Friday, January 15, 2010

Car(pe) Diem

So, let's lighten up after a particularly heavy week, shall we? Just look at this sweet ride, perched on top of a hill on a perfect South Pas winter morning. Since it's Friday today, I say we all play hooky. Crank up the stereo and go, go, go...

16 comments:

Judy Williams said...

My dream car is a 71 White GTO (since that's the year I graduated from high school - yikes, I'm dating myself). This one is a 66 I believe. I always loved Pontiac's front end and the way they configured their lights, even back in the 80's, when I sold them for 4 years.

Thanks for a visual diversion from the sadness we've seen in the last 2 days.

It's pouring down rain here today so we'll be staying inside watching taped tv shows and old movies.

Brenda's Arizona said...

Sweet ride. Are the old black Calif plates allowed for classic cars? Does anyone still have the blue plates in use?

Mister Earl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mister Earl said...

Great photo, and it's just the song I was hoping for. I graduated from high school in 1966. I remember one Friday night at the YMCA when a brand-new navy blue GTO, cruised through the parking lot. I'll never get that image out of my head.

Brenda: One sees all the old California plates every now and then. The first ones I remember were yellow with black lettering, then came black with yellow lettering, then blue with yellow lettering. I'm not sure what the rules are about which cars are allowed to have which plates.

WV: wisegel - what the wise guys who drove these cars put on their hair.

Saretta said...

Love a classic car. My first ride was a '66 Mustang!

dbdubya said...

I agree with Judy, that's about a '66 or '67 Goat and it's in great condition. My dad had a '62 Catalina Convertible, a '63 Bonneville and a '69 Bonnie. The
'69j Bonnevillle was black like this one. They were great cars. We had Pontiacs in the '60s because my grandfather sold them at Harry Maher Pontiac on Lankersheim in North Hollywood.

Mr. Earl's history of the color of California plates is correct. Black on yellow, then yellow on black, then yellow on blue and now blue on white. The DMV allows old plates to remain on a car, but they can't be transferred. So, the owner of this car would be foolish to get vanity plates because he'd have to give up the classic plates and couldn't get them back. Cars like this with old plates are advertised as such when sold and "original California plates" actually increases the value.

Anonymous said...

All rightee, then!

Jon said...

Great photo SweetiePea.

I love your eye. Looking at this, makes me feel like I'm taking a well deserved break after climbing the hill behind.

This also makes me feel a bit like an old goat when I realize it's been almost 20 years since I helped my friend rebuild the engine of his '66 (389 with the tri power).

This old goat may be a '67. It's got a bit of chrome on the front that I don't think is on a '66.

Yakpate said...

When I was in high school, gas for the GTO (or the Ford or the Chevy) was 19¢ a gallon... seriously!!!

Uh-oh, Judy... talk about dating myself!

pasadenapio said...

Three-day weekend for me. I'm ready!

Keith said...

Muscle cars and rock n roll. Those were the good old days.

Pasadena Adjacent said...

My uncle Walt had one of these while the wife was delegated to the Corvair.

Laurie Allee said...

It's so much fun to find one of these old cars and know that you guys will always be able to tell me the year it was made!

Thanks, gang. And PA, I'd love to see pics of your Uncle Walt in his GTO and his corvair-driving wife. I imagine a great old Kodachrome shot with the San Gabriel's dinosaur park in the background...

Til tomorrow, everyone!

Mister Earl said...

I did a little research and found out that in California, if you can find a matching pair of old plates, and your car is a 1969 or earlier, and the plates match the year of your car, you can use them. So you can use plates that are not the original ones that came with the car, as long as you meet all the requirements and pay the fees.

TheChieftess said...

Judy...I beat you by one year!!! Class of '70 rocks!!! And Yak...I remember gas that low too...although what sticks in my mind is 23 cents a gallon...I could fill up my little '61 VW for a couple of bucks!!!

Laurie Allee said...

I still remember when gas hit a record high of 99 cents a gallon in the 80s and everyone freaked out.