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Just last week, a cousin of a cousin was recalling an evening spent "cruising 'The Boulevard'", in Picayune, Mississippi, half-a-CENTURY back, almost to the day...
Bless this poster. You never know when or where she's going to drop a riveting novella onto the forum, but the suspense is worth it because her posts never fail to disappoint.
You owe it to yourself to watch 'American Graffiti' at least once, and for grins find the inferior, but otherwise entertaining ripoff 'Hollywood Knights'
American Graffiti was my first movie. I could not have been more than 2 or 3 at the time. I was fascinated by cars. Dad was a weekend, shade tree mechanic and could do just about anything at the time. My older sister worked at the State Theatre and got us free tickets. I've seen American Graffiti a dozen times since, but I can still remember bits and pieces from that night at the theater.
Newcomb Turk farting Volare is a cinematic masterpiece.
There are frequent cruise-ins here throughout the summer. There is a Hardee's about three miles from my house that hosts cruise-ins once a month. Mostly retired guys driving beautiful works of art from the 1950s-'60s, with some outliers. I usually make a point of not drooling over the cars. There was a line of classics on the causeway earlier today, probably heading to the beach.
I hope to be one of those guys in the not-so-distant future.
Did it in my 8 year old 1978 Camaro and my 4 year old 1984 Buick Skyhawk with 4 speed manual. Both cars were slow but I enjoyed being seen in the Camaro (3 speed auto with 250 CID 6 cylinder) and enjoyed shifting gears in the Skyhawk. Road traffic, crime, and the feeling of being disconnected from the road ruined the fun of casual cruising. Another movie with cruising is Dazed and Confused. There was no internet nor social media so to interact with others meant leaving the house. Cars painted in grey primer were usually the cars to watch out for drag racing and reckless driving. Older beat up trucks could be a sleeper on the drag strip. Slow POS car or high dollar car, it didn’t matter. What mattered was freedom to explore on your own away from the parents.
I cruised in my Dad's 1969 Rambler. I got a lot of abuse for it. I would love to have that car today. Then I bought my first ride, a 1984 Chevette 4-door. It spontaneously combusted one night while cruisin' (thank GOD).
After that, I owned a 1984 Shelby Charger. That car got a lot of attention in the day. Then a 1987 Ford Ranger that I had painted and lowered. It was also an attention-getter. The last car that I cruised in was a 1987 Mazda RX7. I loved that car.
My 1st wife told me that she was going to start driving the RX7 and I could have her POS Beretta so I traded the RX7 on a truck to keep her from getting it.
All the 16 to 19-year-olds are in their parents basement staring at their phones. Half probably don’t have a drivers license and those that do would still rather take a Uber or Lyft.
I got my driver's license (beginner's permit) at age 15 in the early 1970s, when I took driver's education that was offered at the public high school I attended.
But that was then and this is now. Then, a teenager getting a driver's license was like a rite of passage. Now, with everybody having a smartphone, you don't have to go visit or hang out with others in person, you can just call on your very own personal phone, text, or face time. No tying up the family landline phone. Plus insurance rates and overall vehicle costs can be prohibitive for many. Not only that but most of the public school districts in my metro (including the one I attended) no longer offer in-house driver education, which is a deal-killer for many. Must be age 18 to get a driver's license in my state, unless one successfully completes an approved driver education program.
I cruised in my Dad's 1969 Rambler. I got a lot of abuse for it. I would love to have that car today. Then I bought my first ride, a 1984 Chevette 4-door. It spontaneously combusted one night while cruisin' (thank GOD).
After that, I owned a 1984 Shelby Charger. That car got a lot of attention in the day. Then a 1987 Ford Ranger that I had painted and lowered. It was also an attention-getter. The last car that I cruised in was a 1987 Mazda RX7. I loved that car.
My 1st wife told me that she was going to start driving the RX7 and I could have her POS Beretta so I traded the RX7 on a truck to keep her from getting it.
Former girlfriend had a 4 door Rambler from the 60s. Had a neat feature we enjoyed. Front seat back folded flat with the rear seat to form a place to lay down.
Last year we flew to Vegas for a conference with kids. Rented a BMW x5. Drove all over Death Valley, then to Grand Canyon. Cruised all over and racked up 1400 miles within a week. Kids were not thrilled, but we sure did get our fix. Great views, nature and roads. X5 was also wonderful. Too bad buying one used is a financial suicide. I started looking for land cruises/ Lexus lx570, for light over landing in north east.
East Tennessee...regular car shows. Regular cruise-ins...supported by the local businesses that thrive off of an older generation with a few bucks in their pockets. Cars are awesome--things don't rust/rot away here where snow and salt are quite infrequent.
It's like a throwback to 1960's and really special to any of us car freaks. You will see everything from Mustangs to T-Buckets to Mopar stuff to early Mercuries and late 50's Chevrolets. All spectacularly done be it high customization or simply rat rods.
I turned 16 in 1987 and cruisin' was popular in my hometown. We would drive up and down the main strip for hours, often hanging out in the grocery store parking lots, McDonald's, Sonic, or anywhere our friends were found. For the most part, everyone stayed out of trouble. At least until the mid-90s when that generation of kids seemed to be less inhibited subsequently leading to businesses/cops putting an end to "hanging out".
I've had a pretty severe case of cabin fever lately while recovering from surgery so I jumped at the chance to go out with my wife tonight. We met some friends at a nearby burger joint. We left around 9:15 and I couldn't help but notice how the roads were dead. I'm not surprised since this has mostly been the case for the last 25 years, but it made me wonder if anyone still cruises anywhere these days.
On a related note, my daughter will turn 24 in a couple of weeks and is expecting her first child. She loves to hear my old stories. She has the soul of a Gen-Xer.
I was born in 1987 and I simply don't get it. What was "cruisin' " actually for - was it to meet new people? Or simply to meet your existing friends when you have no way to contact each other over the phone to agree on a time and place? Or it was like an informal carpool meeting location to start a shopping/social trip? Or something else?
In my generation, if you want to meet new people, you go to bars, clubs, or group events, and to meet friends, you pre-agree on a time and a place. If you have buddies in the car, that is "carpooling". "Cruisin' " is not even part of our vocabulary as Millennials.
I guess the closest my generation gets to this is picking up one friend in the car, then having that person call/text all the others to coordinate plans while you're driving, potentially to pick up another friend or two. But that doesn't sound similar to what you all are talking about.
Last edited by ncole1; 03-24-2024 at 08:54 AM..
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