Maybe you were lucky enough to drive a used (but powerful) muscle car from the early/late 60’s as you first car, or maybe unlucky enough to drive a Ford Pinto or Chevy Vega? No matter, you had a lot of fugly/funky cars to choose from that era.

Too young for cars, I started with a Big Wheel then graduated to a Green Machine and jumped (too soon) to a (then big deal) “10” speed w/20 inch tires. Kids were spinning and bouncing on things like Krazy Kar and Hoppity Hops too.
http://xs66.xs.to/pics/06050/krazykar.jpg

A lot of skateboarding was going on (remember the long boards people used to ride?) and there was the banana seat, 3-speed chopper style bike with “sissy bars” that everyone seemed to have.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/Raleigh_chopper_01.jpg
Each bike seemed to have that long orange safety flag attached to the back, causing more carnage whipping around as it did, then being a safety warning.

There were a lot of other things going on in the neighborhood like garage built mini-bikes (my mom wouldn’t let me have one) & go karts too. (Yes I read the back pages of comic books and Boy's Life too).

Think back now, before the age of Segways, hybrid cars, decades before Rollerblades, mountain bikes and the dominance of SUV’s, what was your ride?

I had one of these ...

http://www.vacationequipmentrentals.com/catalog/images/J3414_B.jpg

:D

Back in the 70s, my main mode of transport was Shanky's Pony. I did have a bike but it was nothing like the above picture, though many of my friends had Chopper bikes. Trains was an option too.

I had one of these ...

http://www.vacationequipmentrentals.com/catalog/images/J3414_B.jpg

:D

I just think I made it past that stage when the 70's begun.

But that is a fancy ride, did that come equipped with airbags and a CD changer?

The strollers we had were much more traditional ;)
http://img.products.howstuffworks.com/cctool/PrdImg/images/pr/177X150/00/01/6a/01/0d/23724301.JPG

Back in the 70s, my main mode of transport was Shanky's Pony. I did have a bike but it was nothing like the above picture, though many of my friends had Chopper bikes. Trains was an option too.

OK, I'm the uneducated Yank, what is, or is a "Shanky's Pony". ???

OK, I'm the uneducated Yank, what is, or is a "Shanky's Pony". ???
"Shanky's Pony" is walking, using your own legs.

"Shanky's Pony" is walking, using your own legs.

Duh,  :-[, sorry, new to me, will make note of it, thanks.

I just think I made it past that stage when the 70's begun.

But that is a fancy ride, did that come equipped with airbags and a CD changer?

The strollers we had were much more traditional ;)
http://img.products.howstuffworks.com/cctool/PrdImg/images/pr/177X150/00/01/6a/01/0d/23724301.JPG


I couldn't find a picture of a 70s style stroller, so I opted for the closest looking one ;D

well, since I was only 0-3 during the 70's....I had this cute little bumblebee that I rode around everywhere. Sad thing, the pizza delivery guy ran over it one day. :-\\

I started out with Little Wheels then I upgraded to the Big Wheels.  Mine had the spin out handle.

We had the Krazy Kar and the Green Machine.

One of my favorite was Hoppity Horse...
http://omp.ohiolink.edu/Images/Bdg/Hist1MDS/d181/1049180683-10474-5747-876096-936-1983012051.Om2391_001.jpg

Hmmm, for me, it was mostly bicycles (when I didn't walk).  It seems I couldn't keep one bicycle for a long time (we had bad luck with bicycle thefts and vandalism owing to life in a more crime-prone area).  I had access to at least one of the "banana seat" style bikes, but that one didn't last long.  I had at least one ten-speed, but it also didn't last long (after that I was seeking out the real heavy duty security chains).  By college I found a bike I could hold on to (despite it being vandalized).  It was a very old, cheap three speed with ram-style handlebars (remember those?), it was a white girls' bike with rust on it.  I logged a lot of miles on that one!  ;D

I remember skateboarding a lot in the latter half of the decade.  But to me, skateboarding was recreation, not transportation.

Although I was old enough to drive by the latter 70's, I didn't get a license until early '81.  :o

Mostly Dad and his Thunderbird...

roller skates - good poloyeurethane wheels for indoors and metal ones for outdoors.

I had a little blue bicycle. No, it did not have a banana seat on it-I think I got the bike before banana seats were in fashion. I got the bike for the 6th birthday and could barely touch the ground on my birthday when I first sat on it. It had training wheels until my dad finally took them off (about 3 months or so). I had that bike until I about 10 or 11. And every year it just seemed to get smaller and smaller. I don't understand how a bike could shrink.  ;)



Cat

I had one of those Krazy Kars! I loved it. Til I was 9 years old, we lived in an old house that had two stories. The bottom was a 2 car garage ( which we never used ) and the other half was my dad's workroom. To a kid, that space was huge! We used to ride the bikes and the Krazy Kar and even the Hoppity Hops down there.  So, when it was raining outside, me and my sister could of cared less because we had the big downstairs to play in. :)

As for the Hoppity Hops, I had a Mickey Mouse. I have a pic of me somewhere hopping on it while eating a chocolate ice cream cone.  :D

Gadzooks, am I old!  You guys in strollers and on bicycles!  In 1977 I started driving a 1969 Chevrolet Bel Air Sedan (Blue.)  I can remember filling that "land yacht" up with gas from empty for $13.

"Shanky's Pony" is walking, using your own legs.

Shanky's Pony?

Sounds dirty.  Definitely dirty!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/naughty.gif

Early '70s: Big Wheel
Late '70s: Huffy bike

The car I spent the most time in was my mom's orange ' 72 Volkswagon Squareback.  Piece of junk.  Air-cooled, rear-wheel drive, prone to spinning out on ice and getting stuck in snow; heating system had problems, you froze in the winter and roasted in the summer, seatbelts so inflexible you'd think they were designed the the Third Reich -- it was such a relief when my mom got the new bright blue Subaru station wagon in 1980.  But I was kinda sad to see "the orange" go...NOT!
:P

I was looking at Sears to get some ideas for Christmas presents for my kids and I came across this

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Riding+Toys+%26+Safety+Gear&pid=05299003000&vertical=TOYS&subcat=Big+Wheels+%26+Pedal+Cars&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

I guess they'll be getting a Krazy Kar for Christmas. 

Here is our 70's family car.
http://chezjan.ifrance.com/mercury1974comet.jpg

Here is our 70's family car.
http://chezjan.ifrance.com/mercury1974comet.jpg


Whoa, and I thought our family drove the most fugly car of the 70's!  ;D

My Dad, in all his wisdom, traded in his '66 GTO (yeah, I know what it'd be worth nowadays) for a '74 Vega Kammback wagon, LEMON YELLOW w/wood on the side!
Pretty much like this:
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/reviews/generations/chevrolet.small.cars/74.vega.wagon.500.jpg
but yellow.
Now you'd think lemon yellow and "Vega" would off tipped of my Dad on what was to follow....within one year we went through one cylinder head (cooling problems) and one tranny...and then my Dad rolled it in a ditch to make matters worse.

Ya wonder why you don't see Vegas on the road anymore  :D  ?

Apart from having to hitch rides with the folks...

My mother had a few of these (mostly red in color)


http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/pictures/1976_AMC_Hornet_Sportabout.jpg



Cat

Hmmm, for me, it was mostly bicycles (when I didn't walk).  It seems I couldn't keep one bicycle for a long time (we had bad luck with bicycle thefts and vandalism owing to life in a more crime-prone area).  I had access to at least one of the "banana seat" style bikes, but that one didn't last long.  I had at least one ten-speed, but it also didn't last long (after that I was seeking out the real heavy duty security chains).  By college I found a bike I could hold on to (despite it being vandalized).  It was a very old, cheap three speed with ram-style handlebars (remember those?), it was a white girls' bike with rust on it.  I logged a lot of miles on that one!   ;D

I remember skateboarding a lot in the latter half of the decade.  But to me, skateboarding was recreation, not transportation.

Although I was old enough to drive by the latter 70's, I didn't get a license until early '81.   :o


To add to this, during the portions of the decade I was in Chicago (on and off), I used city busses and elevated/subway trains.  I used busses at college, too, though only on occasion.  Not too glamorous - but they would get a teenage girl to the mall and back!  ;D

Whoa, and I thought our family drove the most fugly car of the 70's!  ;D

My Dad, in all his wisdom, traded in his '66 GTO (yeah, I know what it'd be worth nowadays) for a '74 Vega Kammback wagon, LEMON YELLOW w/wood on the side!
Pretty much like this:
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/reviews/generations/chevrolet.small.cars/74.vega.wagon.500.jpg
but yellow.
Now you'd think lemon yellow and "Vega" would off tipped of my Dad on what was to follow....within one year we went through one cylinder head (cooling problems) and one tranny...and then my Dad rolled it in a ditch to make matters worse.

Ya wonder why you don't see Vegas on the road anymore  :D  ?


My neighbor had that exact car!  ;D

A pair of PF Flyers or my JC Higgins Bicycles that my Grandpap found in a garbage dump and fixed up for me. That was of course until I was old enough to drive. Then my first car was a 1964 Chrysler New Yorker that I bought for $100.

NozmoKing

I loved my Big Wheel.

http://www.retropedalcars.com/images/Marx-Big-Wheel.jpg

My dad took us round in a Volvo and my Mum had a Mitsubishi Galant Sigma.

http://www.carfolio.com/images/dbimages/zgas/models/id/4755/262c2.jpg

This, 1968 Triunph Trophy, except mine was red   8)

http://www.fedrotriple.it/agg_dic2005/trophy_500_1971.jpg

in 1973, I was 17 and bought my first car from a friend, it was a 1955 Chevy Bel Air, similar to this, and not even close to as nice as this one is, & it was lifted up a little more in the back, and it was metallic avocado green.  it was a cool party car  8)

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5x9_RtJGf0MBIBCjzbkF/SIG=145qdgeb9/EXP=1188272127/**http%3A//www.chooseyouritem.com/classics/photos/108000/108271.1955.Chevrolet.Bel.Air.2-Door.Hardtop.Sport.Coupe.jpg

in 1975, I was 19 and I bought a green 1970 Chevy Malibu from a little old lady. another cool party car and this one looks just like it, except the rims are different.
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5x.2SNJGhUkBhCejzbkF/SIG=12807tcev/EXP=1188272694/**http%3A//www.usna.edu/NavySAE/img/rides/Chevelle11.jpg

i had one of these:

http://www.epinions.com/images/opti/71/b8/Radio_Flyer_Classic_Red_Tricycle_10_34_Toys1-resized200.jpg


and then one of these:

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:VdVuvbDUmVsR5M:http://www.bluemoonbikes.com/catalog2/images/BlueStingray1977RightSmall.jpg


banana seat, siisy bars and all!

This, 1968 Triunph Trophy, except mine was red  8)

http://www.fedrotriple.it/agg_dic2005/trophy_500_1971.jpg


At one time, I had a 71 Trophy Trail 500... the brushed aluminum tank was terrible in the mid day sun.