Consumer Guide : Cheap cars of '77 are ...
- Thread starter odie
- Start date
Outside of the awesome retro colors, those vehicles were absolute trash.
Bud_One
Site Donor 2024
I was robbed as a child. All the time when I was growing up, my Dad never owned a car that weighed any less than 2 1/2 tons, and had an engine with any smaller displacement than 7.5 liters.
Something like a Chevette, I never rode in or had any experience with. When the Buick dealer started talking about "downsized" 1977 models with nothing more than 305's or 350's under the hood, Dad shelled out for a last year 1976 Buick Electra Limited with a 455. He wasn't going to go out without a fight.
Something like a Chevette, I never rode in or had any experience with. When the Buick dealer started talking about "downsized" 1977 models with nothing more than 305's or 350's under the hood, Dad shelled out for a last year 1976 Buick Electra Limited with a 455. He wasn't going to go out without a fight.
Yes they were junk. I worked as a Tech at a Chevy dealership 1977 thru 1981. The car haulers would deliver brand new cars from the factory with the engine knocking, trans slipping, and brake calipers loose just to name a few things I can recall. The fantastic front wheel drive Citation was released mid-year 1979 (as a 1980) and had 11 recalls before Chevrolet allowed it on the showroom for sales. I was blessed with being the only Tech at our dealership that had been to GM school for that car. I had 3 truckloads to correct. I about starved working on commission and Chevrolet warranty didn’t pay SH#& back then. The recalls that I was “impressed “ with were the reinforcements that had to be added to ensure structural integrity. A freaking piece of stamped sheet metal bolted through the floorboards and secured with the factory supplied self tapping lag bolts. Also the spare tire/wheel would not fit so an “adapter” was provided that was secured with factory provided rivets! I wouldn’t want that level of engineering for a bicycle!
Design today Is driven by fuel economy and crash standards- that's why the design language is what it is.
Pintos and Vegas were bad, my mom had a 1977 pinto and the family actually liked the car. No one rear ended us so I am here today. My uncle had a new Vega I definitely thought it was worse than the Pinto quality wise, if that's possible?
One guy at work bought a new Vega and it’s all he drove until he retired I guess around 2000. Kept it immaculate. Thing is a 75 Vega was 3000, and the house in Palo Alto was
35000 in 75. Now it’s 4 million dollars. So who cares about the Vega? Not him. I thought the Vega was a good looking car.
35000 in 75. Now it’s 4 million dollars. So who cares about the Vega? Not him. I thought the Vega was a good looking car.
Still have my 77 Chevy stepside because it has been an excellent. Also have a copy of the book Wheels by Authur Hailey but I agree the Vega and Pinto were dogs as was the Volare. The afore mentioned book offered some of the what and whys of it all.
Seems to line up with the prevailing opinions of the era
Even proto John Davis couldn't hype it
Yep. I think most of us old enough had a car or a neighbor with a car that you had to slam the door multiple times before it would shut properly. At night the sound traveled well.
Then there was pinging, squealing power steering, engines that ran on after the key was turned off, and more.
JHZR2
Staff member
That green chevette was a pretty nice color, and decent looking car compared to the others. My grandfather had a chevette when I was really young. Maroon on maroon as I recall… 4 dr mt?
I tested a lot of new '74-'81 cars, both US brands and imports. They had a some interesting assembly defects, but none had any of the problems you listed except pinging. Light pinging wasn't necessarily considered a defect, because, as one GM exec put it, that's "the sound of fuel economy."
Our 1968-vintage IH tractor did tend to run on after the ignition was switched off.
I was interested in buying a 1980/81 Buick Skylark, a clone of the Citation and Omega.
I was saved by the test drive. The dealer had 2 on the lot. The dash was torn out of the first one, and they couldn't get the second one to start. My car buying motto is, "If it won't start, I don't want it!"
So I went straight down to the Toyota dealer and bought one of the best cars I ever owned, a 1981 Celica Liftback with a manual transmission. Not a sports car, but sporty enough and a pretty good family car. Kept it for 13 1/2 years and my daughter sold it for a good price. I drove that car one last time just before we sold it - it just felt right.
My partner bought a Buick Skylark (in gold of course) and chunks of paint the size of your fist fell off of it. He said that wasn't a problem, it was just "GM paint". He didn't keep it very long.
I was saved by the test drive. The dealer had 2 on the lot. The dash was torn out of the first one, and they couldn't get the second one to start. My car buying motto is, "If it won't start, I don't want it!"
So I went straight down to the Toyota dealer and bought one of the best cars I ever owned, a 1981 Celica Liftback with a manual transmission. Not a sports car, but sporty enough and a pretty good family car. Kept it for 13 1/2 years and my daughter sold it for a good price. I drove that car one last time just before we sold it - it just felt right.
My partner bought a Buick Skylark (in gold of course) and chunks of paint the size of your fist fell off of it. He said that wasn't a problem, it was just "GM paint". He didn't keep it very long.
So it looks like USD dropped value by 4x-5x since the 77? I am thankful we have competition and we don't have to put up with 77's garbage. Even Hyundai and Chrysler's quality today is way ahead of the 77s car (actually maybe even those Chinese or Indian cars for their domestic markets would be way ahead today).
I don't know what would happen now that gas is $5 a gal and maybe heading for $8 with the war and Chesapke bankruptcy. I know a lot of people would have kept their 90s Sport Compact forever if that happens.
I don't know what would happen now that gas is $5 a gal and maybe heading for $8 with the war and Chesapke bankruptcy. I know a lot of people would have kept their 90s Sport Compact forever if that happens.