The good ol' Drive-in double feature evenin'

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S.Rodney

S.Rodney

"Hang 10" owner
Joined
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Quebec City, Canada
Back in the 80's we used to go watch movies at the Drive In (Saw Robocop when I was like 7 years old on the backseat of a 79 T-Bird)

One thing I wanna do is go back to that drive-in (still opened !) with my 74 Dart Sport.

But I worry about Battery life... I've heard horror stories about new cars unable to keep enough charge after a double feature to start the engine when it's time to go.

I was wondering if the Dart has an accessory position on the ignition switch and if you guys had that kind of experience with your a-body (i.e. newer radio like the RetroSound Redondo RS, watchin' movies for like 4 hours before starting the car, etc.) to share.

(Edit: I don't have the car on hand right now it's being worked on at my local performance shop)
 
One night we went to the drive in and I forget what the main feature was, but Vanishing Point was the second feature. At the very beginning you see him driving a Chrysler thru the dessert and it kind of looked boring. With that we both agreed to leave. years later I saw it on TV and saw what a mistake we made not watching that movie back then. My 68 Roadrunner never forgave me.
 
You are only running the radio so it should last quite a while. Between flicks you could fire the car a run for a few minutes. ACC is one click counter clockwise if I remember correctly.
 
It's not illegal to start your car at the dive in after it's been sitting for a hour (or two) to charge up the battery???
 
I haven't been to the drive in for a few years, maybe 5. between movies I seen cars start to run the defogger.
 
Mikes270dart said:
I haven't been to the drive in for a few years, maybe 5. between movies I seen cars start to run the defogger.
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Or for the windshield wipers if it's raining.................the older cars had windshield wiper run off of vacuum so the engine had to be running (Christine!!).
 
58 Plymouths had electric wipers. Even Christine, I know because I had one, only in the authentic color which was beige.
 
tonysrt said:
58 Plymouths had electric wipers. Even Christine, I know because I had one, only in the authentic color which was beige.
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1957 Olds 88 back in the 70's had vacuum wipers. 61 Caddy - if memory serves me, it too had vacuum wipers...so many cars had vacuum wipers beyond the 50s. I gave Christine as an example of using wipers at the drive-in. Ramblers and AMC were also late to the game.
 
I've never had an issue with the radio making the car go dead at the drive in. IT's the radio, if that kills your battery I'd question the battery.
 
I have an 1946 thru 54 Plymouth Service Manual and it looks like the 51 Plymouth was the first year for electric wipers.
 
If you're worried about it, just take along one of those lithium emergency jump starter deals. I've watched one of those start a Duramax diesel. Pretty amazing.
 
I took cuda to drive in couple years ago. No issues starting it up after the twin bill.
Steamy windows.....
Those pocket jump starters are amazing. Up here we have CAA, I left lights on in my Kia, called CAA, guy came with one. Fired right up. I bet for boosting those gets used more than cables. They even have a port on them for cell phones etc.
 
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Lol, A real Drive In has these...…
upload_2018-9-24_18-25-42.png


And some Drive Ins had a warmer option...….
Bob's Garage / Drive-In movie speakers and heaters
 
That is the first thing I want to do when I get my car done. I want to take the wife and kids to the local drive in! Our drive in has the old school speakers but you can also listen on the radio I figured I'd do it on my bluetooth speakers so I don't leave my car on.
 
We are lucky to still have a drive in here, with double feature.
We always take my old truck and sit in the bed.
We just take a battery powered radio with us, since the old truck does not have a radio.
I have not been there this year, but I was at Carlisle, and my wife took the grand-kids, they little ones only made it thru one move, but its only like 5 bucks for and adult, and kids are free.
Yes she took the old truck.
 
S.Rodney said:
I was wondering if the Dart has an accessory position on the ignition switch and if you guys had that kind of experience with your a-body (i.e. newer radio like the RetroSound Redondo RS, watchin' movies for like 4 hours before starting the car, etc.) to share.
QUOTE]
Turn the key to the left for accessory circuit.
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Don't mean to brag, but took four girls to the drive-in once (all sisters). The oldest was my date, who hid under the blanket with me. The other three acted as semi-chaperones you could say.
 
Miss our local drive in. They still have one not too far but its in the hood now. When ours was open it was as much a social event as it was a movie. We always took our hotrods. They gave you a mosquito coil at the gate to burn in your car if you wanted. Some stalls had a AC unit you could feed it some coins and snake a hose into your window. That was usually too fancy for us! Lol. Some of us would sneak in once in a while just for the fun of it. One time one guy rode in under the hood of full size Chevy pick up. man when we got him out he was red as a beet.
 
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