High School Hot Rods

[MY70SS396]

Although born in '72 when I was in high school I drove a '70 SS 396 Chevelle, still own it. There were a few other old cars, Camaros, Chevelles, Vettes, Mustangs, etc.. I wanted to hop up the Chevelle, but now I'm glad I didn't. Still has original motor. Yea, that movie made me think about when I used to drive my Chevelle every day, and put gas in it every other day. Just thought I would add to a cool post.

[rat tuned]

I graduated high school in 1980 and I'll tell ya I think that those were some of the best car years. I had a 68 buick skylark with a 455 stage 1 motor that I purchased for $600 completely rebuilt. musclecars were pretty cheap and plentiful and you could afford the insurance. then the 80's hit and thats a whole nother story.

[Mike Wowk]

I graduated in 1983, had a 65 GTO with a 327 when I got it, I put a 400 poncho in it later. It was Black on black(beautiful paint and interior) with chrome reverse rims. I got it for $450.00!! I also had a 1975 GMC Indy Pace truck and a 70 Plymouth Sport Fury

[Steven J]

My first car in high school was a 1969 SS/RS L-78 Camaro. I sold it to buy a 1970 LS6 Chevelle in 1971. Didn't seem like a big deal back then, but sounds kinda neat now. My buddy had a 1970 Hemi Cuda that he drove to school occasionally, and another guy drove his dad's 1966 Hemi Coronet once in awhile. They both still own these cars. I remember sitting in class and seeing a few cars drag race in front of the school. The benefit of being "middle aged" is having grown up during the musclecar era.

[Edited by Steven J (05-17-2001 at 04:49 PM).]

[BEAUMONTBILL]

I GREW UP IN A WEALTHY SECTION OF LONG ISLAND. SEVERAL KIDS DROVE PORSCHES, BMW'S,
VETTES AND EVEN A FERRARI. THEN THERE WAS MY BUDDY AND I. MY FIRST CAR WAS A 1969 G.T.O
RAM AIR CONVERTIBLE. NOT A SHOW CAR CONDITION WISE, BUT HUGGER ORANGE WITH A WHITE INTERIOR,WHITE TOP AND JUDGE WING. MY BEST BUDDY JOHN DROVE A 1970 N0VA WITH A 396
350 HP 4SP. BOTH OF THE CARS TOGETHER PROBABLY COST ABOUT US 8000, BUT WE ATE UP THE RICH KIDS ALL SUMMER LONG.

[PxTx]

Yep, those were the days. I graduated in 1993 so it wasn't that long ago. My car was a 1965 Malubi SS L-79 4-speed with the motor and tranny in the trunk. Most of the other kids were running around in 5.0 Mustangs and GNs.

I bought the car in Nov 1991 and had it ready for it's maiden voyage in May 1992- to take to my Junior Prom. Six hours before the prom I didn't even know how to drive a stick!

Later on that summer I was a full fledged car nut. Next project was to find another cool car to re-build- I couldn't get enough. My girlfriend at that time needed a car, so we checked out a 1971 Plumb Crazy Purple Duster around the corner from me. It needed the tired motor to be replaced, so another 6 months later she was ripping around in a 360= 4-speed Duster. Once the 4.11 gears were in, she was ALMOST beating me down the drag strip!

Now, I'll be waiting for her to walk down the isle in October. We're getting married on the 20th!

To reflect, the Chevelle cost me $800 and the Duster cost Jessica $200 to purchase. Neither of these cars needed too much work initialy to get them on the road. Good cars can still be had for reasonable money, even today. it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

Thanks for reading guys

Paul Tholey

[Belair62]

Boy this one sure makes me feel old.I graduated in "74.Some of the best cars were around the lot back then. I can rattle off a few that I remember.70 Nova 396/375 the guy still has it on blocks with 20k miles,his brother had a LT-1 70 Nova which I read recently must have been a COPO car. 68 Hemi Coronet,70 396 Chevelle silver,70 LS-6 green,71 Ls-5 blue,65 GTO,(the guy slathered axle grease on his slotted disc wheels for winter!),69 SJX 4spd Hurst Grand Prix I thinkit was hurst,Mr. Norm MoPar Swinger,countless other cool stuff.Nickey Chevrolet was close,Seltzer Pontiac,MrNorm. I had my 65 Impala SS 327,later my dual quad Riv but oddly enough the car that kicked a lot of ass on Gross Point rd. was a 71 (?)Mark Donohue Javelin !Now I know why Skokie police had Hemi and 427 chase cars ! Man i could go on and on but I better stop here.

[COPO]

I bought a 70 RS Z-28 in highschool (1980) for $2900. It was a strong #2 with fresh paint and the original drivetrain. At the time, there were dozens of '69 Z-28 going for $1,500 to $2,200. We did a lot of street racing after the football games on Friday nights. 21 years later the car still sits in my garage, only now it has a few BB stablemates.

[Edited by COPO (05-17-2001 at 09:40 PM).]

[Ron Nies]

I bought my first car right before I graduated and it was a 66 273 Dart and I got 15.0,s out of it so I guess that was not to bad for a dumb kid just out of auto shop! My buddy that I rode to school with had a 69 351 Windsor Mustang (yeah I know its a Ford) but it ran good as he ran 14.40,s with that car and one of my classmates had a 65 GTO with a smallblock Chevy (see I had Chevy friends) and it was fast but he never took it to the track so I dont know what it turned!Even had a buddy with a 67 327 2 barell Camaro and a 3-speed that ran very good for what it was as he wasted a 69 350 Lemans one night! Damm that was alot of fun back then living at home with no responsabilitys!!

[kiva75]

Just got done watching "Dazed and Confused" again, and was just wondering if anyone had memories of high school parking lots filled with cars like these. I can't imagine parking next to a GTO Judge driven by a highschool kid. My car in High School was a '64 Rambler 770 with a Nova front clip, 350 4-speed and a 10 bolt posi rear. Everyone thought I was odd for having this old hot rodded car. That was before I got the Vega bug. But unfortunately I am not old enough to remember these cars as 'old cheap cars for the kids to drive'.

Britt
http://www.geocities.com/kiva75