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'70s cars, the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

51K views 148 replies 40 participants last post by  dchavezo 
#1 ·
What memorable rides can you think of from that interesting decade? I have some fond recollections of the Vega, cute little car!
Datsun Zee Ex Pacer X
 
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#2 ·
The cars that standout in my mind when it comes to the seventies were the "personal luxury coupes." The Pontiac Grand Prix, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the Chrysler Cordoba all standout in my mind, as well as the the '77 Pontiac Firebirds.

But truth be told the seventies was the decade when the Mercedes 450SE and the Jaguar XJ6 replaced the Cads and Lincolns as prestige transportation on both Coasts. The first generation Seville made an impact in the luxury market in the latter half of the decade, but the Mercs and Jags had already filled many a garage in the tonier neighborhoods of L.A., S.F. and Long Island. Even my very "Mid Western" boss, at the time, dumped his Buick Electra 225 and bought a Mercedes 450SE. The Mercedes 450SE's and SL's and Jaguars became so ubiquitous in the Wilshire corridor that we referred to them as "Wilshire Taxis."

The seventies were the years when automakers came to grips with 5 mph bumpers, unleaded gas, smog control devices and the horror of the gas shortages brought on by the Oil Embargo. This "perfect storm" of regulation produced some pretty ugly looking, decontented, miserably performing automobiles. But during the last half of the decade GM produced some of its, arguably, best cars!
 
#146 ·
I had a gremlin when i was a kid it wouldn't make it up a hill on the highway in the rain but the tire were usually bald also.

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The only time ill ride in one is when they give me a dirt bath but if you see beauty in them thats your perog.
THE GOOD

A gorgeous three-way by Superior. If you had a ton of cash and wanted a nice Hearse, this is what you purchased in the seventies.

THE BAD

Bad-ASS that is. The Cotner Bevington coach company made their Hearses from Oldsmobiles primarily, targeting their funeral coaches to a market with less cash to spare. Some examples of their work look absolutely stunning, including this, which is one of the few times I will ever see a car that is not black that I still like.

THE UGLY

European Hearses are just plain Fugly.
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However they could be use full for date night for a young dude never thought of that.
 
#8 ·
Yeah, he liked his Mercedes, that he bought in '72, so much that he gave his wife that one in '75 and bought another new one for himself. The 450SE was a bit spartan, but compared to the crap coming out of Detroit in the early seventies, they were well put together, had decent materials (I think they were still putting Benz-Tex in the 450SE's and SL's at that time) and with the fuel injected small V-8 they moved out and ran much better that the cars from Detroit at that time. One of my aunt's had a 1976 Mercedes 450 SL that I would take to agency for her, and actually drove off and on for a few years, to be honest I didn't think much of it. In those days the Mercedes had the same reputation among enthusiasts the Lexus's have today "they were boring to drive and had no sole." Of course at that time I had my Lamborghini 350 GT and my Jag XJ6 both of which.
were far better driving cars than the Mercedes of that day.

In those days if you drove thru or parked in Beverly Hills the place was literally lousy with Jags, Sevilles, Merc 450SE's and 450SL's, of course there was the occasional Silver Shadow and Corniche (that belonged to Zsa Zsa Gabor (the Kim Kardashian of that decade, and other showoff Hollywood types), but the Mercs and Jags were really ubiquitous, not only on Rodeo Drive but in all the better residential areas of Southern California.

Same was true on the East Coast. I remember visiting my sister in Princeton, N.J. and interspersed with a plethora of green Volvo wagons (with their two child seats in place in the rear passenger seat) were plenty of Mercedes. And when I visited friends in Greenwich, Connecticut same mix of Volvo wagon and Mercedes! This was the time when Cadillac, despite its' success with the Seville, moved down market (not in price, but in clientèle) The large Detroit sedans were still popular in the Midwest, South and West, especially outside the really large cities. Let's face the folks on the Coasts had begun to look for quality, handling and the prestige of a European car.

I do think that, aside from a bias toward buying American, people in the more rural areas of the country had real problems getting good service for the European cars in their own vicinity.
 
#9 · (Edited)
For me, 70s Cads and Lincolns were the pinnacle of style, prestige, and luxury. You could park a 74 Fleetwood Brougham or 75 Town Car next to a M-B or similar Euro sedan and the American sedan still had enough "presence" and stature to be shoulder to shoulder equal with the foreign stuff. The personal luxury coupes like Thunderbird, Riviera, Eldorado and Toronado still had enough spirit to keep you entertained and enough difference to keep them apart from the crowd.

It was also the beginning of the end. Big block "punch" disappeared by '79, the really big sedans were downsized, and the stature was lost. Oil shocks and governmental intrusion were just too much. Funny tho, the euro sedans got bigger, heavier, more thirsty, more like the American sedans their owners sometimes ridiculed, and ... more desirable as luxury cars, while the American ones were more efficient, trimmer, and in many ways better, yet that "presence" was what really made them.
 
#19 ·
The 1977 Cadillacs turned out to be excellent automobiles, combining superior driving dynamics, materials and fit and finish compared to what Americans had been offered earlier in the 1970's. However, I wouldn't say it was a "beautiful" design, but these models did set the trend for large GM cars for at least a decade.
 
#20 ·
The 1977 Caprice/Impala regained their position as the number one selling car in the United States. More than 660,000 full-size Chevrolets were produced for the 1977 model year, with the most popular model the four-door Caprice sedan at 212,840 produced. By 1978 more than 1 million downsized Chevrolets had been sold. Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, hell even Consumer Reports even raved about the car.

According to Car and Driver, "Even the most jaded car critics are in fact tripping over each other trying to be the first to anoint this sedan to be the best full-sized Chevrolet ever made." Car and Driver commented on the F41 suspension option which included stiffer springs, larger sway bars wheels and tires to say, "It will make you think your Chevy came from the Black Forest instead of Detroit."
 
#21 ·
lol @ reference to auto magazines, especially Motor Trend. Ever look at some of the cars that won Car of the Year over the last 3 decades? There were some real winners chosen: Ford Probe, Chrysler Cirrus, Chevy Malibu ('97), AMC Alliance, and Plymouth Horizon just to name a few.

And, of course, validty of Consumer Reports has always been a much disputed topic with the inconsistencies it's developed over the years.
 
#23 ·
"Best selling" means pretty much squat for anything of importance to the actual car. Toyota Corolla is a best selling car for the last 25 years. Consumer Reports loves it too.

That car is still ugly, boring and looks like a factory lifted Dukes of Hazzard mobile. Mac truck front end treatment with plainly visible openings for headlight adjustment really add to the "style". Perhaps there was appeal to those seeking the beat retired cop car theme - complete with period-specific hollywood "hit the parking brake as we stop" thing.

Even the Pacer looks better, atleast it was original and flows. When I think of the most common, boring, ho-hum vehicles of that era, those Chevy's are among the top. The interiors were just as bad as well.
 
#24 ·
'77-'79 DeVille is hit and miss with me. Of the years, I liked '79 the best due to the front grille design and tail lights. Inside it had the improved steering wheel too. I was often torn between the '79 and '89 brougham in terms of exterior styling. One of the biggest things against the '79 was the lack of rocker level chrome trim. The Fleetwood's added this, which helped a lot. I never cared much for the sloping rear roof line/window of the Coupes and prefer the formal vertical style from '80 on. Inside, I did not like the light burl wood on all the plastic trim and replaced it with the much better looking (IMO) darker walnut plastic wood trim from a late 80s Brougham. I also replaced the large crest-only hood ornament with a mint 80s Brougham wreath and crest style. That actually improved driving enjoyment as it was much better to look at. I also prefer the '89 style front end, looks more formal and Cadillac like. Same with the back end - better trunk design and tail lights.

'79 was still a good looking year though, but having both - I was often between the two. I put 10k miles on my '79 over 2.5yrs including the trip from NY to Florida. It was the most comfortable highway car I've driven. MPG (13/15 town/highway) may seen like a crazy idea to daily drive currently - yet my Jeep gets the same mileage, so it's a wash.

I prefer the '89 Brougham for the exterior styling and slightly more updated interior. Drivetrains really are a wash - not like the 425 had huge amounts of reserve power, and the 3spd non TC locking transmission didn't help fuel MPG where the car was best - long interstate driving. A sorted out 307 wasn't THAT much worse performace wise, but the 4spd overdrive transmission with torque converter lock really helped MPG. In good tune it could pull low 20s. 15mpg vs 22mpg over 1000-miles really starts to add up.

My '79 Sedan DeVille d'Elegance was a rare combo. Laramie Beige with Cedar Red interior. Not the top choice, but atleast the interior was liveable. I do not like blue, green and yellow interiors that so many of these cars got. One of the best ways to really set off the styling, and what finally made me like it, was when I added the double pin-stripe. The car already had the upper that I went over, then added the lower from the nose of the car following the body line to the door handle. Little detail, huge difference. Other than that, rocker level chrome trim would have really completed the look. The 15" real spoked wheels added nice style as well. Also the 70s style opra lights used easily replaceable bulbs, so they will keep working.

 
#28 ·
I drove one of these through high school and college:



Certainly a hell of a lot better than a Mustang II or any other small semi-sporty car Detroit put out in the mid-70s. And much better looking than most of the weird, misshapen blobs from Japan at that time.

The first-generation Celica has a really nice interior and a dash will full instrumentation:







I periodically scan eBay for them. It would be fun to have another car from my past. Light enough that the little 1.8 liter 4-banger can scoot it along easily and a very slick 4- or 5-speed that's a pleasure to use. They're hard to find to begin with, and finding an original, unmolested copy is even harder.
 
#32 ·
Good:


Bad:


Ugly:
 
#36 ·
She packed my bags last night, pre flight....
 
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