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American Graffiti (Page 1)
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ProwlerOnline, Plymouth/Chrysler Prowler Discussion Forum
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American Graffiti (Page 1)
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| This topic is 2 pages long: 1 2 This topic was originally posted in this forum: Tires, Rims Discusssion |
| Author | Topic: American Graffiti |
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Dustis unregistered Posts: 2120 |
posted 02-02-2005 05:37 PM
I watched American Graffiti a couple of days ago for the 1st time EVER - I know for a lot of you guys this is a 'cult' movie and I'd like to know about it - I'm not from that generation but I feel strongly about that era and those "good times" and would love to hear about it ! DUSTI |
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tangled up in BLUE Prowler Junkie Posts: 11086 |
posted 02-02-2005 06:02 PM
...I saw this movie when it first came out...then it was looking 10 years into the past, now it has been over 30 years since the movie came out....geez ...I have no idea how many times I have seen this movie thru the years, it is a classic.... ...it takes place a few years before my days on the streets, I was cruising hard from 67-71, American Graffiti is as much like I remember as anything could be, almost like a documentary.....I knew someone like each character in the show, many situations were familiar, story line was what teens were living in 1962.....yes, it is a great movie doccumenting a unique period in time... ....the Wolfman really was a legend, street racing WAS king....rock and roll was still new...and Vietnam was a distant place that only rated a line or two in the newspaper in 1962.... ....spring 1968, I was racing the streets every night in a 68 GTO conv, racing anything that moved.....the girls were younger then...the nights were always warm, music blastin from the 8 tracks, listening to the Turtles being "Happy Together", the Doors were lighting my fire, ...I could type for hours.....
This message has been edited by tangled up in BLUE on 02-02-2005 at 06:03 PM |
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SirReal Prowler Junkie Posts: 3332 |
posted 02-02-2005 06:05 PM
...the white '58 Impala was schweeet! |
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tangled up in BLUE Prowler Junkie Posts: 11086 |
posted 02-02-2005 06:11 PM
...first picture, me standing by my "Mighty GTO", spring 1968... ...2nd picture, last September at Auburn I purchased a dead ringer to the one I owned 37 years ago....I can't even begin to tell you how strange it is to drive this car, it feels the same, sounds the same....sorts like the Twilight Zone....I am older, fatter, slower, thinner hair....but I still like to put the pedal down and hit some gears....the GTO still has a Tiger under the hood
This message has been edited by tangled up in BLUE on 02-02-2005 at 09:16 PM |
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Dave Mills Prowler Junkie Posts: 5419 |
posted 02-02-2005 06:22 PM
My cruisin' days started in 1965 and lasted until 1971 (I got married in '72). You could cruise all night on two bucks worth of gas and street race without worrying about a traffic light every block. Most of us had cars that could outrun the cops (we were too stupid to realize that you can't out run a radio). It was a great time to be young. |
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Simonsez Prowler Junkie Posts: 1790 |
posted 02-02-2005 08:00 PM
The times, music and cars were the greatest. Movie was pretty realistic in the way it was. Living in the 50s & 60s were the best to be growing up. I had a blue over baby blue 55' Ford Convertible. Spotlights, spinners, fender skirts, lowered, glass packs, decked out all the way. It was the coolist.  |
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RPL Prowler Junkie Posts: 3448 |
posted 02-02-2005 08:03 PM
Ran Woodward both single and married. Still haven't grown up. Just ask CJ, Bob Hacker or Marty Usher. Follow the car scene. Still fun. Cars today are the fastest ever! Love muscle cars. A friend has a clone of the coupe from American Graffiti. It is one of my all time favorites along with the '55 Chevy that also appeared in Two Lane Blacktop. They use my friends car at Autorama and Woodward as aback drop for Paul LeMat to sign autographs. This message has been edited by RPL on 02-03-2005 at 02:39 PM |
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GenoTex Prowler Junkie Posts: 8492 |
posted 02-02-2005 08:33 PM
.....I am older, fatter, slower, thinner hair.... ONLY when you look in the mirror, Larry.......
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YELLER CAT Prowler Junkie Posts: 29 |
posted 02-02-2005 08:49 PM
FYI... John Milner (Paul LeMat) was at the Turkey Run in 2002 and I was fortunate enough to get lots of pictures, autographs, etc. for the Yeller Cat collection. As for "cult" movies, don't forget to watch Hollywood Knights... the "R" version of American Graffiti... both movies are Hot Rod, Rock 'n Roll, High School Classics!!! You will want to own both to enjoy again and again. This message has been edited by YELLER CAT on 02-03-2005 at 06:13 PM |
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Marty Usher Prowler Junkie Posts: 13833 |
posted 02-02-2005 09:06 PM
The 55 Chevy diven by Harrison Ford was nice but my favorite car in the movie was the 58 Impala. |
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MDProwler Prowler Junkie Posts: 5250 |
posted 02-02-2005 09:20 PM
Falfa: Ha ha! That's pretty good! Say, I like the color of your car there. What's that s'posed to be? Sort of a cross between piss yella' and puke green ain't it? Milner: Well, you call that a paint job, but it's pretty ugly. I bet you got to sneak up on the pumps just to get a little air in your tires! Falfa: Well at least I don't have to pull over to the side just to let a funeral go by man. Milner: Oh ho, funny! |
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MDProwler Prowler Junkie Posts: 5250 |
posted 02-02-2005 09:29 PM
Goofs for American Graffiti (1973) * Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The Botts Dots (raised reflective lane markers) were perfected by Elbert D. Botts in the 1950s. * Continuity: While John and Carol are cruising, the pack of Camels rolled up in John's sleeve switch front showing to back showing through the shirt fabric. * Continuity: John Milner's hot rod is missing the front license plate in some scenes. * Anachronisms: Television sets in the store window are early-1970s models. * Anachronisms: The coin telephone at Mel's is a model that didn't go into general use until the late 1960s. * Errors in geography: One of the commercials heard on the Wolfman Jack Show was for a drive-in restaurant, Adventure Carhop, in Saugus, Massachusetts. * Continuity: The license plate on the Studebaker with the girls from Turlock is the same as the plate on Steve's '58 Chevy. * Anachronisms: In the scene where John is stopped by the policeman, he's a few feet from a movie theater. The movie poster is for Cabaret (1972). * Factual errors: In the final scene Curt walks toward the airplane's open door to board while the number one engine (left outboard) is starting up. In real life, a pilot would never start an engine on the boarding side with a door still open and passengers behind a running engine. * Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Set in 1962, but a cinema marquee advertises Dementia 13 (1963). This was done on purpose by George Lucas, because Dementia 13 was Producer Francis Ford Coppola's first movie. * Continuity: After the race, John gives Bob his hat back. But a few seconds earlier, Bob is already holding the hat. * Anachronisms: When Milner has a run-in with Officer Holstein, the Wolfman Jack montage on the radio contains a clip from the song "Grazing In The Grass" by the Friends of Distinction, released in 1969. * Continuity: When Carol is on the hood of the car being shaving-creamed, she covers the front windshield with shaving cream and jumps off, but as she runs around the car, there's no shaving cream anywhere on it. * Anachronisms: The pinball machines that the Pharaohs rob are all newer than the 1962 setting of the film. Buckaroo-1965 Base Hit-1967; Royal Guard-1968; Wild Wild West-1969; SkyRocket-1970; Vampire-1971. * Anachronisms: The Citroen 2CV driven by Curt is a version made in 1972. * Miscellaneous: In the scene where Terry is trying to buy liquor, the sign on the door of the liquor store, although apparently appropriate to the period ("Winston" ad), says "Push" on the "Pull" side of the door. * Continuity: While talking to Kurt at the radio station, Wolfman Jack pulls the tone arm off of a turntable. Seconds later, he does it again. * Anachronisms: The color scheme of the license plate on Falfa's Chevy as it blows up (yellow background) was not in use in 1962 (should have been a black background). * Anachronisms: Guitar played by lead guitarist of "Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids" at the sock hop plays a post-1966 Fender Stratocaster (with the CBS headstock). * Anachronisms: In one of the first cruising scenes where Toad is trying out his new wheels, he drives past a 1967 Impala parked on the curbside. * Miscellaneous: Just before Curt goes to sit down on the car to watch TV he is running through the intersection on foot and behind him there is a 1973 Olds Cutlass. * Continuity: When Falfa's car rolls over, the trunk lid is open. When it blows up it is closed. (And while it is rolling over you can see that there is no motor in it.) * Miscellaneous: Toad crashes his Vespa and walks away, and in the very next shot it is standing up and nicely parked. |
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BeWare Prowler Junkie Posts: 18511 |
posted 02-02-2005 10:15 PM
I turned 16 in 1961. My dad owned a 1954 Plymouth Belveder. Not really considered a cool car. My somewhat older neighbor owned a 58 Olds 88 2 door hartop with a tri power set. We would cruise in his car. White car with olds spinner caps and white whites. I loved that car. It is still one of my favorites. We would cruise from one Drive-In to another. I grew up in Maryland and the place to cruise to were the Hot Shop Drive Ins. First to discourage people cruising around the drive in they installed speed bumps. People would just get the rear wheels on top of the speed bump and floor it laying tons of rubber. Then they tried closing the path around so you were forced to exit the drive. and could not circle around We would just go down the street and make a U Turn and come back in. It took a little longer but it had the same effect as circling inside the drive in itself. We listened to Vick Viundi show on WLS from Chicago. Not as famous as the Wolfman but pretty well known on the east coast. In 64 the Maryland State Police got Plymouths with Hemi's. I guess they got tired of getting out run by all the Muscle Cars. I don't believe the Hemi's were over the counter stock either. No power steering or anything in them. You could not outrun those olive drab green and black Plymouths. My first muscle car was a 67 R/T with a 375 HP 440. Lots of street racing. I never got pulled over. Does anyone remember chinese fire drills? And we can't forget mooning. |
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MDProwler Prowler Junkie Posts: 5250 |
posted 02-02-2005 10:29 PM
Definitely remember the Olive Green and Black troopers but in my day They turn to yellow jackets. I remember the bumble bee decal on the troopers car and the slogan"don't get stung"! |
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bbcar Prowler Junkie Posts: 328 |
posted 02-02-2005 10:54 PM
I started my cruising in 65 and our Woodward was Hall Street, any clear weekend you could find a couple hundred street racers there. I did a lot of street racing both on Hall street and other places. I also out ran the cops almost a dozen times. Young and dumb I never thought I was putting anyone else in danger other than myself. Boy did my attitude change when I grew up. Yes I will still street race, but only when their are NO other cars where I am racing. Most of the time I was the guy in the 56 chevy (in American Graffiti) but one summer in 67 I raced Hall Street undefeated in a 56 Pontiac. It had a 60 389 bored out to 400 a ram air 3 cam and 66 heads and tri power, for a trans (for those that remember) it had a B&M 4-speed Hydromatic. and last a 3.23 open rear. The car ran low 13's on the drag strip and that was considered fast in 67. By the way this car still exists but has no engine or trans in at this time. It currently belongs to a friend who plans to restore it to its glory days somtime in the future. He was one of my competitors back then and still has all the cars he has ever owned, including a 9000 mile 70 Hemi Cuda and and a 67 L-88 Corvette. at last count he had over 50 cars. I miss those days. I was always broke but every night was a adventure. Todays streets are so congested that it is no wonder there are so many drag racing deaths on our streets. I think I have a solution to seriously cut down street racing but if I ever suggested it to the city they would probably laugh me out of town. Barry  |
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tangled up in BLUE Prowler Junkie Posts: 11086 |
posted 02-02-2005 11:46 PM
...Friday nights... ...after spending the day at school, then working at a grocery store after school, when 7:30 pm came 'round we thew our aprons in the laundry bin and blasted out the back doors of the grocery, car keys in hand.... ...one buddy drove a white 58 Ford conv. with no floor boards in the back and I had a new GTO...there were usually girls waiting for my other buddy Catman and I(his last name was Catt)....he was the smoothe talker and I drove the car(strong silent type)....we would pick 3 or 4 hot 15 year old girls(we were only 16)and sometimes go to a basketball game or just 'cruise Broad'... ...Broad Street was the main drag thru town, at each end was a drive-in .....the idea being to circle the Top Hat Drive-In, then cruise to Howards Drive-In at the opposite end of the strip, then back....the route was several miles long and would take nearly 40 minutes to make the loop on a busy night...time to talk to girls in opposing traffic...show off the girls you had picked up if they were cute, if they were not so cute we cruised in another town where no one knew us...all the while listening to the AM radio blastin' out the top 40 hits, or if you had the $$$, an 8 track tape deck was the hot ticket to entertainment for the ladies.... ...smokin' the redline Firestone Wide Ovals was the norm....the GTO was on it's 5th set of tires at 18K miles when I sold it...massive burnouts, speed shiftin' the Hurst 4spd, doin' donuts in the highschool parking lot on dry pavement(that will eat up a set of tires in a few nights).... ...we raced on the road beside the highschool, we raced on the 'dump road'north of town....pretty much raced anywhere we could ....everybody seemed to have hot cars, and plenty of cheap gas to power the big block musclecars of the day... ....great time......great memories.... |
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Dustis unregistered Posts: 11086 |
posted 02-03-2005 07:52 AM
Awesome stories guys - thanks for sharing !!  P.S. Larry, your picture is coooool ! This message has been edited by Dustis on 02-03-2005 at 07:54 AM |
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CJ Prowler Junkie Posts: 18860 |
posted 02-03-2005 08:03 AM
Watch it?.........Bob (RPL) and I lived it!! Woodward Dream Cruise is Memory Lane for us. Next time you're here for Dream Cruise, we'll have to get Bob to tell some of his stories from the cruisin' days!  |
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Bcoffman Gray Ghost Prowler Junkie Posts: 2418 |
posted 02-03-2005 11:15 AM
[QUOTE]Originally posted by tangled up in BLUE: [B] ...2nd picture, last September at Auburn I purchased a dead ringer to the one I owned 37 years ago....I can't even begin to tell you how strange it is to drive this car, it feels the same, sounds the same....sorts like the Twilight Zone....I am older, fatter, slower, thinner hair....but I still like to put the pedal down and hit some gears....the GTO still has a Tiger under the hood Larry, I was the Pontiac dealer here when they came out with the advertising about the Tiger under the hood. A lot of TV, newspaper and magazine ads. A guy showed up at the dealership one day and said he was with the circus that was scheduled to be in town in a few weeks. He wanted to rent us their tiger for a promo for the G.T.O. We had a green one the same color as yours. Anyway, we paid the guy and he wrote us up a contract. We advertised that we would have a live tiger at the dealership that day. A lot of the local folks showed up to see the live tiger at our dealership. Only problem was that the circus didn't know anything about the agreement we had made with their ad man. They finally agreed to let us use the tiger. Later, we found out that the guy was an employee of theirs. He sold the tiger out to every Pontiac dealer in central Missouri, and then took off with the money. They were nice enough to honor the agreement to us. Smewhere, I have pics of it out front of our dealership with my daughters standing in front of the cage. Neat memories tho. |
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tangled up in BLUE Prowler Junkie Posts: 11086 |
posted 02-03-2005 12:11 PM
Originally posted by Bcoffman Gray Ghost: He sold the tiger out to every Pontiac dealer in central Missouri, and then took off with the money. ******************************************************* |
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KlasKat Prowler Junkie Posts: 1835 |
posted 02-03-2005 04:00 PM
I had a 33 Plymouth 5 window coupe that looked like Milners. Only mine was Orange and had suiside doors.. Had a 327 inch Chevy it with 350 auto. was great fun. A fella had it up in the mountains here and it had been sitting in the weeds for about 10 years, had a bird's nest in the 4 brl. I bought it and took 2 years to restore it. Kept it for about 3 years and then sold it to try to keep the marriage going. Ended up getting divorced anyway, should have kept it and dumped the wife first.    |
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BeWare Prowler Junkie Posts: 18511 |
posted 02-03-2005 04:54 PM
I had a 29 Ford Coupe the was pretty close to the 32 Grafitti coupe as well. It was yellow, with a 32 grille, bobbed rear fenders and front cycle fenders. All steel car. I will see if I can post a picture tonight. Mine didn't have a chopped top. It had a tcok 289 Mustang with a 2 barrel and automatic trans. It was really really fast because it was extremely light. I also had a black 55 Chevy Bel Air two door post. Except for the mag wheels and over sized tires it was totally stock on the outside. I was running a 413 ci Buick nail head. Borg Warner T10 4 speed and 4-11 posi rear end. This thing would eat 396 and 454 Novas for lunch. I raced a guys (whom I knew casually) 396 Nova. I missed a shift and still beat him so badly that he got pi$$ed and pulled the 396 and put in a 454. He was even more pi$$ed when I could still beat him. He never spoke to me much after that. That Buick motor was a torgue monster. I had the exhaust coming out just ahead of the rear tires. People would tell me it was the best sounding Chvey they ever heard. Not many knew or ever found out it had a Buick motor. This message has been edited by BeWare on 02-03-2005 at 05:07 PM |
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Bcoffman Gray Ghost Prowler Junkie Posts: 2418 |
posted 02-03-2005 05:14 PM
quote: Larry, Pontiac sold us a fuzzy "Tiger Tail" to attach under the hood and then close it with the tail hanging out. At that time we thought it looked pretty cool. |
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halicat unregistered Posts: 2418 |
posted 02-03-2005 05:19 PM
Darn ! I just missed that era.. i was 15 in 1969 and just getting started cruising.. my buddy was 16 and bought a 65 stang with a 289 three speed.... we used to cruise gratiot and listen to WABX on the radio... hendrix, cream , watch all the hot rods rippin up the road.. it was great.... and if we really begged, Toms brother would get us a couple bottles of Boonesfarm Apple Wine.....spent alot of time at the Gratiot Drive-in.... being bad and chasing girls...I bought my first car in 1973... it was a 68 Charger....318 auto.. $500.oo |
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YELLER CAT Prowler Junkie Posts: 29 |
posted 02-03-2005 06:11 PM
TURKEY RUN, Daytona Beach 2002, John Milner (Paul LeMat)...  Autographing some Yeller Hot Rod pictures...  THANKS for the memories Milner (Paul)... Jay |
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