30th Anniversay of American Graffiti (Post your memories)

[Cadillacin Marcus]

"Where were you in 62?" It was 1973 and a virtual unknown named George Lucas released a super small budget film with an even smaller shooting schedule and a cast of virtual unknowns that would launch very sucessful acting careers for many.
I could go on and on about trivial facts etc.as alot of you old timers on here will remember.Axle and I were about the biggest A/G nerds that ever lived I believe! haha.. I posted this because Little or nothing I think was ever mentioned about this year being the 30th Birthday of in my opinion was the coolest movie about the period.Post your thoughts,quotes,memories,pics whatever you got."Paradise Road"

[burndup]

I liked the scene where the freako in the hockey mask massacred the drunk frat-boys with a chrome-plated cheese grater and a light-duty masterlock on a chain... wait, we talkin about the same movie?

[RocketDaemon]

one of the first movies i got really attached on when i was a kid i must have watched it like 10 times when i was 7 or something i was kinda in love with that girl that rode with milner when i was like 9...

[cross spring]

eh up marcus tis one cool film ifirst saw it on a black &white portablbe telly in a caravan on holiday ingreat yarmouth! .when i was about 6 ,35 now think their might have been an influence in that film.it took 3years to build{and most of my money}hope you like my ride .keith.

[Reverendcolin]

It's me....but not my car.

http://www.imgmag.org/images/cyoung67/me2.jpg

[RileyRacing]

That's how I found this place. Watched it this past February, and decided to do some research when it was over on the internet. Typed "AG" into google and viola! Here I am.

Jay

[TheRev]

i was 16 ,driving a 1957 thames,hot rod black with red pinstriped flames and a beefed up 4 banger.the Canadian premiere of "AG" was at the "New West Drive In".me and my best bud Bill went every night for a week! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gifknew it off by heart by the end of that week.still remember the parking lot being just stuffed with cool cars every night and everyone smokin the tires when they left.one of my fave memories! thanx Marcus.
the Reverand

[DrJ]

The first time I saw it when I first saw the piss yaller chicken coop I thought to myself, "Self. why the fuck did they do that to the radiator and those stoopid headers!
Other than that I thought it was cool because they didn't make ALL the kids out to be a bunch of hoodlums, just the % who probably would have been. A year or so ago my wife bought me the AG video and we sat down to watch it...A ways through it I said "don't you really like this part? to which she said "I don't know, I've never seen it!....After all I was only nine when it came out"....

Sadly,
I think the movie marked the point when "nostalgia" and the concept of "collectibles" became mainstream. There had always been antique shops but they dealt in actual 100+ year old antiquities, not stuff that peoples parents had bought and currently had around the house. Now every fuckin' thing is a "collectible" stuff is sold as and claims on it's packaging ads that it is a "collectible" whatever...
And it really hurts to go into an antique & collectibles stoer and see dinnerwear being sold as "antique" that you yourself bought a set of in the 60s!
Now you cant' eve get quality old furniture in a Goodwill Store" because they put everything they even suspect of being actually "old" in their "collectibles" section and price it up higher than even the antique stores do. A friend went into the local Goodwill and saw a slightly rusty hand crank can opener that was marked up way high. He told them that's crazy because they still sold the same can opener across the street at Sav-on drug store. He got a shrug, so he went over to Sav-on and bought one and brought it and the reciept back, that was worth two shrugs... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I guess I'm tired of so many people instead of saying "Oh, That would be a nice treasure to own" They say "Oh, You can get a lot of money for that!" like the money has become the collectible?
They aren't really "collectibles", they are "sellables"!

[Kevin Lee]

Errr...yeah. I liked that part of the movie too, DrJ. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Cword]

First time I saw it I went away with the question "What gives with the lousy hood gap on the Pharoahs Merc?" It was good, but not good enough to make me want all the action figures.

Other than that most of my memories of the movie have been replaced with scenes of rooms full of old fat guys reminiscing while watching it, and line ups of old guys looking for autographs at ISCA shows.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Nads]

I saw it in '75 or so at a little theater in Burnley, Lancashire. This arsehole sitting behind me sang along to every song very loudly.
It's a great movie, almost as good as The Cars That Ate Paris.

[wideglide74]

On a very recent road trip from La to Vancouver I decided to cruise the strip in Modesto with my wagon as a special AG tribute, I was also starving and hoping for a little mexican restaurant, all I found where Bail Bond offices and pu trucks. I spied several brite neon storefronts and assuming they where restaurants I headed toward them only to be disappointed by yet another bail bond office. Maybe I should have been looking for "The Fall Guy" instead of A BAD ASS black chevy gasser.
Favorite part of the film is when Milner kills his eng by dumping the the clutch before he jumps out of his deuce to save Falfa and "Suzy" (really).

[Fat Hack]

I first saw that movie in high school...ina class called "Film Study". I pissed the teacher off by writing my report on the movie all about the cars and how I thought Milner's car woulda flat got SPANKED by Falfa's 55!!!

[Sailor]

My first memory of it was as a little kid. It was showed latenight at norw. tv, but I wasnt allowed to see it by my mother who thought it was a bit "unsuitable" (it must have been the orgy-margarine-goatkiller part..). I raised hell, and was allowed to see the final race after all. Liked the 32, dug the 55. Saved up to buy the Revell kit of the 32 shortly after.

[BLAKE]

Obviously a great movie, but I cannot talk to authenticity since I wasn't around in '62. However, the one item that appears to be dead-on is Toad's order at Mel's:

"Double Chubby Chuck, Mexi-Cali Chili-Barb, two orders for french fries... and cherry Cokes".

Nobody writes that well - those gotta be real! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[PEDDRO]

Where the hell's axle?

[40StudeDude]

Where was I in 1962?

I was in the midwest, putting my 5 year old 1957 Chevy up against nearly every car and every smart-ass that thot the were that baddest thing on the streets...they lost.

I was cruising "Main Street USA" in a 1957 Chevy in Fremont, NE; Omaha, NE; Lincoln, NE and Sioux City, IA and every little small town in between that had a Main Street

I was out-running cops that loved to hand out "defective" tickets to cars with dual exhausts or thot we were a little out of hand doing burn-outs and drag races out on county asphalt roads or in town stop-light to stop-light "speed contests."

Hell, I lived "AG"...

Way many years before it became a cult movie.

And have no regrets...and lots of memories!
R-

[Brootal]

40SD.. You ARE Bob Falfa. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Me... I was only 6 when it came out. Grew up watching Happy Days and loved Grease when it came out. Didn't see AG until much later in life. What surprised me the most about the movie was actually how GOOD it was. I was expecting the usual crap, no plot, spot the cool car kind of movie.

Instead I got a great story with good acting, some absolutely classic lines ("I'm lookin' for a piss yeller Deuce Coupe") AND cool cars. What more could you want.

Long Live American Graffiti. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[fatassbuick]

I first saw it as a 12 year old kid in Las Vegas. I remember getting mad becasue my parents wanted me to go to bed and I argued with them that I wanted to see this movie (it was on ABC or something like that). Maybe the cars weren't perfect to people who were around in '62, but they sure as hell were to me. That's when I decided that I hadto have a 5 window coupe one day (and also found out that my dad had owned a '31 5w with an Olds in it around the same time as the movie's based on). It was the coolest movie I had ever seen, right up there with the Spaghetti westerns I would record with an audio recorder.

The rest of the school year, I slicked my hair back and wore white T-shirts. What a geek.

I beg to differ about the movie making everything slightly old become an antique, although it does ad fuel to the fire. I think that as soon as everything became disposeable and made of plastic, those big, heavy kitchen appliances that lasted forever and big cars that were designed for looks AND reliability seemed pretty damned cool. Very few things of that sort of quality have been mass produced in my lifetime. Go count how many Vegas and Reliant Ks are still on the road as opposed to heavy assed 50s cars.

I guess that was $.03.

[OGNC]

I must have been 5 or 6 sitting in the back seat of my Dad's 1967 Camaro eating popcorn out of a brown paper bag (my mom made it and we brought it with us) and drinking Pepsi out of a glass bottle. We were at the Campus Drive-In (corner of College and El Cajon Blvd in San Diego) and it had this giant neon majorette twirling a baton out front. I rember thinking how the cars in the movie reminded me of all of my dad's friend's cars. When I was a kid I loved going to the drive-in with my parents. I can tell you what cars we were in when we went and what movies that we saw up until about 1978 or 1979.

[Curly]

What is this with parents not allowing kids see this movie? I guess I'm priveleged in this dept. My dad watched it everytime he could catch it on TV and come tell me that it was on...no matter what I was doing. On the other hand whenever a Billy Jack flick came on we had to go to bed.

To this day if he sees it in the TV listings he gives me a call and says "Grafitti's is on tonight..." and this leads into what is your favorite part....and your mom and I got married in '62...Your uncle had a '55 that would whip the shit out of that '55 in the movie and we never had rollbars in our cars, we ran out of money after we were done with the motor...them coupes never run as good as that yellow one...

Rippin' the ass end out of the cop car has to be one of my favorite scenes. And seeing Mackenzie Phillips' firm, pert and pointy boobs in a that white T-shirt gave me pubescent wood!

We also dig on Hollywood Knights the same way...pisses me off that Danza could'nt drive a stick and "Huffed" a motor at the stop light scene in that one...WHO"S THE BOSS and CHARLES IN CHARGE is more like what he should stick to. That little homo gets the best looking costars though.

Now for a little secret....I've never seen Two Lane Blacktop...is it really that good?

[TV]

All I know is I wanted to be out in the tolies with the girl that toad was with and the bottle Old Harper boy did that bring back old memories.--TV http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[PEDDRO]

I only saw it two years ago!

"Hey, who cut the cheese??!!"

[Bigcheese327]

I always thought that both the Falfa car and the Milner car could have been done a lot better than they were. I do appreciate that they were on a budget, though. I always thought Milner should have been running an Olds with dual-quads or three-deuces and that the car he lost to should've been a stock 425 horse Impala SS. Sort of a symbol for the end of the hot rod era. With that hokey Man-A-Fre I'd think there was a fuelie Vette somewhere in the valley that could have already blown him off.

Still and all it's my favorite car movie. I also like Gone in Sixty Seconds. Hollywood Knights is just dumb and I've never seen Two Lane Blacktop though it sounds pretty far-fetched.

[Pigiron]

"Peel out! I just love it when guys peel out!" That Candy Clark was one Boss chick! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[fab32]

I graduated from HS in '62 so that movie has always been kind of special to me. My dad was in the Air Force and we were stationed in Michigan (Oscoda, Wertsmith AFB) about 200 miles north of Detroit.It was a small town and the air base made up about 1/2 of the popuation. I had moved there from Lincoln, Nebraska (Lincoln AFB) home of Speedway Motors, Americas oldest speed shop (yea, right).
I was driving a '29 Ford coupe with the engine out of my grandfathers 1947 Ford School bus. I drove the coupe with the stock engine in it from Oscoda across Canada to NY and down to Pennsylvania to spend the summer on my grandfathers farm where we transplanted the engine out of the bus in his farm maintainance shop. The bus BTW was the one I rode to school in first and second grade. I digress.
Anyway, AG sure brought back menories, I saw it when it first came out and could relate to many things depicted in it.

Frank

[=mike=]

i remember I never really liked that movie , and all the best cars were only on the screen for a second or two . . . the cars that were cruising when dryfus was looking for the girl in the T-bird . that crazy 40 ford I think , with teh scallops . and the scooter was cool . the dopey girl that goes for the ride with the kid in the impala was cool coz she was a slut and liked to drink " a pint of the old stuff " . thats what i remember http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[A-Bomb]

except for a few dragstrip scenes, TWO LANE BLACKTOP, is a terrible movie. If you never have seen it, dont expect too much- Maybe you are suppose to smoke a little "wacky weed" before watching it. I didnt and I was very disappointed...Of course I am sure I will get chastised for this review..LOL

[AHotRod]

I got laid in my '40 Ford during the movie.......the fenderwell headers heat migrating through the shifter hole keep us toasty......

[Deuce Roadster]

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



In 1973........I drove a black 55 Chevrolet 2 door post 150 (complete with a BBC) to the movie show.


I was so impressed that in 1988.....A-Bomb and I rented the largest indoor arena in our town and paid Wolfman Jack 10 grand to come and host the indoor car show we were promoting. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I went out to eat supper with the Wolfman and he was a very nice guy. He talked that way.....all the time. It was his natural voice. He told stories about the filming of the movie, his collection of cars (he had a red 59 Caddy convertible that Elvis gave him) and other neat stuff. He was working on a show theater at Myrtle Beach SC when he died. He was going to book all the oldies groups and MC the show himself.


He told A-Bomb and I that he had a percentage of the movie AG. It was in the Top 10 grossing movies of all time (years ago). He said he had recieved over 1 million dollars for his % of the royalty.



http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[TINGLER]

AG is a cool flick.
In '73 I was just getting born. I missed all the cool stuff. I only saw AG for the first time probably 6 or 7 years ago.

One of my first "hot rod" memories was from around October or November of '78. I was 5 and riding in the backseat of my Dad's Fairlane (runs in the family). The 'lane musta been a '69 or later with a bad ass 302 innit....
Anyhow Mom is driving and pregnant with my little brother. All was well until she decides to run it over the hill and flip it 3 times. I remember getting hit in the head with beer bottles and a tire iron.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
My little bro was born later on without any complications.....
Mom said Dad divorced her because of THAT wreck!.....

Anyhow, thats what I remember of the "early" days. Destroying hillbilly muscle cars.

Later,
JT.

[cadlights]

Ogden Utah in 1962, I was there. There was a drive in
on Riverdale road Actually 2 drive inns. One was called Rusty's the other was Mason's drive inn. On the other end of town was Bob's Bar B Q. In between was Combe's and another Bob's Bar B Q about half way. The whole cruise on
Washington Blvd was about 5 miles. AG was a night on The blvd. Almost every night was exactly like that. I remember seeing a cop car get it's rear axle jerked out at the Bob's Bar B Q in the center off town. When I first seen the movie
I said to myself, whoever made this movie had to be there
at Bob's Bar B Q that night in 62. I had a 58 Pontiac
Chiefton 2 door Hardtop, Black and white tuck and roll,
Duel 4 barrel rochestors, T10 4 speed and 4.30 gears out back. Nosed and decked with chrome reversed rims with
knockoffs. Done a lot of light to light drag racing.
I did run it on the track a few times also 14.70 99 mph,
Not bad for a heavy Pontiac back in them days.
Whenever I see that movie I go into a zone and it takes weeks to come back out. AG and thunder road are my all time
favorites. Life was a lot simpler back then.

[briggs&strattonChev]

[ QUOTE ]
He was working on a show theater at Myrtle Beach SC when he died

[/ QUOTE ]

oh shit, the WOLFMANS dead?? I didnt know that! since when?

[DrJ]

Wolfman Jack
*
aka Bob Smith


Date of birth
21 January 1939
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Date of death
1 July 1995
Belvedere, North Carolina, USA. (heart attack)
Trivia
Wolfman Jack was an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church

[Cadillacin Marcus]

Some great posts guys..Keep em coming..
I had the great pleasure of meeting the Wolfman in June 1993 when it was the 20th anniversary of the movie and Rick Figari had called me(Milner's coupe owner)And told me that he was going to meet Wolfman and the people from NBC's "Today Show" at Mels drive in, in the city (San Francisco).Not the one from the movie,that one was knocked down shortly after they filmed it,on the corner of Mission and Van Ness.Anyways I met up with Rick there and suer enough here comes Wolfman in a big black stretched limo with some young chicks hangin on him,it was hysterical!He was crazy!Rick intoduced himt o me and I had the American Graffiti album with me and had him sign it and after he signed it,in the middle of a packed restaurant he says" Shit man dig this,20 years later and I'm still the Fuckin man!"I said yes you are, he grabs me for a picture op.I never did get a copy of that picture.
I had the album in my house when I was robbed and they took it! I posted pix on here at one time,maybe someone has it saved..? I had two copies of the soundtrack and both were taken from me.The one that Wolfman had signed was the copy my dad got when he managed Payless Drug Stores,he brought that home back in 74'the other copy was given to me by my friends dad who is no longer with us.Really broke my heart when they took those albums.. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
I also got to go for a quick ride in the Milner coupe.It was breathtaking to be sitting in the car,it was sureal! the pouch that they added on the pass door for the movie for the famous "File that under C/S..." was still there,pretty much everything on the car was the same as the movie except for the air cleaners he had the wrong ones on there and I said something about that at the time and he said he was looking for some stacks.Remember it was 1993 and the Newstalgia craze hadn't hit yet and stacks weren't really being repopped at the time.
But the funniest thing was me Christmas eve 1974 dancing in my pampers to Rock Around The Clock from that very same Album that was stolen from me,I was 2 years old http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.Yes my parents have the 8MM Film still!!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Stone]

That was a cool movie.I saw it when I was a kid and now I wan't to go see it again.I liked the 55.

[Sailor]

I think Two Lane Blacktop is cool, but as a movie its no comedy or feel-good-thing like AG. It has looong scenes of driving, from one dull, identical looking city to another, where the the driver and the mechanic races to win money to pay for the gas to go on to the next city and so on. It goes on for eternity. My girlfriend hated it. I like it in its own twisted way, plus that 55 rocks.

[LIMEY]

As a kid i really dug anything American.....i mean like excessive! then that movie came along & WOW!
Toad on the scooter was the best http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Around that time Elvis movies were on all the time as well, some people hate 'em but those flicks were part of my childhood & i still love to watch 'em especially Loving You, even got to sit in that car a few yrs back!

Two Lane Blacktop is also a fave of mine too.

[AV8-Rider]

What can you say.

I have seen it more times than I ever care to count. Me and my friends used to watch in on an old TV ( had to borrow the VCR) in my friends garage about once every second week over several years. We where 16 - 22 and where wrenching on some old US iron and dreaming of a Hot rod or a hot classic Chev.
Knew almost all the lines by memory.

Showed it to my 7 year old son a few months back. He loved it. We saw the thunder road-scene about 10 times before he was satisfied.

The flick's forever a part of my youth.

[RocketDaemon]

maybe i would have been going into hotrods and customs anyhow who knows but that movie sure is one of the biggest factors i turned out like i did...

that movie sure has have had an huge impact on people who are into cars all over the world,

would be nice if they made some new cool movie with hotrods etc, fast and the furious just aint the cup of tea i like sure watchable movie aswell as gone in 60 seconds but but... darn would just be nice to se an romantic film from the late 40ies or something where the lead actor drives an hotrod or an chopped early 40ies car or something. ahhh

[Cadillacin Marcus]

Falfa: Didn't nobody tell ya I was lookin' for ya?...Hey, you're supposed to be the fastest thing in the Valley, man, but that can't be your car. It must be your mama's car. I'm sorta embarrassed to be this close to ya.
John: I'm not surprised, drivin' a Field Car.
Falfa: Field Car? What's a Field Car?
John: A Field Car runs through the fields, drops cow s--t all over the place to make the lettuce grow.
Falfa: (laughing) That's pretty good. Hey, I like the color of your car there, man. What's that supposed to be? Sorta a cross between Piss Yellow and Puke Green, ain't it?
John: Well, you call that a paint job but it's pretty ugly. I'll betcha you gotta sneak up on the pumps just to get a little air in your tires.
Falfa: Well, at least I don't have to pull over to the side just to let a funeral go by, man.
John: Oh, funny...You know what?
Carol: Your car's uglier than I am! (She turns back to John) That didn't come out right.
At a stoplight, Carol prompts John to race and beat Falfa. When the light changes to green, they take off down the block with engines roaring and tires screaming. At the next intersection, Falfa floors his car and runs the red light, but John pulls to a stop.


Carol: Wow! He's really fast, isn't he?
John: Yeah, but he's stupid.

[Cadillacin Marcus]

pix

[Cadillacin Marcus]

check this out... http://www.filmsite.org/amerg.html

[Jester]

Between American Graffiti, Hollywood Knights, and Christine my 4 year old son would never watch another movie. He is completely caught up with these movies. No matter whats going on if I put one of these on he sits down and watches and cheers at his favorite parts. I love these movies and its really cool to watch them with my son and know that we have at least the love of cars and car culture in common.

[Curly]

Fast & Furious is doing the same thing to the youth of 2003 that AG did in 1973. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

My 13 y/o nephew sits her and tells me how a supercharger is a bolt on deal when it comes to V-tech and if you use so and so's body kit on a Mazda you got to do this this and this and they don't tell you that...blah blah blah. And that Charger would eat anyone of those cars up.

If you can shut him up for a minute and ask him how NOS (or as he annoyingly says it..."Naws") works he hasn't a clue. But he knows the outcomes of NOS.

He is now probably the only 13 year old at his school that can now tell you that it displaces O2 and is much more combustible than 02. It was used on the fighter planes in WW-2. There is a medical grade used as as anesthetic for surgery. It is an oderless and colorless gas. The street version has sulphur added so you are aware of a leak and to get you sick if you try to Huff it.

I do my part to educate, Fast and Furious planted the seed big time in this kid and his dad and I are there to answer questions. His dad runs a hot Firebird at the strip, I'm the uncle who is always building something and Grandpa has a bone stock 64 Impala that he feels needs to be "bagged and laid out old school".

This kid is gonna be OK when he grows old. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

As for me AG is my bag and Hollywood Knights IS dumb (and funny as hell) "this punch does have little wang to it?!" http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Curly]

I also like AG2 but not nearly as much as the original...I make everyone shut up when Milner is at the strip and makes his pass. The wife thinks I'm all hot for the blondie but it is for the sound. I LOVE the way that FED sounds. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

If they only had an hour of those early blown motor sounds going down the 1/4 smoking the hides all the way on a CD I'd be ruining every eardrum on the block.

[Johnny Ace]

In '73,I was in the 6th grade.....I had gone from living in a small town where the 50's never died, to Houston's inner city....everyone looked like either Cheech and Chong,Brownsville Station,Superfly,or Grand Funk Railroad!
The movie hit and I knew I had to go back home....the local Ford dealership had their own version of the Milner coupe, but BLACK?! No matter. I rode my bike past that lot daily, daydreaming like a mofo....Today, when I drive past that long gone Ford place, I can still visualize the EXACT space that coupe occupied!

[CruZer]

Thanks for this post,Marcus. Wow, a couple of you guys got to meet the Wolfman. That is so cool !!!I was 15 in 1962.That was the first time I heard of the Wolfman. I was lucky enough to be riding around in a '53 Ford HT with a flathead glaspacks ,'55 Merc taillights and black primer.The guy that owned it was in the Army and he let his younger brother use it while he was away. Boy,we beat the sxxx out of that car.
For those of you who think the quality of the cars in AG was pretty poor... That's the way the cars were back then. At least the ones the kids drove. We didn't give a damn about fit and finish. It just had to go fast and when you made $25 a week pumping gas like I did, you didn't have much to spend on looks.
In 1973,my wife and I and another couple went to see the first showing of AG in my town. The girls didn't like it but my buddy and me just went nuts over it. We talked about that movie everytime we got together.We were driving muscle cars by then so to us it just felt like an extension of those days... By the next year,it was hard to find enough gas to keep my '71 Roadrunner going so I could get to work...For me it was downhill after that. Until the kids grew up and I could build a hotrod. But watching AG kept me goin'!!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Tman]

My first memory of going to the movies. I was 5 years old, wore my PJs cause my mom and dad thought I would fall asleep (yeah right). I got to drink my own 7Up!! I still watch the movie every few months with my dad.

[Cadillacin Marcus]

I just got an email from Rick Figari,I told him about the incident of my Album with Wolfmans signature on it being ripped off and he's going to see about getting autographs from the rest of the cast for me!!!

[DrJ]

[ QUOTE ]
Fast & Furious is doing the same thing to the youth of 2003 that AG did in 1973. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
...

[/ QUOTE ]

actually it did it to youth earlier than that. and F&F II is actually F&F III!
Roger Corman rote and produced it way back when!
The Fast And The Furious

The Fast And The Furious,(1954), On the run from a bogus murder rap, John Ireland steals a Jaguar with owner Dorothy Malone still inside and joins a Pebble Beach road race to slip across the border. Roger Corman wrote and produced this feature, one of the first releases from AIP. 73 min. Category- Action & Adventure, Director- John Ireland, Cast- Iris Adrian, John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Bruno Ve Sota, Rated- NR, B&W,

[Sailor]

Just a comment on Fast & Furious. These are movies I havent bothered to see, but I got to ditto that they have had huge influence on kids worldwide.

This summer I was waiting for a buddy by the road near the barn at Karmøy near Haugesund, where my Chevy is. The road goes in to Haugesunds city centre and it was friday night. I think I counted 15 or so rides done up F&F-style, big wheels, towelracks, fartcans, weird hok-paintjobs etc. Rather than BMW 3-series with spoilers, like it would be a couple of years ago, it was mostly japanese cars. The actual cars and the way they look and so forth does nothing for me, but if I look away from the cars, and just see the phenomena; I think one can safely say that F&F has worked wonders for kids interest in cars over here.
Also (since Im in the cynical corner http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif), this particular wave has a lot in common with the Watson-era of kustoms (which I totally love). Kids buy newish cars, spends a lot on wild paintjobs, lowering, chrome wheels and otherwise just small changes, -then go cruising in the weekends... it sounds pretty familiar to me... Its pretty much Floyd De Boers story set today (see the Bellflower Clock-thread).

But my intention was not to discuss "ricers", but carmovies. For kids like me who allready had a religious interest in cars, AG sure drew the attention towards both gassers, kustoms, traditional hotrods and that oh-so-cool 58 Impala (who sits a little too high for my taste) at the same time. Y'all got to remember that cruising as described in AG didnt exist in Norway at all, so it had nothing to do with anyones memories (except for the music), -just the cars.

For kids not heavily into cars, I dont think AG had that much influence. I think even the stockers in the movie basically were too old and hard/expensive to get hold of, run etc., not to mention the complications it involved building a hotrod (parts, skills, laws...). When it came to cars over here, AG became a bible to a few, interesting to some and a movie for the rest. It probably didnt picture a carworld average kids could relate that much to, but F&F seems to have struck something there. Most likely its just the fact that it isnt retrospective, and doesnt play "dads music".

At least these are my impressions, as seen from Norway.

[LIMEY]

Talkin about the fast & furious i got a feeling this one was around first! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif