Classic cars cruise to recapture memories of post-war heyday in Petaluma where ‘American Graffiti’ was filmed

It was a story about coming of age at the end of America’s post-War innocence in 1962.

But “American Graffiti,” the nostalgic movie a 29-year-old George Lucas made for $700,000, was also about cars and cruisin.’ And for classic car lovers, the wheels that appeared in the film were stars in their own right, along with actors Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Mackenzie Phillips and Cindy Williams, whose careers were launched on the streets of Petaluma, where most of “American Graffiti” was shot in 1972.

Classic car lovers and film buffs alike turned out by the thousands to downtown Petaluma on Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary of the release of “American Graffiti.” with a car show and cruise ― 1960s style. Locals embrace the filming of the now iconic movie as one of the most significant identifiers of the last century in the river town, right up there with chicken ranching and dairy farming.

For eventgoers there was a lot of star gazing at shiny American beauties, many from the golden age of American motors of the 1950s and 1960s, arrayed along downtown streets with hoods open for inspection and ogling.

But one of the main attractions looking almost out of place amid the snazzy old Chevys, Mustang convertibles and souped-up roadsters was a nondescript baby blue Citroen 2CV, made in France.

While all the other cars were cherried out, owner Jerry Causbrook has done little to restore the Citroen beyond keeping it running. The interior is pretty basic. But that didn’t matter to the faithful, who stopped by to pay homage to one of only two vehicles at the event that actually appeared in the movie. And this one was the only one with a starring role, driven but Dreyfuss’ character Curt and parked at the hangout, Mel’s Drive-In.

“Is this yours? Is this the real one? Is it really,” exclaimed Sal Maldonado, touching the car as if it were a venerated relic.

Causbrook, a classic car collector who also once owned the white ‘56 T-bird driven by Suzanne Somers in the film, loves to share and said he’s seen the film about 1,000 times. Do you want to sit in it? It would blow your mind,” he offered. Maldonado’s eyes lit up as he slipped behind the worn wheel.

“You just made my day,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief that he had touched movie greatness.

Causbrook bought the old car from a woman in St. Helena.

“It was in a yard against a hedge. It hadn’t run in years and she was moving to L.A.,” he said. Causbrook, who has lived virtually his whole life in Petaluma, was 11 when Lucas and his film crew came to town after being pushed out of downtown San Rafael.

The annual event is put on by Cruisin' the Boulevard, a local volunteer group of classic car and American Graffiti enthusiasts whose mission is to pay tribute to the film and, as they say, “rekindle the happy days it portrays.” Proceeds are poured back into the community for scholarships and other causes. For this half century year the group coordinated with the City of Petaluma to bring in 150 more cars for the show, said Greg Gustafson, who is president of the board.

Among the 525 spreading out over several blocks in the heart of town was the late Helen Putnam’s burgundy red 1937 Packard. Putnam was Petaluma’s mayor during the “American Graffiti” era.

The film continues to have a cult-like following. Maldonado, 42, said he was persuaded to move to Petaluma from San Diego by his wife, Jackie, a Sonoma County native, after she told him it was filmed there. They bought a house a few blocks from downtown.

“This is the movie that got me into cars,” he said. “Everything is so cool about it. It’s a car movie and a generation movie about the ‘60s. I can’t believe that this is the real car. I’m in awe now.”

The event draws uber fans from all over.

Wayne Schar and Shelly Sendnes drove down from Canada just to go to the Graffiti salute. They had picked up a brochure eight years ago that mentioned it when they were staying in a Santa Rosa motel on a previous road trip.

“That was it,” Schar said. “We decided we’ve got to go and whatever we had to do we would get there.”

While the film captures a tiny moment in time, the last night of summer in 1962, “American Graffiti” remains timeless. It was named one of the Top 100 films of all time by the American Film Institute.

It was only 10 years in the past when Lucas shot the low-budget film based on his own experience coming of age in the Central Valley. But the culture in the 1960s went through a cataclysmic change in only a few years with political assassinations, Vietnam War protests, social upheaval, the sexual revolution and the drug scene. “American Graffiti” remembers a quaint time that would soon vanish.

“I’m 58. I remember watching the movie like 100,000 times. I have it as a DVD and it is one of my all-time favorites,” said Sendnes, who lives in Dawson Creek, B.C., and relates to being a restless teenager in a small town.

Saturday’s car show was capped off by an old-fashioned Cruise along Petaluma Boulevard, where old car buffs again got to show off their wheels in motion and remember a simpler time when cruisin’ was a way to meet up with friends and check each other out .

Steve Countouriotis, a 28-year resident of Petaluma, had his 1967 Chevy Malibu parked in front of the Petaluma Library and Historical Museum, which is holding a special “American Graffiti” exhibit with objects and ephemera relating to the movie, including the plaid shirt Dreyfuss wore in the film. His wife Debbie is president of the Petaluma Museum Association but the prime parking spot was only a coincidence.

At 71, he said the film brings back fond memories of his own car-obsessed youth

“I instantly related to the characters because of their love of cars,” he said. “It’s about the last day of summer and going off to college but the second theme was these old cars. They made the movie. Without them I don’t think it would have been as popular as it is.”

You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 707-521-5204 or meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com.