by "PatBateman" (PatBateman)
Published 06/17/2017 at 02:43
by "PatBateman" (PatBateman)
Published 06/17/2017 at 02:43
Tags: History
; Chevy
STARS: 13
A comment that I read earlier about how dreary driving around in the 1990's must’ve been took me down a trip through Memory Lane. No technology, no navigation systems, no way for most people to call others (because cellphones weren’t all that common back then). I had to do some serious retrospect and conducted an honest, unbiased review about my behind-the-wheel experiences twenty or so years ago. The verdict is in.
I graduated high school in 1995 while driving a 1993 Dodge Dakota Sport. It was a V6, 2WD, green, and had big grey squiggly decals on either side of it (google image search that, it was truly horrendous). While it had four wheels and went when I pressed on the gas pedal, it’s not what I wanted. I lived in a world where people drove full-sized trucks with loud V8s. This wasn’t some small Texas town, by the way; it was ritzy suburban Austin.
After a year plugging away at a community college trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, a transfer to a major Texas college occurred. A relatively inexpensive private, co-ed dorm is where I lived, and my next door neighbors were Holly and Jackie. They were nice, and we went out to a ranch together one night to hang out with some other people. They left the next day in Jackie’s Honda Accord. They made it halfway back to town, hit a feed sack in the middle of the road that fell off of some guy’s truck, and wrecked. Holly was killed instantly.
When my parents found out exactly what had happened with the wreck, they went and bought me a slightly used 1996 Chevy Silverado, almost exactly like the one pictured above. It had a 350 VORTEC engine, 2WD, and (most importantly) more ground clearance than my Dakota. Through tragedy, I had gotten my dream truck.
It had a crap stereo that I kept stock, but played CDs well enough for me to be content with it. I tore the highway up between Austin and college, 90 miles each way. It was my stress relief, staring down the road, listening to jams as loud as the stereo would play them without crackling (seriously, DELCO sucked at stereos). There were no incoming text messages, no cell phone calls, no Instatwatface updates that needed to be made. Just the road and jams.
In 1998, I met a girl who I damn near fell in love with at first sight. She stayed with me that entire Memorial Day weekend, just hanging out. No hanky panky (seriously). She later told me that she fell in love with me about the same time that I fell for her, but the truck I was driving sealed the deal. We married in 2003 and have three little girls. Joe Diffy said it best: “There’s just something women like about a pickup man.”
The best road memory made in this truck was the Spring Break trip in 1999. My buddy and I jumped in and drove from Austin to Knoxville TN, Charlotte, Atlanta, Tuscaloosa, and back. By that time I had a big two chamber catback Flowmaster and 31 x 10.50 BFG All-Terrains on the truck. The engine roared and the tires hummed the entire way. Cher’s hit song “Believe” kept playing on every damned pop FM station that the Delco stereo found, and my buddy and I laughed every single time it played. It became the unofficial theme song for the trip. We navigated the roads not with a navigation system, but with a gigantic Rand McNally road map that showed damn near every road in the US. Seriously, even the small FM roads. Every state had its own page, and it was a sizable page. If we did get lost, it was our duty to get unlost. I had a cell phone by this time, but it didn’t text, barely had signal most of the time, and sure as hell didn’t have internet. Analog technology, baby.
By 2002, my beautiful truck was starting to show its wear. The engine needed more and more work, the transmission started slipping, and little gremlins started rearing their ugly heads. I had saved enough money for a new vehicle, so I drove to a dealership in Dallas to buy a GMC Yukon SLT. I signed the paperwork, traded my Chevy Silverado in, jumped in the new truck with my fiancée, and started back to Houston.
But a strange thing happened that I had not anticipated. I started crying. Not a little sniffle or a couple of tears, but actually sobbing. Giving up my Silverado was as upsetting to me at that moment as the death of my childhood pet had been a few years before. There was no explanation at the time, but I realized later that my Chevy represented a lot more than a mode of transportation for me. It was my youth, my road trip monster, my hook for getting the woman I still lay with every night. It took me over 100,000 stereo-blasting, singing at the top of my lungs with no technological distractions, good memory miles, and now it was gone.
Turn off your cellphone, disconnect from the internet, kill your navigation system, and blast your favorite 100 songs while driving down the road for hours on end. Get lost every now and then with the sole purpose of finding your way back to wherever without an electronic aid. Enjoy your time on the road without distractions or worries about the latest news/social media updates. That’s what driving in the 1990's was like for me. And it was glorious.
The only thing between me and a good time on the road was how much gas money I had.
"19JRC99" (19jrc99)
06/17/2017 at 02:57, STARS: 2
I adore the Dakotas. ‘Course, I have one. V6, 5 speed (which makes it so damn fun) 2wd.
"Twism" (Twism069)
06/17/2017 at 03:22, STARS: 2
...I’m going for a drive.
Thanks for this!
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/17/2017 at 07:45, STARS: 1
Thank you for sharing. We are probably within a few years of each other, I graduated HS in ‘96 and I can relate 98% to this. I had a beast of a ‘77 dodge maxi van for my first vehicle, but it had the 360 V8 and a single 12" glass pack for a muffler, so it played a great tune. Driving was so different back then, but fun. I would spend a bucket of money to have my original van back, but I doubt there is anything left by now, good memories for sure.
And no hate for the dakotas man;) nothing wrong with those little trucks. I still have my ‘99 RT plugging along.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/17/2017 at 08:25, STARS: 1
Amen! I still keep a Road Atlas in my truck. I love getting lost and finding my way back. Recently I stopped listening to podcasts while driving, and started playing my CDs. I got happier.
My dad had a ‘95 ext cab Z-71. It was the first truck I drove. I used to borrow it when I was delivering pizza during snow storms. I had sooooo much fun bombing around unplowed roads all to myself cranking tunes. Yeah, Delco stereos sure did suck!
"KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs" (kusabisensei)
06/17/2017 at 08:57, STARS: 1
Even though I’m a 90s child, I don’t have a large collection of CDs. So I’m stuck with Pandora and Amazon Music.
I had a similar moment when I got rid of my Infiniti, but I already was driving my Merc far more. Interestingly, I *didn’t* have this reaction to selling my 1995 F150. No front ABS, and towing my Audi meant that it was only a matter of time before major things went blam and someone got hurt.
I sold that truck to a guy a work, and I bought the diesel hooptie Silverado. 2005 model, crew cab, 4WD. Now with 331K miles. As soon as I track down and find the leaky power steering line, it will be good to go for the next 300K miles.
If things work out in my job search, as soon as I get something, then I plan to pile in the hooptie and drive ATL->Seattle->Victoria BC->St John’s NL->MIA->Naples, FL->ATL (Because I won’t get a vacation this year, so I’m going to ask to move the start date until after I get back)
"Vicente Esteve" (vicente-esteve)
06/17/2017 at 10:46, STARS: 1
What a great writeup, drives really are the cure for the sudden bumps in life.
"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish)
06/17/2017 at 11:02, STARS: 1
I remember before I got my first iphone when all our navigation was still done with physical maps. I haven’t done that since then, but now that I have a proper 4x4, I’ll be heading to places without cell service, so it’ll be time for physical maps once more
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
06/17/2017 at 11:05, STARS: 1
Thanks for this, Pat. I’m preparing to leave on a pretty epic road trip with my wofe and girls. My ‘11 Jeep has the same level of tech as your ‘95 Silverado and I will definitely be appreciating that a little more.
After my parents got divorced my dad took my brother and I on an epic roadtrip in his early ‘90s Z71 Silverado. We went from Arizona to Dinsneyworld in FL, then up to NJ to see family and through the midwest back home. He had a cap on it, and we put a bunch of comforters and pillow in the bed so my brother and I could hang out in the back and wrestle with each other (safety first!). I was only seven at the time, but have great memories of that trip. We had a gameboy, but spent most of our time wrestling amd making videos with my dad’s video camera. Might need to dig out those videos for father’s day.
"PatBateman" (PatBateman)
06/17/2017 at 11:53, STARS: 2
It’s nice to be able to face the uncertainty of getting lost without turning to GPS for the solution.
"PatBateman" (PatBateman)
06/17/2017 at 11:56, STARS: 0
I wanted a V8 or 4WD Dakota. I got neither.
While the Chevy was RWD, it was also a beast with the Vortec engine. I loved it.
"PatBateman" (PatBateman)
06/17/2017 at 11:58, STARS: 1
I’ve thought about finding a green ‘96 Silverado and restoring it to damn near perfect (I’d put a better stereo in it this time around). Might still do it.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/17/2017 at 13:33, STARS: 1
Still available in 2010. No frills, just drive.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/17/2017 at 17:52, STARS: 0
I thought I had found a matching van to the one I had, but it ended up being an old ad. I do search every once in a while though. That may be one of those ask for forgiveness purchases if I come across a ringer.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/17/2017 at 17:54, STARS: 1
Yeah the RT daks are nice, for their time that is. But big V8 in a little truck, what’s not to like?
"19JRC99" (19jrc99)
06/17/2017 at 19:08, STARS: 0
The R/Ts were actually a little slower than a 90s regular cab with the 5.2. There was a good bit of weight difference.
"PatBateman" (PatBateman)
06/17/2017 at 19:35, STARS: 0
The V8s were fun.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/17/2017 at 21:23, STARS: 0
Yeah, no doubt, the first gen ones were probably a fair bit lighter. Mine is the extended cab too, so that doesn’t help the weight any. But I think it weighs less than my S4, and definitely less than my S8. When sedans outweigh a truck, that’s a bit silly. But there’s really not much to the Dakotas, and even less for the previous generation.
"19JRC99" (19jrc99)
06/17/2017 at 22:08, STARS: 0
I think the curb weight of mine is like 3600. And it’s an extended cab. Last of the first gen.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
06/18/2017 at 09:36, STARS: 1
This- this is what driving was like when I feel in love with it.
I’m a little older (got my license in ‘84), but yeah, I’ve spent a lot of time on highway trips in cars with AM radios and no AC (or cupholders), and loved every minute of it. Back then, distracted driving meant trying to fold a map at 60 mph to the section you were currently in.
Besides all of the tech, cars these days isolate you from the road far more than they used to. I find myself missing that more and more lately—
Great write up!
"FiST of FuRRY" (steeeez)
06/19/2017 at 19:48, STARS: 1
I miss the simpler times when a car was meant to be driven and not a multimedia center!
"Jcarr" (jcarr)
06/22/2017 at 12:07, STARS: 1
Testament to the Joe Diffie line (my wife loves that song).
This is what I was driving when I met her:
"PatBateman" (PatBateman)
06/22/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 0
Women like what they like. Who are we to judge?