for all the oldschoolers

for all the ones that were teenagers in the late 50s early 60s
when did the crusing hanging out at diners drives in
racing 1950s culture die off my guess is 1965
does movies like amercian graffiti and hollywood knights
give people an idea of what went on during that time
people tell me i am crazy i should have been a teenagers late 50s early 60s how much fun it probably was
i try to live the 50s the best way i can by dressing like a greaser and hanging out at 1950s places oklahoma city ok
dont have many

Well cruisings heyday was gone by the early 60's, that what Ron Howard was trying to catch in his movie American Graffiti. It was supposed to be a new style of documentary about the life of several high school grads in socal in the early 60's.

Whats that they say, its not about trying to relive history, its about making it.

Thanks for the memories. I think that sort of thing still exists at least after Friday night football games (H.S.), but the conditions that are different were caused then by the number of thirty's cars that were kept running for transportation during WWII and then suddenly made available when new cars became available again in 1946. Now there is just a steady economic trickle-down of older cars to H.S. students for first cars. I am replying mainly because my family had a '55 station wagon for a number of years and I helped my Dad replace a Y-block which I think was a 272. The funny thing is that he forgot to tag the ignition wires and even though we put long-to-long and short-to-short plug wires it took a long time to get the plug wires right! That was a major lesson in tagging wires before removal. I guess a 292 or 312 Y-block would swap in and the exhaust manifolds were convenient on top for the 272. What are you running under the hood?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I was born in the mid fifty's and I wasn't into cars untill the late '60's but in our town it was an innocent time when everything was different. Hotrodding was still popular but there where alot of strong muscle cars. I too would have liked to be there in the old '30's iron days.:D

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Originally posted by Don Shillady
Thanks for the memories. I think that sort of thing still exists at least after Friday night football games (H.S.), but the conditions that are different were caused then by the number of thirty's cars that were kept running for transportation during WWII and then suddenly made available when new cars became available again in 1946. Now there is just a steady economic trickle-down of older cars to H.S. students for first cars. I am replying mainly because my family had a '55 station wagon for a number of years and I helped my Dad replace a Y-block which I think was a 272. The funny thing is that he forgot to tag the ignition wires and even though we put long-to-long and short-to-short plug wires it took a long time to get the plug wires right! That was a major lesson in tagging wires before removal. I guess a 292 or 312 Y-block would swap in and the exhaust manifolds were convenient on top for the 272. Whaqt are you running under the hood?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

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351 cleveland out of a 72mach I

now days the cruise seen is still strong 90 percent ricers
i know its still cars but the ricers in oklahoma city ok
have messed a lot of traditional muscle car and street rod stuff
when the streed rod nationals comes to okc we would have a big cruise after the fast and the furious cameout
the ricers got crazy and made more cops comeout
and ran all the rodders off

We don't have a big city and there was never any really crusing except on the weekends looking for girls, but I still like to go downtown and relive the old times of 40 years ago and still catch the looks fo younger girls but of course I don't take my wife with me on those nights.

Well, I was still cruising during the 70's.......but the heyday of true cruising was the late 60's......I remember car hops just like in AG....and that was also the time when we had 3,4 live bands playing around the area ,,none of this record spinning by dj's........I grew up in the best area for that.the birthplace of the "garage" bands.........like the Wailers, Sonics, Merrilee Rush, the Fleetwoods, Paul Revere and the Raiders..and many others including the Ventures........the guys from WA and OR will know what I'm talking about.

I started getting into cars in the mid 60's and from my experience it depended on where you were at and if you were into the street scene at that time. In the late 60 (67-70) factory muscle cars wre almost a right of passage for kids in there mid to late teens and 20's. Those that were like me and couldn't affold something new were building are own to go head to head with the guys with new iron.

My junior/Sr year in HS we had a place about 2 miles out of town (on a state highway) with new asphalt that we would run on.

When I moved to St Louis in 70 the industrial park was the hot bed for racing.

When I got back to the states in 74-77 Lawton OK was pretty lively.

The one-ways in Davenport Iowa was also a pretty interesting place.

The cars during those times were pretty representative of what was in Hollywood Knights. As were the activities (although what was shown as 1 night in 90 minuets of movie would take place over 6 months or a years period of time.

Where I was there was always a local hangout where the car people (I beleive we were called hoodlums on a good night) would hang out and swap lies. Sometimes it was a drive-in (A1 in St Louis, Rocket drive-in or McDonalds in Lawton, the city park in other places.

Overall if you looked hard enough it was well into the 70's before it died out.

Well there is a fine line here having to do with adolescence, hormones and, in the U.S., an automobile license is almost a rite of passage. Sadly, cruising has been banned in Virginia Beach and also in Richmond, but we also have a new Dragway in Dinwiddie county so maybe that is the way NHRA would say it should be. Just two blocks from my suburban home a 16 year-old girl was killed the same day she got her license after a football game in a 280-Z her father gave her. Also I had to take each of my three kids to a required county presentation of accident scenes as each of them got their license. Ron Howard got it right in American Grafitti. The urge for independence and the fascination of the machines all combine into a lifelong obsession as some of us know. Now we have a different group with asian cars who don't fit the old mold but the hormones are the same. I thought I had it figured out with a Pontiac Sunfire ('98) convt. only to find a 120 H.P. 4 cyl is just a sewing machine, so now it is back to old memories in building a '29 Ford roadster. Hormones take many forms, but that is what is behind it! Maybe that is what it is, each generation goes through the "hormone haze" and adapts to the technology of the time and I was just on the end of the flat head V8 era with the appearance of OHV engines and the images of older cars are stuck in my head. Today young people are grappeling with higher gas prices and maybe some of us have not realized that the auto industry is now global requiring metric as well as SAE tools. So just pick out an image that pleases you and stick with it and refine it but don't be surprised if someone else has a different image. If only the parts I have on order would arrive I would be in my garage building instead of blabbing here!

Best Wishes,
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Every once in a while I go out crusing. Mostly one of my neighbors wants to go out on the town. I dont know why, but a lot of women seem to look my way. Something about an Olds small block and chrome in the nightime...:LOL: I know its just not the same as an open top, a Big Block and Catless dual exhaust, but its nice to hear the rumble of a V8 bounce off the buildings. Ah, to be born 40 years Earlier.

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Originally posted by 55ranchwagon
now days the cruise seen is still strong 90 percent ricers
i know its still cars but the ricers in oklahoma city ok
have messed a lot of traditional muscle car and street rod stuff
when the streed rod nationals comes to okc we would have a big cruise after the fast and the furious cameout
the ricers got crazy and made more cops comeout
and ran all the rodders off

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Do they still shut down meridian to let the rodders cruise when the big show comes to town? I used to work in the industrial complex behind what used to be sheplers western wear and the motel 6 near 1-44. After work we'd walk out by the shepler's parking lot and watch the rods go by. After that it was off to Bennigans for some southwest eggrolls.

Abe

Uh, i may be older than your target question, but cruising never ended here.

Jerry's Curb Service has been around since 1942, recently remodeled and expanded - still have carhops although they now use wirelss palm pilots to take you order!

I went there in the 70s to see the cars. Across the river is Hanks - mexican food and (regular) ice cream. No carhops, but no interior tables either.

Cruising is big now,but more car show than the 70s stuff i remember.

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Originally posted by The F.N.G.
Do they still shut down meridian to let the rodders cruise when the big show comes to town? I used to work in the industrial complex behind what used to be sheplers western wear and the motel 6 near 1-44. After work we'd walk out by the shepler's parking lot and watch the rods go by. After that it was off to Bennigans for some southwest eggrolls.

Abe

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they still shutdown meridian but its not the way it was years ago
less and less rodders everyear this year was ok
but past years have been great
the cops shut it down like at 930 now
years ago you could use until 1am
times change and the ricers ruined the cruise
like a month ago some teenage kids in honda civics
were racing down nw 50th and council
at 130 in the afternoon and two were killed
as they hit the curb ever since then the cops
at nw 39th and and northwest expressway
have been bad thats the cruise spot not
people also cruise 12th in moore still

Well, even though the cruisin' scene isn't like it used to be, I still have fun, and enjoy gettin' out whenever I can.

I guess it just makes cruisin' during the car shows more fun, since you can haunt the main drag with all the other rodders...:cool:

Things can't always stay the same, but there's nothing wrong with trying to hold onto the things we love...that's probably why we are all crazy about our cars here at CHR! :p