Rollin’ into the Weekend Like: San Francisco, 1960
Ahh, the days of yore. Who among us doesn’t sometimes stop to think about how things used to be? Sure, it’s a rose-tinted perspective, because it’s no fun to spend time on the sad stuff or the ugly stuff. The beauty of reminiscing the good old days of cars, however, is that really, none of it was sad or ugly—my cousin’s badly-T-boned-and-quite-ill-repaired ’77 Aspen notwithstanding . . .
This brief scene from 1960 of the roads around San Francisco is a welcome throwback to maximum fins and minimal gridlock, while the jaunty soundtrack is just a bonus. For the carspotters among you (read: everyone), what do you see that excites you? Bonus points if you still have one in your garage.
I don’t remember my first time in San Francisco (later in ’60s?), but my first visit to Los Angeles (in 1961) sticks in my mind. Very similar freeway and street traffic views for sure. Yet, traveling there from little old Boise, Idaho felt like there must be 10 million cars all around me at any given moment. Been there many times since and realize how good we really had it then. Looking at this and other similar videos, it really seems pretty tame – in fact, downtown Boise today probably looks worse than big-city CA in the early ’60s. Funny how perspective changes!
Thanks for the short video of days gone by. Always enjoy seeing mostly American cars on the road as opposed to today. We live in a much different environment today for sure.
How can you tell if the cars you see on the road today are American or otherwise? I can’t tell one make from another from more than 10 feet away (which is about where I can make out a logo or model name which might tip me off). However, I suspect you are 100% correct and I pretty much agree!
I was born and raised in San Francisco, so I loved this video. I was 12 in 1960, so it brought back memories. I now live in Santa Rosa just north of SF, and I hate going down there. It’s a tough city to drive in. Every street is one-way or no left turns, no right turns. And most of all there is no parking anywhere! Go to a Giant’s ball game and it will cost you $50-$75 dollars to park.
I still see roads filled with American cars, Toyota, Honda, BMW…only the occasional foreign Dodge Charger or Hornet….
That’s funny right there, I’ll tell you what…