1974 was a tumultuous year for the auto world. Gas prices had taken huge
jumps, some gas selling for as much as 50 cents per gallon. Emission controls
were being required on new cars, and thanks to a combination of low fuel
supplies, emission laws that Henry Ford II said “threatened Detroit to reinvent
the automobile,” and giving us such forgettable cars as the Mustang II, and new
safety devices. Among them a one year only gem called the starter interlock.
Simply put if your seat belt wasn’t fastened, the car wouldn’t start. And in
some cases if it was fastened. In a drive, no pun intended, to make us safer,
we soon found ways around it. Some would pull the fuse, while others would
endure sitting on a buckled belt in agony. And in a momentary lapse of common
sense, Congress actually repealed the law for 1975 cars. But 1974 was to be the
last year before catalytic converters, and the last for using regular leaded
fuel, and being asked “regular or unleaded.” Muscle cars were on the way out,
small uncomfortable cars from Japan were in, they got the magic 20 miles per
gallon, and the future looked dim. We were seeing the future, and it wasn’t
bright. So many began to look back.....
And a collector car hobby began to take root. Now in 1974 20
year old cars were just that, old cars that no one wanted to be seen in. And
were often the space fillers in factory parking lots, high school parking lots,
and in the hood, again no pun intended. A second car. You could pick them up
cheap, $50-100 could buy you a car, telling the station attendant to “fill the
oil and check the gas.” They would take the regular leaded, and parts could
still be found at NAPA to fix them up. But very few collected them. 1955-56-57
Chevies in 1974 were cheap, and not everyone had owned one yet, like the legend
is today. A 20 year old car in your driveway meant you were poor, something no
self respecting American would ever admit to. There were still a few oddballs
out there, Hudsons, Studebakers, and Nashes. Cars that were out of production,
orphans we called them, and they sat on blocks, or in peoples yard not moving.
Unpopular then, they were really not wanted in 1974. 20 years before 1974 there
were no Datsuns, they weren’t Nissan yet, no Toyotas, no Mazdas, and no Honda
cars. Not even Honda motorcycles until 1959! We were America, Chevrolet sold
almost 30 percent of new cars, GM, Ford, and Chrysler were the big three in
Detroit, and Detroit was Motown before the Supremes. The products of 20 years
before 1974 were things no one wanted, and old cars were old then compared to
the new ones being dumped on us. We were afraid to look ahead, so America
started to look back. And after 40 years, we now look back to 1974, but where
are the collectible cars from 1974? Are there any worth collecting?
As I go to more car shows, the emphasis on years of cars has
changed. We look at cars that we remember from our youth, what we drove in high
school, or more accurately what we wished we could have driven in high school.
And today those unwanted 20 year old cars from 1974 are bringing big bucks.
Tri-five Chevies bringing six figures. Even Edsels being collectible. An
occasional Hudson is seen, and everyone looks for a pink Cadillac rumored to
have belonged to Elvis. The cars that were looked over in 1974, are now very
valuable, and desired. But where are the cars from the Class of ‘74? Is it
possible that we have nothing to look back on, so we look ahead.....or have we
just found ourselves in a survival mode and we don’t know it? We don’t look
back, do we dare look ahead?
In 1973 after the Six Day War, gas prices jumped from around
$17/barrel to just over $20/barrel. Today OPEC rules gas prices, which dictate
what we drive, when we drive, and where we drive. All attention focuses on the
the Middle East, where it all began, and where it will all end. But few look to
Israel, they look to the Arab nations, who control the oil. And we are ever
careful not to bite the hand that feeds us. But keep your eyes on Israel, for
that is where the action is, and will be. 20 years before 1974, Israel was only
6 years old. No one outside of the Palestinians cared for it, even New York
City had more Jews than Israel. But within 20 years they were making themselves
known internationally. Winning two wars, in 1967 and 1973, against all odds God
showed us why Jerusalem is still the apple of His eye, and why it is best to be
a friend of Israel rather than an enemy. 20 years before 1974 we were friends
with the Arab nations and Israel. They were a world away, and we had plenty of
fossil fuel, we didn’t need them. We exported to Israel, we were a donor
nation, and they imported just about everything. Now we import. But that all
was changing, and 20 years before 1974 no one outside of God could predict the
Middle East of today.
God promised that He would protect anyone who is a friend of
Israel, and curse those who were her enemies. Today Israel, a country the size
of New Jersey is one of the largest fruit exporters in the world. Jews are
flocking back to Israel as God predicted, and gas, both natural and oil, are
being found in huge quantities in Israel. For years I wondered why the entire
Middle East was ripe in gas except for Israel, but God in His timing is showing
them the time is now. Israel has a great military, a strong economy, and strong
leadership. In the 20 years before 1974, we had Ike, and everyone liked Ike.
In 1974 we had a 1913 Ford as our President. Who couldn’t even beat Jimmy
Carter, a precursor of things to come, not good things, but a downfall.
America’s greatest days were behind it....and the car shows reflected it.
No great society in the history of the world has ever been
defeated, they have rotted from within. Morals deteriorate, crime grows, murder
becomes normal, and the ratio of police to students rivals that of students to
teachers. We don’t look back, and some barely look ahead. We brag about our
health, while the healthiest people in history still die. We look back to when
sex was clean and the air was dirty, and see things on TV that we used to have
to hide in our parent’s garages to look at. We are rotting from within, and we
are even turning our back on Israel. Not a political statement, but truth. And
we are her only ally left...except for God. And you plus God is all you need.
In the last 24 hours I read of Bob Coy falling from grace, and the world rushes
to indict the church. This morning 20 kids are knifed in school, and it goes on
and on. What will we be looking at in 20 years from now at the car shows will
tell us a lot about who we were then, and where we are going now. But if not
for Jesus, these times will be painfully endured. so the church, that’s us,
looks forward to His return. The Rabbis in Israel are having visions and
dreaming dreams of the return of the savior. For them a first time, to
believers a second. And those who didn’t like Him the first time around, they
really won’t like Him the second.
Try something different this weekend, instead of Cruisin’ Grand,
cruise church. See what all the excitement is about. Find out why we look
ahead with excitement, and have a hope and a future in Christ. 20 years before
1974 I was born, and in 1974 still a heathen. But in 1975 I became Born Again,
and that made all the difference. Today is the day of salvation, maybe yours.
Trust God today, and have great tomorrow. What you say today will have an
impact on what you remember tomorrow. The memories you see when you look at old
cars tomorrow will reflect your life today. Make them good ones for the
future. 20 years ago before 1974 never looked so good.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com