High school parking lot

[5thDragoons]

I posted car pics from back in the day in the pics thread... Which got me thinking about what we drove to school in the mid 60s. One kid inherited his grandmother's '55 Sedan deVille. He was all proud that the motor had 2x4 Bbl carbs. Which was cool in itself, but it weighed as much as a light tank so it was no speed demon. That and it had probably never been over 35 MPH until he got it = lots o' sludge in the motor.

Chevys from the 50s were still fairly common - 55, 56 & 57. Some farm kids drove Jeeps. A bit fresh in the winter, though. After my 55 Dodge failed me, I had a 60 Pont. bubble top. Loved that ride! Crashed on an icy bridge with it following my gf home after a school dance.

A friend drove a 60 Rambler sedan. It was bullet proof! I can't begin to describe how badly he abused it, and it kept getting him and his numerous siblings to school. Another fellow had a 50s vintage DeSoto sedan. He liked it & since he didn't have $ for a legit paint job, he painted it with a brush. Didn't turn out that well.

All kinds of dumb stunts, too. It was "cool" to switch the motor off while moving and let gas build up a bit in the cylinders - hit the key and KA-POW! Much noise and hilarity. You had to be careful, though - a good way to blow a head gasket!

One more thing about the 60 Pont - lots of room in the trunk to smuggle friends into the drive in movie... assuming the owner didn't notice you were riding kinda low. SW

[lyman]

graduated in 1981

most were 70's vintage cars,
I had a 74 vega, and then a 77 Foad F100

there were a few hotrods/ fastcars, but do not recall any 50;s vintage,
one guy had 65 or 66 442 , another a 69 Lemans,
and a neighbor had a 66 or 67 Galaxie,

none modified or tricked out, or hot rodded

[lyman]

neatest was a guy that had a 67 Cougar, factory 427 IIRC, that car was fast

[PWC]

My HS frend had a 61 or 62 Rambler with a push button "gear shift". Studabaker body styles went to hell xcept for the Commander. Engines were good if I remember, but the Lark with its perpetual yawn ...

At that time Natchez Trace in MS was not under water, and was a 2 lane unbusy raceway between Jackson and Memphis with only 2 toopers patrolling in Studabaker Larks; one north and one on south end. One of the men in church had a brand new Cadallac coming back from Mem, and he saw the trooper in the edge of the woods, and decided to floor it.

He said as he went over a hill, the trooper was just pulling onto the road. At the top of the next hill, the trooper was at the top of the hill behind him. At the top of the next hill the trooper was in the valley of the hill behind him. When he got to the valley the trooper was on top behind him and turned on his lights.

He said he didn't mind the fine as much as that Studabaker Lark catching his Cadallac.

[nf1e]

1960 Ford with straight 6 and standard tx until I wrecked it through stupidity. " Upgraded to a 61 Rambler American my dad won in a fireman's raffle. That thing looked like a refridgerator with wheels , but it got the job done.

[Allen]

It's a shame Studebaker didn't survive. Most of their cars simply weren't appealing though. Watching old westerns, I see Studebaker written on some of the wagons used on the sets and their name mentioned on occasion. I read where they were the main or only suppler of wagons and stage coaches on Gunsmoke but since the show is so long gone it can't be verified.

Also remember reading where the U.S. gave Russia 152,000 large 2.5 ton 6x6 Studebaker trucks to help with the war efforts against Nazi Germany. I wonder how many of these are still in use?

After the war (1950's) Mercedes Benz wanted to sell cars here (nervy). They knew overall they would not be accepted and did not have the working capitol to set up show rooms and dealerships across the nation. They noticed Studebaker did have such a network but were dying on the vine as sales dwindled. They struck a deal that all/most Studebaker dealerships would also sell MB cars. That way MB was able to flood the market w/o hiring salesmen, leasing buildings, supplying repair labor. The rest is history there.

Studebaker later bought out Gravely mower corp and probably other companies. They lasted into the early 60's in Canada producing the Avanti till they gave it up.

Graduated back in 1971 with quite an assortment of "stuff" parked in the parking lot. I drove an old '63 Nova which looked like a granny car but it was better than riding in the big yellow furnace every day and others felt the same way as I always had a car full of classmates to take home after school. And it did have a/c.

Only recall one car from the 50's--a '55 Chevy, which was considered old and classic even back then. A few brand new cars as grad gifts and by the rich kids ( '69 GTO Judge, '69 Torino Cobra w/428 eng,, '71 Ranchero 351 eng w4spd). Most were from the 60's with a lot of them being the parents 4 door cars. Very few pickups, no convertibles, no station wagons, no American Motors Corp cars, and no Studebaker's. Again, the object of the game was to not have to ride the hot, hot, hot, school bus so any car at all was OK and not frowned upon. I learned to lock my car up. One day I was notified to go check my car---it had been pushed to the center of the football field as a prank.

[PWC]

1955, my uncle went to the Studabaker factory and picked up his new car, the classic style with the bullet point in the grill. 50s style futuristic...60s....not so much except for the commander and the Avanti which I forgot til you reminded me.

I "inherited" a 1953 6 cyl Ford Fairlane. Raise the hood and look down and I could see the ground on either side of the engine. Sat on the radiator, foot on either side of engine to work on it.

I see you are on the Gulf Coast, remember huricane parties, or were you smarter than that?

[Allen]

"I see you are on the Gulf Coast, remember hurricane parties, or were you smarter than that?"

I don't know about smarter but do know that an incoming hurricane is nothing to party about.

The last party I heard of was from 1969 hurricane Camille Biloxi, Ms. Cat 5 storm (as high as they rank them). The morning after nothing remained where the party was except for the slab.

[PWC]

Camille also left a large ship across the Biloxi - Gulfport highway. Dad's co. sent him down from Jackson to install a liquid oxygen converter on the beach so the ship could be cut up for scrap. MS built a curve around the worksite. Don't know how long it took, I was in Crete, GR with the USAF.

CORRECTION: I was in Korea 69 - 70, then Crete 70 - 72

[Johnny P]

Had a '54 Mercury two door hardtop in high school. First thing I had to have was duals. At that time the exhaust manifold on one side went around the front of the engine and tied into the front of the manifold on the other side into a single exhaust. Of course this called for a different exhaust manifold which I think came off a '55 Ford. Everything worked great except there was a switch on the steering column outside the firewall that would only let the car start in park. This had to be relocated, and left open which meant that if it would start in any gear but if it got moved the car wouldn't start. Often wondered if this happened to some later owner.

[S.A. Boggs]

Had a buddy back in 1970 who went to work for the RR right out of school. Bought two Super Birds, 440 six pack auto and 426 Hemi with Hurst shifter. Both were fast and clocked at 160 mph. Ohio Highway Patrol went after Peter in their Fury 111, couldn't come close in the 426!
Sam

[Allen]

Did you know that the Ford Boss 429 was a Hemi?

[Allen]

Police had their own parking lots too back then.

As pursuit vehicles Alabama State Troopers bought some AMC Javalin AMX's (SST) back in 1971 and '72. They had the 401 engs. Later, they, along with neighboring FL and other states, did they same in 1985/'86 with the Mustangs with a mod version of the 302 using the "notchback" body due to it being lighter and more rigid than the hatchback. These were 2 door cars so they had their usual fleet of 4 door cars as well for the transporting of any "villains".

[Doc Sharptail]

I was outta the school system by '73, and I still wasn't old enough to drive. I couldn't even bike to school- I was lugging around too many books for that, and rode city transit to school. The high school parking lot had a lot of '55-'56 G.M. on it- hand me down family cars that would have been 14 or 15 years old by the time the kids got them. Few were hot-rodded out. Most were straight sixes with three on the tree manuals. '57s were cool the moment they left the factory, and most stayed out of kids posessions. There were a few beetles and Vauxhalls (british g.m. cars that were poorly built, but had bullet proof 4 banger motors and manual trannys). A few Fords too, but little in the way of high performance. There were a few crack-ups of the 50's g.m. cars in front of the school - the kids insisted on dragging the non-performance cars anyways . There were few rich kids- I think there was only one 'stang on the students lot the whole time I was there, and it was a 6 cyl '65.

Fist fights were common on the parking lot- some of them violent and bloody enough to require police intervention.


City cops mostly drove dodge Polaras. The RCMP had interceptor transmission equipped AMC Matador's, and those things could really hustle. They had a few big block ford XL tudors for ghost cars, and again, those were damn fast with the p/i trannys.

-D.S.

[5thDragoons]

We had a few hot cars when I was with the State Patrol. '72 Mercs with a 429 being foremost of that sort. My 1st ride there was a 73 Dodge with 383 - it was no slouch and would go 130 easily.

Sitting in my pic file is me at SWAT training in my 78 Dodge 2 door. It would get right out and "walk the dog", too! Don't recall what motor. SW

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