We’ve all been through driver’s education and we’ve all had to sit through a myriad of different films about the dangers of bad driving and reckless behavior. This videos have ranged in gore levels over the years. The more “mature” among the BangShift readership probably sat through the truly horrendous ones where real fatal accidents were shown to scare the sweet flaming bajasus out of the kids watching. By the time this film was made in the 1970s the “real” gore seems to have gone in favor of simulated horrific injuries. This video was made for the fine people in Glendora, California and it shows a kid who got a lot of bad driving habits from his dad and let’s just say that they didn’t pan out to well for him.
Obviously the draw here, outside of the campy acting and unintentional humor is the period cars that are in the film. The “kid” in the movie gets a six popper Mustang from his dad for a first car and becomes a budding “Street Outlaw”. He goes hot rodding around town in this car (which, let’s face it, is not fast) scaring his friends and gaining a reputation as a fast driver. He actually “faces off” with a sweet Nova street machine and blows the guy off by driving like a maniac. If we were the kid in the Nova that lost to a six popper Mustang we’d drive the car into a ravine on purpose as to not live through the shame that was sure to come from his friends.
The old cars are cool, the footage of the kid running the car through the hills on dirt roads is cool and the Oscar award level acting by the “medics” is worth the price of admission. We all probably did some of what was shown in this video and we’re not discounting the value of teaching your kid how to drive the right way as to not endanger the public or themselves, but you have to admit, this video will make you smile at least a couple of times….especially when the kid hops into the Mustang and does a burnout right in front of his dad while leaving the driveway.
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE “WILD AT THE WHEEL” A 1970S CALIFORNIA DRIVER’S ED FLICK!
His car changed as it rolled down the hill! That’s weird!
That last shot w/ the hubcap off is a 5 lug V8 car….
Sid Davis made over 150 social training films for schools and P.D’s. Was proud of spending under a thousand bucks on a movie, didn’t want to wreck a nice ’68 V8 Mustang (see 4:54; 6-cyl fender emblems are shorter). See his story here: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/08/local/me-davis8 and he’s got a great Wikipedia article w/ a couple public-domain films. Tried to make the world a better place, died a rich man.