I crave a REAL musclecar as much as every real man does I suppose. Man, it would be nice. A big cube V-8, four speed, posi, loud paint, stripes, etc. But I gave up dreaming about it now that they are what they were never meant to be, which are toys for the well-off. Besides, cars back then only lived five or six years before being junked. I am NOT well off. Heck, I barely skate by. One income, raising a family. Anyway, I'm thinking all this stuff while driving home today in the Regal. As I bash 2nd to 3rd with my $5 Hurst shifter atop my $90 four speed, It suddenly occurs to me that, Hey, This is what it musta been like back in the day! Think about it. I'm driving a car thats cheap! Its not valuable, and I don't treat it as a collector car (now its gotta classic plate, but youns know why). I can literally blow up any part of it and replace it at the boneyard or swap meet. Yeah, a $600 rear end wouldn't be exactly cheap, but thats one new truck payment! I can lean on the car, get caught in the rain with it, let the kids play in it, etc. New scratch? O well! Wasn't that how it was back then? When any of youns bought a new musclecar, was it supposed to be for keeps? Probably not. Heck, youns thrashed those things. So I'm driving a 350 powered, four speed car, with a 3.42 posi. And I'm doing it without going into the poorhouse. Thats gotta be what it was like. And I'm liking it!!!!
Amen Dan, I was one year old when the musclecars hit their hey day (1970) so I guess you can say I missed out to, but just because it didn't roll out of the factory as a muscle car doesn't mean it can't be one today. I have owned two classic cars. The first, a 64 Skylark that had a 300 4v 2 speed that got swapped with a mildley built Stage 1 motor with a turbo 400. It ran a 13.0 on street tires the one and only time I ever took it to the strip and it was 95 degrees out. My current is a 72 Skylark that originally rolled out of Flint with a 350 2v and a 350 hydro. It now also has a mildley built stage 1 motor and a 4 speed. Don't have any strip times yet but it feels very quick. :grin: Either one of my cars would have creamed a factory stock muscle car. Do I care if they were not originally factory muscle cars?? Not in the least bit. I actually feel better off, since GSs are a rare breed, I would never be able to have the freedom to turn my 72 into whatever I want. For now it's a GS clone, in a few years it may well be an all out bracket car. Anyway, Dan, I think your regal 350 4 speed is just as much a muscle car then anything that came out of Detroit. A little tweaking (or a 350 build by Burek :Brow: ) and you could be stomping almost everything on the street.
I missed it by a bunch... though i often wonder what was going through the minds of people when they were buying muscle cars new.. or better yet, sleepers... were they aware that they'd be a part of the greatest car era? Were their intentions to race on the street? What about the sleepers? Did they know what they were doing? Did they buy the sleepers as daily cars or weekend warriors? It blows my mind to think about these things. This can even be related to our WE-4.. surely a sleeper... did they know it was one of 1547? etc. -Josh
Hi Guys I was one of those people that was in the muscle car era. I got my GS for cruising and the occasional race. When you were out cruising on the weekend there was always somebody wanting to take you on. Then by the mid 70's there was the gas shortage. Most of the muscle cars were sold cheap. You could by most of them for under a $1000, including the stage one's. I never sold mine because it such a damn fun car to drive. Jim Deardorff
I too am from the muscle car era, l turned 16 just after its heyday, My first ride was a 71 Mustang Mach 1 429 Super Cobra Jet, 4 speed. We had lots of late '60's and early '70 muscle cars up here in mid 75 and 76. Gas crunch didn't hit as hard here in Canada, no line ups or shortages. Where I live, we've had had Government run car insurance since 1971 (they actually do a good job!), anyone could insure any car with no age restrictions. My 71 Mach 1 cost me about $175.00/year at age 20. Can't imagine what it would've cost under private insurance. :jd: I do remember a couple of bad ass Stage 1's and one impressive GSX around that time, probably long gone now. Today, there are very few Buicks here, seems everyone and their dog likes either a bow tie, blue oval, or pentastar. Then there's the "tuners". ou: Tom
I was born in 61' so it was somewhat frustrating growing up in the sixties and not being old enough to drive. Man those were the days. Muscle cars were everywhere! People don't stop and think about the fact that from 67-70 at the height of the muscle era a 55 Chevy was still only 15 years old tops. At no other time in history was the time span for cars more perfect. My father, who was in the painting/body shop business all his life was the body shop manager at one of the Buick dealerships in town from the mid 60's to 71' which meant there were company cars driven home on a regular basis. I guess that's why I'm partial to the make. (and probably why I find the ricer movement a joke) Even in 70' the typical family sedan (in our case a 62' Catalina with a 389) was a blast and provided a true neck snapping thrill when the throttle was nailed. I don't recall having that experience in the 80's or 90's and I'm sure not getting it from my GMC Safari. When I get behind the wheel of my 70' Skylark I can honestly say I enjoy every minute of it. I'm tired of the confinement of the wrap around plastic and numerous cup holders. Fire up the DeLorean Marty, I need a fix of chrome, split benches and V8 rumbles!
I couldn't agree with you more. I love taking my 72 out and just driving and opening her up. I don't seem to want to do that in my Toyota pickup. :boring: I envy all of you guys that grew up in that era. It must have been heaven. :grin:
I graduated high school in 76, so all us "kids" got to buy these cars cheap. They had tons of power, and I must admit we were holy terrors on the streets. They were cheap used cars then and we beat the sh** out of them, often cannabalizing one to save another. If someone destroyed one, they just went out and got another. Duane
-I graduated in 1951, which was before the muscle cars came into vogue. We built our own! I had a 37 Buick century in high school, and until the Olds V8 came out it ruled the roost. I built a 32 F**d with a big flat head and later had a Cadillac powered 51 Chev. By the time the muscle cars hit, I was raising my family (6 kids) and could not afford anything . I did the antique car thing until the kids were all gone, and now have some toys .
Hit the nail right on the head Dan. The 455/350 G-body you build for yourself is nothing less than a full out 2004 musclecar. RWD, frame chassis, overtorqued, overpowered, and cheap to run. Long live em!
I can testify to the fact that Dan's car put a smile on my face... if the fun of real torque in a rwd chassis, with a four speed no less, isn't a muscle car, I don't know what is!
I was 6 years old in 1970. A little young to "realize" what was upon us, but still the right age to have had the privilage of driving in and often seeing both unmolested and modified musclecars by the time I was 16. It was an awesome time.
I got my driver's license in 1969. I think that the faster and faster cars of the 60s were based on the fact that the interstates weren't quite built out yet. There were still a lot of two lane roads, and faster passing was 'safer'. Faster the better.
I remember as a kid the new musclecars that were coming out. Of course I was not at the age to drive a car,but the sensation of watching these cars run was a thrill for me. I remember I was riding with my Mom, and seeing for the first time a brand new GSX:eek2: The Saturn Yellow paint looked awesome! What a nice car and definately something I will never forget.
I got my first driver's license at age 14, in 1962. This thread has given me a reason to think about what it was like. The muscle car era was just beginning, with old hot rods of some form or fashion being the norm. After market parts were limited, just as our wallets were! Almost everyone was limited to a single car to do everything- daily driver, race car and romance facilitator. Each new model year was a wait to see what would unveiled. Max wedges and 409's were the BIG deal. Rumors were going around about a new secret Chebby motor that would turn the racing world on it's head. A 4sp, 327 Impala SS would really turn heads. The Chebby was of course the famous Rat and Hemi's began to dominate. WOW, Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles, and strange colored Mopars of various sizes hit the streets. Each year brought the next upgrades in power and advertising HEAVILY pointed toward the muscle car market. While we all told our parents that "if I could just have that one, I will take care of it and run it for many years." Just wasn't so. Like my mechanic tells me today, "they only have so many passes in 'em." My '67 Camaro lasted just short of 4 years- still ran great, but I wanted a BB. Made my first car deal in '71 when I bought a low miles '70 Monte Carlo- dumb buy. Cop pulled me over and asked if I knew the car had been wrecked? Said the rear wheels didn't track the front. Man I was really bummed out. In Aug. of '72, I traded that car in on the only new 455 mid-sized car I could find- Olds Cutlass Supreme SX. Wasn't much of a drag car ( 8.5:1 comp & 2.93 open gear), but it was a hell of a road car- Baton Rouge to New Orleans in 30 min., on the old road. There was something of a run on the '72 455's, since we knew it was the end. I badly wanted a Stg 1 (after Buick was the surprise winner of a GM BB shootout that inc'l a LS6), but the dealer couldn't locate one and wasn't inclined to push the factory at the end of the model year. Burned the valves in the Olds in a little over 2 years, and started getting rust bubbles in the likely spots. Still living from check to check, I traded it in rather than fixing it. That was it for me and muscle cars for about 26 years. In 2000, I finally got my BB GS. "The day" is probably best described as living it day to day. Each season was new, there weren't a lot of other things to do (not like the alternatives available today)and our cars were as much home as our apartments or dorms. I would look forward to each month's car mags to see what was new in the parts world, as well as what rumors were going around about the next cars that would be coming out. The racing scene was evolving each weekend. Sox & Martin were not legends, they were the guys who set a new record last weekend. Altered wheelbase cars- what will they think of next? Drag racing was all about heads up stock classes, and results would have an affect on how your ride was viewed by your peers. Gas prices were headed north of .50 per gal. and my Dad was very glad I slid the SX under the insurance radar screen and got it rated as a std. car. Eight track tape players were the big deal and reverberators were popular for a while (actually just made the interior an echo chamber that grated on the nerves.) There were not very many really bad boys around Austin. A Boss 302 or 429, SCJ 428 Mustang or a real Hemi were BIG deals. The memory of a friend's real L88 Vette doing a dry tire burnout across an intersection on the "Drag" (street that runs by campus) has stayed with me all my life. He was completely out of sight by the time the smoke cleared. A while later, I tried the same thing with the Camaro about 1:00 AM on the same street. Should have looked in the rearview mirror- a cop was right behind me and was the only other car in sight. It's a really good thing he thought it was funny. He asked if I had been drinking or if I was just an idiot. I confessed to the later and he told me to go home until I regained my senses! "The Day" was a way of life. For a while, we assumed it would last forever. There was shock when the realization hit that the end was near. How could that be? Maybe the end of that era, along with the Viet Nam war, were my generation's passage into adulthood. I apologize for my wanderings in this post. It was fun for me and I hope some of you enjoy it. :3gears: :3gears:
Jack, Don't apologize for rambling on! You expressed the feelings of the era in the detail that I had hoped someone would. Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I think I'm picking up a little leftover musclecar era here. Pretty darn Groovy I'd say!!!!:3gears:
I have to agree. While it might seem boring and mundane to some, some of us really never were able to experience an era like that. And I for one am simply facinated with!! Some on this board really haven't had the chance to see many muscle cars or simply attractive aged cars (many 73 and up cars belong in this catagory) cars often. It was a time when you could have bought a pretty decent car for a pretty decent price (one car my dad bought in 1972 was an alright but not great '57 fairlane 500 for $200!!!). So I say keep 'em coming guys I'd love to hear it!!! embarrassed by my generation that hasn't created anything more than dumb and delirious posers, gangsta wannabes, and overdramatic teens, Patrick
lol.. born in 82.... i really missed it fortunately old cars are making a come back and i get to see the "revival" if you can call it that. my first car... 1972 Buick Skylark with a 350-4. my second car a 2000 S-10, my third a 2001 Regal GS (WEEEEEE) the regal hauls balls great fun to drive. my Skylark now has a 455 and as far as i'm concerned, it's just as much fun as the muscle car era... except the gas prices.. OUCH
I graduated high school in 1970, but I missed the era's first wave due to lack of money. The stuff I bought was all used. I also missed things that happened in the 50's and early 60's; for example, the airports in many small towns in Montana allowed Sunday drag racing on the air strip until the FAA "discouraged" it. But no daytime speed limit in Montana, the Vietman war, prospects of being drafted for every male and the boom town atmosphere from a BIG nuclear ballistic missle installation program in North Central Montana meant that many young males were involved in daredevil antics on the highway, myself included. Here are two muscle car stories that didn't involve me, each with their own moral. An friend of mine a couple of years my senior had just taken possession of a hemi SuperBird he'd ordered; it was Nov 1969. A friend of his had just gotten back from some pretty nasty combat in Vietnam and had purchased a 318 Challenger. The car didn't have 1,000 miles on it when the two of them late one Friday afternoon were cruising main; they picked up 3 eager young teens to show them the Challenger's top end. At about 115 MPH, they rear-ended a farm truck full of barley that had turned onto the highway because he couldn't see the Challenger at dusk. One of the five made it; I played taps at the driver's funeral. The parents of my friend sold the 5,000 mile Superbird for a song shortly thereafter. They couldn't bear to have it sitting in the garage. Another friend, 2-3 years younger than I, talked his well-to-do senile uncle into buying him a brand new 67 Camaro ragtop, 396 375 horse. Mind you, the kid was 11-12 years old and no license. The uncle allowed various young teens with licenses the opportunity to taxi this 11-12 year old kid around in the Camaro, basically anywhere he wanted to go within a 50 mile radius. I am real glad I didn't have my license. The Camaro was very thrashed, on its second or third engine and long-gone way before the spoiled kid even thought about getting his license. I totaled my first car at age 16; my second was a 63 Skylark 215-200HP with a T-10 4-speed that I beat till it was tradin time. You are right, nothing was a collectible, and everything was meant to be driven, and usually driven as hard as one could afford to drive it. I'm surprised at the number of nice cars that actually survived. Dan
