the good ole days

[1fast6]

growing up i always heard the old people talking about the good ole days. well, i guess i'm the old one now.
after watching mecum on t.v. it made me think about the cars i had while growing up.
it was not uncommon to see chevelles, camaros, gto's, etc as dd. i remember spending hours just walking thru junkyards looking at all the cool "old iron" now, when i go to a jy, it is full of neons, escorts, intrepids, 4 door malibus, etc.
my 1st car was a 1970 4-speed chevelle. i bought it in 1985 for $100. it had a rod knock and didn't run. me and a few friends pushed it 4 houses down to my parents carport. i had a 350 from a 76 impala with some reman heads, weind intake and a junkyard rochester 4 barrell ready to drop in it. i was 15 at the time. the heads cost me $75 bucks at the local machine shop.
the rundown of my high school friends cars were as follows.
another 70 chevelle
66 impala
72 gto
68 gto
71 340 duster
71 Z28
69 442
64 max wedge belvedere
these were just my close friends in h.s. i could go on and on about the muscle in our town(orlando) during that era.
the kid that owned the 71 "Z" was a heavy partier and i remeber making a beer run in that car and cutting thru an orange grove. we smacked a tree and wiped out the front end. guess we thought the "good ole days" wouldn't end. after all you could pick up the local classifieds and they were full of muscle cars.

the kid that owned the 340 duster was spoiled and wanted a big block malibu that was for sale locally. his mom told him there was nothing wrong with his car. so he drained the oil and seized the motor. 1 week later he pulled up in that bb malibu.

i remember bickering over a 70 w31 cutlass cause i thought the guy was crazy trying to get $2800.
my best deal was a 71 442. bought it off the original owner for $800 bucks. even back then i knew that was a steal. i couldn't get to the bank fast enough to get the money.

now all these cars are overpriced ''collectables''

 

[Nick Micale]

growing up i always heard the old people talking about the good ole days.

64 max wedge belvedere

now all these cars are overpriced ''collectables''

Here is a 1964 Max Wedge with aluminum front end that cost me $3200 new! :biggrin:

Imagine what crazy price it would bring now?

 

[1fast6]

Here is a 1964 Max Wedge with aluminum front end that cost me $3200 new! :biggrin:

Imagine what crazy price it would bring now?

wow. that is cool. how long did you own it?
my cousin owned the 64 wedge. he was 16 when he bought it out of some guys back yard. paid 5K for it. wedge, 4-speed, dana 60.
we won alot of money with that car on the streets of orlando.
he now owns a 87 gn and won the world street nats(super pro) last year in orlando.

Orlando world street nationals 2010 -pro mod finals(Gene Kerr) - YouTube

 

[David Turbo6]

My old man has told so many stories from the old days...
that's why i guess he still has his 58 corvette that he bought for under 4 grand back in 74
good old times

 

["Turbo-T"]

I still remember as a teen in the 90's roaming thru the junkyards and not being able to throw a rock and NOT hit anything less than 5 G bodies of any make just chilling. Now it's hard even finding some G body parts.

I still remember dad buying a 69 Nova 2 door with inline six and a power glide for $800. And it ran and drove too. That was in 1990. Try doing that today. BTW that car is mine now, though it's restored.

Better yet, I still remember (vaguely) the day in 1983 when dad bought a true SS car...a 1968 Camaro SS. It was a factory 396 big block car with 4 speed Muncie. The 396 was gone (someone blew it up) and dropped a 400 sbc in it's place, but it still had the 4 speed and 12 bolt....dad fully restored it using some of the last original '68 pieces still sitting on the shelf, tried to sell for $11k back in '86 no luck, then tried again for $8k back in '94 still no luck....28 years later dad still has it, now he's not interested in selling despite having a few people ansy to buy.

 

[SS/GN]

The collector mentality has hurt the love of the automobile:frown:I hate going to cruise nights and the first question is"whats it worth".The good old days are today,I woke up on the green side again

Kevin

 

[The Blob]

Take Off The Rose Colored Glasses

Except for looking awesomely cool, the old cars sucked... sorry, they just did.

With very few exceptions the cars from back in the day couldn't get out of their own way. Most stock muscle cars were 14 second screamers A few of the really fast ones could break into the 13's... that's V6 territory these days. Granted there were a few exceptions but they were only marginally streetable. Why do you think hemi's are so valuable today? Because they were practically impossible to keep running right so nobody bought them.

Then, if you modded your car to make it actually fast, you had to deal with the fact that it would not stop or go around anything resembling a corner. OK, even if in your world stopping and going around corners is overrated, it would still beat the piss out you when you drove it. Loud, rattly, hot... all great fun. For about 20 minutes.

But back then all cars were like that and these looked cooler and were faster than the others so they were awesome... hence the rose colored glasses.

The good old days are now!

There's like ten billion cars that run 13's and all of them are comfortable, handle at least decently, and will not fall apart in five years. Buying a 12 second car is almost as easy. Spend some money and you can go 11's right off the showroom floor.

Horsepower wars are in full swing only this time the powerful engines are mated to chassis that can handle it and creature comfort and performance are not mutually exclusive.

Anybody who would rather drive (for more than, say, an hour) a '69 Camaro vs a '10 Camaro is crazy.

'70 Boss 302 over an '11 Mustang GT... only if you're a masochist.

Got a L79 Nova SS? I'll run you for pink slips in a Nissan Altima.

Enjoy the present. Car-wise, things have never been better.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Except for looking awesomely cool, the old cars sucked... sorry, they just did.
Why do you think hemi's are so valuable today? Because they were practically impossible to keep running right so nobody bought them.

I was under the impression the reason Hemis are so expensive is because they didn't make as many of them as the other engines plus they were legendary as a detuned race engine for a lot of power and torque in the mid 60's to '71 as compared to most other engines.

Then, if you modded your car to make it actually fast, you had to deal with the fact that it would not stop or go around anything resembling a corner. OK, even if in your world stopping and going around corners is overrated, it would still beat the piss out you when you drove it. Loud, rattly, hot... all great fun. For about 20 minutes.

Understand this one, had a few rods that fell under this category...but heck I always felt that what hot rodding was all about. Anymore people want a car with the best of all worlds.

Anybody who would rather drive (for more than, say, an hour) a '69 Camaro vs a '10 Camaro is crazy.

Well I guess I'm crazy then, because I'd take a 69 Camaro anyday over a '10 Camaro. At least the 69 has good design, built simple, easy to work with and not pig heavy, even if it is a 40 y/o leaf spring car.

Speaking of Camaros, here's a shot of dad's 68 SS I posted earlier about....just pardon the dust on it from sitting....

'70 Boss 302 over an '11 Mustang GT... only if you're a masochist.

Now I would probably take an '11 GT over a '70 Boss 302...only because the '11 has all the good stuff, handling, power, etc the '70 doesn't have...the '70 does look better with better body lines, better looking interior IMO.

 

[GSTOY]

I'll agree that the some of the newer muscle cars are much better in performance and handling, but they all miss the mark when it comes to styling. The muscle cars in the 60's and 70's had some unique lines and styling that nothing modern can touch. Case in point, Detroit keeps going back to this era for styling cue's. While Buick was ahead of it's time when developing the turbocharged V6 with fuel injection for our beloved GN's and T-Types, the body shared most of the same lines as the Monte Carlo and the Cutlass...

 

[1fast6]

Except for looking awesomely cool, the old cars sucked... sorry, they just did.

With very few exceptions the cars from back in the day couldn't get out of their own way. Most stock muscle cars were 14 second screamers A few of the really fast ones could break into the 13's... that's V6 territory these days. Granted there were a few exceptions but they were only marginally streetable. Why do you think hemi's are so valuable today? Because they were practically impossible to keep running right so nobody bought them.

Then, if you modded your car to make it actually fast, you had to deal with the fact that it would not stop or go around anything resembling a corner. OK, even if in your world stopping and going around corners is overrated, it would still beat the piss out you when you drove it. Loud, rattly, hot... all great fun. For about 20 minutes.

But back then all cars were like that and these looked cooler and were faster than the others so they were awesome... hence the rose colored glasses.

The good old days are now!

There's like ten billion cars that run 13's and all of them are comfortable, handle at least decently, and will not fall apart in five years. Buying a 12 second car is almost as easy. Spend some money and you can go 11's right off the showroom floor.

Horsepower wars are in full swing only this time the powerful engines are mated to chassis that can handle it and creature comfort and performance are not mutually exclusive.

Anybody who would rather drive (for more than, say, an hour) a '69 Camaro vs a '10 Camaro is crazy.

'70 Boss 302 over an '11 Mustang GT... only if you're a masochist.

Got a L79 Nova SS? I'll run you for pink slips in a Nissan Altima.

Enjoy the present. Car-wise, things have never been better.

i understand and respect what you are saying... that's why i traded a 64 chevy II for my 87 gn. i would however rather drive a 396 4-speed 69 camaro with a/c than a 2010 anything. the old muscle was slow and didn't corner or stop for sh!t but they are cool.
if the old muscle is such crap why does a 69 427 copo camaro cost 40-60K?

 

[crashedout1]

Except for looking awesomely cool, the old cars sucked... sorry, they just did.

With very few exceptions the cars from back in the day couldn't get out of their own way. Most stock muscle cars were 14 second screamers A few of the really fast ones could break into the 13's... that's V6 territory these days. Granted there were a few exceptions but they were only marginally streetable. Why do you think hemi's are so valuable today? Because they were practically impossible to keep running right so nobody bought them.

Then, if you modded your car to make it actually fast, you had to deal with the fact that it would not stop or go around anything resembling a corner. OK, even if in your world stopping and going around corners is overrated, it would still beat the piss out you when you drove it. Loud, rattly, hot... all great fun. For about 20 minutes.

But back then all cars were like that and these looked cooler and were faster than the others so they were awesome... hence the rose colored glasses.

The good old days are now!

There's like ten billion cars that run 13's and all of them are comfortable, handle at least decently, and will not fall apart in five years. Buying a 12 second car is almost as easy. Spend some money and you can go 11's right off the showroom floor.

Horsepower wars are in full swing only this time the powerful engines are mated to chassis that can handle it and creature comfort and performance are not mutually exclusive.

Anybody who would rather drive (for more than, say, an hour) a '69 Camaro vs a '10 Camaro is crazy.

'70 Boss 302 over an '11 Mustang GT... only if you're a masochist.

Got a L79 Nova SS? I'll run you for pink slips in a Nissan Altima.

Enjoy the present. Car-wise, things have never been better.

my old chevy will smash your nissan like a tin can lol

 

[BoostedTtype]

my old chevy will smash your nissan like a tin can lol

lol

 

[Dennis Kirban]

Interesting thread for someone my age that grew up during the original muscle car era and actually made it a business starting in 1978.....heck my wife event worked at Hurst in 1969 driving a 1964 GTO to work every day....and now we got Linda Vaughn coming to our house this Saturday for a special event!

So while some "knock the muscle cars of old several things are for certain...back then we definately had more to choose from in the way of the crop of muscle cars compared to today.

Some of you may know that among Hurst collectors we are well known for having a lot of unique items and we have some files that show Hurst had over 50,000 of one style shifters on hand at one time. The numbers back then were staggering when it comes to muscle cars then and now.

Only Hemi car I had I put an ad in the major Philadelphia newspaper saying I would pay big money for an original Hemi car.....at the time I found a 1967 GTX with 22,000 miles on it....for five thousand dollars....I bought it as even back then the Hemi was the most feared car around....my friends thought I was nuts (early 1980s) couldn't get the proper octane gas for it....

I sold it in Hemmings for nine grand....which I thought was all the money in the world....the rare one I had that blows that away was at a Studebaker national convention I fell in love with a 1964 Studebaker Lark 2 door plain jane sedan white with vinyl green bench seat powered by a Avanti 289 with the super rare R3 heads with dual quads and a custom made plenum that fed both quads via a factory supercharger...rear was a 1957 Pontiac coupled to a 4 speed....had dog dish hubcaps the ultimate sleeper....I paid $1800 for it....ex California race car....I installed a heater, wipers full exhaust and made it legal for the streets....

It was one of the quickest cars I ever owned and caught many better known cars off guard from stop lites since not many car owners back then ever heard the sound a factory supercharger makes let alone gave a Studebaker Lark much attention...

Its ashame many of the cars from my era end up getting bounced round from auction to auction and not enjoyed....but its the cycle of life....

Some day when your kids are grown our turbo Buicks will be making the same rounds....unless the plug in electric cars take over gas powered cars will make our cars seem obsolete as well.

denniskirban@yahoo.com

One thing that has been overlooked in the posting is while the muscle cars of yesterday year may seem slower and not handle as well many many companies make upgrades to improve the other cars....My test car of years ago was a modified 1964 GTO and I had a Grand National steering box installed in it. As Americans we are lucky to have such choices.

 

[Rivical]

The good ole days were the 80's !!!

Man, from Hair Metal and the Hot Rocker chicks we ran with to the Cars we drove and stunk up the back seats of back then, it wuz Great!

I try not to relive it often, but it wuz!

Strictly to the cars, I think I was into triple digits before most of my friends were old enough to drink! I made it under the line while most of them didn't.

I would buy, beat, and cut up more muscle iron to sell at the swaps than anybody who knew me back then.

I scoffed at first gen camaro's, especially the 69's because they were soo dime a dozen! Every dork who thought he was somebody was fixing one that he just paid nothing for. That was kinda dumb on my part, I shoulda figured that they'd be big $$$ down the road, but they were soo cheap and crappy, and seemed to be laying around in every other backyard or garage around.

I was buying Super Bee's and Runner's and GTO's and all manner of stuff just to cut em down! Never paid a grand for anything, but always made my $ching$
Today it almost makes me sick sometimes, but that's life.

Who ever thought that a quality aftermarket would spring up to supply the unavailable items, like trunk floors, unibody rails, uncut for speaker's doorpanels, swithces, gauges, working wiring harnesses and any manner of things that were hard to come by while rusty cars with good items in and of them were so plentiful? That stuff wasn't available for the even older cars, why would it ever be? We had what we had, and/or what we had left of it after a nite of fun! Sometimes dragging a car outa the ditch or river I just stuffed it into or rolling it back onto it's wheels with the help of several friends who were dying of laughter and not believing I'd just done it again without injury is just a memory that can't be replaced! Putting a measuring stick 50ft beyond the tracks so friends could say how much Air I'd gotten just before the enduro bumper became pavement and the front suspension collapsed and fenders bent back over the doors was AWESOME!!!!! (not to mention the sound track coming over the Cracko speakers through the cheap Jenson tape deck with the bottle cap holding the cassette on the head!) LMAO!!!

So today, a $40K investment into one of those $500-$800 cars back then would make it worth $80K-$125K. I just try to put that monetary value on the FUN I had and say DAYUM!!!! It was worth it for the price I paid, cuz I got mine back, and made everybody elses that much more valuable by always providing the much needed parts for the better cars while weeding out the weak ones.

Kinda like that guy HotRod asked about driving his $3Million$ Hemi Cuda convertible said, "I could roll this thing into a little ball and not have that much into fixing it!" Well I did that, and worse! OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!!
I had a spectacular time doing it too! And I'd bet there isn't a single guy out there with his "collectible, Investment Grade Musclecar" that has had as much fun cruising to the local or national carshow, cruise-in or tour as he did in the first one he owned, back whenever it was for him either.
And if he never did own one or one like it or even a similar performance model when he was young enough to just beat the ever lovin dog snot outa it, even if it was just in a sanctioned straight line event with nothing but pride and a trophy involved, then he never ever will have a clue...

 

[GullsGN]

Got my license with mom's 69 Dodge Super Bee. Have been hooked on American muscle ever since. I have had Camaros, 55s, Chevelles, Buicks and now it seems I have come full circle with the new Dodge Challenger as probably the last car I will own. The new Challenger is pretty impressive!