There could be more to '70s cars than Mustang IIs donating parts to hot rod projects. I think the decade had some interesting cars, like the Vega Cosworth, that didn't reach their potential. What other notable rides can you recall from that time?
The buick centurian was a huge convertible parade car. 455/400trans huge leg room in front and back. The top when down, had a bar on the backseat that you could sit up on. Once, I remember 3 couples , us road tripping to iowa state. Parting all the way , and it was like a convertible limo. Top down, driving exactly the speed limit due to ..... It was a boat and a pleasure cruise for sure.
Well Larry123, of all the post 1970 Fords (except maybe some of the boss 351 Mustangs) I'd say a Maverick would have a better than most chance of becoming a classic...as a matter of fact I wouldn't mind owning one, I like the plain yet assertive possibilities that it has. I regularly check Ebay and other resources and if I find one...I'd love to hot rod it...It's got decent lines, light weight and it sure is something you don't see a bunch of of at shows..,maybe it's just me, but I'd buy one.
I like this thread, it's opening up more possibilities for builds that may be overlooked. On a side note, I remember my small town local dealership raffling of a Maverick grabber with a 302...if memory serves me correctly, they didn't sell enough tickets to cover off the cost of the car...LOL...my buddy won it.
Someone else mentioned the Mid 70's Eldorado, What about Oldsmobile's Toronado, there again, great lines, incredible ride...another one I wouldn't mind in my collection. In 1983 I did a transmission on one of those, a 76 if I'm right, that had to be the hardest transmission I ever did...not the transmission itself, it was the R & R that was the nightmare. Still a great car...loved the body style.
Now I'm sitting here trying to rack my brain, there have to be a lot more desirable cars from that era.
Here's one by Buick, how about the Opel GT, (the mini Vette), another one that I wouldn't mind having, if I could find one with a decent body to start with, if I remember correctly, they where rust traps, I know, not uncommon for the era.
I looked over an Opel GT at a swap meet couple of years ago, don’t see many of them around. This one was to far gone for my skills. I always thought the coolest thing about them was the lever you pulled on to pop the headlights up. Wonder if you could fit a V8 in one?
My dad bought mom a Camaro Z28 in 77, I was in high school, it was a nice ride, black with the red/orange graphics.
Agreed the 70-73 mavs were pretty sweet. Had a red wall Hot wheels of one. The 78 Cutlass I liked alot. And I think it was in 78 that the LiL red Express was the fastest production vehicle that rolled out of Detroit, it smoked a Vette. So sad. The early TA's were the @#!%, one of the nicest handeling cars I've ever driven. The big *** Fury/Polara, Grand Prix style cars are pretty choice cruisers too.
Wasn't the 74, TA with the SD package that was the fastest production Firebird made? I just looked it up and in 74 they had the Super Duty package 455 rated a t 290 HP with an advertised 390 ft lbs of torque.
I don't know if this car has been mentioned or not...and maybe it shouldn't...it was back in the day when Chrysler was in the tank and Lee Iacoca was brought in to save the company...he took basic platforms, but a 1/2 vinyl roof and plush interiors in them...Called the 4 door Volarie a 5th Avenue, took the K Car..added a few moldings to the bumper, half vinyl roof and fluffy interior and called it the New Yorker. In 1978 he made a 2 door Volarie or Aspen..not sure which, put in a 360, 4 speed, gave it the R/T package and called it a Road Runner...it was about a $900 option. Not many where made so who knows, that might be worth a few bucks someday, after all, even the grocery getter Camaro's, 2 door Nova's, Mustang's, Cuda's and Challenger's from the 60's are fetching a fair dollar today.
Well...if I'm correct, it may be Canada only but I don't think so...Camaro's in the mid 70's did have a middle of the road performance package called the Z27, they did have the Z28 but, if it's possible, the Z27 was just a little less performance and maybe a little more luxury...I'll check it out and post a link.
I love the 421...that engine put Pontiac on the NASCAR map in the early 60's and the 389 was their bread and butter engine for years. I've always been a Pontiac fan and was sorry to see GM let them go.
I did not know that on my data plate it has body style Z28 .axle code Z27 but i dont know what a xle code means,I tried to print picture of The Z28 it will not download but it is on my photo galery.wish i still hab pontiacs Grand Prix or GTO.
And this is what they said about the option for 72.
1972 Z27 Super Sport - Includes 200-hp Turbo-Fire 350 engine and bright accents; heavy duty engine mounts and starter; dual exhaust; LH remote control mirror; power brakes, special ornamentation; special hood insulation; F70-14B bias belted ply white lettered tires, 14" x 7" wheels; black painted grille; hide-a-way windshield wipers with black chrome finished arms and articulated left hand blade; SS emblems on steering wheel, fenders and grille (exc. when combined with RS) available with V8 only, available with 4-speed manual or automatic transmission only, optional engine is LS3 240 hp 396 - not available in California). 396 equipped SS's recieved a black painted rear panel & required RPO F41.
I thought he was talking about a 77 ,there were no SS,NO Big Block Z28 had 15 inch tires ,special 5 spoke wheels No chrome ever thing was flat black exept 1 peice above door glass ??? i dont know why i will try to post picture i could not yesterday ,wheels in picture are not correct ,i have them but not on car.
Seems only the American cars struggled in the 70s. Japan made some of the coolest cars during that time. Like the skyline in the picture. I think that compared to modern cars the 70s cars will still draw a lot of looks. They still have that raw feel to them. I know i get a ton of looks and compliments on my 78 and it doesn't even have any paint on it. Cars now are all boring looking, and although the 70's cars were a disappointment when new they're still really cool to see today.
I didn't read all of this and maybe it's been mentioned but me and my exwife had a 77 Caprice classic that was a nice car. 350 4bbl. With a nice set of wheels they made a nice cruiser, comfortable to drive, rode nice. Also alot of the cars that we didn't like then look alittle better to us now.
Bigger isn't always better, but the C3 Vette was the longest running Vette, had the biggest motor (454ci) and was the best seller (53,000 in '79 MY). It was, for better or worse, the Vette of the '70s. It also out acted Mark Hamill...(^-^)
Bigger isn't always better, but the C3 Vette was the longest running Vette, had the biggest motor (454ci) and was the best seller (53,000 in '79 MY). It was, for better or worse, the Vette of the '70s.
It was also literally the longest Corvette by the end of the run, with all the government mandated energy absorbing bumpers. The early C3 was a gorgeous car, but those extensions on both ends sure made a gorgeous car homely.
I always felt this particular model went a little bit against the grain of the trends, and with the narrow back window, was a pretty good looker, even with the railroad tie stuck to the front.
Came with a 9:1 245hp (in 1974 numbers) solid lifter 350 cubic inch V8. Four speed and 3.73 rear end. Not a bad little combo in the car.
Sort of a transition model. Still had the flat rear window of the early 2nd gens, but GM's first attempt to abide by the big bumper rules. 've seen a few that had those large bumpers reworked to tuck them in, and narrow them down, and they were a marked improvement over the original look.
The flat rear glass creates a huge blind spot (had a '71 for 40 yrs!) but they just look better to my eyes.
Had a 79 Firebird, yeah its a late 70s car, but it was fun when it wasnt broken lol. I think Pontiac did well when they released the SD. Keep in mind that alot of companies had to lie about HP ratings for insurance reasons and smog regulations.
By the mid 70's nobody had to lie about HP ratings anymore! By that time almost everything was anemic, and under powered. Late 60's is when most of the fibbing was done by car makers. Those were the years when Chevy said the 302 Z/28 was making 290 hp, and all the car magazines were putting them on dynos and finding they made 135-140 hp more!
I think the decade had some interesting cars, like the Vega Cosworth, that didn't reach their potential. What other notable rides can you recall from that time?
My buddy had a Cosworth Vega just like that
In the early-70's, I always liked the Camaros, Firebirds, Plymouth Dusters, Torinos, and Lemans/GTOs
In the mid-70's, my favorites would be the Monza, Monte Carlo, and Grand Prix
Late-70's would be the Ford Futura (remember Bob Glidden's?), Plymouth Arrow, Dodge Mirada, and the Chrysler Cordoba
Used to see a red '77 Cordoba around town that looked stock in every detail, white wall tires, hub caps, quiet pipes, the whole bit ......
It wasn't until he unleashed the Hemi under the hood, and smoked the tires for three blocks, that you realized something was up
I have nothing against nostalgic memories for any era of car, my era of auto-nostalgia (the 1980s) is looked down upon the most, so I probably have no room to talk about what car is "better". However, I don't think calling that specific run of Camaro "muscle car era" is correct at all. I don't you could call anything from 78-82 "muscle car", let alone it's definitely far removed from the era.
I'm sure the car you saw was a nice looking Z28, but all that plastic slapped on to the clean early 70s body lines just screams Disco-era to me. Go back and look at the '74 I posted earlier. I can't see how all the plastic they stuck to it 5 years later made it any better looking.
Maybe it is. it's called an OPINION. Everyone's entitled.
Whether they had it or not, those cars WERE called muscle cars by the average citizen and the media. The Vette, Trans Am and Z-28 had their power greatly reduced, but compared to other cars that came out during THAT TIME, they were fast and thus earned a muscle car name slot.
Oh that mass of plastic was a LOT better than that 200 pound rail road tie they had in '74. IMO
oh and you could walk into a dealers parts counter in the 70-80-90's and get the same stuff you could in the "muscle" car years..
I honestly think many have "selective memory"
the muscle cars got scratch in 2nd and maybe 3rd because the tires sucked.. and the cars set up was just as bad..
The 74 = 76 were aluminum and the 77 was aluminum painted body color 78 - 81 are urethane plastic , 1977 the ONLY year to have a metal bumper painted body color ,this is a 1977 Z28 we ( my wife )have owned since 77 ,it now has 29,700 actual miles;
Just trying to be informative .not arguementiave.:
Say what you want about cars in the 70's .the mfg's would love to have those sales today,hell just Cutlass Supremes alone in 76-77 would equal probably 3 models today,and they drive great and look great and were built well,you never owned one if you say other wise. The true real total crap era was the mid 80s when GM decided to go FWD almost across the board then again in 88 when there was no more G-body and few B-bodys. For example the 4100 Caddy was a turd this we know but at least up until 84 it was in a nice looking car then the downsize came in 85 on the Coupe Deville and you had crap motor in crap car same goes for Olds 98 and Electra. I had a 78 Olds 98 that is a great car,Olds 350 and built like a tank, same went for Caddies in the late 70's.
I had a '72 Valiant, oddball. It was a plain jane, white, 4 door, no radio, no A/C, no power nuttin', no carpet, vinyl seats, slant 6, 3speed in the floor. Bought it new in '72, (well actually Dec. '71) It was a good lookin' car, but a 4 door. Had a '74 Cutlass that was the "cat daddy" at the time. In HS I had a '65 Chevy. But I agree, in the late '70s early '80s cars went to spit. Trying to make up for their lack of performance with newfangled electronix which wasn't worth a crap. But there were a very few that did just enough to make everyone not quite as unhappy. Problem is that those were "old folks cars".
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