A couple of high school grads spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.
Two boys are scheduled to leave for college in the morning. Each has his own doubts. They spend a final evening cruising the strip and have every adventure possible before dawn when they will each have to decide what they will do.
In August 1962 recent high school graduates and longtime friends, Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander, meet John Milner and Terry "The Toad" Fields at the local Mel's Drive-In parking lot. Despite receiving a $2,000 scholarship from the local Moose lodge, Curt is undecided if he wants to leave the next morning with Steve to go to the northeastern United States to begin college. Steve lets Toad borrow his 1958 Chevy Impala for the evening, and while he will be away at college. Steve's girlfriend, Laurie, who also is Curt's younger sister, is unsure of Steve leaving, to which he suggests they see other people while he is away to "strengthen" their relationship.
Curt, Steve, and Laurie go to the local sock hop, while Toad and John begin cruising. Enroute to the hop, Curt sees a beautiful blonde girl in a white 1956 Ford Thunderbird. She mouths "I love you" before disappearing down the street. After leaving the hop, Curt is desperate to find the mysterious blonde, but is coerced by a group of greasers ("The Pharaohs") through an initiation rite that involves hooking a chain to a police car and successfully ripping out its back axle. Curt is told rumors that "The Blonde" is either a trophy wife or prostitute, which he immediately refuses to accept.
Steve and Laurie break up following a series of arguments, and John inadvertently picks up Carol, an annoying teenybopper who seems fond of him. Toad, who is normally socially inept with girls, meets a flirtatious, and somewhat rebellious, girl named Debbie. Meanwhile, Curt learns that DJ Wolfman Jack broadcasts from just outside of Modesto. Inside the dark, eerie radio station, Curt encounters a bearded man he assumes to be the manager. Curt hands the man a message for "The Blonde" to call or meet him. As he walks away, Curt hears the voice of The Wolfman, and seeing him broadcasting realizes he had been speaking with him.
The other story lines intertwine until Toad and Steve end up on "Paradise Road" to watch John race against the handsome (but arrogant) Bob Falfa, with Laurie as Bob's passenger. Within seconds Bob loses control of his car after blowing a front tire, plunges into a ditch and rolls his car. Steve and John run to the wreck, and a dazed Bob and Laurie stagger out of the car before it explodes. Distraught, Laurie grips Steve tightly and tells him not to leave her. He assures her that he has decided not to leave Modesto after all. The next morning Curt is awakened by the sound of a phone ringing in a telephone booth, which turns out to be "The Blonde". She tells him she might see him cruising tonight, but Curt replies that is not possible, because he will be leaving. At the airfield he says goodbye to his parents, his sister, and friends. As the plane takes off, Curt, gazing out of the window, sees the white Ford Thunderbird belonging to the mysterious blonde.
Prior to the end credits an on-screen epilogue reveals that John was killed by a drunk driver in December 1964, Toad was reported missing in action near An Lộc in December 1965, Steve is an insurance agent in Modesto, California, and Curt is a writer living in Canada.
