Rodney C. Duckworth thinks back to 1957, when he was a misfit in high school with the nickname “The Rodent.” He admires popular classmates Recil Calhoun, a boxing champion and ladies’ man, and Ted “T. J.” Swackhammer, who resembles James Dean and street races in a 1932 Ford hotrod. In his bedroom, Rodney kisses a life-size poster of actress Marilyn Monroe and is infatuated with a mysterious local blonde woman, also named Marilyn, who dresses in tight-fitting outfits and gold necklaces and drives around town in a baby blue convertible. When Arnold Strange, the boyfriend of Rodney’s older sister, Edna, leaves his new red Chevrolet convertible parked outside Rodney’s house for the evening, Rodney steals the car to join other teenagers cruising the main boulevard. Boasting that the convertible belongs to him, Rodney is challenged to a drag race, but he stalls in the intersection, causing a traffic jam. Escaping from the humiliating incident, he pulls into a gas station and encounters T. J., who admires Rodney’s automobile and asks for a lift. In the company of T. J., Rodney enjoys the attention of girls who stop to say hello, and T. J. introduces Rodney as “Rod Heartbender.” After the rear bumper is damaged in a confrontation with a local derelict, Rodney is anxious to return the Chevrolet before it is discovered missing. Instead, T. J. convinces the sexually naïve Rodney to pick up a fun-loving and buxom woman named Rhina Smith. During a three-hour excursion with Rhina, Rodney and T. J. survive her bare-breasted exhibition in the backseat, the intrusion of a motorcycle gang, and her overprotective parents, who threaten Rodney with a gun. Later that night, Rodney and T. J. encounter Recil at a popular drive-in restaurant, Moon’s, and together, the three men try to meet and seduce women. Suzie and Ginger briefly join them for a cruise on the boulevard, but determine that the boys are “creeps” when Recil embarrasses the group by launching a firecracker at a nearby car that ricochets and lands back in the Chevrolet. Next, the boys attempt to blackmail one of T. J. ’s girlfriends, Andrea McNamara, into having sex with them, but she dupes them by falsely proclaiming that her father is the town’s police commissioner. Meanwhile, Arnold is furious about his missing Chevrolet and searches the streets. He eventually locates Rodney sitting alone in the car and knocks him to the ground. Rodney is relieved as T. J. and Recil arrive in time to rescue him. Furthermore, Rodney is proud that the most popular men on campus now consider him a friend. As the trio continue their all-night adventure in T. J. ’s Ford hotrod, they stop by a crowded dance club, where T. J. encourages them to approach Thelma, Sue, and Gwen, whom he believes are older and more likely to live without their parents. As Recil and T. J. flirt with Gwen and Sue on the dance floor, Rodney is left alone at the table with recently divorced Thelma, but she walks away after the clumsy Rodney spills everyone’s drinks. As he sits in the parking lot feeling dejected about the evening’s mishaps, Marilyn unexpectedly stops by and says hello. Rodney is stunned when she offers to take him for a ride in her convertible. As Rodney imagines their fabulous future together, Marilyn drives him to her apartment at the Sinbad Hotel. Soon, Rodney realizes that Marilyn is an exotic dancer and prostitute with false teeth and a wig. When he explains that he cannot pay her, she attacks him, along with her pimp, the bellhop. Marilyn attempts to choke Rodney with her gold necklace. Climbing down the fire escape, Rodney makes a getaway with the jewelry still twisted around his neck. Twenty-one years later, Rodney, now a successful businessman, stands before the board members of the General Motors Corporation as he concludes the story about his fateful evening in 1957. He admits that he still has Marilyn’s necklace, which has served as a symbol of his determination all these years. The board cheers and elects Rodney president of the company. An hour later, he marries the Playboy Playmate of 1976.