Rich kid cars.

[SteveSS]

One thing I like ask younger generations is what did the rich kids in your high school drive? A recent article on Hagerty Media prompted this thinking. The question was what bad guy cars were typical movies?

What would a villain in the ’90s drive? A 4th-gen Camaro Z/28, of course.

I’m not entirely sure why, but certain cars are just obviously villain cars. If you owned one of these new in high school at the time, it meant you had money and, also, your parents didn’t think twice about handing you a car with the higher-output LT1 V8. Should a high schooler be trusted with that much relative power in a vehicle with that little relative handling? Probably not! The presumption involved is how you end up with a jerk of a kid, is all I’m saying.

I do own the coolest 1997 red 6-speed Camaro SS. Optioned out with everthing GM could put on it and everything the tuner company SLP could add. I'm a believer that when a generation of kids get old emough to have some disposal income, they'll go after the car or truck only the rich kids could have. Big ones for me were the '70 Super Bee and 70's Trans Ams. My folks were mid-upper class so my dad bought me a 1966 Mustang 2+2 fastback. Trust me I earned it by working on the cattle ranch for no pay. I wish I still had that car. Mom had the '73 Grand Am 455, and you know I have 3 in varous stages. Back to Hagerty. Camaros and 5.0 Mustangs were mentioned in the article a lot. Some kids even had BMWs.

What did the rich kids in your school drive? Do you still lust over them? I think it's a pretty good bellweather on what will become collectible. I know most here are old like me but there must be some younger folks.

 

[Fran Blacker]

One guy had a 68 L88 Vette.

 

[Dave6T4]

One rich kid at High School drove a couple of years old 1964 Chrysler 300 (not a "K"), with a 413, 4-barrel, 4-speed. Silver with black vinyl top. This was a gorgeous car, and I still like them to this day.

 

[dadsbee]

No idea, I drove a 69 Fury II that I stuck a 440 and 4 speed into for about a 100 bucks in grade 11, after attempting to blow up the 318. I had to go into Ottawa to race the rich kids street light to street light and blow away their Chevy crap..

 

[junior340]

I was born and raised in Texas until teens.
My parents lived in a very nice area where all the other Nasa families lived.
I do remember around Christmas time not in high school yet ourselves but we used ride around on our Stingrays and see who got what for Christmas.
My buddies big brother got a Motion Camaro, damn that was nice he had headers big wheels on it so fast.
Another guy I didn't know much about got a black Hemi Cuda.
They use chase each other around having the best times.
We were only allowed in the back seat of the Motion Camaro since we were nothing more than mortal waste of oxygen on the planet to those superior beings at the time. That was the first time I was hooked on horse power.
That car was so fast and loud!!
Yes it blew up.

 

[Pecos Bill]

In my area, during 00's, most drove newer trucks.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

I only remember there being 3 semi-well off kids in my high school, not really rich, but not lacking for nice clothes or transport. None of the 3 acted like they were rich. They were down to earth and were friends with most everybody. I graduated class of '89 in a northern CA east bay SF Bay Area suburb.

One drove an 85 Blazer with a lift kid and a big light rack on top. Him and his dad lived alone and they used to go rock crawling and off-roading together. That Blazer was really cool to most of us back then, we knew it took some money to get it to that level, and I road around in it a few times on weekend nights.
Another guy drove a brand new 87 Honda Prelude with sunroof in bright red with a manual transmission. That was a newer car a lot of us really liked at the time and couldn't afford.
The 3rd guy drove a completely restored amazing looking 69 Chevy Camaro in hugger orange with dual white racing stripes. That car looked and sounded amazing and the guy was super nice. We always thought of it as his car, but I don't recall if he and his dad restored it, or if his dad bought it already restored.

 

[padam]

Late 70’s, z28’sand trans ams.

 

[chargervert]

Late 70’s, z28’sand trans ams.

I used to smoke them all night with my primered 70 Charger R/T, then when I would see their girlfriends, I would say let me know if you ever want to go for a ride in a fast car!

 

[Outlawd]

In my small town school it wasn't so much about what they drove (lot was full of muscle cars) as about how much money they had in the motor! The rich farmers kids had the high horsepower mills, the rest of us had to slowly build up a motor as you earned part time minimum wage and still have gas and beer money.

 

[AR67GTX]

I graduated in 69 and remember a lot of talk about a rich kid with a new 383, 4 speed Barracuda that had just about every piece of speed equipment imaginable at the time thrown at it. But he had a reputation of not really being a gear head and mostly just a poser who could barely even drive it. I remember seeing the car which definitely had a built engine, headers, mags, big tires, traction bars.

On the other hand my neighbor friend’s Dad was an executive for the Mercury Tractor Division at the time and his family all got the perk of driving Ford/Mercury program cars. We had great fun taking his mom’s new suicide door Lincoln Continental out. We would break out in laughter when we would do a lane change in it with tires howling and the body keeling over what seemed about 30 degrees. He got to order a brand new 69 Mach 1 in the ember glow color. It was just a 351 2bbl auto but still a little peppy and great fun to cruise around in. The following year he ordered a 70 Torino Cobra, 429, 4 speed and that was a serious car but seemed as big as a Galaxie. And the following year a 71 Mustang Mach1 again with a Cleveland 351 4bbl and 4 speed. But he was just a middle class kid who played football and plunking away on a guitar but wasn’t really any good with it. He had so many of his fingers splinted from football when he first got the 69 Mach 1, that he could barely drive it due to manual steering, wide tires and a rim blow steering wheel. We roomed together through 3 years of school and it was kind of a disappointment when he turned in the 71 Mach 1 and got a Ford Van. But it was the thing by then.

 

[Hey-O]

I graduated in 74. I had several new cars in high school, my dad co signed and I made payments. The one real rich kid drove an early 70's Trans Am and for graduation he got a new Vet. He was a jerk and acted like a jerk. He grew up to be an old jerk. He learned nothing by being rich and I learned everything by being poor.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I graduated high school in 1971. A few rich kids, whose parents owned construction companies, drove new Firebirds or Mustang Mach I's. They were eclipsed by the top dog, a '69 Plymouth GTX, the family car driven by the two brothers whose parents owned the Chrysler Plymouth dealership. I'd look at that GTX and say, "some day..." After Julie Clark handed me the keys for a test drive in 1970, my level of motivation sky rocketed . Five decades later, the "Demonstrator" was in my garage. I retired the day I bought it.

 

[Runcharger]

FK5 Six bbl, 70 GTX is the one that stands out for me. Father owned a sawmill. Oh yeah and another one; 66 Coronet 500, Hemi 4 speed GG1. His father either owned a sawmill or a logging company. Back in those days lots of guys worked hard in the bush and could come to town in the spring and pay cash for whatever car they wanted, we had lots of iconic cars for a medium size city. Wing cars, Trans Am cars, Hemis and Six packs.

 

[SlingLow]

Class of '78 here. I remember the parking lot was full of muscle cars back then. The kids with wealthier (or more indulgent) parents just had nicer ones. Guys like me had beaters. But the two I remember were Shelby Mustangs owned by two brothers. I didn't know much about them (the Shelbys) at the time, but everybody knew they were 'better'. Danny, the one my age was an OK, regular dude (read tolerable). Dave, the older brother was an unsufferable ***. I know there were lots of families that made more money than mine, but back then that didn't necessarily translate into nicer possessions. Most dads had the 'go out and earn it' attitude that made their generation what it was, and our's what it is.

 

[Rebelrouser]

One thing I like ask younger generations is what did the rich kids in your high school drive? A recent article on Hagerty Media prompted this thinking. The question was what bad guy cars were typical movies?

What would a villain in the ’90s drive? A 4th-gen Camaro Z/28, of course.

I’m not entirely sure why, but certain cars are just obviously villain cars. If you owned one of these new in high school at the time, it meant you had money and, also, your parents didn’t think twice about handing you a car with the higher-output LT1 V8. Should a high schooler be trusted with that much relative power in a vehicle with that little relative handling? Probably not! The presumption involved is how you end up with a jerk of a kid, is all I’m saying.

I do own the coolest 1997 red 6-speed Camaro SS. Optioned out with everthing GM could put on it and everything the tuner company SLP could add. I'm a believer that when a generation of kids get old emough to have some disposal income, they'll go after the car or truck only the rich kids could have. Big ones for me were the '70 Super Bee and 70's Trans Ams. My folks were mid-upper class so my dad bought me a 1966 Mustang 2+2 fastback. Trust me I earned it by working on the cattle ranch for no pay. I wish I still had that car. Mom had the '73 Grand Am 455, and you know I have 3 in varous stages. Back to Hagerty. Camaros and 5.0 Mustangs were mentioned in the article a lot. Some kids even had BMWs.

What did the rich kids in your school drive? Do you still lust over them? I think it's a pretty good bellweather on what will become collectible. I know most here are old like me but there must be some younger folks.

I graduated high school in 1974, So my generation was affected by rising insurance costs and oil prices. I also live in a rural area and most of the rich kids got newer kind of boring cars. Muscle cars got super cheap, and the school parking lot was full of muscle cars, and Saturday nights on Hwy Y drag racing was a special point in time for me. I was friends with a guy whose father had a used car lot. In 1973 he took me to the auction, and I bought a 340 3speed manual trans Dart for $500, it needed a paint job, but it was a great car. I gave it a cheap paint job, and it looked pretty good. I think the biggest mistake of my life was turning it into a race car, should have kept it like it was and bought a different car to cut up. Street racing the car was very successful only a very few big blocks could outrun the old Dart.
What I see is most of the rich kids in my area for the last 20 years get newer diesel trucks, that get lifted, and paint chipper tires put on them.

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

When I was in high school 78-81 most of the new cars were malaise era to say the least and I remember one girl had a new Camero and another guy had a new Mustang GT but the 10 year or less muscle cars were prevalent and 2 brothers whose dad ran the local monster truck shop which around here was very popular so
they had $'s. One brother drove a 70 302 Boss Mustang and the other one had a 70 Torino GT 429 SCJ and I had my 62 more door Valiant

 

[toolmanmike]

I grew up in the early 70's. (graduated in 73) In high school there inly a couple Mopars. Jim Holmes had a black 63 Polara and I had my 69 Road Runner. There was a couple Camaro's, one a 302 Z car, a Boss 302 Mustang, one farm kid drove a Shelby 350, another farm kid had a 67 396 Chevelle, a cool Bahama Blue 67 Chevy II with a hot 327 and one kid bought a black Maverick new. A 302 car when they first were available. Day 2 it got Cragars and headers of course. One guy had a purple 54 Chevy. My friend Dave had a pale yellow 67 Fairlane, a 390 4 speed car that I could easily wax with my 383 Road Runner. Not bad for a small town with a population of around 2000. What a great time to grow up in. (well I never really grew up) I need to get on Facebook and see if I can round up some photos. We still had farm kids driving a pick up to school with a shotgun in a rack in the back window. LOL

 

[Detective D]

I was in HS in the 1990's.
I also was in HS in a town of about 4000 at that time. So not exactly a lot of rich kids, and this was the tail end of family farms in WI, so mostly a mix of failing family farm kids and city kids.
The one rich kid, that was actually rich AF, got handed his dad's "old" 1994 V8 Thunderbird with 30k miles on it. Then he got a 93 5.0 Mustang s a graduation gift.
That kid was a total dick.

The other well to do kids, and there were only maybe a half dozen and this is relative mind you, were the vetrinary kids, and the local auto body shop/car dealer kids. A few classes above me the auto dealer(GM) kid got a 2 year old half ton chevy ext. cab and also handed a 80's Firebird. The body shop kid in my class got a 3 year old, pristine F150 ext cab.
They were total A-holes in school. 20 years later they must have gotten a few life lessons because one is a gentleman to everyone and the other is polite and actually joined the volunteer fire dept in town. I imagine going off to college and getting a busted nose may have had something to do with it.
The vet kids? One was a girl, she had a bland but mostly newer Lumina.
The other was a guy I was friends with up until about junior high, then he got too cool for me. He was offered his dad's old truck(about 5 years old but half ton, higher miles) but instead chose a 4 year old Corsica. Why that car? because it was one of the early 90's Corsicas with the 3.1 multiport like the firebirds got but the car weighed about as much as a honda civic. Plus it was total sleeper medium grandma blue with basic trim package. He got away with a LOT of **** in that car lol. He was a nice guy, his parents raised him right but spoiled him a bit.

Oh I guess there was one more rich kid, the one that his dad passed(sad) but then left the kid 6 figures of life insurance money. The kid proceeded to get hooked on drugs, then was dealing drugs, but the cops left him alone because small town/they knew his dad and felt bad. So that kid had a foxbody 5.0 with a stereo that would bulge the rear hatch glass itwas so loud, a 454SS chebby truck(real one) a giant mid 80's lift kit big block 2500 chevy, and for a short time a crotch rocket and a camaro, but he crashed those. The camaro almost got him, he was out of school for 7 weeks then came back on crutches.
I am not sure that kid is even alive at this point. Or managed to stay out of jail. He was a rough kid and raised wrong, and losing his dad and getting handed huge money..... I grew up extremely poor but I wouldn't trade places with that kid....

 

[cr8crshr]

Most of the rich kids I grew up with, who had these cars, were the sons of dealership owners for just about every model. So I, being a friend to them, would have just about every make and model to drive back then. Many thought that I was a rich kid, but in fact...NOT!!! Just lucky to have been friends with them is all...cr8crshr/Bill