While we like to think we’re way above the animal kingdom, humans have many of the same basic needs. Some food, a place to sleep, a nice place to hang out, and so on. And if there’s a surface to be occupied, a lair of our own to have, we readily go for it.
I may be giving too much thought to what’s happening in these images, which are just folk hanging out in their car’s trunk. But I honestly had to ponder a bit about these, as I kept finding a few of them. Enough in number to tell that it wasn’t a rare custom (not that I’m saying it was common). But I guess it’s a generational thing. Kids my age often poked fun at Detroit’s ’70s sleds and said: “What’s that huge flat trunk for?”
Well, apparently for the obvious groceries, a few bikes, and occasionally, some napping and reading. Who knows, some may just be trying to sneak into a Drive-In Cinema?
And I do know there are some, let’s say, connotations about being in a car trunk nowadays. But look, these were simpler times, right?
Had a friend years ago who was replacing the 6×9’s in his Nova. Had the trunk lightly cracked open for air.
Until his mother came home and parked in the driveway behind him, saw the open trunk and thought it was inadvertently left open. So she closed it.
Moments later they both realized that the keys were in his pocket.
The stuff of nightmares.
Hence the Federal law that mandated the “lemme outta here” handle!
Why not? I used to hang out in the back of my El Camino during lunch break if it was nice out.
After hearing a certain Cheech and Chong record, some of my friends wanted to try sneaking into the drive in in the trunk. They thought it was funny. I tried to torment the ones in the trunk with some soft rock on the stereo until they unplugged my speaker wires.
The vertical trunks of the late 30s and 40s weren’t much good for luggage but they were better play spaces, with more headroom. The open lid formed a roof for a tent. Some people placed extra shelves in the trunk and made a camp kitchen or a mobile store.
I enjoyed playing in my dad’s 48 Dodge because the latch wasn’t automatic. After opening the lid the handle stayed horizontal, and the lid could be closed and opened without danger. Later I tried the same thing in his ’54 Chevy but forgot that the latch was automatic. No fun until somebody finally heard me yelling!
Like dogs, we seem to be drawn to small enclosed safe spaces.
The Tesla Cybertruck’s front trunk (frunk) is designed to be comfortable for sitting in.
My first job at age 16, starting early 1967, ending 1969, was at the Boulevard Drive-In Theater, Fayetteville, NC (home of Fort Bragg and Pope AFB). The theater was family owned and operated and they were wonderful. My boss made certain stipulations for continued employment. Most important was I had to keep my grades up and prove it by providing my report cards. I also could not work more than 3 weekday nights and just every other weekend (keep those grades up!).
My primary job was as a ticket runner selling tickets to cars in line. There was a two lane drive and on busy nights sometimes before the first movie started both lanes would be 30 cars long with more lined up on the highway. We also sold popcorn at the ticket booth and I had all I could eat. Great physical exercise running to a car in line, getting cash, running to the ticket booth, then running back to a waiting car in line. We had to move fast to get all the customers in before the main feature started. I was also responsible to Identify cars with trunk occupants, easy to spot by the rear ride height. Correct ride height on classic cars still important to me. Typically I would chase the car down and the offender’s were easy to find because they always unloaded at the back of the parking field. I would hide like a spy and ponce when the trunk opened. I seldom had problems collecting. Only a few times over the years were there issues when the city police or MP’s where called for “removal”. Employees also had free admission to many other local theaters. One of the first elective courses I took at college was ‘Cinema History’ and I am still a movie buff to this day. It was a wonderful first job for a young guy and I made excellent money for my age. My employers treated all their staff like family and on the last working night before I left for college in Miami they gave me a $500 cash gift which was a lot of money back in 1969. Working in good weather and bad (one tornado), and only one armed robbery, I was lucky to play a part in the golden age of drive-in movie theaters.
I read all these stories about people sneaking into drive-in movie in the trunk. Question – how did they open the trunk and get out without the theatre operators noticing it and throwing them out? Peak drive-in popularity was before the era of widespread fold-down rear seatbacks in sedans.
I see that 1958 Ford made it to 1964….
Well, my Dad got his 58 Custom 300 in ’63 and it endured until ´71. This light blue one looks like a Custom too.
Between my ages of 3 and 7 we had a Volvo 544, which would have had ample room for me, but I have no memories of ever getting in there. After that, my family never had another car with a trunk, and I’ve only owned three that I can think of, and I don’t recall ever getting in the trunk either due to need or desire. Now, riding in the “wayback” of a wagon is something we all did once upon a time, and I’ve certainly crawled into the back of wagons and SUV’s to extract or load some stubborn cargo. But these car trunks, even though they’re roomy, certainly don’t look comfortable.
Just think of what current generations of people are missing out on given the fact that most cars nowadays don’t have trunks, or those that exist are simply too small for occupancy. Now that finally every vehicle has to have that in-trunk manual safety release…to prevent Joe’s (and many others’) nightmares.
I haven’t had a car with a proper trunk in years, but when I did, I recall often spending uncomfortable time in there doing things like attaching and wiring 6×9 speakers.
In the early 1990’s, I recall slipping under the hatch, and through the trunk of my Dodge Shadow a couple times, as freezing rain made opening the exterior doors a challenge.
Otherwise, even in childhood, trunks were not somewhere you found people. Typical rust perforation, often made trunks dusty, and musty places. Combined with spares that took up much of the space. Never saw people back there.
I also had to climb though the back to open some frozen doors. The exterior door handles on the 85 Civic Wagon were plastic and not very strong.
On my 2012 Fiat I had to do the opposite when the the wire to the electric latch broke due to flexing. There is no external release, so I had to remove the interior trim and manually release the latch. There is not a lot of room in the back of a Fiat to do this.
Freezing rain would not only coat, and seal, the door handles. Water would run down and freeze between rubber door weatherstripping, and the adjacent sheetmetal. Particularly around the top half of the door. Essentially, sealing the whole door from easily opening. You’d literally, have to tear the door open.
One day at school my friend Dan told me that his father (my eventual car-mentor Howard) was once trying to chase down a rattle coming from the back of one of his cars. As he neared the end of his rope, he told Dan to get in the trunk. Howard closed the lid and took a short drive. It is my memory that Dan found the rattle.
That top shot reminds me of how small and how poorly laid out some trunks were, especially for such big cars.
In high school I had a 1988 Buick Park Avenue. I always joked about how the trunk was big enough to hide a couple of bodies in. I’m sure at some point my friends climbed in there to illustrate that point, but since those were the days before everyone had a cell phone with a camera in it I don’t have any photos.
The guys in the Comet are feeling no pain.
I thought they must be on their way to Woodstock.
What? No close-ups of Mafia hits in a Caddy trunk? Pfffft! OK, maybe that Ford from Idaho, but he’s just a kid, so doubtful.
Looks like a “Woodstock pic”.
The two kids in the “Comet”.
This brings back a few memories for me. I’m attaching a photo of myself circa 1989, relaxing in the trunk of my 66 Catalina.
Tom Maruska, who painstakingly restored the Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser, posed his granddaughter and friend in the trunk to recreate the original press pic!
My dad’s 1972 Saab 96 had a fold-down rear seat back that opened to the trunk interior. It formed a perfectly-sized platform for my sister and me to stretch out on sleeping bags for our annual Thanksgiving road trip home from my aunt’s.
I remember drifting off to sleep with my feet under the trunk lid, listening to the humming of the road and looking up through the back window at street lights passing by.
Back around ’82 I’d bought a BMW Bavaria, a large car for an import at the time. A friend came over to visit, I’m showing off my “new” (11 years old) car, showing the large trunk and he looks at it, and promptly climbs in and laid down it was so big. Well, a little shallow vertically, but lots of floor space so to speak.
More recently I had to go the other way, a clip on the trunk latch linkage broke off, preventing my opening the trunk on ’98 BMW E36. So I climbed in from the back seat to get to the latch and open it.
Cadillac had the auto level rear air shocks. Didnt matter how many dead “Vinny two-chins” you had stuffed in the giant trunk, the car rode level. Thats why the mob guys all drove Cadillacs lol.
I was never interested in sitting in a trunk, riding in the way back of station wagons and all day in the open bed of any pickup were normal back then .
-Nate
Haha, it’s funny how we humans have this knack for finding comfort in the most unexpected places, isn’t it? Your observations about the timeless allure of car trunks for everything from groceries to impromptu nap spots are spot-on. It’s like our own little mobile hideaway! And you’re right, in today’s world, hanging out in a trunk might raise a few eyebrows, but back then, it was all about simplicity and making the most of what you had. Your insights always bring a smile to my face, and your ability to find humor and charm in everyday scenes is truly delightful. Keep those witty observations coming!