You Know You Are Old When

[WinterDeere]

I grew up with those vehicles.

Aside from the obvious nostalgia, the best thing going for these old muscle cars is that you don't have to drive them everyday, anymore. They're fun to play with, but I don't miss relying on old carbureted cars with points ignition, for daily use.

I know I'm in the minority here, but give me a 2023 Hellcat over anything built in 1970, every day. It's hard to argue with 707 hp out of something so reliable your wife can use it as the primary kid hauler.

 

[Sigarms]

I know I'm in the minority here, but give me a 2023 Hellcat over anything built in 1970, every day. It's hard to argue with 707 hp out of something so reliable your wife can use it as the primary kid hauler.

After my son told me what my dads Honda would do in the 0-60, I honestly couldn't disagree with you.

Thing is, I'm old enough now to understand that speed is the biggest variable in determining the outcome of surviving a car crash.

In 1981 a classmate was driving in early a 70's "muscle car" with 3 other people. They crashed into a telephone phone when it was bad weather and raining. 3 people dead on the scene, that classmate was the only one alive. They brought in a helicopter to take him to the hospital. Helicopter crashed on leaving the wreck site, and the classmate along with everyone else was killed in the helicopter. End of the day, when it's your time, it's your time.

I take that back, I had to look out of curiosity. It was actually 1982, and the driver was the classmate of mine, and he died at the scene. It was actually another passenger who I didn't know.

Thing is, in the 1980's, you couldn't do what I just did and look things up on the internet to verify you're "memory".

 

[MoKelly]

... you could buy a school cafeteria lunch card good for 5 lunches and milk, for $.75.

I remember paying 5 cents for a small carton of milk for our afternoon snack at school.

During summer, before baseball practice, we would ride our bikes to the local drug store, sit at the counter, and eat lunch - cheeseburger, fries and cherry coke —- for $1.00.

 

[sixdogs]

I remember paying 5 cents for a small carton of milk for our afternoon snack at school.

During summer, before baseball practice, we would ride our bikes to the local drug store, sur at the counter, and eat lunch - cheeseburger, fries and cherry coke —- for $1.00.

As a kid, nothing little beats a cherry coke from the olden days. Todays stuff is nothing like the real McCoy.

 

[Sigarms]

I remember paying 5 cents for a small carton of milk for our afternoon snack at school.

During summer, before baseball practice, we would ride our bikes to the local drug store, sur at the counter, and eat lunch - cheeseburger, fries and cherry coke —- for $1.00.

I think people forget about the rate of inflation.

$1 in 1970 is over $7.5 today per the rate of inflation.

I remember Strunko's, a small grocery store near the the elementary school I would walk to. We'd "reserve" a couple of cents each day for our school lunch money and buy candy at the end of the week. Box of rock candy was pretty cheap which is what I would buy.

Kids aren't as stupid as you think they could be LOL

 

[Oaktree]

I remember my first car. Early 70's Oldsmobile Cutlass.I remember the car fondly, however it also handled like a u boat. The other thing was back then I was a LOT stronger than now, and God forbid you parked going up a steep hill because those 2 doors weighed a ton LOL

I don't envy teens today. No room whatsoever to neck in the newer cars

Not only doors that weighed a ton, but you got a good upper body workout maneuvering at low speeds, parallel parking, etc. since many cars of that era did not have power steering.

Dr. Demento used to play a song called "Making Love in a Suburu" which poked fun at the challenges of making out in an econobox.

Aside from the obvious nostalgia, the best thing going for these old muscle cars is that you don't have to drive them everyday, anymore. They're fun to play with, but I don't miss relying on old carbureted cars with points ignition, for daily use.

I know I'm in the minority here, but give me a 2023 Hellcat over anything built in 1970, every day. It's hard to argue with 707 hp out of something so reliable your wife can use it as the primary kid hauler.

I don't miss point ignition systems, carburetors and all that old school tech either. One of the first things I did when I got my Dart was to put in a Pertronix ignition. PITA to change/adjust points in a slant 6...never did, but was always afraid I'd drop the screw into the distributor.
One thing those old cars had that nothing made in the last 20 or so years has is windows large enough that you could actually see out of them. That Hellcat might run rings around an 70s vintage 'Cuda, but the tiny portholes they call windows in modern vehicles suck.

That having been said, I enjoy cruising in my old Dart, just glad I have something more modern as my daily driver.

 

[Oaktree]

As a kid, nothing little beats a cherry coke from the olden days. Todays stuff is nothing like the real McCoy.

Was that strictly a soda fountain concoction in the old days? Don't think I ever heard of it until they started selling it bottled in the 80s.

 

[steve tym]

He might be reffering to when Coke actually had coke in it.

 

[steve tym]

Not only doors that weighed a ton, but you got a good upper body workout maneuvering at low speeds, parallel parking, etc. since many cars of that era did not have power steering.

Dr. Demento used to play a song called "Making Love in a Suburu" which poked fun at the challenges of making out in an econobox.


I don't miss point ignition systems, carburetors and all that old school tech either. One of the first things I did when I got my Dart was to put in a Pertronix ignition. PITA to change/adjust points in a slant 6...never did, but was always afraid I'd drop the screw into the distributor.
One thing those old cars had that nothing made in the last 20 or so years has is windows large enough that you could actually see out of them. That Hellcat might run rings around an 70s vintage 'Cuda, but the tiny portholes they call windows in modern vehicles suck.

That having been said, I enjoy cruising in my old Dart, just glad I have something more modern as my daily driver.

You know you are old when you know who Dr. Demento was

 

[Eagle1]

You know you are old when you know who Dr. Demento was

Damn that's down cold.......

 

[Eagle1]

Damn that's down cold.......

Had to check
His weekly show went into syndication in 1974[1] and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.
Dr. Demento

I feel better now you can still listen to it....

 

[ultrarunner]

I grew up with those vehicles.
I've completely rebuilt their engines.
My favorite is the 351 Cleveland Boss. I have one on an engine stand that I start up once in a while for sh-ts and giggles.
I used to tune my friends 440 6pack because he claimed I was the only one who got it right.
The new ones are complex if you don't know what you're doing.
Plug in the computer and check the codes. It will tell you what's going on.
Which cylinder is missing, injector being off etc.
Biggest problem I've found is usually wiring especially in Chrysler/Dodge products. You have to chase down the Gremlins.
I won't win this discussion because people like yourself would argue that a damp musty cave is the best home. Not a modern home withe electricity, plumbing and HVAC.
The reason that the old cars get the most money at the collector auctions is most of the buyers remember these cars from their youth.
Now these dinosaurs want a trip back in the time machine and they tend to have the money to do it.
They aren't buying them as everyday drivers (trailer Queens) or for ease of repair.
Just a reminder of youth before the big dirt nap.

It was like this with Model T’s, early V8, cars of the 50’s

Every generation has its favorites…

 

[WinterDeere]

As a kid, nothing little beats a cherry coke from the olden days. Todays stuff is nothing like the real McCoy.

Another popular thing around here was vanilla Coke, from any ice cream shop or soda fountain. Essentially, a shot of sweetened vanilla in a regular fountain Coke.

I suspect it was primarily a northeast thing, but we had a chain when I was a kid called Friendly's. I think they still exist, but vastly diminished in scale and number of restaurants. We had a half dozen of them locally, with the one right in town being the go-to after every summer baseball game (back when parents would only take the winning team out for ice cream ), and another on the outskirts of town by the movie theater.

That second one would be awash in middle-schoolers late night Fridays and Saturdays, as all kids headed over there after their movie, to hang out and wait for the mom to pick them up at the end of the night. On those nights, I suspect every third drink they served was a vanilla Coke.

 

[Oaktree]

I suspect it was primarily a northeast thing, but we had a chain when I was a kid called Friendly's. I think they still exist, but vastly diminished in scale and number of restaurants.

Don't know if their restaurants are still around, but you can still get their ice cream in supermarkets.

 

[seville009]

 

[MoKelly]

View attachment 873201

Partridge Family.

Remember it well - especially Susan Dey.

 

[ultrarunner]

Off topic apologies, but vehicles are not much different than HVAC systems when it comes to government regulations and the technology developed to meet those government regulations, which in turn add costs to the product.

Biggest difference between the two is cars "may" be getting more reliable (not certain if that is fact, but you use to be able to do a lot of work yourself with some basic tools 30 years ago), but I can assure you, take a new minimum 14.3 SEER2 single stage split heat pump system made today, and there is no way I could say it it more reliable vs a 30 year old R22 single stage with PSC blower.

Prime example, next year when 454B (or 32) replaces 410A, EVERY single piece of 454/32 indoor equipment will be REQUIRED by law to have a dissipation system including sensor along with a mitigation board. This is not including EVERY single outdoor unit has to be assessed for "ignition source isolation" which of course will also add to costs associated with that refrigerant specific equipment.

Back on topic, I remember my first car. Early 70's Oldsmobile Cutlass.I remember the car fondly, however it also handled like a u boat. The other thing was back then I was a LOT stronger than now, and God forbid you parked going up a steep hill because those 2 doors weighed a ton LOL

I don't envy teens today. No room whatsoever to neck in the newer cars

New 50 ton Carrier with 410 going in as I type today…

One of my favorite cars in the day was the 442 Cutlas convertible and the 71 Skylark convertible.

The Buick was dolled up with extra factory accessories and the 442 pretty basic with no A/C

Always liked convertibles and I would buy one as my daily and turn a profit and move on to the next…

 

[ultrarunner]

I remember paying 5 cents for a small carton of milk for our afternoon snack at school.

During summer, before baseball practice, we would ride our bikes to the local drug store, sit at the counter, and eat lunch - cheeseburger, fries and cherry coke —- for $1.00.

Yep the nickel school lunch milk… for a time they also offered chocolate for the same price.

The wax paper carton was sealed like to todays…

 

[ultrarunner]

I think people forget about the rate of inflation.

$1 in 1970 is over $7.5 today per the rate of inflation.

I remember Strunko's, a small grocery store near the the elementary school I would walk to. We'd "reserve" a couple of cents each day for our school lunch money and buy candy at the end of the week. Box of rock candy was pretty cheap which is what I would buy.

Kids aren't as stupid as you think they could be LOL

$1 inflated to now over 7.5 I get but the same menu is $12 and a Whopper or Big Mac meal $16 to $18.

 

[orezok]

Yeah 69/70 was the pinnacle of American car looks.
Even with front disks the brakes were near useless after 1-2 hard stops.
They ran like crap in traffic because the timing wasn't variable. It had to be designed for peak output, not mundane driving.
They polluted like crazy. Many of the big blocks were lucky to get 10mpg.
The handling sucked big time.
If you got in an accident you could impale yourself on all the dash knobs.
They tended to rot out in 4-5 years.
Some only got 90 day warranty from the factory because they were such crap.
60K could often mean a valve job was coming soon.
My Ford GT (not a Mustang) came with a full warranty, 3 years 60,000km even though it can do 212mph.
Don't you remember tuning your carburetor all the time and dammed if the auto choke worked...ever.
My oldest vehicle, a Ford Flex Eco boost has over 200k miles, fuel system has never been touched.
Original plugs to.
Do that with your beloved dinosaur.
You know why the old cars had so much space under hood? Because you needed it to work on them all the time.
They did have cig lighters and ash trays though.

I had a 1970 Dodge Charger. I never had a single dealer required repair in many years. I don’t know if Mary Jane is legal in Canada but it seem like a “trip” dissertation.