Forty years ago today

It was the fall of Saigon and the official end of the Vietnam war.

But more importantly I was driving a 1960 Porsche 356B cabriolet, my brother had a 1967 Mini Cooper S and my best friend had a 1961 Triumph TR3. All three of the cars were beaters as we were all young then, but we all regret not having them now.

What were you driving back then?

'67 Chevelle SS396.

I was still borrowing my dad's '61 Catalina at that point. I was in my first year of college, and didn't get my own car for another 8 months. One month prior to that day I was in the last Selective Service lottery draft of the Vietnam era, my number was in the 300s.

Lotus Cortina as my daily driver.

A bicycle Now my first car was a Jeepster Commando, but by college, I started with a MG, then bought a TR4 for my final two years in the early '80's. It seemed so old then, but it would be like buying a '99 Miata now.

A 1960 series 1 Sunbeam Alpine. Daily driver which I also drove across country (Connecticut to Colorado) when I moved with everything I owned (except my cat!) either in the trunk or on the luggage rack.

Hot Wheels.

A go-kart was my ride.

I was driving a German '73 V6 Capri. Neat car, a nice balance of handling and power. Too bad most of them have rusted to s**t by now.

Stu

81cpcamaro wrote: A go-kart was my ride.

Dido on the go-cart. My dad built one for my two older brothers and me. The neighborhood was never the same....

We were discussing this at work; a co-worker and her family got out with a few days to spare. Her father was an officer whose assignment had him working with the American Army. Her relatives said that the North Vietnamese had his name on the list.........scary. On brighter note a church group in Wisconsin took in the family, Dad, Mom and the seven kids. She's one of six people I've known who literally escaped with their lives and are so grateful to be here...it's humbling talking with them about thier experience. We were still in Hawaii, I remember our church had taken in several young Vietnamese men between 1972 and 1975, I was still riding a bicycle but we returned to the mainland and I got a mini bike soon after.........a few years after that I got my first motorcycle......it was around 1984 before I bought a car.

 Tom

1964 Galaxie 500 convertible; 352 4 speed. It's hard to imagine now, but I paid $400 for it.

I was driving a Sprite, and my fiancee Sharron had her 1973 MG Midget. The Sprite is long gone, but I still have Sharron, and we still have the Midget.

This is a good time to honor our fine Americans who went over there and fought that war, and didn't always have the support they deserved.

40 years ago today, I was riding a bicycle and had recently retired my Big Wheel.

'68 Volvo 1800S

Incidentally, I've been listening to Up Country by Nelson DeMille on audio. It's about a guy who goes back to Nam and visits the places where he fought in 1968 as a 1st Cav infantry grunt (11 bravo, a.k.a. 11 bang-bang for those of you familiar with Army MOS of the time) ... Hue, A Shau Valley, Khe Sanh, Quang Tri Province, etc. Very interesting, especially since the author is a Nam combat vet.

stuart in mn wrote: I was still borrowing my dad's '61 Catalina at that point. I was in my first year of college, and didn't get my own car for another 8 months. One month prior to that day I was in the last Selective Service lottery draft of the Vietnam era, my number was in the 300s.

My draft lottery was in '71, and my birthday came up number 2. Fortunately, I was in boot camp in the Navy when it did.

Huffy Scout 5-speed, until it got stolen. Who'd steal a five-speed bike?

There was occasional field/parking lot driving in a B&S-powered go-kart, assorted tractors, or Dad's '62 unibody pickup.

It was forty years ago today. Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.

Meanwhile I was driving a 240Z, X19, a couple of Pl-510s, & a '56 TR-3.

Then in another year I got married and reality set in!

40 years ago? A high chair... I missed all the really good stuff.

Gearheadotaku wrote: I missed all the really good stuff.

Yeah, but you still have hair.

914Driver wrote:

Gearheadotaku wrote: I missed all the really good stuff.

Yeah, but you still have hair.

GREAT POINT!!

Rupert wrote:

914Driver wrote:

Gearheadotaku wrote: I missed all the really good stuff.

Yeah, but you still have hair.

GREAT POINT!!

..for the moment.

Being twelve and a half I was pretty unaware of the real world for the most part. I think about the fact that we lived only a few miles from Kaneohe Marine Base, regularly watching flight training exercises (thinking how cool these guys were) never giving a single thought to the fact that they were going to be in combat within weeks. As for cars we were driven around in a Mazda 1200 wagon, the poor little 65 horsepower car with the 5 of us on board would barely be doing 40 mph by the time it got to the top of the Pali. Later on my Dad bought a Plymouth Scamp, industructable but hideous to drive. Some the neighbors had cool cars; one had a V6 Capri and one of the young guys around the corner had a really cool hot rod........sadly he seemed to delight in tormenting younger kids......one day he suddenly up and left me be.....most of my friends were Samoan and they considered me family. People from Samoa do not take kindly to people messing with their family, a friend's sister apparently liked me and said something to her cousin who in turn had a discussion with Mr Hot Rod, my pal's sister fessed up right before we left to come back to the mainland. Naturally she grew up to be drop dead gorgeous.......of course she may not have stayed interested in a short Hoale guy. My brother's friend had a Caddy Coupe De Ville, we once drove it up the old Pali Hwy, the road was barely wider than the car and several of the hairpins necessitated three point turns. The "car" we loved the most belonged to a co-worker of my father; Ron Wong had primer Dodge Powerwagon but the cool factor was likely down to him rather then the truck. His family owner a small market down by Kailua beach, every morning he'd sit on the beach, smoke Pakalolo and then go for swim out to a small island that had to be half a mile from shore then swim back......this was at around 4:30 in the morning.

 Tom

1969 GT6+

In 1975, the daily driver was a Forest Green 1970 BMW 2002. Second car was a 1962 Austin-Healey MKII (Tri-Carb), then painted silver. BMW is long gone, but still have the Healey, now painted white over red.

Jerry