Sadly, I wrecked it in '79... :-(
Posted on 06/28/2017 3:37:15 PM PDT by NFHale
When I turned 16 (1964) my dad had a beautiful 1956 Oldsmobile Starfire 98 convertible that was automatic with an “S” (super) gear for passing cars! “What a Cruisemobile” !!!
I had one in the Galaxie. Worked pretty darned well, to be honest.
As I was born in early 60s, I missed the 50s, etc. But when I grew up, rowhome Philly was still a decent place to live.
Every time I hear Junior Walker and the AllStars, “What Does it Take”, I’m back in Philly, it’s a midsummer early evening, and Mom is calling me home for dinner.
I do so miss it all...
Wolfe was right... You really can’t go home again.
I learned to drive on a 1970? (+/- a year or two) Checker Marathon: Chevy V8, 350, 4bbl. That thing was a beast. Biggest vehicle I personally have owned is my ‘99 Ford Ranger ...
Frigging gorgeous... love the fire engine red.
You drive down the street, it’s like “Damn....MACHINE...!”
Buddy of mine had a ‘70 street Nova, 350 worked, trip deuces on it. Monster car. White, black rally stripes. He lived WAY down the other end of the block (35 rowhomes, each side) and you could hear that mother start up EVERY morning.
What’s like that today?
Wherever you work, go to the window, look into the parking lot, and try to identify the FIRST car you see.
Aside from the instantly recognizable retro Camaro or retro Mustang, you’ll see a homogenous mass of Toyohundaihondsubabarunissankia BLOBS with ZERO personality, ZERO identities, ant-like ... SAMENESS.
It’s pathetic and ridiculous.
Give me an old 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge... a 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator... a 1971 Torino GT... a 1969 PLymouth Roadrunner... a 1970 AMX Javelin... a 1967 or 68 Mustang GT Fastback (had two of them), 1971 Mach One, 1969 Camaro RS...
Anything that says “American Muscle”, where an average guy worked all week in a factory could by a decent street machine for cheap and still feed his family, have something FUN to drive on the weekends.
Hell, even the standard Station Wagons of the day had big block V8s in them and could light up the tires - AND had good looks too (some of them, anyway :^).
Eh... I’m just getting old, crotchety, and a little drunk right now, I guess...
But I really miss that old Detroit Steel.
Sadly, I wrecked it in '79... :-(
I liked the Eagles when Joe Walsh came along. Hotel California is a STUNNING album.
Brian Setzer of Stray Cats fame is an amazing rockabilly guitarist.
Always liked his style, as I play the guitar too.
Pontiac was an Awesome car company.
Even their sedans were frigging muscle cars... they had Lion Hearts under the hood.
Just another good thing gone.
“...We’ll all be back together again soon enough. ...”
Lord, I hope so.
And with some of the crew I knew, what a party it’ll be... Make “Animal House” look like a kindergarten outing...
That’s awesome. I remember the FM option was a big upgrade. Here in southern Indiana, there wasn’t much in the way of FM stations available. Of course we had country stations, but who wanted to listen to them?
Oldsmobiles rocked.
The Cutless 442 was a beast, but as I said earlier regarding Pontiacs, even the sedans had serious Big Balls on the road.
And the ride was beautiful, like floating...
And all that was at a price that Pop could afford and still keep a roof over your head, the lights on, and food in your belly.
Somebody f*cked all that up along the way...
Got a 92 Bonneville SE sitting in the drive now, waiting for overhaul. Sweet old girl, but she likes money... Lord, does she like money :^)...
1969 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ with the 428 390 HP 118 inch wheelbase and the biggest doors and longest hood I’ve ever seen on a vehicle. Automatic with the console shifter, first one I ever owned with buckets and a console shift.
My granddad introduced me to those two. Love their music. We tore apart two old jukeboxes with some really old stuff on 45’s, we have like a hundred or so old 45’s dating way back to the Sixties.
I didn’t have my Deuce and a Quarter for too long, but it was a great car. Only drove it around town, no road trips. I was young and didn’t have any money then.
RE FM COnverter:
It was like a new world of music when I plugged that thing in.
First station I got was WYSP 94 FM. Album Oriented Rock (AOR). Just amazing, even with the single farting dash speaker.
Later on, in the Chevelle, I got some second hand Jensen speakers and it was just amazing.
You kind of rule the world when you’re 19 or 20... and you have a muscle car.
Like the Hooters song says “She was all I ever wanted, and I was all she ever had,... and we would carry each other through times both good and bad...”
An amazing time in your life... you wish you could freeze frame it.
1967 Plymouth Fury, 4 door. It was a boat and a tank all in one.
L
I’m an OLD SCHOOL Rocker...
Hell I was already out of the Army and had kids by then.
Give me the Stones, Eagles and the Beatles. They topped the charts in 1969 when I went into basic training.
“...Checker ...”
OMG, I remember those... they used them as taxis. They looked 1950s even though they were made up into the 70s. Cool cars... and that Chevy 350 was a workhorse engine... the yeoman engine for the working day.
They put that in everything. And with a little work and NOT a lot of cash, you could turn the 350 into a street monster.
Ford’s 351 was like that too. I had a 351 Cleveland in my 71 Mach one, had an Edelbrock manifold, Ed Iskenderian cam kit (the “radical cam” as we called it” and headers with side pipes to let it breathe. Monster mustang...
You think about what those cars are worth today... versus what you sold it for.... Ugh....
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