Re: Where were you in '85?
 

[ QUOTE ]

You sure this was taken in 1985? Looks more like 1975, I can just about hear Skynard playing Freebird in the background... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Sam,

You forgot to look at the bottom of his jeans (no "bell bottoms") https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/wink.gif


Here's a pic of my husband Bill from 1985 (which was before I met him). That was when he was restoring his '69 Royal Bobcat. By the way, he only paid $700 for it in 1979 https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/wink.gif

Rita https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/smile.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

And here's my husband's "Playboy" shot from that time https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif


I asked him to tell me the story behind this photo (since it was before I met him) and this is what he told me:

He was at a car event, and being the president of a car club, he was approached by the event coordinator looking for convertibles to pick up "some people" and bring them to the show. Well, the "people" were "Playboy Bunnies" https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/wink.gif. So he went to the members and asked if anyone would be willing to use their car to pick up "some people" from the hotel. No one was interested at first, as they were all having too much fun at the show and did not want to leave. Well, when he told them that the "people" were "Playboy Bunnies" https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif, they all changed their minds! He even had guys volunteering to go home and get their cars! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/haha.gif

The picture was taken at the end of an exhausting day of escorting "bunnies" around. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/rolleyes.gif

Rita https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/smile.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

In 1985, I was in grade school (yes, for real!), and restoring a 1970 MGB/GT. Funny thing is, I was restoring an MG because my Dad thought it was harmless and was doing it with his blessing, BUT, I also had managed to aquire (without any parental knowledge) a really nice 68 Mustang convert that was bashed in the front that I sold for a $500 profit, turning the money into a 65 GTO 3x2 4 spd blue/white hardtop that was damn nice in original paint with the red/white/blue Sun tach hose clamped to the colummn. It cost a whopping $1500, and other than ladder bars and a few bolt ons, was in great shape. It was my older friends bad news brother's car, repoped by their Mom after the troubled kid was put in the clink for splitting a guy's head open after he made a move on his girlfriend at the time. Their Dad had worked for GM, Pontiac Div., and had passed away due to a heart attack the year before. All 3 boys in the family had Pontiacs. After driving the GTO to school (8th grade!) a few times, a guy offered me a rusty Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 and $2k for the Goat! Well, I liked Land Cruisers as well, and after cutting a hole in the roof, it worked far better delivering newspapers on my route when I had a buddy drive and I could throw the papers in the general direction of a subscribers home! Plus, the plow was going to make us money in the winter! A couple of weeks passed, and that $2k was on fire in my pocket. I heard of an old T/A for sale in our neighborhood , and went to check it out. It was a 73 SD 4 speed car, up on blocks in an older guy's garage. He had started a "resto" years before but only got far enough to take all of the trim off and rattle can prime the rust. For $1500 she was mine! We got it running , and I distinctly remember it could get rubber in all 4 gears. Might have been the dry tires! I do know that an older (licensed) freind of mine took it out on the freeway for me, and at an indicated 140 MPH the front floor mats were levitating due to the rust holes in the floors.

A quick white laquer paint job and a lot of detailing later ( I worked in a body shop after school and had use of the place after hours), it was damn nice. Nice enough that a woman stopped by the local McDonalds when we had it there one day and said it was just like her husbands old car and she'd pay $6k for it. Sucker! In hindsight, I don't know which was the better choice - saving money for HS tuition (Jesuit college prep, still makes me cringe) or if I should have kept the car...

I later bought a brown 69 GTO RAIV convert that was just trashed (it has since resurfaced), as well as a lot of other rusty but cheap muscle cars. Mopars and Pontiacs were my weakness, and still are!

I know it sounds incredible, but this was how I spent my youth. The streets around my parent's house always had a few old muscle cars parked a safe distance away, and to this day I don't know how they didn't catch on!

No wonder I started a resto shop right out of school and now have a collector car dealership, huh? As much as it makes me happy to see these great cars restored to perfection and selling for big money, I still miss the days of being the "weird guy" who liked all of those crappy old cars! I miss the barn finds and unknown cars. I miss having buddies stop by in 69.5 440+6 Lift Off Road Runners with air shocks, glass packs, a trunk you could see the gas tank through, and N50 tires that we'd smoke the heck out of! Parking anywhere, going to the bone yard and buying fresh air hoods, multi carb intakes, Pistol Grip and Hurst shifters, etc.,all for damn near nothing before the cars got crushed!

Maybe I was born too late, but maybe not. Had I been around for the heyday I may have overloaded. But being a kid working myself through school with just enough money to buy the worst of the best muscle cars was something I will never forget. It was a great time to play with these cars. You could still buy them cheap, and enough people were catching on that you could usually sell a car for a profit if you put a little labor into it, and parlay that into the next great find.

Where would we be without our pictures, memories, and tetanus shots?

Thanks for the space to reminisce... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Colin

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

In 1985 I was in the 7th grade.... for fun I would go off-roading with the family 8hp Sears lawn tractor. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif aaaahh.. the good ol days..

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

In 1985 I was a junior in H.S. and was in the process of taking a tired, but all original, 1974 Nova Custom, 2 door, 350 auto car into the street hot rod car you see in attachment a year later. Bought the car on Christmas Eve of 85 for $1,200. Was originally pea green color with tan vinyl top.

One of the neat things I found after I bought it was the rally rims you see in picture under the full cover factory hubcaps.

After graduation from H.S. that Summer we were scheduled to move to Atlanta. Before moving,Dad said the metro area where we would be living had emissions checks on cars up to 15 years old and my car would not pass and I had to sell it. So reluctantly, I sold it and soon once in Atlanta we found out the emmissions checks were only for cars 10 years old. I still give my Dad crap occasionally about him screwing that detail up.

Todd https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/headbang.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

In November of 1985 I was a sophmore in HS and bought my 1967 Malibu (30 days before I could even get my license). My mom and I went to look at it and bought it on the spot without even driving it. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

When we told my dad he was suprised, but not as suprised as when he drove it home for me. He told me that there's no way in H*LL I would've gotten the car if he'd have driven it before we bought it! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif (Guess it was all those years of AMCs and Renaults that lulled him into his slow car mode)

$2,600 looked like a ton of money back then, but that car was my life. Lucky for me I opted to keep it, even though it needs some love to get back it's former glory it's still in the stable. Hopefully, my son will want to drive it one day!!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif

Now I can't wait to get my father to drive the L78 Chevelle I just bought. It ought to be another eye opener!!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/haha.gif

Blair

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

Regarding that musclecar price index I remember a guy that graduated with my sister roughly 3 years older than me buying in 1985 a 1969 GTO Convertable, triple black for $6,000. The car was all original, low miles most everyone thought he was crazy for paying that much.

Not such a bad price compared to today's prices. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Todd

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

Here's where I was in 1985. Original paint, tri-power, drove it on nice days to college, and to cruise nights.

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

This wasn't 1985, but around 1993, here's some shots of what my friends and I called "The Class of 1969". It was fun driving to cruise nights together.

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

Wow,
Nice lineup Mike! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

I was in 3rd grade. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/shocked.gif Remember riding my bike past this old lady's house who had a Cortez Silver '69 Camaro, 307 car with the black hockey-stick stripes. I wanted it so bad! The next few years I watched it rot into the ground...these cars were still on the road then, even through the Milwaukee winters! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/mad.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I was in 3rd grade. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/shocked.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Some of you guys are really making me feel OLD! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/blush.gif

Cool pics Mike! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Rita https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/smile.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

In 1985, started restoration on a wrecked 69 X77 Z28 that i purchaced Christmas Day in 84. My first 69 Z28. NOM 327, munci 4 spd, 12 bolt 3:73s. It was wrecked in the right front. Replaced the right front fender, inner fender, core support, Bumper, Header and valance panel. Installed intake and carb. Got to drive it for the first time in June of 85. I made the mistake of not mounting the Accell Super Coil. It was laying loose on the intake between the distributor and excellerator rod linkage. Does anyone see the PROBLEM here? Well, with a 2 day old paint job, (hugger orange) Me shifting thru the gears in a Church parking lot adjacent to my parents house, the excellerator stuck wide open while i was doing a reverse burnout. I was in panic. A few seconds later, i was pulling myself up from the broken seat back, car was not running and i could still here things that sould like the were falling off a wall. I looked around and noticed that about a 3rd of my camaro was sitting inside my parents house. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/no.gifBit of advise, Bolt those coils down! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/haha.gif Needless to say, i stripped the car and junked it. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

Leonard...jolly good show!!!.....
In '85 I was in kindergarten...not much happening at that time in my life...

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

I think I got ya beat there. . . depending on when in '85, I might not have even been born yet! Birthday of March 3, 1985 thank you very much.

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

Hey MikeNoun, man do I miss cruise nights. Remember when everyone drove such cars as those in your photo and you could actually cruise some boulevard in some town and the cops wouldn't immediately shut it down? How about Car Craft's "Cruisin' USA" monthly series on where to find the best "Mains." In the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay) we usually went out to Pinole on Friday nights unless there was a bigger "Main" happening somehwere else. People would make flyers and post them at all of the local auto parts stores and speed shops and cars would come from all over Northern California. North Main street in Walnut Creek was legendary in the late 1970s until the lowlifes found it. Once it was 'discovered' it was all over in a few months. Vandalism, gang fights, etc., caused the local merchants to jump on the police to put a stop to the whole thing. Then on to Pinole, Petaluma, San Rafael, Napa, and the same thing happened. Coincidentally, all of the Bay Area "mains" were dead by 1985. Now if the cops see a car making more than one pass down the avenue on a weekend night they'll pull you over and ticket you. Another wonderful pastime lost. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif


I also miss the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals West at Cal Expo in Sacramento. That event also resulted in a huge cruise in downtown Sacramento on Saturday night. Not anymore. You might look at someone the wrong way and get shot. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...thumbsdown.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

I think the Golden Age of Cruising was really the early to mid 80's. At that time, new Musclecars were running 15's, and old Musclecars became THE hottest thing around. The old Musclecars were myths to some newbie car fans. The guys that hot-rodded their hand-me-down 305 Camaros or 301 Firebirds, or maybe put headers on their V6 Monza, just could not believe what the old Musclecars could do in stock trim. To them, their new 185 hp Camaro or Firebird seemed peppy, but seeing a factory 400 hp Musclecar was like seeing a demon from hell. Old Musclecars ruled the streets, and most of them at that time were still all original.

All that changed around 1987, when the Mustang 5.0 and GNX really came into their own. This was a turning point, when magazines began running head-to-head battles between old and new Musclecars, something that would have been laughable just a couple years earlier.

Nowadays, we have 12 second showroom cars in the Corvette and Viper, and a whole plethora (I just had to use that word today https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/tongue.gif) of solid 13 second cars, from recent Ram Air Trans Am's to Z/28's, from Cobras to Mach 1's. Old Musclecars still have their mystique, but part of that mystique has been lost because the "fear factor" of riding in a 13 second car is gone. Now soccer moms driving an SUV, or a Lexus, can take out some of the old Musclecars at a stoplight. Strange... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

Sad day #1: 1985 when I sold my '67 Camaro to finish college. Happy day: 1987 when I graduated and bought a brand new '87 5.0 LX Mustang. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Traded it in in 1990 for a new black-on-black LX 5.0 hatchback with power windows, etc. I installed a Hurst shifter, SSC stainless headers, Flowmasters and a K&N. Took it to Advanced Autosport in Oakland and had them install Kenny Brown braces and subframe connectors, Eibach springs and a Central Coast caster kit. Man, what a G-machine. Sad day #2: selling it in 1997.

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hey MikeNoun, man do I miss cruise nights. Remember when everyone drove such cars as those in your photo and you could actually cruise some boulevard in some town and the cops wouldn't immediately shut it down? How about Car Craft's "Cruisin' USA" monthly series on where to find the best "Mains." In the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay) we usually went out to Pinole on Friday nights unless there was a bigger "Main" happening somehwere else. People would make flyers and post them at all of the local auto parts stores and speed shops and cars would come from all over Northern California. North Main street in Walnut Creek was legendary in the late 1970s until the lowlifes found it. Once it was 'discovered' it was all over in a few months. Vandalism, gang fights, etc., caused the local merchants to jump on the police to put a stop to the whole thing. Then on to Pinole, Petaluma, San Rafael, Napa, and the same thing happened. Coincidentally, all of the Bay Area "mains" were dead by 1985. Now if the cops see a car making more than one pass down the avenue on a weekend night they'll pull you over and ticket you. Another wonderful pastime lost. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif


I also miss the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals West at Cal Expo in Sacramento. That event also resulted in a huge cruise in downtown Sacramento on Saturday night. Not anymore. You might look at someone the wrong way and get shot. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...thumbsdown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
That brought tears to my eyes. I remember in the early 80's when El Camino Real in San Mateo was a hot spot. That was until they had the same problems as Walnut Creek and other places... Ahhhh, the good old days. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/headbang.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

Yes, and Stevens Creek Blvd in San Jose was another legendary 'Main.' That one and North Main in Walnut Creek were both separate "Cruisin' USA" features in Car Craft. Man, it just doesn't seem like 25 years ago.

As a 1980 high school graduate one of my favorite "flashback" movies is "Dazed and Confused." That dude with the '70 SS Chevelle kills me! We all looked like him back in The Day. That movie got it right in many ways.

I miss my high school auto shop class too. On nice-weather Fridays we'd clean up our cars in preparation for the main that night. We'd get credit just for washing and "tuning" our cars (opening the hood and fiddling around). Whoever had tunes in his car would crank up KRQR ("The Rocker"--S.F.) or KOME (San Jose) while we worked.

Man, where did the last 25 years GO?

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: Where were you in '81???
 

Car Craft Street Freaks #5, 1981.

Re: Where were you in '81???
 

I can hear the Bee Gees singing "Stayin' Alive".... (CC Street Freaks #5, 1981.)

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, and Stevens Creek Blvd in San Jose was another legendary 'Main.' That one and North Main in Walnut Creek were both separate "Cruisin' USA" features in Car Craft. Man, it just doesn't seem like 25 years ago.

As a 1980 high school graduate one of my favorite "flashback" movies is "Dazed and Confused." That dude with the '70 SS Chevelle kills me! We all looked like him back in The Day. That movie got it right in many ways.

I miss my high school auto shop class too. On nice-weather Fridays we'd clean up our cars in preparation for the main that night. We'd get credit just for washing and "tuning" our cars (opening the hood and fiddling around). Whoever had tunes in his car would crank up KRQR ("The Rocker"--S.F.) or KOME (San Jose) while we worked.

Man, where did the last 25 years GO?

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

[/ QUOTE ]Ah, yes... I'd forgotten about Stevens Creek, we only did that cruise a couple times. Gas was fairly expensive back then especially for a high school student on a limited income. ha. ha.

Yup... listend to KOME, KRQR and KSJO (which is the only one that has survived all be it a few format changes a while back.)

Where have the days gone? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

[ QUOTE ]
As a 1980 high school graduate one of my favorite "flashback" movies is "Dazed and Confused." That dude with the '70 SS Chevelle kills me! We all looked like him back in The Day. That movie got it right in many ways.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes - Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) and Melba Toast ('70 Chevelle) were the stars of that movie...that's the only movie I've been able to watch more than 2 times....wishing I was there....

Re: Where were you in '85?
 

I really dig that term "Street Freak" https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif Street Freaks Rule!

Hey whitetop or whoever did they ever do a Crusin USA feature on the Chi-town area? If so I would have to imagine that it would have been Archer ave.