Muscle Car Madness

"Muscle Cars" were two-door "coupes" made in the 1960s and 1970s for young American males who had no respect for the posted speed limits or local noise ordinances or the safety of their passengers or sleeping neighbors.

These cars were manufactured by every major American automaker and they boasted huge internal combustion engines that were often "turbo-charged" with extra air intakes so they would be even faster and noisier. Muscle cars were almost invariably equipped with four-on-the-floor standard transmissions and after-market gear shifts and/or gear-shift knobs. After-market mufflers with virtually no noise-reduction properties usually replaced the factory-installed mufflers.

"Popping the clutch" on these cars enabled the ability to "peel out" or "burn rubber" or "lay gum", which was the recreational destruction of tire tread through friction. This was a common practice of all muscle car drivers in order to enhance their driving experience with reckless swerving, smoke and banshee-like squealing. Beer was often consumed in the car by drivers and passengers, especially during weekends when American youths used their hometowns as their personal amusement park, garbage dump and public toilet.

Many of these freaky automobiles came in garish colors like electric yellow and blaze orange so they would stand out even more among the normal, family, passenger cars of their generation. Most muscle cars were hardtops, some were sloped "fast backs" and a smaller portion of them were convertibles, without roll bars. Roll bars were an added safety feature that was considered to be a "chickenshit" feature by the screwed-up youths who drove these muscle cars. Muscle car driving had nothing whatsoever to do with safety or responsibility.

Most of the devil-may-care "greaser" rednecks who drove these hideous, noisy cars had no clue that every type of muscle car appeared on state police profile lists all over America as the first cars to hold a radar gun on or to follow closely for driving violations. The muscle car lovers who did know this fact either didn't care or simply thrived on the inevitable police pursuit.

Muscle car madness swept through America the Beautiful for two generations and it was an unbridled exhibition of American Youth at its worst.

Hippies Through the Keyhole

"Hippies" were often Baby Boomer malcontents who passed themselves off as the Peace & Love “flower children” of the 1960s, replacing the “too cool to care” Beatniks of the 1950s.

The label "hippie" was welcomed by a few youths but disdained by most. "Hippie" meant "hip", or "cool" but it also meant "in-the-know" about, not just the latest fashions and fads, but about important issues overlooked or ignored by many older people.

Some "hippies" were just regular kids who entered college as unfocused youths and exited college as vengeful movers and shakers without any real plans for their future or anyone else’s. They gave the rest of us long-haired college students a bad, undeserved name.

Being a "hippie" meant more than just having long hair, wearing beads and listening to sitar music. Being a "hippie" also meant taking a role in the cultural evolution of our country and our world. But, far too often, being a "hippie" was simply a cover for your intense hatred of everything that came before you.

Author's Note: I personally loathed the word "hippie" in the late Sixties and early Seventies because I, too, was a college student with long hair and opinions about many social issues. But I also had realistic goals about my future, a respect for American traditions and a natural affection and loyalty for my parents, grandparents and family. I was also a dedicated student and a hard worker with a part-time job, like many so-called "hippies". Just so you know.