge in D&C and the blue one in Boyhood was his personal car.

I also grew up in that era and would have been the same age of the incoming freshmen in the movie. Maybe there were some Hollywood embellishment, but think I knew someone like every character in it.

BTW, the drive-in in D&C is now owned by a car guy and hosts monthly meet-ups with bands and outdoor movies (car themed, of course).

Longhorncutlass

Yes, I was 11 in 1976. I remember everything being about the bicentennial. And of course we had great TV shows then like The Carol Burnett Show, Mary Tyler Moore show, The Bob Newhart Show, Columbo.

ELY442

I was 7 years old living in Bronx, NY. I remember when my father bought a 1976 Plymouth Valiant with the slant 6. Car went over 200,000+ miles. You couldn't kill those motors. A slice of pizza was only 45 cents.

DarrylJ

I remember 1976, I was 11 at the time. My older brother Mike is 9 years older than me. I remember every car he had since he was 16 as well as my parents cars. Mikes first car was a 64 Plymouth Sport Fury. I never see those cars anywhere! After that was a 69 Chevelle SS396 L78 375HP car. That car was all black, bench seat 4 speed car. Next was a 71 Demon 340. Then in 76 he went new,76 Malibu Classic Landeau Coupe. Mom and Dad followed his lead with a 77 Malibu Classic Wagon, still don't see them either. They were all over back then.

allyolds68

In was in 7th grade in 76.


Had to do the obligatory Bicentennial Play. I'm pretty sure I was a British Soldier although I'm not sure why it's not a "Red Coat"


My parents had a 72 Grand Torino Wagon and a 76 Honda Civic. My dad's 63 VW Beatle met an untimely end in 76 when a neighbor head on-ed him on the single lane road that they lived on (my dad was stopped when he got hit). I got my 68 Supreme from a great aunt who had alzheimer's and started driving in 79. By 81 it was wrapped around a telephone pole.

Macadoo

"

You don't here the word "reefer" much anymore. In my day it was either "reefer" or "pot". And we would get "fried". Lol, what the heck was that supposed to mean!?

CLass of '80? We must be the same age.

I stuck my '67 Firebird underneath a 1976 special bicentennial addition Chevy Blazer (that was sitting in his driveway). That wasn't a good night
Couple months later I found an entire front clip and was back on the road.

And BTW, in '79 one could buy a can of pop and a pack of smokes and get change back from their buck. Gas was 34 cents a gallon

droldsmorland

In 76 Dad had a 71 CS. Saturn Gold poly over black nice car. No SSs though, tried to talk him into them but he was content with the hub caps...bla. He also had a 69 Chevy custom van with with the iron duke between the seats and 3 on the tree...custom paint, **** carpet and diamond tuft through out. Remember the Van craze! Neighbor had a 76 Spirit of America Impala white with blue and red accents. I think it had truck wheels on it if I remember, white wheels with a blue & red pin stripe at the OD and truck center caps. Cool car. Dick had a 69 4 speed lime light green poly GTO. That was a nice one, still has it and its still in good shape. Other neighbors on the street had cool cars...68 Charger in maroon pistol grip. 66 Hemi Belvedere, love those slab sided Mopars to this day because of that one. Jack had a 70 Challenger with a Hemi. He was a serious car guy this thing had a blown Hemi. Remember every detail. No hood with a 8-71 and flycatcher with steam rollers. His winter cars were always mid 60s Cadillacs. Jim had a boat with a rammed 455 Olds Inboard. Used to love to hear that thing. He also raced cars and had a killer 69 or 70 nova with a 427 deuces tunnel rammed 4 speed. Straight headers down the street to test in tune. Neighbors hated Jim for that all that, dad and I just smiled. Its a wonder why I am a car guy with all these cool neighbors Not to mention dads array of Oldsmobiles. Oh and cant forget Uncle Sam he always had something cool from vettes to Mach 1s. Yes I remember 76 well.

dredluxx

wow. I don't really have anything of value to add except that I feel really left out, hearing stories about those old enough to live in a generation I swear up and down I was supposed to be a part of. Its obvious that i'm probably the whipper-snapper here.. Matter fact, during the year in question, my mother was still a baby and my father wasn't old enough to produce sperm. The killer part is, the majority of my identity comes from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Music and cars is mostly my identity, so you can see where i'm coming from. Raised in an "old school" environment, I was actually taught to give people the proper respect, look people in the eyes, have a firm handshake, and dont do to other which i wouldn't want done to me. I'm somewhat opposed to certain technological advances of today.. and strangely, owning a car with a carburetor is just the coolest thing ever to me, even though it's not a big deal to most people and I read about people switching from carbs to EFI, etc.

My mother was a single parent, and loved cars. She had a vintage Trans Am, Camaro, a 90's Thunderbird, and a Mustang which she still has, however she only knew how to do basic maintenance, and so now some of you may know why i ask many questions and seem really "slow" some times -- because anything i've ever learned about cars other than basic maintenance, i learned by myself, or from people on car forums just like y'all.

In a complete plot twist, had i been a teenager in 1976.. I could imagine myself working some B.S. job, saving up for Dodge Monaco, Caprice, Delta 88, Chevelle, or Cutlass, so i could play Jimi Hendrix and Bill Withers at the highest volume, chasing every piece of *** that walked, and high out my mind constantly.

seansolds

These stories are priceless! And a lot of them are funny as well! You are all a great group of folks I wish I could meet personally! I hope there will be more stories.