Old Timers Unite---Give it Your Best Shot

[TomH]

Old?...

I realized how old I was when I went to the Ford Museum / Greenfield Village and realized how many of the cars I had actually driven!

Muntz is spelled with a "Z" and was the name of Madman Muntz, a Chicago entrepeneur.

Wolfman Jack came to life on XERF out of Del Rio, TX. Late at night and long before American Graffitti. (XERF was the Tex/Mex border equivalent of North Seas "Pirate Radio" in Europe.)

A bucket of beer used to be a pail and had a lid on it. Cheaper than bottles and the predecessor to MGD at home.

Gas was bought $2 at a time and that was good for the weekend.

Smokey Yunick used to write a monthly column for Mechanix Illustrated.

Chris Economacki wrote for the weekly Competition Press before being acquired by Autoweek.

The black & white pictures in Hot Rod had a green tint to them.

A "coffee grinder" was an essential rallying tool.

Radials were radical, but not as radical as Jim Hall and his (Soon to be banned) Chaparrals.

Luigi Chinetti controlled Ferrari in the US and Max Hoffman controlled BMW. Great cars were matched with great people and their egos. Sports Car Illustrated covered it all.

Flipping the lid on the air cleaner of your dad's car improved it's sound at the drive-in. (Mc Donalds @ 15¢ and White Castle @ 12¢)

Slicks were called "Cheater Slicks" amongst the street racing crowd, and were often installed after the bet was made.

High powered V8s in small flexible chassis also lived in the Sunbeam Tigers, MGB-V8s, Hemi/440 Darts, and 427 Camaros.

Sunoco 260 was readily available and you could see the ground when you looked down in an engine compartment.

Acting and commercials got in the way of the Vette on Route 66.

Balancing Webers, or SUs for that matter, was a black art. Lucas earned the "Prince of Darkness" moniker.

The best Duncan YoYo was the Imperial.

...Old; naw, just rode hard and put away wet.