Classic TV coverage of STREET AUTOCROSSING!

This is worth watching for the commercials alone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZfKDlvCtDQ

Autocross has to be HUGE in that city to get put on TV.

Ya' know, I remember the mid eighties. But I don't remember why it seemed acceptable to leave the house in a short sleeved button shirt with cut off blue jean shorts

Thanks for sharing the video. So neat to see the mid eighties sports cars that I love so much in action while they were almost brand new. The commercials were like a time capsule too!

Totally not posting in this thread just so I can find it when I get home from work.

Boy that takes me back. I had a Datsun 1200 I autox'd, which was one of the first cars shown.

Just made it to the first commercial break so far. Lovin' it. I remember camcorders that you had to rest on your shoulder. No R compound tires back then based on the first handful of shots of cars sliding around.

CHiPs called and wants its soundtrack back.

JG can talk about street autocross.

nicksta43 wrote: Ya' know, I remember the mid eighties. But I don't remember why it seemed acceptable to leave the house in a short sleeved button shirt with cut off blue jean shorts

Says the guy with Burt Reynolds as his avatar...Jeez...

Fantastic. Fun to watch, even if I was only old enough then to participate in the big wheel rally.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

nicksta43 wrote: Ya' know, I remember the mid eighties. But I don't remember why it seemed acceptable to leave the house in a short sleeved button shirt with cut off blue jean shorts

Says the guy with Burt Reynolds as his avatar...Jeez...

I'm not saying I never left the house like that, just that I don't know how it ever came to be acceptable

Ha, I love the commercials and all of the cars. Several of those folks are still autocrossing today! Raleigh and Velma Boreen, Lee Miller, Jack Tovey, Steve Bollinger...

Here's another street-autocross festival with some of the same competitors. This is the Portage Grand Prix Jamboree in Portage, IN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H__Ns2y0xA

I'd guess this Portage Grand Prix was 1984 or 85 based on the Omni GLH and the Fiero Indy pace car, but I can't say for sure since I was only 4 at the time. My Smurf big wheel had several flats spots by then, because skidding was cool in my neighborhood. Thump, thump, thump, thump...

nicksta43 wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote:

nicksta43 wrote: Ya' know, I remember the mid eighties. But I don't remember why it seemed acceptable to leave the house in a short sleeved button shirt with cut off blue jean shorts

Says the guy with Burt Reynolds as his avatar...Jeez...

I'm not saying I never left the house like that, just that I don't know how it ever came to be acceptable

I've got some pictures around from my high school years, which happened to coincide with the height of the disco era.

I don't really bug the kids about their fashion choices...other than the droopy pants. That I can't grasp.

About 15 minutes in is one of my driving heroes, Charlie Rush. At my fist ever autocross I saw an old man walking the course with a cane. That same old man finished in the top ten RAW time in an ultra rare 93 mr2 lightweight. My jaw hit the floor watching him run. That was Charlie.

His car number changed every year for his age. The last time he raced with us before passing away, his car number was 86.

There used to be a street auto-X in Killeen,TX. The trophies were speeding tickets.

Wow! Very cool to see a "young" Charlie at the age of 64. He's had a lot of cool cars, the Mr2 slicktop, the Civic SI, the SER SpecV, RX7.

yovo wrote: Ha, I love the commercials and all of the cars. Several of those folks are still autocrossing today! Raleigh and Velma Boreen, Lee Miller, Jack Tovey, Steve Bollinger... Here's another street-autocross festival with some of the same competitors. This is the Portage Grand Prix Jamboree in Portage, IN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H__Ns2y0xA I'd guess this Portage Grand Prix was 1984 or 85 based on the Omni GLH and the Fiero Indy pace car, but I can't say for sure since I was only 4 at the time. My Smurf big wheel had several flats spots by then, because skidding was cool in my neighborhood. Thump, thump, thump, thump...

The Portage video is worth the price of admission for just the first three cars shown, a Pantara and Darrell Padberg's CP AMX/Javelin and Jay Streeter's CP Gremlin... Thanks!

Spoolpigeon wrote: About 15 minutes in is one of my driving heroes, Charlie Rush. At my fist ever autocross I saw an old man walking the course with a cane. That same old man finished in the top ten RAW time in an ultra rare 93 mr2 lightweight. My jaw hit the floor watching him run. That was Charlie. His car number changed every year for his age. The last time he raced with us before passing away, his car number was 86.

We have a guy like that here locally too. This year I think his number is 83 on his number plate that also states "Aging Racefully". He drives a NA Miata and is quicker than most in the field. He's been autocrossing since at least the early 70's.

Holy crap, I grew up just in Indiana just north of Evansville. Really small town, we didn't even have a traffic light aside from the rail road crossings. My dads family is from around there, I lived there from around 87 to 95. I was 12 when we moved here to Arizona so too young to be part of the autocross scene but I guess it couldnt be avoided haha.