For those as old as me (Page 2): Hey, Frank!! My Mom was very short (5'2"). The 98 Olds was a beast. She had to look through, not over, the steering wheel. She'd curse at the car...

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

ssiretire wrote:

Hi Mark. My older brother's (he's 82, I'm 80) first auto was a '49 Olds fastback with a straight 8. He put a '51 Olds. V8 in it. I loved that car
Frank

Hey, Frank!! My Mom was very short (5'2"). The 98 Olds was a beast. She had to look through, not over, the steering wheel. She'd curse at the car whenever she had to parallel park, which in those days was frequent. She passed at 49 (61') and my Dad at 41(53'). It's amazing to me that I am more than twice my Dad's age when he died.

I did some serious "drag racing" from traffic lights in that 98 Olds. My first car was a 49' Plymouth in my senior year of college (58'). It needed a battery, but I had no money. I used to park it on a slight hill, put one foot out the door, pushed it, jumped in and jump started it. I drove it that way for months. My Mom bought it for me for $200. I have no idea how she found that money. We had a nice house, but we were broke after my Dad died. I'm not crying the blues, just reminiscing.

I got married in 60' while in the Army. (drafted in 58') my wife & I bought a brand new 59' PV 544 Volvo - first import in the US. It had harness seat belts and 5 on the floor. Loved that car.

Stay safe & well.
Mark

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

markngolf wrote:

Hey, Frank!! My Mom was very short (5'2"). The 98 Olds was a beast. She had to look through, not over, the steering wheel. She'd curse at the car whenever she had to parallel park, which in those days was frequent. She passed at 49 (61') and my Dad at 41(53'). It's amazing to me that I am more than twice my Dad's age when he died.

Yes, medicine made real advances in our lifetime.Both of my grandfathers died at 53.

My paternal grandfather needed bypass surgery, which wasn’t done yet; my Dad had a stent inserted when he was about my age, and he lived to be 93 years 10 months old.

My maternal grandfather died of bad heart valves resulting from his getting rheumatic fever. Modern antibiotics protected my Mom from that danger, and she lived to be 93 years 1 month old of a “broken heart” {I am certain she would have lived longer, but she spent her last five years saying how much she missed him}.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

[quote=rehess]Yes, medicine made real advances in our lifetime.Both of my grandfathers died at 53. [quote]

You have that right. If my parents had been born in the 80's or after, they probably would have lived long lives.
Life goes on and in some ways has greatly improved - certainly in the medical field.

Thanks,
Mark

Alafoto Loc: Montgomery, AL

DirtFarmer wrote:

I saw your title "... as old as me" and ... (show quote)

Gee, you ARE old (Lol). Class of '63 here. Still, they were fun days. My all expense paid, round trip to Vietnam kind of took away my innocence, and that of lots of others. A great movie, though!

Sirsnapalot Loc: Hammond, Louisiana

alawry wrote:

Loved the movie, love the post here and the memories. But no one yet has mentioned the music, I wore out the soundtrack album. and some of the tracks are obscure, like the Beach Boys "Havin fun all summer long" The atmpshere the movie evokes is just Awesome. I must hunt it down and watch it again. (I'm a 1955 model)

Same here, I loved the soundtrack, I bought it from Maison Blanche on Canal Street in New Orleans, they were the first ones to have it locally.....

n4jee Loc: New Bern, NC

Graduated in 1959. Wished I had today some of the cars that I've owned:
1955 T Bird, 1957 Porsche 356A Coupe, Triumph TR3, Bugeye Sprite, Sunbeam Alpine, Opal GT, 65 Mustang and even the 1957 Plymouth convertible. What I don't miss was the very un-cool 1951 Ford Sedan that I drove all through high school. Cursing in Santa Barbara was up and down State Street with a turnaround through the Blue Onion Drive In.

marine73 Loc: Modesto California

Another fact the movie was actually filmed in Petaluma which had similar street layout as Modesto. George Lucas and the city of Modesto has been at odds with each other for years. He would not allow a statue honoring him be displayed in the city.

pendennis

ssiretire wrote:

Hi Mark. My older brother's (he's 82, I'm 80) first auto was a '49 Olds fastback with a straight 8. He put a '51 Olds. V8 in it. I loved that car
Frank

My second car was a 50 Mercury, painted metallic blue. I had the engine bored/stroked/sleeved from 239ci to 293ci, 3-speed, etc. I ran it at a local 1/8 mile NHRA strip against a 49 Olds with the Straight 8 on Saturday nights. We used to swap wins regularly in M Stock Class (the only two cars in class). On Sundays we'd drive 70 miles to Lexington, KY Dragway and start all over. I could eat his lunch off the line, but that old Straight 8 had lots of high end torque at the end. Wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

WOW! They wanted to film the cruising scene in San Jose Calif. (First St.and Second St)...you forgot to mention that Petaluma, Calif was the chicken capital of the US and home to the arm wresting championship.
“The G” former Fremont Calif. resident.

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

What about “Wolf Man Jack” ?

Sirsnapalot Loc: Hammond, Louisiana

George II wrote:

What about “Wolf Man Jack” ?

kevon devins

Michigan - Graduated 59 - 1st vehicle 55 Olds 98 - then 57 Pontiac 2 dr hdtp - then college UM (Ann Arbor)
then USAF - then - 62 Impala - then 64 Impala (409) - then Olds Delta 88 conv - then another Impala - then Leman's Sport (like GTO) - then GMC pickup - then another Impala - then 76 S/R Vette - then another Impala
then 91 Vette - then went to pick-ups Fords - then 98 red Vette - - then back to pick-ups - presently F350 Diesel Dually Platinum and still driving - working - pretty healthy - Life is good

Morry Loc: Palm Springs, CA

n4jee wrote:

Graduated in 1959. Wished I had today some of the cars that I've owned:
1955 T Bird, 1957 Porsche 356A Coupe, Triumph TR3, Bugeye Sprite, Sunbeam Alpine, Opal GT, 65 Mustang and even the 1957 Plymouth convertible. What I don't miss was the very un-cool 1951 Ford Sedan that I drove all through high school. Cursing in Santa Barbara was up and down State Street with a turnaround through the Blue Onion Drive In.

Sorry but so far you guys are all young "whippersnappers". I'm high school graduate of '52. Cars that I liked the best are: 1952 red MG with Shorock supercharger on it. Wow! Then I had a 1959 Triumph TR3 with Norman Laycock overdrive and wire wheels. Also had a 1962 Chevrolet Impala "bubble top"coupe. Wish that I had kept all of them.

whatdat Loc: Del Valle, Tx.

Good memories!! Also graduated HS in 1962 in McAllen, Tx., in the Rio Grande Valley. Uncanny how true to life then the movie was. Spent some Fri or Sat evenings in Mexico 7 miles south of us. (Nobody got ck’ed for ID’s when drinking over there). Eloped in 1965 in a ‘49 Olds. to Austin to get married. I vividly remember on the way there coming up to a border patrol ck pt at midnight doing about 80 mph. When I saw the agent step out with his stop sign, I hit the brakes but only got down to about 20 when I went by him. Finally stopped & backed up to him. Unflappable, he looked at me calm as could be and asked where I was going. I said Austin. He suggested that when I got there, maybe I should have the brakes ck’ed, then told us we could go on.
Still married to the same lovely lady 55 yrs this October.

sailwiz Loc: Santee, CA

Very good. I graduated in 1963 as well. Looking back I think you and I are the lucky ones!