your best memory in the 1960 to 1985

[sebastienbuick]

hello, I'm French and I board not known the joy in america is the years.
What was your best memory? Car by car or pub ...
thank you

[62BillT]

Car wise, riding in a circuit downtown on Friday and Saturday nights back in the late '60's and early 70's with a bunch of other hotrods.  Pretty much like American Graffiti.  We would ride around for hours.  Besides all the great cars, we also had great music pouring out of the radio back then. 

 

Welcome to the site by the way.

 

Bill

[padgett]

Running a 63 FI split window in SCCA B/P.

[CarlLaFong]

I was there for the 60s, so I don't remember them. I have been told it was far out

[mrspeedyt]

one of my best memories is running with a bunch of vintage Ferraris Porsches Jaguars Mercedes across the carefree highway above Phoenix (all from the 50s 60s and 70s.)

[JACK M]

I was there for the 60s, so I don't remember them. I have been told it was far out

 

That's me as well.

[sebastienbuick]

hello and thank you for your answers.
it was a bit like in starky and hutch? or gone in 60 second? (I love the view and the life of this is the year ).
What what was like music?
the america te it change much since 1980?

[62BillT]

What what was like music?

 

the america te it change much since 1980?

 

 

The Music was '60's Rock and Roll along with some "oldies" of that time:  Rock-a-Billy, Doo-Wop, etc. 

 

The big change was during the Gas Storage which started in the Fall of 1973, in my opinion anyway.

 

Music and Cars both changed for the worse after that, again in my opinion. 

 

Jobs were hard to find too...

Edited June 9, 2015 by 62BillT (see edit history)

[Larry W]

I agree with 62BillT.

[mrspeedyt]

You must remember... Starsky and Hutch and gone in 60 seconds is fiction. and music... elvis and the Beach boys until 1964 and then the British invasion starting with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. (I grew up in the Los Angeles area back in the 50s and 60s.)

Edited June 9, 2015 by mrspeedyt (see edit history)

[Guest Skyking]

Unfortunately the 50's and 60's will never be repeated.  It was a great time growing up.  I guess that's why we have cruise nights.  We did the same thing back then, only the cops used to throw us out of the Burger Chef's and A&W's.  Now these establishments want the business.  Not everything changes for the better.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Skyking (see edit history)

[61polara]

When I was 3 years old and cried when Dad traded the '50 Pontiac torpedo back on a '56 Buick Special. I climbed up in the package shelf and rolled down into the back seat at the first stop because it didn't have a rear seat back higher than package shelf like the '50 Pontiac.

Edited June 10, 2015 by 61polara (see edit history)

[john2dameron]

Not everyone jumped on the Beatles bandwagon even if we did like Elvis.  Country music was also popular and at its best.  Country music had learnable and understandable lyrics; not all rock and roll did.  My outstanding car memory is 1963 when I bought my first brand new car, a Ford Galaxie 500 XL with bucket seats and a 4-speed.  My next greatest car memory is of cruising around in my '65 Cadillac, also a convertible. 

[Phillip Cole]

Several towns in North Carolina have brought back cruise-ins downtown on Saturday night.

[sebastienbuick]

Hello, and thank you.
I see a little better in this year's .
it's a shame that all this has changed.
It must have been really good .

[auburnseeker]

I too missed it so you are not alone. I've heard alot of great stories from my parents and aunts/ uncles. I get to relive it though, a little, every time I fire up one of my cars and head out on an old back road.  For a moment you can almost get lost in time if everything is just right.  Especially if you are on a rural road in a 30's-40's car.

Edited June 10, 2015 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[28 Chrysler]

In the late 60's I had a "54 Ford wagon, I could not figure out why fathers would not let me take their daughters out  on a date.

In the early 70's doing the St Paul loop thing were people would show their cars off between stop lights. I fond it entertaining beating many mag wheeled jacked up Fords and Chevs  with my green / wood gained "69 Plymouth Sport Suburban wagon with a luggage rack. ( not completely stock)

[JACK M]

Viet Nam, Protests, sit ins and free love.

[trickydicky43richard]

What about the back seat at the Drive In movies, ?? Those were the days.

[Matt Harwood]

Mmmmm, it was 1985, I was 15, and Denise Fontaine and her family moved in next door. Denise, who was just about my age, liked to sun herself in a bikini on the porch across from my bedroom. She and I dated for more than a year and I would get my learner's permit later that summer. I already owned a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible that I'd been putting back together in preparation and it was roadworthy just in time. Yep, 1985 was a very good year.

 

What were we talking about again?

Edited June 11, 2015 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[sebastienbuick]

thank you for your answers. I would have liked to be.
Remember the buick electra circuilation of 225 implementation in 1969? you see a lot?

[Guest Skyking]

What about the back seat at the Drive In movies, ?? Those were the days.

 

When you went to the drive in with a '55 Buick,  who needed the back seat? Ask me how I know......

[sebastienbuick]

I saw there not long ago and several episode starky hutch and I love their lifestyle they .This reminds me of the scene the games driver  2 on playstation 1  (in chicago ...): ).

can still find your place like this?

[cahartley]

thank you for your answers. I would have liked to be.

Remember the buick electra circuilation of 225 implementation in 1969? you see a lot?

 

I can't say I have seen another '69 Buick Electra Limited since I drove the one a friend bought new in '69........ 

[sebastienbuick]

I can't say I have seen another '69 Buick Electra Limited since I drove the one a friend bought new in '69........ 

a friend had to buy a 1969 Electra?

[John348]

I am a little younger then some of the guys here and consider myself to more of a product of the 70's. I grew up in NYC in The Bronx. Music in the 70's was pretty good, never liked that surf music or do-wop stuff, but seeing the Greatful Dead at the Garden were some of the best shows I ever saw, my friends and I were "Dead Heads" and traveled around the east coast to many of the shows, don't remember specifics, then again in the 70's we perfected what the guys from the 60's started.  The biggest let down music wise was Led Zep live at the Garden ..... tracked recorded music does not work when performed live, they were bad live.

 

Car wise best memories in my 56 Chevy did not involve driving

Edited June 15, 2015 by John348 (see edit history)

[John_Maine]

I grew up in the 50's and 60's. We could leave the house early in the morning and not come back all day if we wanted and no one said a thing. I remember riding my bike to the corner store about 1/2 mile away when I was 6 to get a loaf of bread. No one came after my parents for child endangerment. We rode our bikes all around the neighborhood, not fearing anything or anyone - but yes, we knew not to get in a car with a stranger. No phones, no electronics, 2-3 stations on a black and white TV was plenty. No one worried about political correctness gone amuck - but yes, there was plenty of racism, so that's not so good. Cars didn't have seat belts or any safety devices. I remember riding in a car seat that hooked over the seat back. It had a metal bar that came down in front of me and had a steering wheel smack in the middle. I loved cars even then and spent many happy hours "driving" along with whichever parent was driving. When my brother was born and came home from the hospital, my parents laid him in a car bed that fit in the back seat. Things began to change during the late 60's - early 70's during the Vietnam War and really began to change after the oil embargo of 1973 and the oil shortage in 1979. Both just seemed to cause a lot of turmoil and we entered a period of greater government intervention in our lives - some of it for the better but a lot for the worse. Then in the late 80's, we had the first of the more recent housing and banking crises and economic down turns which took 3 years to recover from. Things recovered in 1991-1992 and the 90's were relatively calm. Everything changed for the worse on 9/11/2001 and it's mostly been down hill since then. 

[caddyshack]

The 50's and especially the 60's were the best of times. I graduated in '64 so the 50's were just fun with other kids. But in the 60's we had Vettes, GTO's, 442's, and my favorite, Chevelles. My cowl inducted '70 velle was the wildest ride I can remember. A lot of money was made with that modified machine. I can still remember the down side also, when the insurance companies and auto makers made high horsepower cars too expensive to own. Plus, the days of ordering your own build sheet disappeared and economy cars started to be the norm. The 60's era has my vote for being the best. Lake Street cruising, Porky's and the Sun drive-ins, plus MN's fine Scandinavian women, the best music era, what more could you ask for. The TV show, Route 66, stirred my imagination as a high schooler, and today a white '62 Vette sits in the garage just ready to hit the road again. 

[cahartley]

a friend had to buy a 1969 Electra?

 

He didn't HAVE to.......he came into some money and couldn't spend it fast enough.......   ........that thing sure was a boat though........ 

[Guest Flyer1]

Things have changed a bit , bit of a 70's brat , then discovered fun at the end of the 70's...was there such a decade as the 80's..sheesh .. ...i must have missed it for some obscure reason , don't remember so it must have been ok ...parties/girls/cars/and doing really silly things after parties at really weird hours of the morning after parties/girls/cars etc. etc.  ....then the "fun police" came along and spoiled it all !

[trickydicky43richard]

G'Day John Maine, We have to watch our words but I know what you mean by 9/11, we have the same problem in a much smaller way in Oz, But pity our children in future years. Lets forget that and get back to cars, old bombs?, may they rust in peace.

[LINC400]

GM was into its second round of downsizing in 1985 when I started driving. I could not believe that people would trade in their 1980-84 Cadillac deVille, Buick Electra or others for these tacky little downsized things. Much less a 1976 or earlier true full size car. We all had true full or mid size cars from the 1970's cars in high school and thought they were way better than what you could buy new. I still do.

 

TV had way fewer channels, but somehow there was always decent stuff to watch. Some of it might look cheesy now, but back then it was entertaining, and way better than the ton of reality shows with fake drama they have now. One type of show that is long gone is the variety show like Carol Burnett and Sonny & Cher and others. Those were always entertaining.

 

Music was good. Radio stations now play music from the 1990's to today, but it doesn't sound much different. Back then, you would listen to a station and they would have a few current songs, some acid rock, some disco, and then they would throw in a 1950's doo wop. It was just much more variety.

 

I came to the party a little too late and missed the heyday of the 1950's and 1960's car culture. But I am still glad I got to see the tail end of it in the 70's and '80's. I think it would suck to be a child of more recent generations and have all you childhood memories be about electronic gadgets than actual things and events. 

[Guest Flyer1]

time for a song then

 

may not be every bodies "tune"...but....

[trickydicky43richard]

Flyer One, I was born way before this hippy era, what is he saying ?

It's 9Pm here I must hit the sack,...so catch up tomorrow or better still get cracking on my car instead of sitting in front of this b***dy computer.

(I love the AACA forums,but I must have too much time on my hands? no I do!)

[michel88]

I grew up in the 50's and it was a great time to be a kid.  I was a total car nut and couldn't wait to be 16 and get my license.  In fact I didn't wait for my license and did a little driving anyway.  One day my mom took we to the medical office where she worked and a young intern took me for a ride in his Austin Healey and later let me drive it around the big parking lot.  What a thrill it was and a great memory from about 1958 when I was 14 years old.  Before that my dad took me to a farm and his friend let me drive a tractor, so I had some experience with clutches and shifting gears, which came in handy so I could drive the Healey.  Got my license in 1960 and back then drive in restaurants where you parked and called in your order were big hang outs for young drivers.  Sometimes you would hear the challenge "You want to run it" and a drag race would be very exciting but illegal fun!

[Dosmo]

Best memories of growing up in America?  Well, being born in 1953, much of what I recall happened during the 1960s.  It’s not easy to condense one’s best memories into a few words, but here are a few.

 

1)   My first  Schwinn bicycle presented as a birthday gift at my grandparents’ house

 

2)   Playing in my grandfather’s 53 Oldsmobile sedan in the driveway – the steering wheel had an inset containing the planet earth with a ring around it – I played with the gearshift a lot,  even though I had no idea what I was doing with it

 

3)   Washing the whitewall tires on my uncle’s 52 Chrysler Station wagon – marveling at the expanse of wood adorned with stainless steel strips in the cargo area

 

4)   Watching my uncles pull Grandpa Ownby’s 51 Studebaker truck out of the field where he parked it when he got too old to drive any more – after they got it to their house, they began the process of fixing it up, including a shiny midnight blue paint job

 

5)   Listening to my uncles as they practiced playing songs for their dance band – Uncle Joe had a bass saxophone – he called it his “Gooby” horn

 

6)   Hanging out in my uncle’s garage as he restored his 34 Ford Phaeton – going with him to local salvage yards while he searched for NOS parts in old buildings

 

7)   Getting my first newspaper route – accepting responsibility for delivering the newspaper to my customers – dragging myself out of bed on the wee hours of Sunday mornings for newspaper delivery – walking down dark deserted streets in the early morning hours carrying a satchel of newspapers, somewhat concerned that anyone hiding in the bushes could do away with me, if they wished

 

8)   Turning 16 years of age and getting my driver’s license – being given strict instructions by my mother to stay in my neighborhood and, to NOT, for any reason, cross the four lane highway and go into those neighborhoods – and then doing it anyway

 

9)   Ruining the engine in my first hand-me-down car – replacing the engine in that car, beginning a long stretch of sinking money into a worn-out old hulk that was just an exercise in frustration.

 

10)       Being mortified when my dad presented me with a $75 1960 Studebaker Lark Station Wagon – the most uncool car imaginable.  Pulling into the high school parking lot next to Mustangs, Camaros, Fairlanes, Coronets – cruising the drive-in restaurants in the Lark – stopping in front of some of those same cars, revving up the engine as if to challenge them to a drag race – laughing like crazy at the expressions on their faces, which seemed to be saying “Surely he’s not serious”

 

This could go on indefinitely, but these are a few of the things that I seem to reflect on the most from the “growing up” period.  And, it was absolutely wonderful.

Edited June 16, 2015 by 54nuyorkrwagon (see edit history)

[dei]

Maaannny memories..... But the year was 1969 and we were taking a summer vacation, 8,000 miles total, across the US, up the Pacific Coast Highway to Canada, crossing the ferry to Vancouver Island staying with my Great Aunt exactly when Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon, then heading east along the Upper Trans Canada Highway to home doing this in a 10 year old used car dad had purchased one month before we left! That car was one 1959 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight four door hardtop which had low mileage use.

 

One moment that stands out was going across the Nevada desert in this car which had no air conditioning. By then it had more than proved its dependability and watching the maps (no GPS then) we had to go 200 miles before the next motel stop (and relief from the heat). The road was long and straight and with three kids in the back seat, Dad started to up the speed till I looked over his shoulder to see the speedometer. This car has a drum type unit that starts out being green till about 30mph, then turns orange till about 65mph and then turns red. All I saw was "full red" across that thing and we were doing what showed as 115MPH! Imagine 100 degree air hitting you in the face going that speed at 14 years of age!

 

Fortunately for Dad traffic was nil and there were no cops!   

Edited June 14, 2015 by dei (see edit history)

[John348]

Thinking further about it the coolest memories I had from the 60's  one was as a Cub Scout we went on a tour of Grumman Bethpage Complex and I had gotten to see through the observation windows the Lunar Module for the Apollo 11 mission, The other was Dad taking me to Yankee Stadium to see Mickey Mantle's Retirement Day, It was called "A Day To Remember" everyone who attended was given an 8" X 10" foldout photo, I still have mine. There was real long standing ovation several minutes  

[countrytravler]

When 9 of us went to Woodstock in 69. Borrowed my dads 64 Corvair Greenbrier van because we all couldn't fit in my 63 Corvair Spider with the top down.

I was 17 at that great time period.

[Robert Street]

Possibly the rolling stones 1965 concert in Greensboro NC and being part of NASCAR groupies but not being a driver as one of our members was. Oh, I also remember getting my drivers license in 1961 in a new 61 348 Impala! I didn't make it to Woodstock as some of my friends did!

On a not so happy note I had two friends killed inVietnam in the 60's. I was born in 46!

Robert

Edited June 17, 2015 by Robert Street (see edit history)