“These kids don’t go cruising anymore because they don’t have to.”
Why would they? WE cruised because there were cool looking interesting cars — some works of art IMO. Look at the boring generic crap on the roads today. They all look ALIKE.
Explain street take overs
That's true but not in the scope we recall. Unless you were in Southern California, there were a few cool hotrods but far more rusting beaters and regular cars. We just didn't see them as they were background noise to us.
A lot of Pintos, Chevettes, 6 cylinder Camaros instead of Z28s, 4 cylinder mustangs (and Mustang IIs). Most of the cars, even the fixed up hotrods, were more than 10 years old. Which is why teenagers could afford them.
A lot of those kids were out mingling with friends in a world that was changing right in front of them. Bruce Springsteen captured it well in 'Born to Run'.
Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Beyond the palace, hemi-powered drones
Scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
The highways jammed with broken heroes
On a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
But there's no place left to hide
Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Oh, someday girl, I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go, and we'll walk in the sun
But 'til then, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Our memories of cruising ignore a lot of the bleakness. If you watch parts of a documentary like "Heavy Metal Parking Lot", you see young adults driving to concerts and hanging out in the parking lot. They look as banged up as the cars do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBryTebK2Og
They were doing the best they could in a stark situation. Kids these days have the option of connecting with like-minded others through the internet and their phones.