Los Angeles area freeways - 1975

[yellowlght]

Hardly any traffic

[kellybob1966]

I remember this all too well, having lived in Southern California at that time. Thanks for the memories.

[rrvtjd]

Excellent work!

[lambchopxoxo]

1:26 thats the historic part of the 110 where they have the on ramps with stop signs.

[lambchopxoxo]

OH MY GOD! Look at how desolate that is! :17 I see the sign is the Mac Arthur, Jamboree exit and then Culver Dr that l drive all of the time today. I mean, I lived in HB my whole life and I dont remember exactly how desolate things were back then. Thank you so much for posting this!

[Gromitdog1]

wheres Ponch & Jon?

[SnuggleBear1970]

Is that smog or fog?

[KozmoLouie]

The first part of the video is actually Orange county because I noticed the 22 and then the 405 and 55 interchange, with the 5 (santa ana) very close by. But then when in the L.A. downtown area the vehicle went east on what I thought was the 110 towards Pasadena but it was marked as the 11 fwy.

[101not5]

@KozmoLouie

Prior to the early 1980s, the 110 was the 11.

The sequence is:

405 south at 605/22, Long Beach/Seal Beach border

405 south at 55, Costa Mesa

101 south at 5 and 60, LA

101 north at 5 and 60, LA

101 north, downtown LA

Pasadena Fwy tunnels (110 north)

405 south through Long Beach

[shaithis80]

@101not5 CA 11 was also featured in the original movie "Gone in Sixty Seconds".

[goldeneyesofafrica]

Thanks for this!

[DMCJordaan]

This is so cool! thanks for sharing!!

[smash8979]

where's the traffic?

[blking928]

Lots of Big American Cars on LA freeways back then...now all you see are imports...

[Synthetrix]

The only thing bad was that the smog was actually worse back then than it is now. There were less emission controls and more manufacturing in the L.A. area then. The traffic was better though.

[Patequi]

I am one of the few who still call the freeways by name, not numbers, the Pasadena & Harbor, The San B'Doo & Santa Monica, The Santa Ana, Foothill, Venture, Hollywood, Orange, Newport, Glendale, Pomona, Riverside, Long Beach, the 1st to become known by number was the 605 even though its name is San Gabriel River. Anyone recall the Colorado Fwy? where was it? there are 2 correct answers, both still active

.....

[MacPr0xnxx0]

w0w this is classic

[evxdaddy]

WOW no traffic!!! That is crazy.

[ThrilloVanHouten]

...whoa, there's so little traffic!

[562vert]

i go down the 405 at the 605 everyday so much traffic now a days.. some areas still have the old button signs they are still out there over looked by cal trans . remins me of chips thats a og 66 bug at 3seconds

[dodgerfan95]

look at the freeways no trash and no grafitti....WOW!!!!!

[deltanalliance]

1:01

wut, they didn't have exit numbers in CA until around 2002!??!?

[101not5]

@deltanalliance Exit numbers were put up on certain freeways around downtown L.A. in the 70s as a test project.

[CatapultYourMom]

@101not5 Right. And they were a dumb idea.

[yt9451]

Hey this looks exactly like today did about 7:30am lol.

[vladimirhorowitz]

@yt9451 No cars on the road at 7:30 a.m.? Where do you live? I mean, obviously not LA but I'm just curious.

[yt9451]

@vladimirhorowitz Oh I was just kidding. I live in Corona, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. I commute about 48 miles into Long Beach.

[yt9451]

Hey it looks just like this every weekday morning about 7:30am lol.

[1968yoshi]

i thought cleveland was smoggy!

[FreewayTitan]

Oh my goodness, it looked very smoggy and unhealthy. It seems so much better now than before!

[bobsoxx]

Yes the air was much worse back then!

[jackbrando]

Amazing! Look the roads were made with grooved cement. Back when the state had money and the big bad government built quality stuff!

[socalltd]

@jackbrando grooved pavement is to channel water.. when it does rain. oil and stuff get in and seap they stopped grooving in the late 70's the quality of work started to go down in the late 70's-look at the 210,57,118,15 and 91. all made in the mid to late 70's. the design is good but, the work that went into them is shame full

[jeff1969z]

Nice!!! I was 9 years old in 1975. It was great being a kid in the 70's.

[neilmory]

I LOVE THIS!!! Who knew people were making videos like this from their car BEFORE digital cameras?! I can only imagine what the camera looked like, probably huge. Seeing a movie like this from a decade before 2000, let alone 1975, is wild!

[Ubeans2001]

Amazing to know that some of those freeway signs are still there today! Unfortunately CalTrans is starting to update these old button copy signs with new Retro Reflective ones. I wish I could keep one of those signs as a memory!

[neilmory]

those old button copy signs! I know, I love those... distinctly California (they might be in other states, but I always associate them with SoCal) signs; so cool how they light up at night, just the lettering and the sign's border, and just when your headlights hit them, with like a very dark green background. The last freeway to get those signs is the 90 Marina Fwy (Marina del Rey), in 1999. After that, all new signs are the generic "retro reflective" ones that are common to all the states:(

[Ubeans2001]

Exactly! I always enjoy night time driving along the I-15, seeing all of the signs' letters light up in little buttons. I was in LA last summer and driving along the I-5 at night and seeing those signs brought me back. I also read Arizona was the last state to order button copy signs in 2000. I was in Kingman in 08 and saw one of those last new signs. They were bright green like the new signs but only the letters had buttons on them. Very cool!

[gloryofwar82]

I think this film is messed up, this car is moving too fast, please slow it down. No car moves that quickly on freeways anywhere near LA.

[RadioVenceremosUSA]

wow look at the lack of traffic!!!!! You're going around 60-70 mph on 110. THATS IMPOSSIBLE NOWADAYS!

[MizzPrettyPrettyGyal]

hey lucky school kids r out, went 75 on 110 yeterday!!!

[RadioVenceremosUSA]

yeah lately traffic has been cool. The 60 is an easy drive nowadays.

[dexamyl]

The footage of the Pasadena Fwy / Arroyo Pkwy / Figuora St tunnels reminds me of the theatrical opening scenes to 1972's "Duel" !!

Note that back in '75 ( actually , '64 - '81 ) that the Pasadena Fwy is CA-SR 11 ; that the Golden State Fwy interchange is marked "Bakersfield" as its terminus , and not Sacramento .

Thanks for sharing !! This is very cool !

[zackthemack]

gross, look at the sky. its fuckin orange from all that smog. wat a shitty time to be alive

[the90049]

Oh man, these are the good old days. seriously. I miss these days. thanks for posting this.  I want to get in a time machine, go back, and not come back.

[ahoog69]

It's so nice to see these old films and videos, both for those weren't yet born and for those who'd like a reminder of how things were (both the good and the bad).

[ryanking909780]

whats the point?.....less traffic?...or where your from iguess..pretty cool though either way!

[OldMrMemories]

Hey,I was on the freeway that day in 1975. I think i saw myself.

[MrBugatti29]

i guess people will always travel, how busy the world has become since this time

[soutache]

No graffiti, no bumper to bumper traffic. Gee, I wonder why? I was 17 in 1975, and remember these wonderful days all too well. What the hell happened to OUR country?

[zdog720]

No there was traffic back then trust! They just happened to record on a day when traffic was light! People have been moving to southern California by the thousands everyday day since the early 1940s! The area never stopped growing! Each decade got worse and worse while people and traffic volume built up!

[macuiltianguis]

iam not here to offend or defend i have i good i idea you should edit information to gives us a better idea what freeways are being filmed

[mediaxpuppet]

that's mexicans and asians going to work. just like everyone else. enough comments from the penut gallery

[vineel1176]

I love the 70's thanks for recording this video..Iam 26 now and i wish i was a a teen in 70's..

[litenslick]

I was a teen in the 70's and trust me, it was a great time to grow up! Great music, nice people, no freeway congestion....

[califgirl11]

@litenslick I agree, me too

[CatapultYourMom]

@litenslick A lot more crime and there were more no-go areas.

[ojmardueno]

lol I was 5 months old when this video was taken!

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

I love old films like this.

Reel to reel.

I have a few myself, but not of the freeways.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

Los Angeles was always a great place to make a film.

By the way, 1975 was the year I graduated high school.

George Vreeland Hill

[socalltd]

this is the only way to go back in time...

the 55/405 was only 2 yoears old then!

101/5/60 clips are good, the tunels too.

and i miss the old centre divider cable fence. thank you again 101not5!

[Trinhlive]

I drove through the 405/55 interchange now there putting palm trees along the side of the freeway

[j2tharome15]

It's amazing how even back then there was interest in our freeways and signs. I'm glad you still have videos like these.

[effects69]

The year I was born lol. Great footage!

[thetruth415]

Man, I don't miss those 4-stage smog alert days, which looks like they were having in that downtown shot.

[Camel22221]

I always laugh when I hear people complaining about how "smoggy" LA is today. It doesn't come close to how bad it was. I vividly recall my eyes burning and tearing up back in the 1960's & 1970's due to how smoggy it was. And yes -- this looked like one of those days.

[Coastergeekperson04]

@Camel22221 Same about the New York City subway, many people (including me) complain about how loud, old, and grimy it is, and how it is seemingly unsafe. Well, back in the 70's, it *was* unsafe. And ultimately worse.

[aswchris]

Wow... That's great! :)

[dinfg6]

HWY 11 Pasadena Freeway in the 1970's