Saturday night 70's... Remembering your great times....

[Mags]

I think it was summer of '73. Took a road trip to Idaho and back through eastern Oregon. On the way back stopped for gas to top off. 49.9 cents/gal. Nope, not paying that outrageous price. Keep going. Bought gas in Lakeview for mid 30cents/gal.

[Sir Henry]

In 1975 when I was a senior in high school my family moved from the lower south hill of Spokane to a place north of Spokane called Mead. This caused me to have to drive 10-12 miles to get to school and work. Driving that 1957 Chev with a mildly built 283 and three speed manual floor shift was burning a little bit of gas. Holy cow, when gas got up to $1.00 per gallon I decided I couldn’t drive that gas guzzler any more. So I sold it and bought that Vega in the other pic. Man I must have saved several dollars every week. Dumb.

I spent a few years in Mead and Hillyard.

It’s fun for me to mention a local area on an international forum and have somebody know exactly what I’m talking about.

There are several here that live in Spokane or have lived there at some point. It’s possible we were both tooling Riverside at the same time.

[RanchRoper]

I was going to retire a couple of years ago but my company asked me to stay, paid me more and lets me work from home. My grandson is 2 now and lives 5 minutes away. I shoot black powder 3 or 4 times a week and pretty much do what I want.

I think my great times are now.

[RetiredSeabee]

No cool cars in the 70's my first car in my senior year 1972 was the old family van. 1963 light blue Ford Econoline with windows. Dad put a bunch of miles on it hauling the family and at least two dogs on multiple summer camping trips along the Blue Ridge parkway. And an annual road trip for a week in western New York State. I helped him re-build the engine during my junior year. This van had the engine between the front seats and it made an interesting place for a couple of kids to sit or lay down. Mom made a cushion top for it. Yeah no seat belt for that potential kid launcher.
On one road trip a fire started under the engine cover and my dad pulled off the road flipped the latches on the cover, opened it and and doused the flames with his coffee thermos. We spent a bit of time on the shoulder listening to explicit dad language and him working on the engine with the tool kit he kept under his seat. He closed it up and back on the road. The smell of coffee, gas fumes, and motor oil stuck with me for years after. The van actually smelled pretty good for the rest of that trip.
So when I inherited the family truckster I replaced the curtains with boats and lighthouses that mom made with black ones. Paneled everything below the windows with rosewood paneling that I got from the building supply warehouse I was working for. Pulled out the rear bench seats carpeted everything and put in a “ camping " mattress.
I actually sold the van before getting any use out of that mattress. Then bought my brother in law’s 68 Ford Custom 500 not a chick magnet but it ran good. Met the love of my life shortly after. She was my high school sweetheart from a different school. Almost all of the mileage I put on that car was between my house and hers. Graduated June 72 and we said our vows December 9th. I went active duty USN December 27, 1973. We had a baby boy and the Seabees sounded like a good future for us. The rest of the 70s we had a baby girl, were stationed in Bermuda from 1974 through 76. I was learning how to be a daddy. Then we transferred to Gulfport Mississippi for my first mobile battalion. I deployed to Okinawa, Diego Garcia,(Indian Ocean), and Guam. While my wife was home raising our babies. Home ports were five months. I was only in Okinawa for Six weeks then home port, 9 month deployment to Diego. Home port then 8 weeks in Guam. Next set of orders found us in Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico 1979.

All that to say In the seventy’s I was a kid who fell in love. Married way above my pay grade. Did a bunch of growing up and started the long road of being a father.
Wouldn’t change it for the world. Love that girl and still falling in love.

Here is us in Puerto Rico 1979. And yes I needed a haircut…… throughout my 20 years in uniform I was always just on the line of needing a haircut.

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[markiver54]

Heartwarming story David. Glad you shared it.

[Sir Henry]

Great story indeed.

[BrokenolMarine]

Funny thing Seabee. My stepfather ran a small construction company in the 70s, and I worked with him thru High School. In my Junior Year the construction biz went into a downward spiral, and most small firms folded. The local lowes loved dad and hired him to run a new custom shop they started, a win / win for both. He gave me the company work van... A 1963 Ford Econoline. Mine was white, no window panel van, three speed manual on the column, straight six 300.

I did about the same. Lowes had a beautiful piece of deep relief birch paneling with a scratched face. That became the headliner. Three sheets of lightly damaged pecan lined the walls and doors. The rear windows were painted black on the inside, ghost ship designs scratched thru the paint, then silver oversprayed to create the look of those 70s black light posters.

A carpet warehouse has remnants, and i built a raised platform in the back to hide the spare, the jack, first aide kit, etc. Mounted big speakers in the front of the platform, and carpeted the top, front, and the floor. that storage space could only be accessed from the rear doors of the van. Not the inside.

Curtains hung behind the high back buckets from a cuda that replaced the factory van seats. I spent a many nights camping in the van.

I didn't have a hot rod, but l often drove a 68 Firebird, 68 Camero, 65 T-Bird, or a custom Suzuki 750. My Van was really popular among my friends. Lol

When the time came, I traded the van for a 72 Galaxy 500, then bought that 65 T-Bird. I went in the Corps and never looked back.

[Sir Henry]

When I got out of the Army in the spring of 70 I bought a 55 Chev delivery panel. The previous owner had removed the two truck type seats and put in a nice leather bench seat. I took Donna on our first date in that panel and when she got in she set close to the passenger window. I accelerated from a stop while making a hard right turn and she instantly slid left against me and the rest is history. We married in 74 and were still married when she passed away in 2017.

I might add that her dad hated me because the panel had a mattress in the back. We later became best friends and I took care of him the last four years of his life. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 94.

[Hatchdog]

You guys with your “shaggin wagons”

My 1957 chev pickup had a bench seat I had reupholstered with a leather material and like Sir Henry said a sharp right turn could do wonders for “proximity”.

[fortyshooter]

Funny thing Seabee. My stepfather ran a small construction company in the 70s, and I worked with him thru High School. In my Junior Year the construction biz went into a downward spiral, and most small firms folded. The local lowes loved dad and hired him to run a new custom shop they started, a win / win for both. He gave me the company work van... A 1963 Ford Econoline. Mine was white, no window panel van, three speed manual on the column, straight six 300.

I did about the same. Lowes had a beautiful piece of deep relief birch paneling with a scratched face. That became the headliner. Three sheets of lightly damaged pecan lined the walls and doors. The rear windows were painted black on the inside, ghost ship designs scratched thru the paint, then silver oversprayed to create the look of those 70s black light posters.

A carpet warehouse has remnants, and i built a raised platform in the back to hide the spare, the jack, first aide kit, etc. Mounted big speakers in the front of the platform, and carpeted the top, front, and the floor. that storage space could only be accessed from the rear doors of the van. Not the inside.

Curtains hung behind the high back buckets from a cuda that replaced the factory van seats. I spent a many nights camping in the van.

I didn't have a hot rod, but l often drove a 68 Firebird, 68 Camero, 65 T-Bird, or a custom Suzuki 750. My Van was really popular among my friends. Lol

When the time came, I traded the van for a 72 Galaxy 500, then bought that 65 T-Bird. I went in the Corps and never looked back.

Nothing like a decked out van in the drive-in movies! Cool build BM!

[fortyshooter]

When I got out of the Army in the spring of 70 I bought a 55 Chev delivery panel. The previous owner had removed the two truck type seats and put in a nice leather bench seat. I took Donna on our first date in that panel and when she got in she set close to the passenger window. I accelerated from a stop while making a hard right turn and she instantly slid left against me and the rest is history. We married in 74 and were still married when she passed away in 2017.

I might add that her dad hated me because the panel had a mattress in the back. We later became best friends and I took care of him the last four years of his life. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 94.

Those 55-56-57 panel wagons were very sought after around here with most on the drag strips. Great score on that one Gene!

[fortyshooter]

One of my friends 55 Chevy that was cool back in 72

[BrokenolMarine]

Funny thing Seabee. My stepfather ran a small construction company in the 70s, and I worked with him thru High School. In my Junior Year the construction biz went into a downward spiral, and most small firms folded. The local lowes loved dad and hired him to run a new custom shop they started, a win / win for both. He gave me the company work van... A 1963 Ford Econoline. Mine was white, no window panel van, three speed manual on the column, straight six 300.

I did about the same. Lowes had a beautiful piece of deep relief birch paneling with a scratched face. That became the headliner. Three sheets of lightly damaged pecan lined the walls and doors. The rear windows were painted black on the inside, ghost ship designs scratched thru the paint, then silver oversprayed to create the look of those 70s black light posters.

A carpet warehouse has remnants, and i built a raised platform in the back to hide the spare, the jack, first aide kit, etc. Mounted big speakers in the front of the platform, and carpeted the top, front, and the floor. that storage space could only be accessed from the rear doors of the van. Not the inside.

Curtains hung behind the high back buckets from a cuda that replaced the factory van seats. I spent a many nights camping in the van.

I didn't have a hot rod, but l often drove a 68 Firebird, 68 Camero, 65 T-Bird, or a custom Suzuki 750. My Van was really popular among my friends. Lol

When the time came, I traded the van for a 72 Galaxy 500, then bought that 65 T-Bird. I went in the Corps and never looked back.

Nothing like a decked out van in the drive-in movies! Cool build BM!

Yup...

We'd park on the back row, wrong way in, open the back doors wide, bring out the lawn chairs, turn up the speakers on the posts on either side as well, and settle in. My mom and dad's best friend worked as roaming security for the drive in on weekends, so he'd drop by for a sandwich from the cooler, some homemade cake, decent soda... Cruise by every now and they to make sure none of the "adults" on the back row were bothering us... It was a sweet way to see the movies.

[BrokenolMarine]

The van wasn't perfect by a long shot... Like a lot of the early econolines, it had about 2" of play in the steering by this point in it's life, but you got used to that. The road salt in the winters had given it cancer in the rear wheel wells, and I worked part time.... No money for body work or painting. But, the guys still loved her... And I still drove hot cars many a weekend if I didn't have VanPlans.

[PatientWolf]

1970 I was 6 years old...

Same here…
First car (in 77) was a ‘74 Chevy Vega that needed an engine. My father bought it for me for $400 because he thought I needed something to do.

I was 13 and couldn’t even legally drive it once I got it going.