The roads of 68-72 in America.

[YenkoChevelle69]

Hey guys, I have a question so bear with me. I am only 20 so if we do the math that means I came out in the production year of 82 with few options. Some of which included black hair and brown eyes. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Anyway. I was just curious, since I wasn't around during 68-72. Were camaros, Chevelles, Chargers, superbees and birds running around in plentiful numbers like Hondas and toyotas? Was it common for 2 69 Chevelles or even 3 or 4 to be at 1 stoplight? I have owned mine for almost 2 years and have seen a total of 4 on the road. and a couple more if you count the ones that A69COPO2 is restoring.
Just figured I would pick some of those muscle car era brains. Hopefully bring back some good ole memories from the good ole days, b/c lord only knows they are gone now.

[SS427]

Boy is this going to be a long thread. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Put it this way, how many new Vettes, Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs, etc, etc do you see on the road today? Now multiply that by a couple and you get the picture. In 1981, it was not that uncommon for me to go out on a typical Friday night cruise in my '69 SS(427) Chevelle and get into several races or "jaunts" with other '69 owners. Just going through a shopping mall parking lot in itself could be a joy as there were musclecars everywhere. Supercars on the other hand were quite rare. Unless you knew what to look for (or hear) you wouldn't know it sometimes anyway. In my neighborhood, it was even common place to have high performance garage sales where people sold used speed parts out of their garage, sort of a mini swap meet.

[andyww]

In Canada, Southern Ontario, in that time period muscle cars were plentiful. For most of us they were our daily drivers so you would see quite a few of them cruisin' around town. Mostly 340 Swingers, 383 Roadrunners and Superbees, 351 Mustangs, 396 Chevelles and Z28 Camaros. The AMC plant was about 10 miles from where I lived so the Javelins and AMXs were popular there as well.
Where I worked there were about 20 cars in the parking lot. If you drove in there in 1972 you would have seen my 69 COPO Chevelle, a 70 Roadrunner 440-6 pak, 70 340 Duster, 69 Camaro Z28 and a 67 OHC Firebird.
As SS427 mentioned the supercars were rare. I only saw one other COPO Chevelle and a couple of Hemi Chargers on the road in those days. If you went to a car dealership there were usually a few musclecars sitting on the lot. I bought my COPO Chevelle from a Toyota dealer.

Andy

[T Billigen]

I was lucky enough to be in the middle of the muscle car era! I started racing in 1962, in the area that I grew up in (Aliquippa, Pa.) Everyone owned a muscle car, when the GTOs came out in the fall of 63 there was about 10 guys that bought them. Starting in 65 there was every kind of muscle car you could think of running around! Everyone there worked in the steel mills and could afford the hottest cars that were for sale. I bought a 1965 442 which ran very well, the only thing that could beat me was a few Chevies. The chevies were by far the fastest street cars with Olds and Pontiac a close second. The mopars did not run very well especially the street hemi, hard to keep tuned and not very good bottom end. They became much faster with the 440 and could keep up with the chevies. Fords were probably the slowest of the big three, even when they came out with the Boss 429. No bottom end what so ever, deffinately not a 1/4 mile car. I hope I did not step on any toes. (ford and mopar) but that was the way it was in my area.

[hvychev]

yenkochevelle69,
What a great topic! I am only 24 years old, but I have been blessed with a good job that has afforded me to own 2 very nice cars. I asked my father that very same question. He is 52 years old, so he was 18 years old in 1968. He grew up on the west side of Chicago where their was a lot of muscle car activity. He told me that durring his youth the hot thing was not the traditional muscle car but cars like the tri-five Chevys suped up, Max Wedge Dodge style cars, mid year Corvettes, and hot rods. Most muscle cars were every day cars. People drove them to school, the store, work, and in the winter! Most of the cars had period modifications done to them and were NOT stock. Most people had never heard of supercars, and don't forget that most muscle cars were "run of the mill muscle". 327's 350's etc. The big boys were the ones that had big blocks. The hobby is dominated by guys that are older and had these cars when they were younger, or wanted them when they were kids. Hopefully guys that are our age can keep the muscle car candle lit for future generations. Just my 2 cents. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

By the way I love the period pictures of your car! You are luckey to have them...Keep the period pics comming!

[andyww]

Hvychev, you mentioned about driving the cars in winter. About a year after I bought the Chevelle I had to repair the front fenders because they were rusting out from the salt they used on the roads in Ontario.
As for being daily drivers, here is a picture taken in 1974 of me and my 1973 Camaro Z28. Yes that's a trailer on the back as I used the car to move from Ontario to Alberta.

Andy

[hvychev]

Cool pic man. Love the hair! Just kidding! [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] I wish their was a site devoted to just vintage muscle car pics.

[redeuce]

There were muscle cars everywhere, but unfortunately, most of us in high school could not afford a brand new Chevelle or Camaro. Anyone in high school between '66 and '70 were hard pressed just to put gas in them. I had two '55, a '56, and a '57. At that time they were just used cars and available for little money. Buy a 6 cylinder '57- put in a small block, go to the junk yard for some bucket seats, Hurst shifter, tach, chrome wheels, and boom, done. Total investment-$900.

[69rsss350]

I graduated in 1970 and my high school parking lot looked like a cruise night. 65 GTOs, 67 Chevelle SS's, Roadrunners, 442s, Camaros, Mustangs, GTX's, Chargers(mine), Challengers, Superbees, Cudas you name it. I do remember seeing a Daytona 500 Charger in Waco around that time also (wanna say it was Orange) and a couple red white and blue AMXs. Wow, its no wonder I'm obssessed!

[SS427]

These are shots (poor) of my '69 SS(427) Chevelle circa 1981. This was the norm in those days and this was my daily driver and not real good in Minnesota. Notice the missing inner high beams, fog lights, garter belt not to mention all the decals on the back windows. The car was definitely a lot of fun in those days. The car ran very well with the low rise 2x4 set up that I got from Racer's Exchange for $200!!