History Cruising: Then vs. Now

I moved and worked in Burnaby in '61, and within weeks I was hanging out with guys that worked and lived in the area around Boundary Rd and Willingdon Ave. We used to hang out at a drive in near Smith on Kingsway. It was lots of fun, and I never heard of anyone that was hassled. It didn't last long for me, because I went on to university, and there was no extra money to drive around.
What was really neat about it, is that even though I wasn't from the area, I was welcomed right in. It was all about cars, and not about where we were from.
Bob

 

already told the story of the big bust that happened one night in Redford

I got ticked the night of (the big bust ) I got told to plead (not guilty ) on the court date ... I think I was one of about 3 or 4 to do so
got a letter in the mail about a week later ... ticket dismissed ...


I'm guessing other than weekly "cruise night" events not much happens like it used to around here. I think we need to change that. Who's in? And if there is some actual driving fun to be had here around Motown beyond the few weeks before Woodward then spill it. Never too old to just drive around, right?

count me in !

 

Hello,

Cruising is done in most coastal So Cal cities and ends up at a cool gathering spot known to locals. In south Orange County, this family 50's restaurant has been around for decades. Then it started drawing in people with a taste for 50's food and plenty of it. My wife’s parents had a celebration breakfast there with the whole extended family and the food just kept coming to the table. It was really good and the portions were large.

Over the years, when someone wanted a little bit of the 50's theme and style of food, Tommy’s Restaurant was the place to go. The tall sign is easily seen from the I-5 freeway and is an easy on/off ramp to continue the road trips up or down the coast. Then for many summers, it became a gathering place for old cars, hot rods and auto enthusiasts to gather. This was before Cars and Coffee.

The old hot rods, cruisers and trucks filled the parking lot and many took part in the great 50’s food inside. During the summer months, it was a fun place to go. There was one big parking lot on one side and a smaller one near the off ramp from the freeway.


Jnaki

It is such a shame that this fun place is now closed. One time, my wife and I were at a restaurant across the street and it was a Tuesday night. The Tommy’s Car Show gathering wasn’t until Wednesday. But, she noticed an old black 3 window coupe across the street in the smaller parking lot with the owner wiping the whole car down. It was one of those coastal city misty early evening and the air was settling quickly on most cars.

My wife said asked , wasn’t it Wednesday night that the hot rods show up for mini show? Yes was the answer. I did not want to mention it to that avid hot rod cruiser guy making his car spiffy for the upcoming show… The gathering was not that night, but the next night. There were no other hot rods in sight.

So, South Orange County may entice you to stop at this freeway off ramp since the Tommy’s Restaurant sign is still there. But, as the problems that caused the rapid closing of this classic restaurant linger, the next new owner may not be able to have that tall freeway sign with the new sign ordinance. Many tall signs with new ownership have been taken down all over the city. A great restaurant on Pico was recently closed down. But the new owner, Starbucks does not have that tall freeway sign that stood for years for the old Carrow’s Restaurant.

So, one more hot rod, fun event bites the dust . But, the show will go on in the South County. The local events will still go on, so check the So Cal Car Culture site for more weekly, monthly, and yearly events. For the local high school teens, there was an tie-in event, one time, that had the cool cars and the play, Grease, at the local high school.

 

I have to keep telling myself that the cruises nowadays with no cut-off year are really NOT all that different than they were back in the day. In fact for the most part, nowadays they are much better as far as classics and hot rods are concerned. As much as we'd like to remember cruising in the old days as a bunch of classic cars, at least in my area, it really wasn't because at that point in time, most were not classics. At best, they were the newer muscle cars. It was often and usually about who had the best , fastest, or newest cars. So, like I have to keep asking myself, is why I have such a problem with a '10 Mustang or Camaro wanting to join in. Fact is , we WANT IT TO BE DIFFERENT than it was back then.
I also believe Socal was different than the rest of the world, Most of us did not live in Socal growing up.

 

It was different, there was nowhere else like it in the late '50s & '60s! It's unfortunate that everyone wasn't able to experience it, I feel blessed to have been one that did!!

 

Good point being made here. Idealized memories don't make for a comfortable present, but they do give us a goal to shoot for. So, like so many of us did back then, we can wash whatever we've got and just go - without any expectations except the vague hope of maybe getting laid.
.

 

My cruising began in '62 in Renton Washinton. Graduated in '57 driving a mordor 47 Kaiser. Worked at Boeing building 707's nose section for 6 months, bought a cherry 50 Ford, totaled that, then Good 'ol uncle sam said, "come here boy, we want you". Joined his club known as the US Air Force, became essential personnel at McConnell AFB, in Wichatitty ,......... er Wichita, got married to my hometown sweetheart in '59, first of three daughters born there in'60. Got discharged in '62, immediately left for home town Seattle.
So never really had a car to cruse with until getting home, getting back on with Boeing, (incidentally they put me right back in the same spot doing the same thing I had to leave back in '59. Kinda nice, it was like I hadn't been gone for four years, freakyyyyyyyyyy).
I came across a white '57 Chev. 210 hardtop and traded the 56 Chev, six cyl., three on the tree, on for it. It had black Naugahyde roll and pleated interior, doors, package tray, and the headliner was plain black Naugahyde. It was a fast little bugger, with 283 bored out to 292, FI heads, Dontov high lift cam, dual quads, headers, power glide that I replaced with a 3 speed on the floor. Beauty rings and baby moons finished her off.
So here I was, 22 years old, infant little girl, and out on cruse night in Renton, willing to take on any thing I knew wasn't going to leave sitting at the light. (Shows how stupid one can be when young.) Got caught one night running a '69 Impala, by a state trooper. The Impala had me by a car and the trooper nailed him and pulled me also over and thought the Impala was running a hot dog ford that wasn't in the fight and took my name as a material witness. Thought I'd gotten away with one until when stopping at a mom and pop store for infant formula later that night, I just happen to pull off the highway in the parking lot and .......................parked right next to the same trooper. OH SHIT. I get out to go in hoping he wouldn't recognize me.---------He did.--------- steps out of his big ford,says,"I want to speak to you boy when you come out". Hell I don't even remember going in, buying the formula or coming back out. What I do remember was him chewing my ass telling me he could impound the car, have CPS take the baby way for endangerment, and generally make me feel small enough to walk under the tires though the tread and having to get home to change shorts. Then he got nice, wanted to know what was in the motor, see it, look inside say good evening to my oh so young wife and baby daughter, and say have a good night and he left.
I still did the "loop", on Saturday nights there in Renton up until it stopped in the later 60's or so and never again street raced anything or anybody.

Did some more in the late 80's, early 90's in Auburn at "Big Daddys" drive in with my '66 Rivi, factory dual quat 425 nailhead car also. No good stories from that time except the time a women said, " Oh" Oh, I do anything to ride and drive this car." She wasn't worth the pain, trouble, and besides I'm a faithful married guy.

 

In the 50's there was much more Ripple, Thunderbird, and girls involved, also drive-in movies to go to.JW

 

If you were cruising in the 50's you're dangerously close to 90 now ....

 

Cruised mostly Bellflower every night , but also did Atlantic, Tweedy , Harbor, Whittier, VanNuys. Depending on the day of the week, on how many hours. Nothing like that now. Also lots of hang outs Harvey’s, Oscars, Hodys, witch stand. To many to remember.

 

And I worked as a teen for 60 cents an hour.

 

Hello,

As nice as the cruise on the South bound San Diego Freeway to Tommy’s Restaurant is/was and the great food, the sign is still up, so “Don’t Get Fooled Again…”

In the latest time my wife and I were there, it was very busy and the food just kept rolling out. But, for some reason, the business faltered. With the rich history, it was sad to see it go and this tall freeway ocean view sign is a sad reminder of hot rod/cruiser history in the South Orange County area.

A RESULT OF A RESTAURANT RESEARCH:

“What they find is that only 17% of restaurants close in the first year, not 90%. This is in fact a lower failure rate than other service providing businesses, where 19% fail in the first year. For comparison, they find that 21% of offices of real estate agents and brokers fail in the first year, and the number is 19% for both landscapers and automotive repair. The failure rate for full-service restaurants is the same as the failure rate for insurance agencies and brokerages.”

“…a closing restaurant is not necessarily an unsuccessful one. It could be the case that the restaurant was doing well, but family or health problems forced a closure. Or maybe the location was successful but the building was sold for another use. Or perhaps the owners were making money but decided they wanted to do something else.”

Cruising destination or not, this place had a great location, freeway off ramp and on ramp both ways, too. The food was great, the local history was great, supported by the nearby U.S. Marine servicemen, and was family friendly. The only thing was that the location was visible, but not in the downtown walking area frequented by the visiting tourists. There are/were a lot of competing restaurants within walking distance in the downtown area.

During one day in the month of June, the whole downtown main street is closed for the annual hot rod/cruiser car show. Next year will be the 25th annual edition. So, what will become a cruising destination? The new, San Clemente Outlet center has now become a destination. The whole place is growing by leaps and bounds. It has now become the final resting place of the original Irvine Cars and Coffee Event that turned into the Aliso Viejo Cars and Coffee. Now, it has a label as "The largest weekly car show" in the So Cal area.

Cars and Coffee photo

Jnaki

Don’t get me wrong, it is a destination, but it is not exclusive to older hot rods and cruisers. It is a little overwhelming at the size it has grown. But, there are groups of specialty hot rods and vehicles(as a group) that make the trip to the South County for the 9:00 a.m. opening every Saturday morning. The late start is due to the homes near the southern edge of the property.

By the time the weekly event is over, the shops are open for a nice stroll around some great shops. The other half of the family will enjoy this part immensely. What is in store for the future? At the very top of the panoramic photo will be three unobstructed, ocean view restaurants, taking up some of the space in this huge parking structure. But, the location has so many empty parking spaces on the same level and the stores do not open until 10-11 am.

The future is preserved, unless the idiots that ruined the other two cars and coffee events do the same. The good thing is: The OC Sheriff has stationed several cars at the location and are doing their best to keep things ok, vehicle tickets and all.

So, one old part of So Cal cruising history simply fades away, while another rises and is getting notoriety as one big cruise and car culture display every week. Hot rods and cruisers play a big part of this scene. (The "other" hot place to be, up the coast in Huntington Beach weekly, brings the primarily old hot rods in droves. But, as that show empties the lot, there is still time to cruise down coast for one of the most beautiful drives to the gathering at the San Clemente Outlets.)

 

god i miss those days! i would put 100 miles a nite crusing for a race! would hit up all the places in 2 countys, some times the next state! some times we would get lucky and find a guy with a pocket full of money, some times not lucky, and get our ass handed to us, and end up with no money! oh and a couple trips to the court house, or the justice of the piece, but all in all i miss it. we do the local cruse nites and there fun, but not the same! nothing is more fun than letting the girlfriend out on the side of the road for less weight , for a quick 1/4 mile

did that a couple times or so!

 

Well to start with cruising has very little to do with 50/50 pots or lawn chairs or the like.

Cruising was or should be just what it is called, cruising. When I was a kid we called it "Running the Gut" if it was in our home town and "slingin' shit" if it was someplace else. The gut being the main drag of whatever little berg we lived in. Sometimes it was just drivin around or stopping for a coke and an order of fries at the local drive in (most towns on the west coast seemed to have a burger joint of some sort). Drinking and smokin pot was often involved and sometimes we would go out in the country for a race and a laugh or two.

Aint doin stories today. Got a case of the ass and just don't feel like it

​

Ever wonder what would have happened if they called it the In and Out Hot Dog instead of burger

 

YEP!

Ben

 

Like a lot of folks here, my cruising was done in the 80's... with mostly 70's cars, an occasional "old" guy in a hot rod/street rod and a bunch of hand me down family cars usually driven by the girls. It was about seeing and being seen. We would cruise 2nd street down to the high school then go up to 3rd and cruise back, make a loop through the parking lot at the doughnut shop and repeat a few times... then maybe cruise out to Lakewood to the mall, hopefully meet up with a girl, get a dog at Johnny's, then cruise back into town and make a few more laps.
If things worked out right you would end up with a girl up at the reservoir overlooking the city lights for a little making out... or you would hear about a beach party at the lake and go hang out there for a bit.
It was all about being out and about, just driving to drive some nights.
Other nights my cousin and I would drive around town rolling though the car lots looking for cool cars in the back rows and checking out the latest offerings from the big 3.
And based on conversations i've had with my dad (graduated high school in 65) it was exactly the same when he was doing it in the 60's.
I am guessing that my generation was close to the last that did that kind of cruising. just out for a drive and see what we can see...
This was before computers and cell phones when if you wanted to talk to your friends you hopped in the car, swung by their house, and if you didn't see their car you kept your eye out for them as you drove around.
Back then everybody wanted to get their license as soon as possible...most guys I know had a car before they could legally drive it. Now it seems you have to force some of these kids to get a license. Some of my daughters friends were 20 before they were driving!
Chappy
"The Whole Strip Is Shrinking!!!"

 

Close to 80, I'm 78 like those good old records on the record player. JW

 

I grew up in Williams Bay, WI and cruised the beach there every day in the summer...
As stated above in a post, gas was cheep (I graduated in 1962)...many times I would head down the long hill to downtown coasting as I was on fumes for gas.
Would sit near the gas station for up to maybe and hour before two or three others showed up walking that wanted to cruise.
Each pitched in ~$.50 or so and we could cruise all afternoon.
Now those were great days indeed, cruising in this

 

I'm close to 80, 78 and like those old 78 records ready to spin. JW

 

76 here--cruised the main in Fresno and Merced starting in 59. Yep started at 16.

 

This didn't happen in my family, but I have a friend, whose children think of him as their private mechanic, while at the same time judging him. Talk about hipocrisy.
Bob

 

For our group, growing up in central British Columbia, the rot gut wines were called Zip, Zing, and Calona Red. Of the three, the Calona Red was slightly less likely to make you toss your guts out. I don't know what it was about the two other "wines", but they tasted more like the end of the run in the distilling process. They were that bad.
Canadian beer was 6 % at the time, and tasted far better, so it was the preferred drink.
When we wanted to party in the summer, we would normally head off to one of the many available beaches. Lots of great memories.
Bob

 

grew up in Fremont "home of Fremont Drag Strip". we had a great cruise spot on Fremont blvd packed with cars every Friday and Saturday. we used to go out there on our bicycles before we had cars, one night the Nor Cal Early Irons were at Straw Hat Pizza... must have been 25 Hot Rods there! thought I had died and gone to heaven.... this was in 1975 or so. hung out there pretty regular until they shut it all down. wish I had taken pictures

this could never happen today. other than an occasional burn out or a minor accident, or maybe someone peeing on the wall of a building nothing bad ever happened that I can recall. it was a much better world back then.

 

Late 50's early 60's Wich Stand on the north end in Baldwin Hills to the A & W on the south end in Hawthorne. Wasted a lot of gas until I "grew-up". Many did it, I was just one of the herd.

 

Mel's Hamburger's in Pomona. My parents would cruise us in for a burger and cruise us through the cruise route. We were big time cruising. Good food. Lot's of cars. Lot's of people.