I run across interesting pictures on a local history Facebook page. This appears to be a student’s new Karmann Ghia at St. Bernard High School in Playa Del Rey, California. What, no girl posed with the car? Probably an all-boys school at the time.
CC Outtake: 1970’s High School Parking Lot
– Posted on June 12, 2019
I had an old Karmann Ghia in high school, so it makes me smile. That door hanging open and how it’s parked makes me think Jeff Spiccoli just rolled out of it, like in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
That movie is so funny!
Lots of cool vintage iron in that photo. All three cars in the foreground are familiar to me. Thanks for posting!
My old man’s first VW was a red ‘64 Ghia. It was about 9 years old at the time , so well on its way to rust-bucketdom. Still not too bad after he had a rebuilt engine installed and some other things sorted out. This one has the large taillights, so probably 12 volt electricals. I could find room for one of those in my lottery garage.
A friend’s dad had a base trim early ‘60s Ford similar to the pictured one, except probably a two-door. The local used car dealer had reconditioned it, including a light sea foam green paint job, so it was pretty good looking. I remember that whenever we left their house, the vacuum tube radio would warm to life on WWVA AM, Wheeling WVa after driving about one block.
When I was in about 6th grade, some of my friends and I would stay after school to dust the floors and do other light cleaning. The 2nd grade teacher had a new base Maverick in that exact green color. One day, she offered me a ride home after the chores were done. I remember only two things about that ride… that the Maverick had a parcel shelf instead of a glove compartment and the short skirt she was wearing! 😉
Oops! Askimet May have munched my comment?
I resurrected it for you!
No worries! Thanks! 🙂
With all of the nice new-ish and fun cars there, I pity the poor fool in the low-trim 61 Ford 2 door sedan. There were few cars around 1970 that said “sad sack” more loudly than a dowdy 61 Ford.
I am surprised the Ghia owner found it necessary to take two parking places, given how wide spaces were in the golden age of big cars.
My first car was a 1961 Ford, a two door sedan I purchased for $75 in the summer of 1968. I drove it during my senior year in high school and about the best thing you could say about it was that it was an actual car, capable of moving under its own power. Hard to tell from the picture but that Ford looks to be in much better condition than the one I had. Among other things my Ford had about 10 pounds of Bondo in each rear fender to try and deal with widespread rust. Unlike some of the cars from my past I have no interest in driving a 1961 Ford ever again.
Having been in high school in the 1970s, and having lived near Playa Del Rey early in my life, I think what we’re looking at is the faculty parking lot. There’s not a car there that doesn’t scream “teacher” to me—and nothing, apart from maybe the Karmann Ghia, that I would expect to see a 1970s high school student in Southern California driving.
St. Bernard opened in 1957 and as far as I can remember or discover online, has always been co-ed, with teachers that weren’t all nuns and priests. But my bet is it’s a teacher’s car and he or she parked it that way for the shot.
Faculty lot makes a lot of sense. I guess in California in the 1970s kids could get their hands on cool cars. In Arkansas in the early 1960s we were glad to have anything at all. Most HS kids cars were pretty rough.
About half the cars in my little rural Arkansas high school were pickups, mostly Ford and Chevy. Old 4 door impalas and fairlanes and polaras. And my ride, which was either one of the family VWs or my Honda Civic.
Remember back when I posted the photo of my Catholic high school lot from January 1970. All the cars were clearly hand me downs from the family to the new driver. There was not a single brand new car in that lot from the year of 1970. For the record the newest student car in the lot was my 1968 Cougar and I emphasize ‘my”. As for faculty the newest car was a 1969 Charger 440 R/T that was owned by Father Byrnes. Yep, a priest.
Those local history sites are great for this sort of stuff. I came across this picture recently on a similar site; it’s Fairfax High School (Virginia) in about 1982. The BMW 2002 doesn’t quite fit — looks as out of place here as the Karmann Ghia does in the St. Bernard picture — but the rest of the cars sure do.
I’m wondering if the tailpipes/muffler survived when it was backed up to the curb.
Yeah, that’s a faculty parking lot. I don’t see any beater hoopties, no jacked up Novas with ladder bars, no dune bugs, no motorcycles, no ’57 Chevys and no musclecars. No student parking lot in the ’70s looked like this.
I see sensible, sane, reliable running iron being driven by people on a middle income budget, i.e. teachers. What’s the newest vehicle there? That van? Looks like a ’73 or so The Ghia? That’s a ’70 or ’71. A newly hired art teacher fresh out of college bought it. I can already see the paisley pleated skirt and big glasses with long hair…
Sorry, have to disagree based on my student lot my senior year in high school (San Diego 70-71) and my freshman year in college (71-72) at San Diego State University’s dorm parking lot.
I have to agree with the other poster, as I graduated HS in 1980 and the student lots had NO ’57 Chevies, no motorcycles, and any “musclecars” were the 6 cylinder/auto version. Most kids got Mom’s old car, or worse, Grandma’s old car, or a beater to learn to drive in. While geographic differences may change the mix, the picture above is generically spot on.
Ditto on teacher lot. Mavericks, strippo Fords, squarebacks. Too new to be student cars, too austere to be visitors.
My cousin went to that school in the late 70’s. He had a white Chevy LUV at the time.
I remember a trend to angle park this way to prevent door dings. Unfortunately, it seems to draw even more attention to the very problem it is trying to prevent. Fortunately for this owner, the other teachers may not be as inclined as their mischievous students to take advantage of the parking angle and give the Ghia a parking lot wedgie.
The “CC effect” strikes again!
This looks to be a ‘70 or ‘71 Ghia and I bought an all original (including paint)
little 1971 Type 14 today……
“Willow” green, so very ‘70s!
My urban high school (Class of ‘73) had no parking lot and with limited parking and good public transit not many students, and not even all teachers, drove cars to school. One kid had an XK150 and another had a GT6; other than those exotics, there were a few Beetles and not much else memorable. On the faculty side, I remember more Beetles, a Mustang, a V4 Saab 96, a ‘65 Chevy wagon with a 4 speed, and the principal’s Lincoln MkIV.
Kermit the Karmann….
Nice find, have fun.
What’s that boxy profile behind the Beetle visible just “above” the Maverick’s rear window? Volvo 140 … or Triumph Herald?