Dont see many of these in the UK

[milly]

In our local village garage for mot today. Had been restored a few years ago. Suspension felt a bit soft but bet its a nice ride on motorways

[gsx600racer]

Early 70"s Chevelle, Nice. My sister had one with a 2 speed powerglide.

[pinkscoot]

That is a great car, a true classic. Many a child was conceived in the back seat of those cars. We had a 69 El Camino with a 327 and a 4 barrel carb. It had 3 on the tree which was always fun because the clutch and brake pedal were way to close. Nothing like stomping on the clutch to shift into 3rd and catching the corner of the brake. I tended to drive it with small shoes to avoid it. All of my friends would fasten their seat belts when they got in to stay out of the windshield.

[aeroxbud]

I love seeing these old cars. Such a simple dash board. Those old speedo's were great. My brother had one in his Austin, the needle used to jump around.

[bluegoatwoods]

How strange it is to hear someone say, "Don't see many of these around here...."

Yet it shouldn't seem strange since we don't see many of them here in the USA anymore. There was a time when Chevelles like that one, plus many other popular models from that time, were everywhere. And we were accustomed to that.

Now they've all either died or some small number are restored and living a protected life.

This all makes sense and it's not surprising. A lot of time has gone by since. It just doesn't seem like it's been all that much time.

Things like this remind us occasionally of just how much time has passed. Yet I still have a hard time believing it.

[90GTVert]

Here's a friend's old '70 SS. He traded it for a fox body Mustang that was much faster, but not nearly as cool/nice, and I think he regretted it for a long time.






I used to ride to school daily in a '72 Chevelle when I was 15-16. Not as nice as the one above, but still fun. I got my friend to let me drive it and that was my first experience on the road without power steering or brakes and with 4 wheel drum. He even let me do a burnout. I remember skipping school with him and a couple of girls in that car and him trying to "sneak by" an area near the school... with pretty much no exhaust on the 350. Unfortunately no pics of either of those cars.

[aeroxbud]

Not too many left at all according to this web site.
Vehicles licensed every year 2016-2001. CHEVROLET GMC
CHEVELLE
2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
28 27 34 26 27 31 28 28 27 27 25 28 30 28 26

[bluegoatwoods]

First, an apology. Since I'm about to go off-topic a bit. But it is related,
at least, to the concept of how much time has gone by. And then things can be steered back on topic, right?

So...anyway.....last week sometime I spotted a headline saying how it's been 35 years since Pete Townshend released his "Chinese Eyes" album. Probably most people would agree with me, in hindsight, that this was really the last album from him that was 'something new' and got real attention from the world of music fandom. True,
"White City" had a couple of singles that got quite a bit of radio play. Yet the album was only a moderate success. And his efforts after that sank like a stone. While there might well have been some good material in there, the wide-world of music had stopped paying attention to him. "Chinese Eyes" could well be viewed as his swan song in terms of albums that will be remembered for a while.

So...that album is now 35 years old. Pete himself was only about 35 at that time. 37 or 38, I suppose, at that time actually. But close enough. It means that his life since becoming an 'elder statesman' of rock and roll is practically as long now as it was since birth right up through his hugely creative period with The Who and as The Who was fizzling out for the first time.

Being about 15 years younger than Pete, that ratio is even more one sided for me. I was still barely more than a kid when "Chinese Eyes" came out. I remember it well. I was paying attention. But, like everyone else, 35 years has also gone by for me.

It really doesn't seem that long!

Plus....an afterthought.....The Who's 2006 album, "Endless Wire" is a good deal better than one might expect from a band who was aging and potentially crippled by the loss of two hugely contributive members. So it's not that Pete has lost his creativity, merely his mass audience.