'70s rides, decade of disaster or delight?

[NH 2012 SS/RS]

Everyone remembers muscle car, but what did most people really have?
I had a 72 Pinto hatchback...lol
a 1976 Plymouth Volare Road Runner...lol (remember those)

Pic is not my old car, sole from google

I still a 1974 Olds Omega S
350 4bl this is the high output 180 HP...



This is an actual dealer installed "Olds MiniCamper" took me years to find one. It was still in its original box when I got it.

NOT 180 HP anymore....

[05stram]

Originally Posted by NH 2012 SS/RS

Everyone remembers muscle car, but what did most people really have?
I had a 72 Pinto hatchback...lol
a 1976 Plymouth Volare Road Runner...lol (remember those)
Attachment 485648
Pic is not my old car, sole from google

I still a 1974 Olds Omega S
350 4bl this is the high output 180 HP...

Attachment 485649
Attachment 485650
This is an actual dealer installed "Olds MiniCamper" took me years to find one. It was still in its original box when I got it.

NOT 180 HP anymore....

Attachment 485652

Attachment 485653

it has been years since I have saw a mini camper - and people think the aztec and the avalanche were the first with a tent

Air pumps in the early 70s how many remember taking the belt off and crimping the lines on top of the exhaust manifolds

[Mr Twisty]

77 Can Am was pretty slick


70 Formula 400 drop dead sexy

[King Sun]

at least in the 70's it seemed like they tried to innovate on car features when they couldn't continue just on performance. If it wasn't for the 70's some of the car designs today wouldn't exist

[shank0668]

I am a big fan of 70's Fbody's

[King T]

I love a lot of 70's stuff!
1974 Chevelle


The "oversized" 1971-1973 Mustangs


1973 Dodge Challenger


DeTomaso Pantera's




1977 Cadillac Coupe Deville. My mother had one, white with a burgundy top and burgundy interior. It was the first car I can remember my parents owning


1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442




1972 Ford Gran Torino


and many more!

[upflying]

American Motors had their share of disasters.


The Matador is my vote for the ugliest car of the '70's.


I think this Laguna S-2 is really cool though.


IMO, the biggest disaster of the '70's was the Ford Mustang II.
This one has a 5.0 V8 rated at an anemic 140hp.

[King T]

Originally Posted by upflying

IMO, the biggest disaster of the '70's was the Ford Mustang II.
This one has a 5.0 V8 rated at an anemic 140hp.

The Mustang II was a double edged sword. Yes it was pitiful compared to the awesome years of the Mustang, but it soldiered on to keep the Mustang alive until 1979 when the Fox Body 5.0 arrive.

The Mustang II was a success from a sales standpoint:
1974-385,993
1975-188,575
1976-187,567
1977-153,173
1978-192,410

The 140hp 5.0 was about right for that time. EVERYTHING was choked power-wise! Remember the Camaro around that time had a 140hp 305 V8, until the 350 returned 1976 with 165hp.

Yes I agree on the Matador, it's so ugly it's awesome! AMC was a very "outside the box" thinking company. A lot of their cars/ideas were great on paper and in theory, but when translated into production some of them alienated the public.

[Thrillz]

I was born in the early 70's so for me its a 1977 SE Bandit trans am. This car is drop dead gorgeous. I have tried for years to get one a a fair price 0 luck. If i ever score one i would never sell it. Your looking at 30-50k+ for a restored turn key one these days.

[05stram]

Originally Posted by upflying

American Motors had their share of disasters.


The Matador is my vote for the ugliest car of the '70's.


I think this Laguna S-2 is really cool though.


IMO, the biggest disaster of the '70's was the Ford Mustang II.
This one has a 5.0 V8 rated at an anemic 140hp.

So you say the gremlin was a failure? Ever ran one with a V8? The pacer you could not kill those things they just leaked a lot of oil Just like the matador those things the bodies usually rotted long before they died.

The Laguna Malibu had a unique option the seats rotated to let you get in and out of the car. I had one and liked the thing even though it was very underpowered.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by 05stram

Vega's were ahead of their time - period. The Monza stole its image when it came with a V8 but hey that was the 70s. Now the early 80s cars were the junk piles not the 70s models until you got late into the 70s.

My favorite car from the 70s would have to be the Heavy Chevy with the 454. Beautiful car and nice power.

I once heard someone say that the only good thing about cars from the early 80's was that they were better than the car from the late 70's


The early 70s had some cool cars, no doubt. But you can't help but facepalm at the thought of V8s making 200 (or less) hp towards the end of the decade.

[fielderLS3]

Cars in the early 70s were still cool. By the mid to late 70s, for the most part they were all poorly performing junk. Sure, some of them still looked cool, but you are talking about an era when the fastest vehicle on the road was a work truck, with even the Corvettes of the day being no match for the average economy compact of today. That's why you'll never see a 1973-1979 anything catch six figures at auctions like stuff from the 60s and early 70s.

Originally Posted by 05stram

Vega's were ahead of their time - period.

Are you kidding? The Vega was one of the worst cars ever made. If by "ahead of their time" you mean not fully developed, yet sold to the public anyway, then yes. The engineers who worked on it were embarrassed by it even at the time. They knew it was no good, but it got sent out the door anyway.

[05stram]

Originally Posted by fielderLS3

Cars in the early 70s were still cool. By the mid to late 70s, for the most part they were all poorly performing junk. Sure, some of them still looked cool, but you are talking about an era when the fastest vehicle on the road was a work truck, with even the Corvettes of the day being no match for the average economy compact of today. That's why you'll never see a 1973-1979 anything catch six figures at auctions like stuff from the 60s and early 70s.



Are you kidding? The Vega was one of the worst cars ever made. If by "ahead of their time" you mean not fully developed, yet sold to the public anyway, then yes. The engineers who worked on it were embarrassed by it even at the time. They knew it was no good, but it got sent out the door anyway.

the materials used in the engine and the vehicle itself had some designs that they did not understand how to use that eras technology to produce it. so that is exactly what I mean for sure. People complaining about the cars of the mid to late 70s being underpowered just have nobody but the EPA for it. The manufacturers were working within the confines of the technology of the day and that was compression and fuel issues.

[fielderLS3]

Originally Posted by 05stram

the materials used in the engine and the vehicle itself had some designs that they did not understand how to use that eras technology to produce it. so that is exactly what I mean for sure. People complaining about the cars of the mid to late 70s being underpowered just have nobody but the EPA for it. The manufacturers were working within the confines of the technology of the day and that was compression and fuel issues.

I agree completely. I blame it all on the EPA, too. The automakers certainly would never choose to build their stuff like that, so I don't blame them so much. But regardless of who was at fault, that doesn't change the result...the cars were terrible from all of them. The only decent class of vehicles were the trucks, because the regulations on those weren't as tight.