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So, I watched American Graffiti last night and.....

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Kerry67, Sep 24, 2008.

  1. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    yep, still craving a 2cv :D
     
  2. Halfton65
    Joined: Nov 20, 2007
    Posts: 392

    Halfton65
    Member

    My favorite non feature car is the white and purple 39-40 Ford in the first downtown scene. If anyone has more pics of that car PM me.
     
  3. I watched it again last night and really started to think about the people in it!

    Ronnie Howard (of course Opie on Andy Griffith, Happy Days, prolific director of movies like Apollo 13)
    Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley plus lots of TV & movie)
    Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones, Patriot Games, Star Wars, tons more)
    Candy Clark (50 plus movies)
    Paul LeMat (Aloha Bobby & Rose car movie, Lonesome Dove)
    Richard Dryfuss (Too many movies to list!)
    Mackenzie Phillips (Daughter of Mama's & Papa's Michelle Phillips, Mostly TV like One Day at a time with Valerie Bertinelli, well known drug troubles)
    Charles Martin Smith (Lot's of TV roles)
    Bo Hopkins (Tons of TV and Movie roles)
    Kathleen Quinlan (Oscar nominee for Apollo 13 a Ron Howard film, many well known roles)
    Suzanne Summers (Three's Company and the Thigh Master:) )
    Debra Lee Scott (Sexy as hell on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and welcome Back Kotter)
    Susan Richardson (eight is Enough TV series)
    Johnny Weissmuller Jr. (son of the original Tarzan)
    Kay Lenz (had also been in Andy Griffith Show)
    Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues, Apollo 13, LA Law, NYPD Blue)

    Hell I think Wolfman Jack was the only really established star, OK Ronnie had been Opie
    And Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids
    Not to mention that is really what launched George Lucas' career and without the help of Francis Ford Coppola it never would have got made and then there never would have been Star Wars.
     
  4. chad
    Joined: Jun 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,012

    chad
    Member


    Me too ..is their anymore pics of that car!!!! I always wanted to see the rest of the car....
     
  5. I've seen and heard people argue that American Graffiti wasn't true to life, but most of that depended on the town you lived in.

    My small SoCal coastal town - Ventura, California - was just like the AG movie.
    Especially on Friday nights after the high school football game.

    Hanging out at the Frosty Shop, some guys getting races set up and others just checking out the scene with their girl friend was exactly how it was.

    I see that today we have a new HAMBr on board - name of ojai-Jan - who was there same time I was.
    I'm sure he has many stories to tell that parallel the stuff I did.

    And maybe after all these years he has pics of his Chrysler Hemi powered 40 Ford coupe he could share.
     

  6. Don't forget...

    Paul LeMat-Puppetmaster!!!!!,Marvin and Howard,Burning Bed
    Candy Clark-Man who fell to earth(some nudey stuff!)
    Charles Martin Smith-More American Graffitti,Starman
     
  7. Bill Van Dyke
    Joined: May 21, 2008
    Posts: 810

    Bill Van Dyke
    Member

    C9.. Man if it was a De Soto hemi it might have been my old one!
     
  8. buickbelle
    Joined: Oct 10, 2008
    Posts: 241

    buickbelle
    Member

    Once upon a good time, I remember thinking Buick's as being "old man" cars. Ramblers were totally uncool, and anything foreign was usually ugly and slow, except of course the XKE but who could afford one of those???? Four doors were for Mom and Dad and wagons? NOT on your life. Amazing how young equals stupid huh? LOL

    Carrie
     

  9. I'm sure it was a Chrysler.
    Most interesting comment heard from Jan was that you had to loosen a motor mount and jack the engine up to access the left front spark plug.

    I think it was medium blue, but really don't remember.
    The big ol Chrysler was pretty much what grabbed your attention.

    Far as the Buicks went, the 54 Century's were one of the fastest cars around.
    When zero to 60 was the standard of performance for stock cars the Buicks could crank off 10 seconds and almost touch on 9 seconds.
    Motor Trend stuff and measured with timers etc.

    Doesn't sound like much today, but it was good performance in an era that was full of much slower running stock cars.
     
  10. modagger
    Joined: Jul 2, 2013
    Posts: 333

    modagger
    Member

    Hi Dan

    I've been searching for information on my uncle's car, the "Hemi-Roid" and I found your post. Contrary to what some other owners have claimed, he built that car and raced it at Freemont and once in a while on the streets of Oakland/Hayward.

    I'm trying to find some good photos of the car because he lost all but two small ones in a move a few years ago. They show the car on the custom car carrier he built for it and it has the original wheels on it not the American Racing wheels that I saw in one small photo online. I have the California registration card that shows the vanity plate,
    "PREP H". He's still got his sense of humor.

    Be well,

    Jeff
     
  11. FNG drags up a 4 year old post? HRP
     
  12. brandyspaw
    Joined: Mar 29, 2008
    Posts: 49

    brandyspaw
    Member

    I grew up in the fifties but couldn't start driving until the mid-sixties. I did, however, have an older brother very much into cars (his first car was a 50 Merc coupe followed by a 57 Chevy 2 door hardtop BelAir) so I followed the car scene avidly. I don't recall anyone wanting to be seen in a 4 door of any type and wagons really were overlooked until the late sixties and early seventies when Jr. Stockers were popular. They were then appreciated for drag racing with the weight over the rear wheels using the primitive tires back in the day.

    Still I don't recall anyone wanting a wagon for cruising (when cruising the loop for chicks and/or street races-quite unlike todays "cruise night" B.S.) except for 55-57 Nomads. In my town it was cruising D block aka Dizzy block which looped around and traveled the several miles to the other end of town on the main drag.

    It was a lot of fun with my 58 Chevy BelAir and then later 56 Chevy 210. Sometimes between the drinking, driving, racing, etc you wonder how you can still be alive. Back then you didn't get in trouble for drinking and driving-just for the open container law in my town. Pretty strange days.
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2013
  13. 2racer
    Joined: Sep 1, 2011
    Posts: 960

    2racer
    Member


    Try this,

    http://www.foleybros.com/HemiRoid.htm

    search engines are your friend....
     
  14. stevechaos13
    Joined: Sep 11, 2008
    Posts: 419

    stevechaos13
    Member

    Don't try to break the sterotype! People have been repeating the "4 door= old people" line for so long now it's become "fact" (despite the proof otherwise)
    I wasn't there, but I source my info from multiple sources. My old man, and other old men (the one's who got me into this) being the main one.
    From what I've always been told it was in the 60's when the when the more-door hate started. I've never really considered the 60's as the heydays of hot rodding, and yeah you start to see a big decline in the number of more doors being customized as compared to the 50's. But think about it; prior to the 60's it seems like the auto manufacturers were just adding doors, in the 60's the cars seemed to be build around two separate platforms. By the mid 60's when the pre-muscle cars started coming out there seemed to be a big difference between the whole body style. I have had numerous people ask me if my 66 Galaxie is a Lincoln if they've only seen it in profile.
     
  15. I was 15-16 in 1962. A hot rod here in NZ, right up to the late 60s, was a 1934 or earlier Ford. No Chevs, Plymouths etc. I had a cherry 36 5 window, lowered, custom interior, straight pipes etc, and we did not consider it a hot rod. Of course there were off makes, and 1935 up hot rods, but they were not that common.
    My first rod, in 1963-64 was a 26T tourer body on an A frame with a 34 flathead, no guards. My second, in 1965-67 was a channeled 34 5 window with flathead.
     
  16. k9racer
    Joined: Jan 20, 2003
    Posts: 3,091

    k9racer
    Member

    in 62 I purchased a rambler station wagon to use as a parts chaiser for 75 dollars which was about a week and half pay. . I replaced the clutch and started driving it.. As all you older guys know this car had seats that folded down in to a bed. I had lots of friends that would let me have their close to new chevys / vettes /mopars and several very cool cars to be able to use my car.. The cops never gave that car a second look .. But it was then and today still is a dorkey car but lots of fun. It died a death of the front syspension {Trunion} breaking while going over a rail road track. I removed the tag/ battery and left it in the middle of the road. Now back to the cool cars oh yes I had a 1953/ lowery Studebakers pontiac powered and a 53 Ford with a 3 5/16 by 4 flathead.
     
  17. bcowanwheels
    Joined: Feb 22, 2010
    Posts: 321

    bcowanwheels
    Member

    I,am 60 now and sure wish i could go back to them times. Its was alot simpler and except for vietnam was the best of times. Oh yea the president actually tried to be a good "american" a do good for all americans...... Gas was about .11-.15 cents per gallon and premium was 112 to 120 octane.
     
  18. 40fordtudor
    Joined: Jan 3, 2010
    Posts: 2,503

    40fordtudor
    Member

    Stevechaos---I graduated H/school in 1960---the 4-door haters were alive and well long before I graduated. Since I graduated from a Nebraska H/school, hating 4-doors had probably been going on since before electricity.
     
  19. Rochie
    Joined: Nov 19, 2004
    Posts: 199

    Rochie
    Member

    I was 17 in 1962 and was driving this...it wasn't all that pretty but it went like stink!
     

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  20. 64sshemi
    Joined: Aug 30, 2009
    Posts: 22

    64sshemi
    Member
    from weare n.h.

    Dodge Daytona.
    Plymouth Superbird.
    The dealers sold most of these at a loss just to get rid of them.
    How times change!!!
     
  21. Kan Kustom
    Joined: Jul 20, 2009
    Posts: 2,739

    Kan Kustom
    Member

    Didn`t read the other posts but I was a driving teenager back then and no I didnt think all those cars were cool and a station wagon was and is a huge no no for me. A station wagon was the family mini van back then and allways will be to me. For the life of me,I dont understand how some of the guys my age began to accept them as cool.
     
  22. Because they are cool, they bring back those family trips and drive in movie adventures. We allways took multi family vacations and the kids were all crammed in the wagon, had more fun getting there than the destination itself. It also makes a great drag car hauler. A mini van does not borrow its styling from anything, a wagon was a galaxie, chevele or what ever with a big trunk.
     
  23. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    I grew up in the muscle car era, and anything with 4 doors or a station wagon was taboo. My dad had an old Nova wagon with a 283 SBC and he was trying to hot rod it. But being in the Air Force and raising a family did him in.

    But as I got a little older and my knowledge of cars increased, I started to like that little wagon. Also, during the late sixties and very early 70's, you could get some of the muscle car engines in station wagons. A big block was usually part of a towing package and was chosen for hauling a boat or camper. My dads first new car was a '72 Chevy Kingswood Estate wagon. It was a freaking fully optioned boat, but it had a 454 and my dad figured that was as close as he'd ever get to a big block muscle car.

    4 doors didn't seem to get popular until the price of 2 doors got stupid. While I prefer a 2 door, I wouldn't think twice about fixing up a 4 door now. But the cut off for looks seems to be what it is here, 1964.

    I cruised Westheimer here in Houston from '76 to about '86 and there is NO WAY a station wagon or a 4 door was considered cool. Vehicle age didn't matter. A family sedan or wagon had "Leave It to Beaver" written all over it. The only good thing about a 4 door or wagon was being able to pile 8 friends into it and sometimes, that was more FUN than having a cool car. In fact, I'd bet that, unless it was an older model, the kids today feel the same way.

    From what I've seen, kids today will never know what they missed. Cruising here goes on, but there's not a lot of older cars doing it. I took my bucket out about a year ago on Westheimer on a Friday night and I was in a sea of new Challengers, Camaros and Mustangs. New Vettes and Porsche's are the top dogs now. My T Bucket did get attention, but it was mostly out of curiosity, than admiration. I did get to smoke a Tuner, but even that wasn't much fun.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2013
  24. In '62, our family car was a '53 Willys Aero Ace two-door hardtop. It had the F-head Hurricane Six, with the intakes overhead and the exhausts in the block. Not cool, but different. My neighbor had a '57 DeSoto fourdoor with a 341 hemi that a couple of years later we overhauled. Lots of drag racing going on at the boulevard a block away.

    I know that my neighbor's dad drove the DeSoto to their family farm in north Missouri and parked it in a barn. They're both dead now, but I think the DeSoto is still parked in that barn. I know the old farmhouse and barn are still there because I Google-mapped it. Maybe a two-hour road trip someday, with a trailer in tow and a billfold full of hundreds. . .
     
  25. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    AG gets a pass.:D And it was probably a Google search on his uncles car.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2013
  26. big vic
    Joined: Jan 3, 2010
    Posts: 400

    big vic
    Member
    from cary il

    I wasborn in 60 so was driving age in 76 when I was a kid if it wasent a ss z28 442 gto it wasent kool god forbid if you found a biscayne or a 2door post car and decided to hot rod it. And may lightning strike me dead if I was ever to try to clone something with ss badges or hood or?
     
  27. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
    Member

    I don't know if AG gets a pass, but looking for info on your uncle's car that was featured in magazines as well as in the movie sure does in my book.
     
  28. dan c
    Joined: Jan 30, 2012
    Posts: 2,520

    dan c
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    in '62, i was 14, about the same age as mackenzie phillips' character. 4 doors uncool. also wagons, buicks, ramblers, edsels and foreign cars. you could buy a 40s to early 50s mopar for $25. same with chevys up to 55. as far as fords went, the cool ones were 32,33,34,35 & 36. 37 & 38 were practically free. 39 & 40 were cool. speaking of the actors in ag, wasn't that tom berenger in the scene saying, "is that you toad? what a waste of a beatiful car!"
     
  29. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Once in a while we just need an FNG to dig up a fun old thread and remind us old gray beards of how and why we got into hot rods in the first place.
    After my 51 Merc and a fiasco of a 55 Metropolitan convertible I had a 55 Buick Specia y friends favorite car to cruise the Ave as a group in though as it looked pretty good and had tons of room. It was also the hands down choice for double dating at the drive in. Plus with the engine and trans out of a big old Super limo it went like a bat out of hell and surprised more than one 55 Chevy.
     
  30. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Yes. http://www.imdb.com/list/fY3cpDBfF5Q/

    "That is his only line in the movie when he delivers it to Charles Martin Smith's 'Terry'! He is the teenage boy riding "shotgun" in the car next to Terry's car while there are going down the strip. This is I believe his official uncredited film debut."
     

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