Babyboomer RV'ers Have Experienced it All!

Our cars in the 50's and 60's were fast and heavy.
No newer cars are faster and lighter.
Look at the NHRA records for Top Fuel and Funny car.

Class E.T. Speed Date Driver/Car Location
TF 3.680 08/23/15 Antron Brown - Pittsboro, IN
'15 DSR Brainerd, MN
TF 332.75 08/23/15 Spencer Massey - Fort Worth, TX
'15 DSR Brainerd, MN
FC 3.884 11/15/15 Jack Beckman - Norco, CA
'15 Dodge Pomona, CA
FC 331.45 11/15/15 Matt Hagan - Christiansburg, VA
'15 Dodge Pomona, CA

Then look at the history of the advancements; I thought TF and FC were fast in the late 60's and early 70's!
NHRA Records from the beginning.

Jagtech wrote:
Fastest cars in the 50's?? Absolutely. My 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk with the Packard 352, Paxton supercharger, was faster that most cars produced today. Not a safe, but certainly faster.

Sorry but even the fastest cars of yesteryear don't hold a candle to today's super cars. 700 hp Dodge Hellcat comes to mind or a 1001 hp Bugatti Veyron, Koenigsegg CCXR 1018 HP, Zeno ST1 1104 HP, Hennessey Venom GT Spyder 1200 HP, Lotec Sirius 1200 HP, HHT Locus Plethora 1300 HP, SSC Tuatara 1350 HP.

The 56 Golden Hawk had 275 HP with 0-60 in 7.8 seconds with top speed 125 mph. Faster then the Thunderbird and Corvette in 56.

A normal aspirated 3.6 pentastar is 305 Hp.

Fastest cars in the 50's?? Absolutely. My 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk with the Packard 352, Paxton supercharger, was faster that most cars produced today. Not a safe, but certainly faster.

This might be the good Ole days for this generation.

While I agree with all of the sentimental thoughts expressed above, or most of them anyway, I feel the need to remind us that we also shared

The Vietnam War

The Race Riots

The March on Washington

The 1968 Democratic Convention

The Assassination of John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King

The Christopher Street Riot

Jesus Christ Superstar

Hair

Woodstock

The Deaths of Janice Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix

Did all of this conspire to make us the bunch of grumpy and overly cynical old f**ts I meet so many of around the country?

Here is one of the cars I had in High School (I had 4 altogether) This one is an exact copy of mine I found at a small car show in La Paz Mexico a couple of months ago.

I cant tell you how much fun it is to be a California Boy with a Convertible. I have some very great memories made with this Sunbeam Alpine.

I must be the perfect Baby Boomer. Born in 1946 at the beginning and graduated high school in 1964 at the end. Joined the Navy Reserve and received deferments while attending college from 1964 to 1969. From 1969 to 1971 I did my active duty requirement as a Hospital Corpsman aboard the USS Lexington (CVT-16) in Pensacola, FL. Sick Bay and the Captain's quarters were the only two compartments that were air conditioned. The ship never left the Gulf of Mexico, and operations were conducted Monday thru Friday three weeks out of every four with one week in port for maintenance. Six of us had an apartment in Pensacola where we could relax and recuperate from our strenuous duty. Talk about falling into a bucket of you-no-what and emerging smelling like a rose. And all of it was simply dumb luck.

I was born in the 50's as well and remember race riots, JFK shot, Cuban missel crisis, Vietnam war, Watergate, Disco, Segregation, Any cancer was a death sentence.

It was the best of times, It was the worst of times.

Not trying to be negative just provide a little balance. It wasn't all roses.

rockhillmanor wrote:

I STILL miss the sound of a double barreled carb opening up and screaming when you mashed the gas peddle. Now all I get is,hmmmm as it goes into the next gear. :B

Or better yet - 3 deuces opening up!

Bob Dylan and I share a birthday. Good time to live! Dad (born in 1900) always remarked that a lot happened in his life, Wright bros in 1903, two WWs, space program and moon landing all in his lifetime! Went from farming with horses to the full mechanized farming of the late 80's. Never had much time/money for "fancy" cars, as he called them.

myredracer wrote:
...Cars had carburetors....

I STILL miss the sound of a double barreled carb opening up and screaming when you mashed the gas peddle. Now all I get is,hmmmm as it goes into the next gear. :B

Personally, I think we baby boomers are privileged to have lived in the era we have and where we have.

I also think we are the last generation that will have ever lived and experienced SO 'many' different changes in all aspects of life.

The now generation will only have the experience of having lived thru the Iphone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and the birth of emoji's to express your true emotions! :B