American Graffiti is set in Modesto, CA in 1962 and centered around the car culture of the time. Most of what I saw seemed really accurate for the period, with one possible exception.
While “Toad” was lying to impress Debbie with lies about his cool hobbies, he claimed to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle for offroading. I don’t remember seeing personally owned 4WD offroad vehicles until the 70s. I asked my dad, who is more familiar with that time and he had the same conclusion. He didn’t remember friends or coworkers in the early 60s who had vehicles of that type, and only remembers 4WD gaining popularity in the 70s. We lived in the south so it’s possibly just a regional difference.
So my question: Were 4WD vehicles and off-roading a popular California pastime in the early 60s? Or did some slightly modern culture creep into the script? As I understand it, the script was mostly developed in 1972, just when I remember seeing the rise of 4WD vehicles in driveways.
ETA: Looks like they were 2 wheel. I also saw a site claming the first California dune buggy was in 1963, built by Bruce Meyers. Maybe “Toad” was really lying his ass off but knew about this “cool new thing”.
Four wheel drive vehicles were much rarer back then. Unlike now, a typically family hauler wasn’t going to be four wheel drive.
However, by the time the movie is set, the Jeep CJ, the civilian version of the WWII Jeep, had been out for about 10 years. Jeep jambories were happening. The big three all made four wheel drive trucks, and International Harvester had released the Scout, which fans will claim as the first four wheel drive SUV.
So, four wheel drives certainly existed as more than just surplus WWII Jeeps, even if not nearly as common as today.
I’ve seen a few references to the 4x4 conversion kits from NAPCO. The kits became popular between 1955 and 1960 when they were made available for 1/2 ton pickups. They were apparently expensive but could be done in a day. By 1960 most manufacturers were starting 4x4 options from the factory.
I can’t find any reference to 4x4 culture or off-roading. Maybe as the “cool” dune buggy beach culture moved inland it was modified for central California.
The Jeep Wagoneer was available with AWD on 1963, I believe. And of course the Willys Jeep dates to WWII, and Willys-Overland made Jeeps for civilian use in the late 40’s and 50’s.
The Ford Bronco came out in 1966.
The Toyota Land Cruiser debuted in 1960.
Chevy, Ford and Dodge all made 4WD light pickups starting in the 50’s.
Internatiinal Harvester had a family wagon with 4WD in the mid-50’s.
I don’t think that’s the whole list. 4WD has been around a long time. Not sure how many of them were hot-rodded, though.
My dad bought a 4WD IH Scout for his business (oil & gas exploration) in West Virginia. This would have been around 1965, which is when I remember riding in it.
Circa 1962 our neighbor had a Jeep and belonged to the Phoenix Jeep Club – later changed to 4-wheel Drive Club so you didn’t have to own a Jeep, per se. They’d have a caravan three or four times a year going from point A to point B the hard way, usually along the Mogollon Rim, in groups of 20 or so vehicles.
This. Toad was in high school and probably didn’t have a lot of money. There were tons of old army Jeeps around and they were cheap and easy to maintain.
This was all before my time, but I have read that those early 4x4 pickups were mostly ordered by farmers and ranchers and others who actually needed a work vehicle that could go off road. But the smaller Jeep CJ might be a different story. Supposedly the reason Ford came out with the Bronco was because they noticed how popular the Jeep was becoming, so it stands to reason that 4x4 culture would have been starting to take off around the early 1960s.
Yeah, the story was that he had sold the ponies to get the car they were in (that wasn’t his, really), and a Jeep, that he used for hunting, since he didn’t have the horses anymore.
No, I haven’t heard of anyone needing horses for recreational hunting. It’s his story, not mine.