"Old Guns?" Or the "Unforgiven"?

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Popdart

Popdart

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Geez I know we have our "Young Guns" . . . . and we will help them in any way to develop the hobby with them and make sure the hobby flourishes continues.

But this thread is here to talk about the "Old Guns". The ones who experienced the muscle car era first hand that have now come full circle to once again enjoy the feeling of a muscle car and to see the world once again through 20 year old eyes. We terrorized the streets and the strips in the 60's and 70's and may deserve the title "The Unforgiven". We may be old, but we aren't dead. Working on these cars, attending cars shows, being at this site, all give me the thrills of my own "Young Gun" era.

So I salute you, the Old Guns, on my first full day of retirement, may you live long, young and happy. Long live the hobby.

Please feel free to add your memories, dreams, and if you need any help from the rest of us "Unforgiven".

Rog (62 years young)
 
Cool post.

I am 39 y/o and still missed out being old enough to enjoy the muscle car era first hand.

Although I got to see alot of the muscle cars as a kid before they were beat up enough to need restorations I truly envy you guys that were "In deep" back in the day making history in those fine, factory machines.

Yep, I was born 10 years too late.
 
I remember when our Dad first got his 1970 440-6pk 4 speed convertible Roadrunner, we thought it was the greatest car on the planet. He would thrill all of us "too young guns" by opening up the airgrabber scoop, and we would always awe at the teeth on the side of the scoop. He was never afraid to race it, take us out in the middle of winter and do cookies around the parking lot, or hook a trailer to it and haul his 6 wheel dunebuggy. It had heavy bubblewrap style seatcovers on the white seats to keep us from spilling our icecream on the seats, and we would take that car everywhere. Last time we saw it after the gas crunch, it was up on blocks behind the Chicken Shack in Plymouth, Mi. My brother still has all the pictures and the timeslips from its glory days. I believe it ran a best of 12:37e.t. in completely stock off the showroom form!!! Oh, the days.... Geof
 
cudaspaz said:
Cool post.

I am 39 y/o and still missed out being old enough to enjoy the muscle car era first hand.

Although I got to see alot of the muscle cars as a kid before they were beat up enough to need restorations I truly envy you guys that were "In deep" back in the day making history in those fine, factory machines.

Yep, I was born 10 years too late.
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Same goes for me also cudaspaz. I too remember growing up and a couple of my brothers freinds coming over to the house driving in a 1970 Challenger and '68-69 Chevelle. I remember the most is I'd be down the road at a nieghbor kids house hangin' out,and my brothers freind that had the Challenger drove by heading to my house.....I said see ya' later to the neighbor kid and beelined it home just to look and drool=P~ over his car. The neighbor beside me had new black Volarie Roadrunner also and that was sweet looking too.
 
The first car I ever drove on the street with my Learner's Permit and my Dad in the front passenger seat was Dad's 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340. It was Summer, 1974, and we'd had the Swinger since February of 1971 when Dad bought it used for $1,900.00 and 10,000 miles on the odometer. I couldn't wait to get behind the wheel, and eventually I was allowed to drive it to High School, competing with other guys who were driving Super Bees w/ Six Packs, Dusters and one classmate who had a resto-moded 1955 Chevy with a 350 SB in it. Great time to be a 16 year old.
 
62? You make me feel young at 60. :D

In 67, I had a 64 Barracuda, 273 2 barrel 4 speed. White with red interior. They didn't come out with the 4 barrel 273 until 65, and there were no parts available, that I could afford, to put a 4 barrel on it.

Drove 75 miles to Ark City drag strip (called Cherokee strip at the time) and shattered the 7 1/4 rear. I burned a friendship with two room mates that had to come after me with a tow rope. Had to take the center carrier out, to get it to roll. Can you imagine going 75 miles, with a tow rope now? I can't and I did it.

But, when I blew the motor in our (my friend and I partnered in a 58 Plymouth drag car) drag car, I took the 4:56 gears out, and found a wrecked 67 to get the 8 3/4 out of.

Burned up more than one clutch in that car, it was pretty small. Threw the rods, didn't know how to properly mic a crank, so just bought .002 undersize bearings, and it locked up quickly. Ended up putting a "crank kit" in it shortly after. I think it was about $50 at the time.

Worked at a 3 bay Skelly station at the time, learning how to be a wrench. They gave me all the Corvairs and Fords with the hoods that opened the wrong way. Boss got real sick of me having the Barracuda torn down in his wash bay all the time and finally told me to get it out and keep it out.

Won a pair of "Fenton" mags, racing against a 65s 273 4barrel auto car. Of course, didn't know where to buy the shoulder lug nuts, so just used the stock ones, and they broke off and folded left rear quarter up.

I was young and very wreckless, always getting tickets. Lost my license so I joined the Navy.
 
We're quick to share those memories
of joy we found from A to B
We'll not mention the misery
of a rural highway between A and Z
RedFish
 
One more that just popped into my head.

One of the guys that worked with me at the station, was in the Air Force. He had just traded his 62 Vette in on a 67 SS 396 4 speed Chevelle (Gold with Gold interior and black vinyl top [ugly!])
I had a date, and was pretty nervous about it, since she was a rich girl. He loaned me the car for the date, much to my amazement. She stood me up, so I spent the evening making his tires bald.
 
I wish I had been there in the muscle car era, sadly I missed out on it by more then a few years. But my dad tells me storys about all the cars and races that he "never" did if you catch my drift hahaha, but his first car was a 1972 Challenger with a 340 and a 4 speed he got it for ONLY 4200 BUCKS, i wish i could find one that had wheels and a engine for that kind of money. But he was the one that got me into cars and trucks, sadly I cant afford to get one (College takes alot of money) but I look everyday to find one and I dream about the day when I can.
Thanks for this post it made my day.
 
j-miller said:
Same goes for me also cudaspaz. I too remember growing up and a couple of my brothers freinds coming over to the house driving in a 1970 Challenger and '68-69 Chevelle. I remember the most is I'd be down the road at a nieghbor kids house hangin' out,and my brothers freind that had the Challenger drove by heading to my house.....I said see ya' later to the neighbor kid and beelined it home just to look and drool=P~ over his car. The neighbor beside me had new black Volarie Roadrunner also and that was sweet looking too.
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yeah my oldest Brother was a drummer and always had bands at the house practicing.
Most of the band members drove muscle cars.
I think my Brother hosted about 10 of his friend's graduation parties in our back yard throughout his highscool years so they could party and enjoy the live band.
I can remember one guitar player had a black 69 charger 440 4 speed, very fast.
Another guitarist had a 67 sting ray with a custom white paint job with different colored sparklies in the clear.

Bass player had a buick Wildcat.

When I was 9 y.o our Crazy neighbors had a 70 road runner, half orange, half primer, and the owner was a psychopath who with the aid of his other nut ball friends shot the neighborhood up with a 22 rifle hanging out of the pass side of the road runner.
I heard the commotion while they were shooting at our neighbors house so I had a black hotwheels van with flames on it, who did not have this one?, and I went outside and chucked it at their car and just missed the shooter so he shot at me and the bullet went right past my ear and hit the brick house behind me.
They took off, but the only thing I could remember was the sound of that 383 winding up as they burned rubber up the street.

The investigator who questioned me had a multi colored volare/roadrunner super couple.-bad ***.

Yeah it seemed that most of the nut cases in the area drove big block B-body mopars, and we sure had quite a few of them in my neighborhood.

One guy had a 71 satellite in plum crazy purple with a pretty stout 318, but they were nice guys and babied the car.

As far as the psycho guys that shot the neighborhood up...they got out of it on a technicality somehow, and years later, after they settled down a bit, I actually rode in that car with the guys that shot at me as a kid.8)
 
I lost my Driving privleges in 69 and got my learners permit back in 1970. You quessed it my first new car was a ralley red Duster340 with 3.91 axle package and white buckets. I had less than 50 miles on it and a trooper saw me and pulled me over. My sister was with me so it was ok for me to drive. Trooper was looking under the car to see if I had changed the exhaust seemed too loud to him. Kept that car three years then sold it to get a road runner. God I loved that car. Found a 71 Duster and put a 360 in it and the thrill is still there and I be 63 very shortly.
 
In 1968 I was 17 and was living in a little town in eastern Washington named Pateros.
My best friend was 19 and owned a 67 GTX. He had taken the X to Spokane and had the 440 built up a whole bunch, this thing was wicked fast and ruled the roads around those parts.
We put some tires on it one time off of a hudson panel truck, the rims where 16" and the tires where real narrow. You should have seen some of the burnout we did with those on. Donnie would wind it up and a couple of us would push the back end back and forth across the road, made some pretty crazy looking marks on the road.
 
dusterny said:
I lost my Driving privleges in 69 and got my learners permit back in 1970. You quessed it my first new car was a ralley red Duster340 with 3.91 axle package and white buckets. I had less than 50 miles on it and a trooper saw me and pulled me over. My sister was with me so it was ok for me to drive. Trooper was looking under the car to see if I had changed the exhaust seemed too loud to him. Kept that car three years then sold it to get a road runner. God I loved that car. Found a 71 Duster and put a 360 in it and the thrill is still there and I be 63 very shortly.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you were "profiled" and they did that as standard operating procedure. Kids in a hot car? Are you kidding? They are getting pulled over, for any reason they could think of.

Of course, they didn't have to be very imaginative with me. :D I got a ticket my first night out on my own, for forgetting to turn my headlights on.
 
My bad. Popdart x2 congrats on your retirement. You will have lots more time and alot less money but time and your health are more valuable.
 
Back in the early 70's all my fiends drove muscle cars , one had a 1969 Shelby GT 350 , 68 Shelby GT 500 , other cars were 2 1969 SS 396 Camaro , 1968 Z-28 with cross ram and headers , 1970 l-88 Corvette , 1969 440 6-pac superbird , 1969 SS 396 Chevelle , 1970 Buick GSX , 1970 442 , 1969 SS 396 Nova , 1970 SS 350 Nova , 1970 0 6-PAC Cuda and AAR Cuda and a hemi Cuda . Me I missed out on a 1969 Dart GTS that was sold to my cousin and crashed by him , I then got a 1970 Dart 340 in 1973 .
Back full circle as I now have a 70 340 Swinger again that will be my sons car in a year or 2 . He can't wait to start driving it .
Wish I had bought a few of those cars , they were all sold for between $2000.00 and $5000.00 between 1970 -1984 . Some were insurance write offs , the 1970 Shelby GT 350 was rear ended in California and sent to the scrap yard in the 80's , buddy got $5,500. for the car , I think he had that much in the motor an.d transmission . One of the fastest Windsors I ever saw
 
Great post, Popdart! Congrats on your retirement.
You're 100% correct on the glory days growing up with musclecars. I feel so fortunate to have grown up in SoCal during the height of the musclecar era and the great memories I have of it:
Cruising Whittier Blvd. (1966) after high school football games in my buddies '63 Impala SS with a 425-horse 409 and 4-speed
Buying my first '69 340 Swinger used in November 1969 for $2000
My very first car club - Orange Coast Darts
Buying my first set of gears from Gale Banks and his first little shop
Picking Bruce's brain at J&N Speed Shop in Whittier
Racing at OCIR, Irwindale, and Lions drag strips
Waiting in line to pull into Bob's Big Boy on Whittier Blvd. with a class win trophy won earlier that night at OCIR
The street racing I "never did" on Whittier Blvd. and at the 'box factory' in La Mirada
Hanging out with Big Willie and the International Brotherhood of Street Racers at the ball field in south Whittier

Great times and great memories.
That's why I'm building my "new" '69 Dart. It's gonna keep me feeling like the late '60s and early '70s - the years, not my age!
 
Wow the posts so far have been fantastic. Thank you for the congrats guys for my retire.

Just to throw another "memory puller" from you guys, think of terms and sayings from the early days like "I blew his doors off from a 30 roll . . . ." I remember knowing what cars were coming up from the rear at night in those days just by their parking lamp configuration in my rear view mirror.

I'm from the Detroit area, and cruised mainly Telegraph road, but some Woodward Ave. back in 68,69,70, and 71. I bought a 70 Dart Swinger 340 new for $3411. It was black on green on black, auto, 355 rear. I loved that car. See below.
 

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I love the Swinger photo, absolutely beautiful.
Also, congrats on your Retirement. I'm eligible, but may stick around awhile longer.
Here are two shots of my Long Lost Swinger.
 

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i,m only 50 so i missed alot of the good time. we had some hillbilly niebors that use to drink and drive 69 fairlane 390 4sp. has brother inlaw had a big block chevelle. his wife come running out of the house yelling at them don,t do that when the boy are out there.i,m a hillbilly too. so don,t take ofence. high school friend had quite a few nice cars lemans. firebird.440 duster. i had a 360 javlin and a 343 javlin both 4brl. cars but to the chevy guys they did add up.my brother had a 68 charger 383 we did some duke of haz. jump in that.
 
Thanks for sharing the memories, guys!

I guess at the age of 38 I'm considered one on the "not-so-old, not-so-young guns?"

I missed out on the full blown muscle car era, that's for sure, but with cars like Jamison's Duster being around and Pop handing me the keys to the '69 in my signature when I was 16, I've had my fun.

Can't wait to get to working on the '69 and relive some of those memories.
 
young gun here ( 23 ) but I just want to say that I look up to you old timers lol.

even with as much as we younger guys may think we know.....you older guys always know a thing or two more and thats a good thing......because we are only limited on how much we can learn by how much we are taught.

so hats off to you guys!:cheers:
 
I should say congrats on your retirement Popdart. Just surviving to retirement age deserves a pat on the back.
 
born a little too late, but at least my first car ride home from the hospital was in a royal blue 70 mach 1 4 speed car. that was in 1973. then when my brother was born in 76 my dad bought a 73 fury ,old plain wrapper cop car and sold the mach 1 to a local drag racer.
 
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