Most significant common cars of, lets call it the "Modern" period

[jeepman3071]

Dodge and the 6bt cummins would like a word with you good sir! The 7.3 powerstroke came out in response to the cummins.

The 6BT in the first gen Dodge Rams was definitely a trend setter, but they were expensive, loud, slow, and not as popular it seemed. I remember when the '99 Super duty came out specifically. Those things were everywhere. It seemed every camper hauler, landscaper, and municipality had a Ford Super duty with the 7.3L. Now those trucks bring big money, same with the 94-2001ish Dodge with the Cummins.

 

[4WD]

Tri Five Chevrolets
Pontiac GTO
Datsun 240Z
Toyota Celica/Supra
Chevrolet Suburban
Jeep Wrangler
67-72 Chevy/GMC trucks.....First trucks with "Upscale" Interior & Trim packages

This ^^^ Add the Plymouth Roadrunner - seriously quick (for that era) for cheap.

 

[PimTac]

Best selling vehicle in the US period for a quite a number of years, at least 20. When the crew cabs came to the half-tons in the early 00s, it accelerated the trend, IMO.

I don't know who put out the first half ton crew cab but it was definitely a trend setter.

Maybe not a half ton.

Rare Crew Cab: 1973 International Wagonmaster

This is an awesome rig I didn't even know existed but now desperately want: a 1973 International Harvester Wagonmaster, a very cool four-door pickup with a short bed and room for what looks like a six-passenger seating arrangement. What's incredible is this segment of trucks has become...

barnfinds.com

 

[JT20]

View attachment 30682

LS swap?

And. Some of best cars/most influential..

VW Beetle, the first one. The people's car
The Minivan (as much as I hate to admit that)
The Suburban, was the first SUV ....

 

[clinebarger]

From an SUV standpoint I would say the Jeep Cherokee XJ and the 1960's Jeep Wagoneer. XJ was the first unibody SUV, and the Wagoneer was the first real family SUV back in the 1960s and 1970s. They bridged the gap between the pickup truck and the station wagon, and were marketed as "family wagons with 4WD". Back in the late 1990's Jeep Cherokees and Grand Cherokees were everywhere. I think there were more of them than there were any other SUV at least in New England. You could throw a rock in a parking lot and hit 20 of them. These vehicles (including the Explorer and Blazer) are what really started the "mini-SUV" craze.

The first family SUV was the Chevrolet/GMC Suburban.....Not that I dislike the Wagoneer, Those & the Gladiator pick-ups are my favorite Jeeps.
I guess you could say the Wagoneer was the first 4 door SUV that sold in any real numbers. '67 was the first year for the 3 door Suburban & '73 was the first to have 4 doors.

 

[4WD]

Dodge made crew cabs in the 40’s … the 50’s … the 60’s … etc, W200’s … and zero complaints that the touch screen was too small

 

[TiGeo]

VW GTI. The original hot hatch.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

The first family SUV was the Chevrolet/GMC Suburban.....Not that I dislike the Wagoneer, Those & the Gladiator pick-ups are my favorite Jeeps.
I guess you could say the Wagoneer was the first 4 door SUV that sold in any real numbers. '67 was the first year for the 3 door Suburban & '73 was the first to have 4 doors.

Jeep definitely blazed the path for the luxury 4x4. Even when the Waggy first came out for 63 it had more luxury stuff available than other SUVs (like auto tranny, AC, choice of SFA or IFS, etc) and then for 67 the Super Wagoneer came out- leather, bucket seats in front with a center console, power seats/windows, power sunroof.... they were like the Cadillac of 4x4s. Then the Wagoneer Limited later.... that came with the first AWD system (Quadra Trac) in 74. I don't think anyone else was doing anything like that back then. The only other off road luxury SUV would've been the Range Rover, but even those at first weren't that fancy. Still two door only till probably the late 70s/early 80s.

 

[2EHA]

Then the Wagoneer Limited later.... that came with the first AWD system (Quadra Trac) in 74.

The Range Rover had full time 4wd in 1970 and of course extra soft coils all around which is what really set it apart.

They had to rely on coachbuilders to option out their trucks (hundreds of different combos) but eventually bought out a 4-door design from monteverdi in 81 I believe.

 

[UncleDave]

The original Honda Accord, which proved a nicer, slicker, somewhat more expensive Japanese small car could be a sell-out for years in the US. People forget how radical that was then (circa 1976).

The family down the street broke the import barrier on our block and I remember the Saturday it showed up.

A couple of the dads chuckled a bit while we all walked up to take a look, making rubber dog crap commentary.

We took turns going for a ride and took a good close look, pushing on metal bits seeing if we could bend doors, poking under the hood -

The walk back home after a half an hour of looking and going for a ride woke me up.The old man declared it pretty nice little car especially for the money and better put together than moms Fury, or his Toronado.

We talked about the differences in economy in terms of trips to grandamas or the mall, and to me what I could pay for with a lawn mow(always beating work ethic into me) and this was easily double. Smaller for sure, but how much do you need for " in town" or no luggage trips for 2-3?

We wondered if it would last or how often it would break...then he uttered "If we dont get our act together we could end up losing to companies like this" ....

 

[HoosierJeeper]

The Range Rover had full time 4wd in 1970 and of course extra soft coils all around which is what really set it apart.

They had to rely on coachbuilders to option out their trucks (hundreds of different combos) but eventually bought out a 4-door design from monteverdi in 81 I believe.

I didn't know that about the full time! Was it like Quadra drive where it had an LSD center diff? I can't remember if the Jeeps had LSDs at the front and rear axles. I know later they did with Quadra Drive.

 

[Boomer]

+1 on the VW air cooled Beetle.

 

[2EHA]

I didn't know that about the full time! Was it like Quadra drive where it had an LSD center diff? I can't remember if the Jeeps had LSDs at the front and rear axles. I know later they did with Quadra Drive.

First couple years had a center LSD with a manual lock and also hi/low range, then it just became an open/lock + hi/low for better road manners. Also allowed it to switch from LS gear oil and use regular motor oil in the engine, transfer case and gearbox.

In 1989 they went to a borg warner 1361 which was an LSD using a viscous coupler a a lot like the NP249, no manual lock just hi/low. Great until the coupler seized shut and you were driving almost fully locked on the street.

 

[jeepman3071]

LS swap?

And. Some of best cars/most influential..

VW Beetle, the first one. The people's car
The Minivan (as much as I hate to admit that)
The Suburban, was the first SUV ....

Yes, the VW Beetle! Basically the car that turned Americans onto gas sippers instead of V8 sedans.

 

[Blinker]

By significant we’re referring to vehicles that were innovative in some way that forever changed the automotive landscape, correct? About half of the cars the everyone has mentioned I don’t see as being significant. A significant vehicle is one that once released it can’t be ignored and other manufacturers start copying. So here is my list, there are a lot more I’m forgetting. I’m not well versed in German and European cars but I know there are a lot of significant cars from that side of the world too.

Dodge minivan- It created a new segment
Original VW Beetle/Bus- They were a political and lifestyle statement.
1965 Mustang- The start of an era
1953 Corvette- America’s sports car
1961 Lincoln Continental- unibody design. Also history known due to John F Kennedy’s
assassination.
1965 Chevy Impala- Highest sales figure record
1977 Caprice- successfully downsized sedan
1977 Pontiac Firebird TransAm- Smokey and the Bandit
1978 Mazda RX-7- rotary engine
1981 Cadillac Deville, Fleetwood, Eldorado- V8-6-4 engine
1983 Chrysler K-cars - EVA talking instrumentation
1983 Toyota Camry- enter appliance car ownership
1986 Ford Taurus- European styling successfully converted buyers to buy FWD.
1989 Taurus SHO- Enter performance FWD sedans
1989 Lexus LS400- Caught Mercedes off guard
1990 Acura NSX- Honda establishes world class respect.
1991 Ford Explorer- the SUV that made SUVs cool
1993 Ford Bronco- Specifically white in color
1994 Toyota Supra Turbo- Start of the tuner scene
1994 Toyota RAV4- Start of the CUV trend
1994-1996 Impala SS- An icon
1996 GM EV1- ahead of its time
1997 Corvette C5- LS1 released, start of the LS based engine popularity.
2001 Ford F-150 Supercrew- start of the family sedan pickup truck era.
2001 Toyota Prius (US)- first widely available hybrid
2001 Pontiac Aztec- styling taken to extremes
2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser- Retro styling that resulted in the 2005 Mustang, 2006 HHR, 2010 Camaro and 2009 Challenger design language.
2011 Hyundai Sonata- All 4 cylinder lineup, unconventional styling for a family sedan
2011 Ford Crown Victoria- end of the body on frame sedans
2012 Tesla Model S - Compelling electric car
2015 Ford F-150- All aluminum body
Virtually all Jeep wranglers

I’m stopping there. Everything else is too new to determine its significance in the automobile world imo. There are probably plenty others I’m missing. Note: I’m not suggesting these vehicles are the best in their segment, I’m just listing vehicles that IMO have a strong significance in automobile history.
Keep this going! It’s good lazy night reading

 

[Blinker]

Honda Accord. The car that taught the world how to build an affordable, reliable, & comfortable mainstream sedan.
Ford Mustang - America's iconic pony car
Ford F-150 40+ year sales leader in the full-size truck segment
VW Beetle - Affordable, reliable transportation for the masses, with a cult following that goes back 80+ years
Chevy Corvette - America's halo sports car
Porsche 911 - Evolution of a sports car theme with roots going back more than 50 years
Jeep Wrangler - Embodies the entire identity of the Jeep brand; America's off-roader with roots leading back to WWII
Lexus LS - A youngster compared to most others on this list; re-defined the world's idea of what a luxury sedan should be
Mazda Miata - Re-defined the 2-seater sports car by adding quality and reliability to the segment.
Acura NSX - The Japanese exotic that forced the Italians and Germans to up their ergonomics & build quality game

I didn’t read your post before I posted mine but I spot on agree with everything you wrote.

 

[FordMan59]

Let's not forget the one that saved Chrysler from bankruptcy in the '80's, the K car. I used to work for a company that molded bumpers for cars back in the late '70's - early '80's. We had the contract on both both the front and rear K car bumpers for several years. Granted they weren't such great cars from what I understand but they did pull Chrysler out of the hole. Someone mentioned Chrysler products of the '70's not being very good cars but, I had a '76 Chrysler Cordoba that I bought used in '81 with 32K miles. I gave $2900 for it and I drove it until 1991. I sold it with 231K miles and it was probably one of the least problematic cars I've ever owned other than having a drinking problem (10w40). Of course at the time I too had a drinking problem so that car saw some pretty rough miles.

 

[JT20]

The Range Rover had full time 4wd in 1970 and of course extra soft coils all around which is what really set it apart.

They had to rely on coachbuilders to option out their trucks (hundreds of different combos) but eventually bought out a 4-door design from monteverdi in 81 I believe.

At what point did they become horrible vehicles?

 

[dlundblad]

Datsun 240z and first gen Ford Taurus SHO. Both of which were somewhat known as mustang killers and very cool cars of the era IMO.

 

[dlundblad]

The Beetle is IMO one of the most icon cars of the 20th century, the base for every early Porsche inc the 911, add to the list the Citroen DS another car that still lives on today in the technology it pioneered and is still being used by other companies.
The original Mini, MB W123, the Lotus cars, the Unimog and Toyota Hilux (if people insist of throwing trucks in the mix then why not),
Land Rover, Volvo P1800 (one of my all time favorites since ST1), Saab 99.

Supposedly when the beetle was first introduced to the US market just after WWII, they only sold 2 cars.

Think of that and how popular VW as a whole has become and it’s quite amazing.