I was just old enough to catch the last couple years of the ‘era’ after getting my license. I was envious of my older brother before I could drive (legally-lol) with his GTO’s and his buddies that would come over with their girlfriends in their Chevelle’s, Camaro’s, B-body BB’s, etc. sitting in our driveway then burn a little rubber heading out. All were their daily driver’s. I remember the intro of the ‘Rapid Transit System’ and would see these cars in their wild colors gleaming under the street lights in town or at the drive-in’s. My 1st Mopar was a ’70 Cuda vert and it was a blast cruising through town, going to the drive-in’s, outdoor theaters, and occasionally out to our country highways after dark for racing. Some of them were big events, planned among the circle of car people and their friends. These drag races would get a crowd. My brother had a wicked-fast ’69 Ram Air IV GTO (non-Judge) that had a ‘reputation’. One night sitting at one of our go to spots in a shopping mall parking lot, after it was closed, a guy drove up to our group, from da city (we were in a town nearby). He had one hell of a built up wagon, loud. He cut the engine then asked if we knew of a guy with a red GTO…tell him I wanna run him not for free. My brother won a bunch of races…but a Hemi from da city clocked him. Some of these guys bet appreciable money.
Sadly the time was dying: Our drive-in’s closed up, as did one of our outdoor theaters, then later the 2nd one. In the mix was a cruising ban in town and the rent-a-police at our McDonald’s would kick our butts out if we hung there for longer than 15 minutes. Used to be we would back our rides in and shoot the chit – then signs posted ‘Forward Parking Only – 15 minute limit’. Well the population in our town exploded anyway as more people moved in…you could no longer get thru town on a Friday night without bumper-to-bumper traffic jams. The ban was no more than twice in an hour, lol. With the traffic ya couldn’t do it anyway. Was great era while it lasted.
This is the dealer demonstrator I test drove new when I was 16. Have tried to buy it ever since, unsuccessfully.
