Classic Images of a '70s Gasoline-Fueled Road Trip
The classic road trips of the 1970s capture our attention with their era's charm, the enormous cars packed with large families, and a time of free spirit.
The journeys of that era reveal highways lined with huge billboards, people traveling with massive backpacks, and carefree young people.
Photos from the 1970s portray these trips where the adventure was more important than the destination. There were no GPS devices; people navigated using paper maps, and smartphones had yet to be invented.
These pictures capture an era dominated by the roar of engines, and the spontaneity of the images is a defining characteristic of those travels.
Family Going to Mexico
Road trip to Mexico, late '70s.
Mineral Wells, Texas
Mineral Wells, Texas, June 1972. An old gas station from the ’70s.
Riding in the '70s
“We used to ride around like this '70s.”
From Austria to Morocco
Friends on a road trip from Austria to Morocco 1974.
Road Trip in the 1970s
Road trip, 1975.
Early '70s
Road trip in the early 1970s.
Woman On A Road Trip
“My mom on a road trip, 1970s”.
Multi-State Road Trip
"My dad and his siblings on a parent-free multi-state road trip.”
'70s Road Trip
“My uncle on a road trip in 1970.”
Road Trip To Cancun
"My parents (4th and 5th from the left) on a road trip to Cancun in the ’70s with a bunch of hippies.”
Van Trip
“My mom and her wild van trips (70s).”
Traveling Adventure
“My grandmother, a traveling adventure woman, photo from the '70s.”
Vantage, WA
“My grandfather and dad (top right) Yellowstone road trip. Vantage, WA, 1972.”
1970s Summer
“My family van life in the ‘70s. A summer month on the road in Texas until car trouble.”
'70s Volkswagen
“My dad, godfather, and their Volkswagen before a road trip in the '70s.”
Road Trip, 1975
“My dad fixing his car during a road trip from FL to CA in search of bigger waves (1975).”
Albert, Canada
"My dad (left) on an epic road trip in 1973. Albert, Canada.
July 1970
Get ready for the road trip.
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking back in the '70s.
Family Trip, 1977
“Me and my sister on the car top with my prized Schwinn Stingray, and my cousin back in the day. Somewhere in Oregon.”