I knoe, I’ve lead a sheltered life…I just saw the flick, for the 1st time!
Anyawy, is there areally a Mel’s Diner" in Southern California?
And, would ANY self-respecting Caloifornioa teenager male drive a Citroen 2CV in 1960?
Take your pick. (Mel’s: “The Next Generation”)
Well, as Curt seems to be an intellectual type, a Citroen would be right up his alley. Unfortunately, it appears that all he can afford is a 2CV (he probably wants a DS in reality).
Just a WAG, but I’d guess that if it came down to a choice of driving a Citroen or driving nothing at all, Curt would have taken the Citroen. At least then, he had a set of wheels.
Besides, Curt’s persona was clearly just a little different from the others. When everybody else was driving Chevys, Fords, Plymouths, and Dodges (and let’s not forget Laurie’s Edsel), Curt’s Citroen made him just a little more different.
American Graffiti takes place in Modesto, which is in California’s Central Valley. NOT Southern California. It was filmed partially in Modesto, but mostly in my hometown, which is in Northern California. (I went to the high school used in the film.)
There is indeed a real Mel’s. I’ve been to the one on Lombard in San Francisco on many occasions. I don’t know if the one used in the movie is still in existence.
Terry the Toad rode a Vespa, which was several hundred steps below a Citroen. At least Curt’s ride had four wheels.
Although you could make the argument that Terry couldn’t be described as “self-respecting.”
The wimpiness of the Toad’s (not so wild) ride is even commented on in the film, when Candy Clark calls it “almost a motorcycle.”
True story - when I was living in Berlin in the 80’s, those horrid cars were quite popular. A friend had one and I just hated it. However, I knew two German guys who would buy one, have it shipped to the East Coast of the US and then drive it to California. They would get paid a LOT for that car in California (apparently, they were quite rare and hard to find) and it would finance the shipping of the car, their round trip airfare and all expenses. Last time I spoke with them back in those days, they had made their fourth, very profitable trip to California, selling their Citroen 2CV’s!
Really? I thought Canada was lousy with 2CVs. It would appear to be a lot easier to drive one down from Vancouver than shipping one from Germany.
At least in the early 80’s this was a practical idea. They did say that there was quite a bit of customs/duty to be paid, but the people who bought them in California didn’t care and gladly paid the price - I guess the novelty of owning such a car was worth it.
Not at all. I grew up in Vancouver in the 60s, and I don’t remember ever seeing one. We had lots of different Austins, Vauxhalls, and even English Fords, but Citroens of any stripe were very much few and far between (and they were so odd looking they would have been easily noticeable), and the only ones I really remember were DS models.
In fact, the first time I ever saw a Citroen 2CV was in 1975, and that was on screen while watching…(get ready for it)…American Graffiti!
I am led to believe that if Citroens existed in profusion anywhere in Canada, it was most likely from southern Ontario eastward, which makes sense since they were probably shipped to either Halifax, Montreal, or Toronto.