In 1964 Detroit was the place to be, the US Auto Industry was booming and the Big 3 were building cars at a rapid fire rate. There were plenty of jobs, Al Kaline and Gordie Howe had amazing seasons and the streets were alive with hot rodded V8′s.
Not only did Detroit produce the countries cars, they raced them as well. In the 1960′s street racing was a popular past time among the youth of the city. Much like today large groups of kids would gather and find an abandon stretch of road to race on.
This 8mm footage uploaded by Hank Adkins captures the Detroit street racing scene circa 1964. This footage is a time capsule of the golden age of American hot rodding. Much like to day the racers & spectators lined up on both sides of the street as two cars drag raced. Cars such as 57 Chevy’s, 327 powered 62 Impala’s, 389 Pontiac’s, 392 Chrysler’s, 4 Door Chrysler’s, 4 Door Ford’s, cars with Fins, convertibles and old coupes could be seen racing. Most of the cars appeared to be lightly hot rodded but it’s hard to tell without any sound.
What amazes us about this footage is how many races they were able to do uninterrupted. They must of gotten in over a dozen races before the Police showed up. These days it’s hard to get one race in before the black & whites arrive. Another thing we found interesting is the Police only sent on cop to deal with the group of racers rather then sending an entire unit. Anyone feeling nostalgic for the good ole days?
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