Do you believe this is the greatest car generation?

[Cheveey57]

Originally Posted by Rock-It Man

Cars are faster, safer, more reliable and comfortable now than in the 50s - 70s. Not to mention more rust resistant, a big problem here in the Northeast, where cars used to turn to junk in 5 years.

And by 1974 or so, Detroit cars were choked by smog controls. Now we have better performance and better gas mileage too.

You forgot to mention much more valuable than any of these cookie cutters will ever be.
And what car guy ever cared about gas mileage?

[2010-1SS-IBM]

I think the cars being built today are the best ever, but we don't have the variety (either in models or in options) of the previous generations.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by Cheveey57

And what car guy ever cared about gas mileage?

Let me guess . . . you've never had to fill your car's gas tank three times a week just for your commute.


Norm

[PalmerGA]

Originally Posted by 2010-1SS-IBM

I think the cars being built today are the best ever, but we don't have the variety (either in models or in options) of the previous generations.

Agreed, and that is basically the point I was trying to make. The variety and ability to get (pretty much) exactly what you wanted in a Chevy, for instance, (which didn't look like anything like a Ford, Dodge, Plymouth, Buick, Oldsmobile, and what few foreign cars you would see... was the beauty of the 50s-60s.

Look again at Denis' posted pictures. Other than the Camaro and the Vette, I can' tell you what the other cars are - they all appear to be pretty much the same (and the Vette isn't much different).

[shaffe]

Originally Posted by lbls1

IMO the 1960's car generation was the most exciting; However, in terms of technology, horsepower and performance, the pinnacle was reached in this generation.

I agree with this. As far as tech, power, safety I don
t think you can argue that we are not in the best period of cars ever.

But, as far as style, and design I would have to say that belongs to the 50s-60s. Cars had soul and character back then.

[shrinkdoc]

Yep definatley the 50s-early 70s. Todays cars are boring as ever except for a few.

[shrinkdoc]

Originally Posted by Scalded Dog

While older cars have a great nostalgic value, and the roar of an old muscle car stirs hearts, and the quaintness of other classics is very interesting, the fact remains: Today's cars have amazing technology, higher quality materials, exponentially better safety (ever see that video of the test collision, head- on, between a 1959 Bel-AIR ("They're massive steel tanks!") and a 'wimpy' 2009 Malibu?).


http://boingboing.net/2010/01/14/cra...1959-chev.html


I will always love classics... but, my definition of "better" is that cars continue to become better all the time: Competition in the market drives manufacturers to continue to find ways to improve quality (silly, conspiracy theorists say, 'they build 'em to fall apart, so ya have to buy a new one every couple of years!'... which makes no sense. If you buy a piece of crap from manufacturer X, and it falls apart, you will buy your NEXT car from a DIFFERENT manufacturer... one who makes a LONG-LASTING vehicle... duh), to improve safety, to increase dependability, durability, economy, power, handling. Hell, a Camry of today will outperform pretty much any car from the glorious muscle car era, as much I hate to concede that. Would I rather DRIVE a 2010 Camry, or a '69 Camaro? Tough choice, depends on my needs for the ride. I'd probably want to ride in the '69, but would put my wife and kids in the '10. But... quality is better now, technology superior, and capability is light- years beyond (well... thirty or forty years beyond, anyhow!) the older cars.

100 years from now, historians will not dispute that cars from the early 2000s were far superior to the cars from the mid- 1900s.

Well thats true,todays cars are better in every way because of technology advancements. But it doesnt make up for coolness and bold in your face styling then performance in the 50s 60s and early 70s. Who here remembers having to do tuneups every 3000i mi.? Points adjustments, condenser replacement new distributor cap replacement or cleaning, front end lubes etc. A lot more maint. but a lot easier to work on. So there is a trade off. Not only that you got 10 to 20 mpg but nobody complained at .30 a gallon. Inflation was almost non existent from the 50s to the early 70s. A candy bar was something like a nickel in the 50s up to about 10 cents in the mid or late 70s. Inflation became a problem after Nixon took us off the gold standard in the early 70s.

[OldScoolCamaro]

...this is one the best thread's I've read in I don't know how long. So many good posts, points, and thoughts...I don't even know where to jump in at because there are too many excellent things to comment on!

[Cheveey57]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

Let me guess . . . you've never had to fill your car's gas tank three times a week just for your commute.


Norm

My fun car and collectible cars mileage doesn't matter.
My dd is a 4 banger that I fill 2x a week. And that's only because I need the room for tools. ( I wish they had offered my dd with a bigger engine.)

[skibik]

Originally Posted by not

I graduated in 79 and my first car was a 73 Chevy Impala, 4 dr, with a 350 engine, automatic tranny. It was the biggest pc of crap car, ever, bar none.

Salt rusted out the car, either from outside in or inside out. Pulled door handle once to open the door and the whole latch mechanism fell out as the sheet metal gave out, ha. I actually put duct tape over it and it held, until the car finally caught on fire and I wouldn't let the fire dept put it out until dead. That was 1981 or 2yrs of hell.

Before the fire of pity removed this enigma, I was driving at night and pressed on the bright lights button which was on the left-hand side of the driver's floorboard and it disappeared, floorboard rusted out. I had to pop rivet a pc of aluminum there and put some cardboard underneath the floor mat to keep slush out. Didn't work very well.

Besides the muffler falling off, other maladies included the carburetor catching on fire for no known reason, putting the parking brake on and it never releasing, that was fun to drive home with, rear flat tire and the steel wheel was rusted onto the drum brake cover, took a sledgehammer to get that one off.

But my personal favorite was turning left at an intersection and wondering why I am not going anywhere when I noticed the rear wheel axle housing broke free and my left wheel and tire were a good foot outside the wheel well, ha. After that was fixed, it showed how weak the univeral joints were in the drive axle as they proceeded to give out too.

Never considered the 350 in that car to be a muscle anything. The 73 coupe 2 dr had a nicer rear window and Impalas then were available in a 307, 327, 350, 400 and even a 454, which the last two may have qualified as muscle. But my Impala was more like mucus.

I had the 2 door coupe. I actually like the style of mine, mine had the curved rear window. If I look at it now, yeah it was a big pile of crap, but back then it was the best thing since sliced bread to me. Mine was rusted out, if I was kneeling on one side of the trunk and someone was standing on the other side I could tell you what color pants he was wearing, . Never knew how fast it would go because once you hit 90 the steel slots that were on it had welds in them and literally shook the car at that speed along with the play in the wheel it got pretty dicey keeping it in a straight line at that speed. With the gears it had in it, it was not far above idling at 55, I figured if the speedometer went high enough and if one dared I thought that thing would top out at around the 130 to 140 mark. They do build them a lot better now, that car had roughly 100k miles on it and it was falling apart. Nowadays 150k miles isn't nothing.

Originally Posted by Angrybird 12

Well it depends, if you are talking the most dependable, most comfortable, best handling, best fuel mileage cars yes it is, but if you are talking style, excitement in yearly anticipation of model updates, ease to modify and repair and simplicity of design I would go for 55 through 1972.

Pop the hood on an old Gen 1 Camaro and then look under the hood at some cars these days. I was kind of surprised that the V6 had a considerable amount of room under the hood but still not easy to work on.

Dean.

[OldScoolCamaro]

Originally Posted by not

I graduated in 79 and my first car was a 73 Chevy Impala, 4 dr, with a 350 engine, automatic tranny. It was the biggest pc of crap car, ever, bar none.

Salt rusted out the car, either from outside in or inside out. Pulled door handle once to open the door and the whole latch mechanism fell out as the sheet metal gave out, ha. I actually put duct tape over it and it held, until the car finally caught on fire and I wouldn't let the fire dept put it out until dead. That was 1981 or 2yrs of hell.

Before the fire of pity removed this enigma, I was driving at night and pressed on the bright lights button which was on the left-hand side of the driver's floorboard and it disappeared, floorboard rusted out. I had to pop rivet a pc of aluminum there and put some cardboard underneath the floor mat to keep slush out. Didn't work very well.

Besides the muffler falling off, other maladies included the carburetor catching on fire for no known reason, putting the parking brake on and it never releasing, that was fun to drive home with, rear flat tire and the steel wheel was rusted onto the drum brake cover, took a sledgehammer to get that one off.

But my personal favorite was turning left at an intersection and wondering why I am not going anywhere when I noticed the rear wheel axle housing broke free and my left wheel and tire were a good foot outside the wheel well, ha. After that was fixed, it showed how weak the univeral joints were in the drive axle as they proceeded to give out too.

Never considered the 350 in that car to be a muscle anything. The 73 coupe 2 dr had a nicer rear window and Impalas then were available in a 307, 327, 350, 400 and even a 454, which the last two may have qualified as muscle. But my Impala was more like mucus.

..funny as all hell post.......but factual. Thanks for sharing your memories. Rust never sleeps. And boy did rust set in and eat apart our rides. My wife's '75 Camaro finally succumbed after many years of keep 'em flying efforts at around the turn of the Century to terminal cancer in rear leaf spring front mount to frame area which rusted through the uni body and frame into the cabin. Terminal. Southwest Camaro's still can be had, but are baked to death. The bodies are good though. I believe if they cared at bit more about the quality of steel used back then it would not have been such a problem. I think everbody back in the day knew someone who had an Impala of one model or the other. I miss those times either way....

[2011ss/rs]

Originally Posted by Cheveey57

You forgot to mention much more valuable than any of these cookie cutters will ever be.

Isn't every car ever built a cookie cutter car ? 40 years from now the cookie will be far and few between.

[pyroguy]

In my opinion, to define the greatest car generation you have to take into account a few different factors.

If you are looking at style only, I would say the cars of the late 60's through at newest 1972. Almost everything today looks like almost everything else. Also, just look at all of the retro styling, it copies the styling of the 60's.

If you are looking at performance it could be argued either way. The cars of the 60's were torque monsters! Those things knew how to throw you into a seat where you couldn't get up from the force. However, modern cars get more than gas footage. Basically they can pass anything on the road including a gas station now and actually out perform the cars from the 60's as far as numbers go.

If you are looking for creature comforts, this generation hands down! Heated seats, remote start, bluetooth, etc. You can't beat that.

So while my vote is still for the older cars, I still LOVE my modern muscle cars that I have owned!

[abaucom21]

50s-60s for style, choices, ease to maintain. Current cars for safety & technology. However, technology has its issues, more things to malfunction. With so many computers in today’s cars have to wonder about repair issues in the future. Started driving in the 60s and had a 1963 & 1966 T-Bird, 1970 Nova SS, 1974 Buick LeSabre conv., 1976 Eldo conv., then lost interest in new cars for decades.

Besides style, one reason I bought my Camaro is because it is a high production auto so hopefully many years from now parts will still be available, as well as people that know how to work on them. I intend to keep my Camaro for at least 15 years when I am well into my 70s. A few years ago took my low mileage, low production, 1998 Riviera to my GM dealership to determine a small vibration issue. My GM dealership is largest in Ottawa but they did not have anyone “old” enough to figure out the issue. After a week they had to fly in an “old” guy from Toronto who had experience working on a then 13 year old Riviera, problem solved and still drive the Riv summers only. Now I use a garage where they can work on most any auto regardless of age. The two best mechanics they have are an old guy pushing 70 and a young woman in her 20s.