25 HATED 1970S CARS THAT ARE BETTER THAN DRIVERS REMEMBER

[Cujet]

We had a 79 Pinto. Had ice cold A/C. Extremely reliable vehicle.

The later Pinto's made great race cars. Ford updated the engine and drivetrain. The suspension design is still used as a retrofit for amateur built cars today. You may be surprised to know that a well prepped SCCA Pinto could approach a flat 1 minute lap time at LimeRock park in CT. Something that is still difficult for today's cars.

 

[LDB]

I'd take a NOS Gremlin, Vega, Mustang II, 262C, Hornet, Dart, El Camino/Sprint, Thing, Cougar, Opal GT, Ranchero and Citroen. The rest they can keep.

 

[SeaJay]

And using less fuel. The fuel efficiency opened the door for the Japanese car invasion. And then the VW Beetle sold very well in the 70's.

Early 1970's, sitting outside a summer resort town eating lunch on my break from work. I counted the # of VW Bugs that passed along with a total of other types. I think the Bugs were at 20% or so of the total vehicles that passed.

They were cheap, and got you where you needed to go.

 

[Inked]

Not all 70’s cars were junk. I had a 75 Buick LeSabre that was a true highway cruiser. I was stationed in D.C. when I owned it and would come home every week up 95. Ran like a champ with no rattles or squeaks until I sold it in 87.

Regarding the Chevette, I had a co-worker that owned one and told people he owned a “Vette” as in Che-vette.

 

[hemitruck]

Mostly the state of the art back then for American manufacturers. Thankfully, things have improved and today's cars are nicer to drive, safer and much more reliable than those 1970's vehicles. Unfortunately, it comes at a cost which seems to be pushing 50k for the average priced new vehicle that folks are buying these days.

The seventies brought us unleaded gas and pollution control as well as a desire for fuel economy. The big three had to relearn how to build cars.

 

[fdcg27]

A bit silly if fun.
Nobody who ever drove one hated any 530i BMW while the VW Thing enjoys cult status today and is priced not too far below VW rear-engined vans, which bring big money, even the Vanagon. Maybe I should have kept ours?
The Opel GT was a very pretty car then and remains so now. Any Citroen is neat and desirable, while the original Subaru BRAT was a neat little take on a mini-pickup.
Most of these cars were just the workaday drivers of the day and were neither better nor worse than anything else available in the 'seventies, a time in which manufacturers had yet to develop the ability to combine power, emissions legality and fuel economy in the same package.

 

[GON]

A bit silly if fun.
Nobody who ever drove one hated any 530i BMW while the VW Thing enjoys cult status today and is priced not too far below VW rear-engined vans, which bring big money, even the Vanagon. Maybe I should have kept ours?
The Opel GT was a very pretty car then and remains so now. Any Citroen is neat and desirable, while the original Subaru BRAT was a neat little take on a mini-pickup.
Most of these cars were just the workaday drivers of the day and were neither better nor worse than anything else available in the 'seventies, a time in which manufacturers had yet to develop the ability to combine power, emissions legality and fuel economy in the same package.

Issue with the Vanagon, especially the Westfalia edition, is they seemed to always have cooling issues, which caused other issues. Driving local, Vanagon a lot of fun. On a road trip, a Vanagon more likely that not will ruin the road trip.

Vanagon is a great example where the idea of owning one did not align with the maintenace miseries of owning one.

 

[fdcg27]

Issue with the Vanagon, especially the Westfalia edition, is they seemed to always have cooling issues, which caused other issues. Driving local, Vanagon a lot of fun. On a road trip, a Vanagon more likely that not will ruin the road trip.

Vanagon is a great example where the idea of owning one did not align with the maintenace miseries of owning one.

We had our Vanagon on a number of long trips without issue. No maintenance miseries of any kind during the 100K plus the vehicle saw in our ownership.
Any cooling issues have long since been worked out by VW and the owner community.
Really enjoyed the thing and would not mind having one again although they are now too expensive for what they can do.

 

[GON]

We had our Vanagon on a number of long trips without issue. No maintenance miseries of any kind during the 100K plus the vehicle saw in our ownership.
Any cooling issues have long since been worked out by VW and the owner community.
Really enjoyed the thing and would not mind having one again although they are now too expensive for what they can do.

Glad it worked well for you! Every friend I knew that had a Vanagon was a German vehicle loyalist, yet they had given up on the Vanagon for road trips, and ended up selling the Vanagons for something they could rely on for a road trip.

 

[mjk1967]

Gremlin

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Ricardo Montalban nearly had me sold on the CORDOBA, but a Pontiac Grand Prix won out.

WOW! What a WISE-lucky choice to pick the Gran Prix. Knew several Gran Prix owners. Matter of fact we made a deal to purchase a 1986 Gran Prix. We put a deposit down and wife was to pick up the next day while I was at work. She got to the stealership and the salesman had added $800 worth of phoney charges. We ended up with an 86 Monte Carlo SS for about $1800 less. Gran Prixs were always really nice made Pontiacs. Great suspensions set up on them.

 

[Tahoe4Life]

Ricardo Montalban nearly had me sold on the CORDOBA, but a Pontiac Grand Prix won out.

Almost bought one myself in 76 but ended buying a one year old Coupe de Ville in the Bronx with only 15K wet nursed 1 owner miles. No issues with. Was awesome for my long commute to work in upstate NY. Paid 5K bucks for it.

Two coworkers had the Cordoba and loved it. They had the 400 engine in it.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Almost bought one myself in 76 but ended buying a one year old Coupe de Ville in the Bronx with only 15K wet nursed 1 owner miles. No issues with. Was awesome for my long commute to work in upstate NY. Paid 5K bucks for it.

Two coworkers had the Cordoba and loved it. They had the 400 engine in it.

Ever since I had to get out of the collector/restorer car hobby I have amassed my own list of dream/lusting after cars.
One of the first on the list which people mostly HATE (1977/1978 Dodge Daytona). Almost same as the Cordoba. Lots of guys HATE on the "Smog Era" "De-tuned" tons o steel cars. The Big Three were forced to create and release upon the consumers these monsters due to smog era/ anti pollution laws. This one for sale has the boat anchor weight , smog era 440 cui yet looks like new. I go ga ga when ever I see what is called "survivor cars!'

 

[Bill7]

I loved the American Motor Corp (AMC) cars: Pacer, Gremlin, Javelin. It's a real shame that AMC went out of business.

I really liked the Ford LTD sedans/station wagon products. Any detective TV series from the 1970's (Ex: Cannon, Barnaby Jones, etc) used Ford LTD/Lincoln Town cars. The Ford commercials had Ford's slogan of the 1970's: "Quiet, because it's a Ford".

I also like the 1972 Chevy Impala's styling and dashboard. Those were quite unreliable, but their styling made you forget about how much money you were paying on repairs.

The 1970's Cadillac's were really nice. Huge rich looking vehicles with the pimp mobile front grills.
Sadly those huge V-8 were so inefficient, that a 400 Cu In V-8 would only yield about 140 hp, which is on par with a modern 2.2 Liter 4 cylinder engine.

The one thing I remember about 1970's vehicles in general was lack of longevity.
It was quite rare for any of them to make it past 100k miles and have the odometer roll around.
Whereas today, many vehicles reach 200k miles and some even 300k+ miles.

Another thing I realized is the the 1970's Japanese cars used a technology that stuck around. Smaller overhead cam engines that got higher MPG. The US cars were using an inferior technology that was not strategic: huge pushrod engines, with terrible MPG.
Also, nearly all US made cars had the 3 speed automatic, so engine RPM's were high and noisy at high way speeds.

But I wouldn't mind getting some 1970's Ford LTD products if I could find one in mint condition.
I've looked on Craigslist, found some in good condition, but nothing mint. I'd rather pay more for a mint one with low miles,
then to get a beater with worn seats, fading paint, etc.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I loved the American Motor Corp (AMC) cars: Pacer, Gremlin, Javelin. It's a real shame that AMC went out of business.

I really liked the Ford LTD sedans/station wagon products. Any detective TV series from the 1970's (Ex: Cannon, Barnaby Jones, etc) used Ford LTD/Lincoln Town cars. The Ford commercials had Ford's slogan of the 1970's: "Quiet, because it's a Ford".

I also like the 1972 Chevy Impala's styling and dashboard. Those were quite unreliable, but their styling made you forget about how much money you were paying on repairs.

The 1970's Cadillac's were really nice. Huge rich looking vehicles with the pimp mobile front grills.
Sadly those huge V-8 were so inefficient, that a 400 Cu In V-8 would only yield about 140 hp, which is on par with a modern 2.2 Liter 4 cylinder engine.

The one thing I remember about 1970's vehicles in general was lack of longevity.
It was quite rare for any of them to make it past 100k miles and have the odometer roll around.
Whereas today, many vehicles reach 200k miles and some even 300k+ miles.

Another thing I realized is the the 1970's Japanese cars used a technology that stuck around. Smaller overhead cam engines that got higher MPG. The US cars were using an inferior technology that was not strategic: huge pushrod engines, with terrible MPG.
Also, nearly all US made cars had the 3 speed automatic, so engine RPM's were high and noisy at high way speeds.

But I wouldn't mind getting some 1970's Ford LTD products if I could find one in mint condition.
I've looked on Craigslist, found some in good condition, but nothing mint. I'd rather pay more for a mint one with low miles,
then to get a beater with worn seats, fading paint, etc.

Oh Yes! I was an AMC fan from about the age of 9 years old. We had those electric HO/Slot racing tracks and some came with the AMC Rebels and AMX/Javelin bodies. I would love to have one of the one year only The Machine! I think the largest cui engines AMC used back then ended up bing a 390cui or the police package 401s. Never forget how excited I was the summer we went on a driving vacation thru the Deep South and my dad and I had found out the Alabama Staties had adopted special units for speeders.... The 401 cui Javelins! We had eyes peeled all thru Bama and Georgia/Florida and finally spotted a couple sitting together at a truck stop.
You mentioned FORDs in those 70s shows etc... I like the Burt Reynolds movie , White Lightning because of those cars in there. All the runners seemed to have those big body 429cui Ford Galaxies/LTDs. Reynolds also used those same 429cui Galaxies in his short lived Tv series Dan August.

 

[hardcore302]

I'll take that Cougar in a heartbeat. Throw some Edelbrock heads, mild cam, rom intake, 750 double pumper on that bad boy, ooooohhhh

 

[Brons2]

I'm familiar with a few of those on the list. I agree that some of those cars were not as bad as their reputation ... Pinto, Mustang II, several of the Chryslers, Vega ... all reasonable cars back in the day. By today's standards, they aren't anything to get excited about. But given the times, they were acceptable if not moderately desirable for that decade.

I do take exception to one of the cars on the list; there is a car which truly deserves all the bashing it gets ... The Chevette. Despite what the article said, that car was as horrible as anyone can remember. Weak in every manner, and ultimately unreliable. A rolling piece of automotive garbage. That car was an abomination. The "newness" of the car wore off very quickly, and soon the failures of the car showed up:
- grossly underpowered
- noisy
- poor fit and finish
- transmissions which were lucky to go 50k miles without major issues; if you know of one that lasted past that, you were darn lucky
- handling that was, well, poor at best and scary at worst
- body panel rust came quickly
- braking which was not linear, but more like an on/off light switch; they had the dubious ability to establish brake-fade on dry roads, and yet lock up the wheels waaay to easily when precip hit the ground .... there was no practical ability to modulate the braking
- headlights which seemed to pay homage to old gas lanterns
Yeah, that car earned all the hatred it got.

There was a Pontiac version, the T1000 and we had it. Slow, noisy, unreliable yep. Needed a new clutch at less than 40k miles. 45mph pedal to the medal going up in the mountains in OR and CA. Mercifully traded in for an S10 Blazer when those came out.

 

[14Accent]

Issue with the Vanagon, especially the Westfalia edition, is they seemed to always have cooling issues, which caused other issues. Driving local, Vanagon a lot of fun. On a road trip, a Vanagon more likely that not will ruin the road trip.

Vanagon is a great example where the idea of owning one did not align with the maintenace miseries of owning one.

As a indy tech, I couldn't agree more.

While I have fairly limited knowledge regarding early VW's, I know enough to form an opinion. I've had the misfortune of servicing everything from the first gen Bus to the Eurovan. I'll never forget the experience of driving an original Bus: simply awful. Although said example was in very good shape, with solid brakes and running gear, it was still a horrible experience. Finding a gear was a complete guessing game, the brakes had two settings (full lock or "pray for me"), and the thing was so slow that in traffic one felt as though they were leading the pace in NASCAR.

The Eurovan was hardly an improvement. EVERYTHING about them is difficult to service. A simple oil change requires removal of the massive underbody shield, something a shadetree mechanic may find difficult.

 

[hrv]

Ricardo Montalban nearly had me sold on the CORDOBA, but a Pontiac Grand Prix won out.

I had a 1980 Cordoba and loved the car....Had a 318 2bl..

 

[SaberOne]

Most of the cars in the article were complete dogs in my opinion, with the exception of a couple. I miss the good cars of that period. I owned two Dodge Darts (225 slant-six & 318), and later an Olds Omega. Here I am today kicking myself.