European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse Time is running out forty thousand Young people gather some nights at . S Van Guys Boulevard by Robert Lindsey new York times any i s pressed hard on attic accelerator of his i97s Chevrolet . Tires squeal in i the car thundered onto Van Guys Boulevard in los anodes a Flash of red and Blue lacquer Ami Chrome. Three teen Aye girls on the sidelines whistled their admiration. Can t afford to cruise As Long As 1 used to i Only do it at jut an hour a night said the 23- ear old machinist who has been cruising the same Boulevard on wednes Day nights in one car or another since he was id. Gas is too in another part of the cily the next Day Chuck Grimes called the front of his 1976 Dodge Van a huge Crimson vehicle with a souped up engine Yel Low metallic flames painted on the Side panels flared fenders three skylights and an Interior up holstered with More than 40 Yards of Venct and Leatherette. I should sell her and get a Toyota or something like he said. I Only get about 10 Miles a gallon. But i be put too much of myself in it to such arc the changes at work in California where perhaps More than any other part of the country Many people regard motor vehicles As much More than transportation. Doggedly the cruisers and collectors arc accommodating their passions to the reality of higher gasoline prices reluctantly they arc beginning to acknowledge that time is running out on their ways of life. I m not mad about it said Dick Hart a los Angeles executive car collector who owns two corvettes a Jaguar a i Iron a Cadillac a Chevrolet and a Ford. It just puts a Shell around me 1 can t express myself the same four and five car families arc still fairly common in California Young people still cruise and it s not difficult on saturday mornings to find a grease coated Amateur Mechanic hunched Over a car. Trying to coax More horsepower out of it or trying to restore its original appearance. On Friday afternoons the san Diego freeway and its counterparts in other parts of the Region still become clogged with vans motor Homes and Long lines of cars towing trailers Dune buggies and boats to Cir occupants fleeing the City for a weekend. Beside them arc brightly painted custom cd pickup trucks and hopped up vehicles thai the enthusiasts Call muscle cars and Street it sometimes stems As if the world his not changed since the Oil exporting countries began a series of Price increases in 1974. Bui it has of course and throughout California s car culture recognition 11 spreading that the most gasoline hungry vehicles of All Are travelling a Road to extinction. George Harris has been customizing cars for almost 40 years in his North Hollywood shop and he still retains the enthusiasm he had when he used to chop or lower the top of a care like a 1951 Mercury a classic custom of the 50s that in Good condition can command $18,000. With upwards of 300 customers a year paying from s5, 000 to j15,000 to get what they want business is Good he said but the work is not what it used to be. Because of the Gas situation people Aren t asking for performance anymore he said. They re getting away from big engines and performance. And vans have de creased tremendously. They re going for smaller cars. A lot of customers conc in with Dat suns and Toyota and say this is kind of ugly. What can you do with it1 and we use paint and graphics and Bolt on cosmetic times arc changing he said but Many americans will continue to customize their cars even the Small staid icon oboe vehicles of the future especially in California where we spend so much time on the Road cars arc an important part of your life he said. People like to express themselves. People want that individuality to give a personality to their car that s different from the Joneses or the Browns or the Smiths Down the and he said As Long As Young people have Access to automobiles Many will go most major cities have at least one cruising tinn its i b. To Coll i item mean Chili Boule vhf roof urls Page 14 the stars and stripes exotic paintings lacquer and acrylic enamel help give vehicles a personality. Monday se3�
