Neat article on a 1970's 'big boat'....

[MuzzleFlash40]

Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: Trvlr500
Originally Posted By: lovcom
Guys, lots of idealization and romantization going on about the big Land Yachts (LY).

We are better forgetting this era in American car manufacturing because during that time the US made the absolute worse cars ever. And it was during that same time that the Japanese leapfrogged us in quality big time.

Lets leave that past in the past, because it is our shame and it shows just how terrible we made cars.

All those models were junk, and it is a reminder of what happens when we Americans get fat, lazy, arrogant, and stupid.


Actually, for the technology that was available in the late 60's and early 70's American cars were the best by far. They turned to junk because of many reasons but the biggest was the EPA and a government telling them how they need to build cars when they knew/know nothing about the industry. The 80's is when they really turned to junk and the Japs took over because of government. Not the automotive manufacturers. The late 60's and early 70's were the pinnacle of the automotive industry in this country when you take the technology of that time into account.


I cannot find one iota of truth to your post. It's all wishful rewritten history...sorry.

In fact, the 1970's were a time when the big three domestics made the absolute worse cars in their entire history. As a consequence to this, the Japanese used this time to leapfrog the big three in quality and reliability. Remember the Vaga, the Pinto? All junk!

The fact is, the Japanese made the best cars in the 70's, and 80's. And 90's, and up to 2012.



Imagine that, another thread about something American made or American working class things (cars in this topic) and you attack it. Noone here is impressed with the silver spoon hanging out of your mouth mentality you have. Japan makes better cares all the way up to 2012? As usual your wrong.

 

[Jarlaxle]

That silver spoon isn't in his mouth...it's in an orifice somewhat LOWER than that!

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

I think that had more to do with the perceived value of the car.

When your '70s Oldsmobile broke down, you fixed it. When your '70s Corolla broke down, well, it was a cheap car and therefore disposable. Besides, most people would open the hood and decide that it was all a bunch of "riceburner [Stuff]" and decide that it was not going to be fixable. Nevermind the fact that it was a fairly simple OHV 4 cyl. Plus, they would find that their good old set of fractional wrenches would round off all the metric fasteners and, get frustrated, and quit.

In the mid-'80s, when I had my '74 Celica, the wrecking yard was a bonanza of discarded Celicas from various years. Quite a few did not seem that it would take much to restore them to operational. The R-series engines were certainly built well enough except for a tendency to spit off the front crank seal. There are plenty of 20R and 22R powered pickups with well over 300,000 miles on minimal maintenance. But the Celicas were discarded. Bonus for me. I had a lot of premium upgrade parts to choose from.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

I think that had more to do with the perceived value of the car.

When your '70s Oldsmobile broke down, you fixed it. When your '70s Corolla broke down, well, it was a cheap car and therefore disposable.



I think there's a risk for over-idealizing the early Japanese vehicles just as much as some of us might over-idealize the big boats.

Let's face it... Japanese vehicles WERE wretched steaming piles up until the 80s. Even the best of the lot (the early Celica and Corollas) were pretty crummy and really not worth fixing when they broke. As for utterly un-maintainably bad, does anyone remember the first widely marketed FWD Japanese car OTHER than Hondas, the Datsun F10? OMG, what a heap! I test drove a brand new one circa 1978, and really kinda wondered if I was going to make it back to the dealer lot the way the transmission howled and groaned. I would, in all seriousness, equate it to the much later Yugo in terms of quality.

One of the most horrific vehicles I ever owned was a '79 Mazda B2000. The engine was bulletproof, but the rest of the truck disintegrated around it well before 100k miles. American cars were CLEARLY superior up until the very late 70s at least. Of course the other thing is that the very aggressive emissions laws that kicked in during the late 70's, NEEDED THOUGH THEY WERE, far outstripped the technology available and it really had to play catch-up. That made virtually all vehicles built between 1975 and (IMO and approximately) 1990 vastly inferior to vehicles built EITHER before then or afterward. That's why I've only owned 2 vehicles that were built in that period and got rid of them far faster than any vehicle before or after.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum



I think there's a risk for over-idealizing the early Japanese vehicles just as much as some of us might over-idealize the big boats.

Let's face it... Japanese vehicles WERE wretched steaming piles up until the 80s. Even the best of the lot (the early Celica and Corollas) were pretty crummy and really not worth fixing when they broke.


See? disposable.
But the Celica was probably actually better than the MustangII 2.3, Monza and Sunbird 2.3 or 2.5,...and Chrysler didn't make anything in this class so it wins vs. Chrysler by default. Now that I think about it, the Celica was significantly better than the Monza 2.5
But the common way of thinking was that Japanese cars were disposable.

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum

As for utterly un-maintainably bad, does anyone remember the first widely marketed FWD Japanese car OTHER than Hondas, the Datsun F10? OMG, what a heap! I test drove a brand new one circa 1978, and really kinda wondered if I was going to make it back to the dealer lot the way the transmission howled and groaned. I would, in all seriousness, equate it to the much later Yugo in terms of quality.


I'm not going to argue about that. The F10 was a wretched pile of junk. No redeeming qualities. It did beat the Corolla-Tercel to the fwd game but the main problem with the Corolla-Tercel was that it was ugly

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum

One of the most horrific vehicles I ever owned was a '79 Mazda B2000. The engine was bulletproof, but the rest of the truck disintegrated around it well before 100k miles.


Must be a rustbelt thing.

My parents had a couple of Couriers (Mazda B-series with round headlamps) They were extremely durable. The long-bed with the Ford 2.3 with Japanese carb could actually accelerate halfway decently. They did everything any Ranger or S10 4 cylinder could ever do. Consistantly and reliably. Of course we don't worry about rust.

The only real drawback on the Mazda built Ford Couriers was the price tag. If you were paying sticker price, you could get a base model F-100 6 cyl 3 spd manual for about $100.00 more.

 

[lovcom]

Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: Trvlr500
Originally Posted By: lovcom
Guys, lots of idealization and romantization going on about the big Land Yachts (LY).

We are better forgetting this era in American car manufacturing because during that time the US made the absolute worse cars ever. And it was during that same time that the Japanese leapfrogged us in quality big time.

Lets leave that past in the past, because it is our shame and it shows just how terrible we made cars.

All those models were junk, and it is a reminder of what happens when we Americans get fat, lazy, arrogant, and stupid.


Actually, for the technology that was available in the late 60's and early 70's American cars were the best by far. They turned to junk because of many reasons but the biggest was the EPA and a government telling them how they need to build cars when they knew/know nothing about the industry. The 80's is when they really turned to junk and the Japs took over because of government. Not the automotive manufacturers. The late 60's and early 70's were the pinnacle of the automotive industry in this country when you take the technology of that time into account.


I cannot find one iota of truth to your post. It's all wishful rewritten history...sorry.

In fact, the 1970's were a time when the big three domestics made the absolute worse cars in their entire history. As a consequence to this, the Japanese used this time to leapfrog the big three in quality and reliability. Remember the Vaga, the Pinto? All junk!

The fact is, the Japanese made the best cars in the 70's, and 80's. And 90's, and up to 2012.



Imagine that, another thread about something American made or American working class things (cars in this topic) and you attack it. Noone here is impressed with the silver spoon hanging out of your mouth mentality you have. Japan makes better cares all the way up to 2012? As usual your wrong.


Hey you love living a lie, and dillusions, go right ahead. Sorry that reality is exceedingly inconvenient for you to handle. So yea, lets go with the lie and lets pretend that the American cars of the 1970's were the best of the best, and that Japanese cars were all junky tin cans....yea, yea lets have fun in fantasy land ;-)

A true American Patriot sees the truth, regardless of how inconvenient that truth is.

Be Real. Be Real. Be Real.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Are you on drugs?

 

[lovcom]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Are you on drugs?


No, I just state reality, free of emotion, and wishful thinking.

What about you? Are you on drugs?

 

[lovcom]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

I think that had more to do with the perceived value of the car.

When your '70s Oldsmobile broke down, you fixed it. When your '70s Corolla broke down, well, it was a cheap car and therefore disposable.



I think there's a risk for over-idealizing the early Japanese vehicles just as much as some of us might over-idealize the big boats.

Let's face it... Japanese vehicles WERE wretched steaming piles up until the 80s. Even the best of the lot (the early Celica and Corollas) were pretty crummy and really not worth fixing when they broke. As for utterly un-maintainably bad, does anyone remember the first widely marketed FWD Japanese car OTHER than Hondas, the Datsun F10? OMG, what a heap! I test drove a brand new one circa 1978, and really kinda wondered if I was going to make it back to the dealer lot the way the transmission howled and groaned. I would, in all seriousness, equate it to the much later Yugo in terms of quality.

One of the most horrific vehicles I ever owned was a '79 Mazda B2000. The engine was bulletproof, but the rest of the truck disintegrated around it well before 100k miles. American cars were CLEARLY superior up until the very late 70s at least. Of course the other thing is that the very aggressive emissions laws that kicked in during the late 70's, NEEDED THOUGH THEY WERE, far outstripped the technology available and it really had to play catch-up. That made virtually all vehicles built between 1975 and (IMO and approximately) 1990 vastly inferior to vehicles built EITHER before then or afterward. That's why I've only owned 2 vehicles that were built in that period and got rid of them far faster than any vehicle before or after.



The best cars of the late 1970's were made in Japan. The Mustang II, K-cars, Pinto, Vega, Chevy Citation, Cadillac Cimmeron, on and on and on and on....were all junk, and these cars are the shame of each of us Americans because they were absolutely unreliable. These American cars I listed here are the RULE and NOT the EXCEPTION.

When you name terrible Japanese cars of that period, you are naming the EXCEPTIONS.

You conveniently fail to mention Honda cars. During the 70s and 80s Honda reliability was massively legendary. How come you don't mention that?

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum

One of the most horrific vehicles I ever owned was a '79 Mazda B2000. The engine was bulletproof, but the rest of the truck disintegrated around it well before 100k miles.


Must be a rustbelt thing.


I live in Texas, and the wretched truck spent its whole life within 200 miles of Austin! If you took it to the rust belt, I think it might turn to powder out of sheer fear!

What fell apart wasn't rust related anyway- it was the front suspension, the interior, and various fittings (door/window handles and mechanisms), HVAC, the godawful Mikuni carburetor, blades flinging off the plastic radiator fan, etc.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

I think that had more to do with the perceived value of the car.

When your '70s Oldsmobile broke down, you fixed it. When your '70s Corolla broke down, well, it was a cheap car and therefore disposable.



I think there's a risk for over-idealizing the early Japanese vehicles just as much as some of us might over-idealize the big boats.

Let's face it... Japanese vehicles WERE wretched steaming piles up until the 80s.



The best cars of the late 1970's were made in Japan.


IMO that is categorically FALSE!! I'd take any full-size US-built pickup truck or the remaining rear-drives of the late 70s (except the GM OldsmoDiesels) over any contemporary Japanese vehicle with the exception of the Celica.

All the small cars pretty much stunk, one or two of the Japanese ones stunk LESS than things like the Vega and Pinto. But give me a Monza, warts and all, over a Corolla of that era any day. Actually, give me a VW Rabbit or Scirocco over ANY of the others- those are the ones that haven't been mentioned yet but should be.

Originally Posted By: lovcom

You conveniently fail to mention Honda cars. During the 70s and 80s Honda reliability was massively legendary. How come you don't mention that?


Because the spaceship docking ring rear hatch Civics were even more laughable than a Datsun F10, that's why. The first CVCC Civic was beginning to be passable transportation. The 80s, not the late 70s, is the time when Honda became noteworthy. And the 2000s is when they went back to junk, unfortunately :-(

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

I think that had more to do with the perceived value of the car.

When your '70s Oldsmobile broke down, you fixed it. When your '70s Corolla broke down, well, it was a cheap car and therefore disposable.



I think there's a risk for over-idealizing the early Japanese vehicles just as much as some of us might over-idealize the big boats.

Let's face it... Japanese vehicles WERE wretched steaming piles up until the 80s. Even the best of the lot (the early Celica and Corollas) were pretty crummy and really not worth fixing when they broke. As for utterly un-maintainably bad, does anyone remember the first widely marketed FWD Japanese car OTHER than Hondas, the Datsun F10? OMG, what a heap! I test drove a brand new one circa 1978, and really kinda wondered if I was going to make it back to the dealer lot the way the transmission howled and groaned. I would, in all seriousness, equate it to the much later Yugo in terms of quality.

One of the most horrific vehicles I ever owned was a '79 Mazda B2000. The engine was bulletproof, but the rest of the truck disintegrated around it well before 100k miles. American cars were CLEARLY superior up until the very late 70s at least. Of course the other thing is that the very aggressive emissions laws that kicked in during the late 70's, NEEDED THOUGH THEY WERE, far outstripped the technology available and it really had to play catch-up. That made virtually all vehicles built between 1975 and (IMO and approximately) 1990 vastly inferior to vehicles built EITHER before then or afterward. That's why I've only owned 2 vehicles that were built in that period and got rid of them far faster than any vehicle before or after.



The best cars of the late 1970's were made in Japan. The Mustang II, K-cars, Pinto, Vega, Chevy Citation, Cadillac Cimmeron, on and on and on and on....were all junk, and these cars are the shame of each of us Americans because they were absolutely unreliable. These American cars I listed here are the RULE and NOT the EXCEPTION.

When you name terrible Japanese cars of that period, you are naming the EXCEPTIONS.

You conveniently fail to mention Honda cars. During the 70s and 80s Honda reliability was massively legendary. How come you don't mention that?


You can't find a 70's or 80's Honda up here because they rusted into oblivion. Same goes for pretty much all of the Japanese marques.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

I think that had more to do with the perceived value of the car.

When your '70s Oldsmobile broke down, you fixed it. When your '70s Corolla broke down, well, it was a cheap car and therefore disposable.



I think there's a risk for over-idealizing the early Japanese vehicles just as much as some of us might over-idealize the big boats.

Let's face it... Japanese vehicles WERE wretched steaming piles up until the 80s. Even the best of the lot (the early Celica and Corollas) were pretty crummy and really not worth fixing when they broke. As for utterly un-maintainably bad, does anyone remember the first widely marketed FWD Japanese car OTHER than Hondas, the Datsun F10? OMG, what a heap! I test drove a brand new one circa 1978, and really kinda wondered if I was going to make it back to the dealer lot the way the transmission howled and groaned. I would, in all seriousness, equate it to the much later Yugo in terms of quality.

One of the most horrific vehicles I ever owned was a '79 Mazda B2000. The engine was bulletproof, but the rest of the truck disintegrated around it well before 100k miles. American cars were CLEARLY superior up until the very late 70s at least. Of course the other thing is that the very aggressive emissions laws that kicked in during the late 70's, NEEDED THOUGH THEY WERE, far outstripped the technology available and it really had to play catch-up. That made virtually all vehicles built between 1975 and (IMO and approximately) 1990 vastly inferior to vehicles built EITHER before then or afterward. That's why I've only owned 2 vehicles that were built in that period and got rid of them far faster than any vehicle before or after.



The best cars of the late 1970's were made in Japan. The Mustang II, K-cars, Pinto, Vega, Chevy Citation, Cadillac Cimmeron, on and on and on and on....were all junk, and these cars are the shame of each of us Americans because they were absolutely unreliable. These American cars I listed here are the RULE and NOT the EXCEPTION.

When you name terrible Japanese cars of that period, you are naming the EXCEPTIONS.

You conveniently fail to mention Honda cars. During the 70s and 80s Honda reliability was massively legendary. How come you don't mention that?


Well, lets see, you picked "Exceptions" too!!

Now, back on topic.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Odd then how it seems mostly the larger cars from any given "classic" year seem to greatly outnumber the smaller ones left from the same year.

I think that had more to do with the perceived value of the car.

When your '70s Oldsmobile broke down, you fixed it. When your '70s Corolla broke down, well, it was a cheap car and therefore disposable.



I think there's a risk for over-idealizing the early Japanese vehicles just as much as some of us might over-idealize the big boats.

Let's face it... Japanese vehicles WERE wretched steaming piles up until the 80s. Even the best of the lot (the early Celica and Corollas) were pretty crummy and really not worth fixing when they broke. As for utterly un-maintainably bad, does anyone remember the first widely marketed FWD Japanese car OTHER than Hondas, the Datsun F10? OMG, what a heap! I test drove a brand new one circa 1978, and really kinda wondered if I was going to make it back to the dealer lot the way the transmission howled and groaned. I would, in all seriousness, equate it to the much later Yugo in terms of quality.

One of the most horrific vehicles I ever owned was a '79 Mazda B2000. The engine was bulletproof, but the rest of the truck disintegrated around it well before 100k miles. American cars were CLEARLY superior up until the very late 70s at least. Of course the other thing is that the very aggressive emissions laws that kicked in during the late 70's, NEEDED THOUGH THEY WERE, far outstripped the technology available and it really had to play catch-up. That made virtually all vehicles built between 1975 and (IMO and approximately) 1990 vastly inferior to vehicles built EITHER before then or afterward. That's why I've only owned 2 vehicles that were built in that period and got rid of them far faster than any vehicle before or after.



The best cars of the late 1970's were made in Japan. The Mustang II, K-cars, Pinto, Vega, Chevy Citation, Cadillac Cimmeron, on and on and on and on....were all junk, and these cars are the shame of each of us Americans because they were absolutely unreliable. These American cars I listed here are the RULE and NOT the EXCEPTION.

When you name terrible Japanese cars of that period, you are naming the EXCEPTIONS.

You conveniently fail to mention Honda cars. During the 70s and 80s Honda reliability was massively legendary. How come you don't mention that?


I'm going to play both sides of the fence here.

'70s Japanese cars were, for the most part, reliable. But more often than not, they were pretty unpleasant cars. Basic transportation.
There's really nothing to compare to a full-size American car in the '70s Japanese lineup. You can bring up the late '70s Datsun 810, but how many of those actually sold in the United States? I can only remember seeing one.

The Civic CVCC was basically the automotive version of the Step-thru Super Cub. It's efficient, reliable, and more fun than a hot tub full of Stepford wives. But on a long interstate trip all that little car sporty steering and nimbleness is lost. It's buzzy and twitchy. Like the Step-thru Super Cub, it was basic, efficient, and no fun on the interstate. Plus, it has a 3bbl carb. Nobody in the '70s knew what to do with a 3bbl. Might as well have called it a "nurbunkulator". I think more CVCCs were goofed up by "mechanics" with good intentions and little knowledge of how a 18:1 CVCC engine works.

The Toyota Celica-Supra offered a fair level of refinement. But it was overweight, underpowered (110hp inline 6), and costed nearly as much as a Camaro Z/28 350. Plus it wasn't availiable until the very late '70s. Forget the 2000GT. If you had a 2000GT in the US, you were probably Carroll Shelby.

The Mazda RX-2 and RX-3 would give BMW 2002 and Ford Autowerk Capri drivers fits around a roadcourse. And the interior was no worse than the level of interiors availiable in that level of German car. But few people were really up to the care and feeding of a Wankel rotary.

Subaru. Have you seen '70s Subarus? Mostly front-wheel drive, OHV horizontal opposed 4s with the spare tire sitting on top of them. Boring and ugly liquid cooled Type IIIs with the engine and transmission in the other end of the car.

The Z-cars were really a high point. They were almost like a bargain priced miniature 6cyl E-type. They weren't particularly well appointed and the dash will have a Grand Canyon sized crack shortly after purchase.

The Celica wasn't particularly good....and it didn't have to be. It didn't take much to be better than the Monza 4cyl or Mustang II 4 cyl.

The balance are British Leyland copy powered B210s, miniature Hemi and slant-4 Corollas, and Isuzus and Mitsubishis rebadged as Buicks and Plymouths. They were all efficient, most were fairly reliable, and boring and uncomfortable for a long trip.

Basic transportation. Doesn't really compare to a Grand Prix, Cordoba, or Cougar from the mid-'70s on a long trip. The average Japanese car was far better than the Chevette, Gremlin, and Pinto (again, Chrysler didn't even try) but that's not saying much. Once you get into the mid and full-size realm, dollar for dollar, American cars were still the best....in the US anyway. Sure, the W116 Mercedes Benz was a better car, but you could buy a Buick Century AND an Electra for the price of the big Benz.

And as good as the Japanese were at basic transportation in the '70s, I think the MKI Golf/Rabbit might have been better. It could cruise at freeway speeds. In fact, it was advertised that it could cruise at 90mph. It did 0-50 in 8-seconds which was better than a lot of V8 cars in the mid-'70s. It was affordable if you bought the stripped 3-door. About $3000. If you bought the 5-door you could carry 4 adults and a small child and the cargo area blows away about every sedan's trunk with the seats down. It did have seats cushioned with wood shavings that would stick through the vinyl and poke you and it was pretty spartan. You get a speedometer and a gas gauge. For a few dollars more you get a Sapphire AM/FM radio.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog

And as good as the Japanese were at basic transportation in the '70s, I think the MKI Golf/Rabbit might have been better. It could cruise at freeway speeds. In fact, it was advertised that it could cruise at 90mph. It did 0-50 in 8-seconds which was better than a lot of V8 cars in the mid-'70s. It was affordable if you bought the stripped 3-door. About $3000. If you bought the 5-door you could carry 4 adults and a small child and the cargo area blows away about every sedan's trunk with the seats down. It did have seats cushioned with wood shavings that would stick through the vinyl and poke you and it was pretty spartan. You get a speedometer and a gas gauge. For a few dollars more you get a Sapphire AM/FM radio.




Sounds lovely.

 

[Jarlaxle]

The Rabbit was orders of magnitude better than any contemporary Japanese car. The gassers would cruise all day at speeds well into the "licence revoked" range and still get 30MPG, the diesels wouldn't...but they'd run 60-65MPH and get 50+MPG doing it. (And, of course, the diesels will run FOREVER.)

My sister had an early Civic...the things I remember the most were the horriffic rust, and just how NOISY it was. It bordered on being painful above 60MPH...it rivaled even a canvas-top Jeep. Also, it was pretty reliable...but any time it DID need work, it seemed to cost three times as much as the same work on my Fairmont!

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
The Rabbit was orders of magnitude better than any contemporary Japanese car. The gassers would cruise all day at speeds well into the "licence revoked" range and still get 30MPG, the diesels wouldn't...but they'd run 60-65MPH and get 50+MPG doing it. (And, of course, the diesels will run FOREVER.)

My sister had an early Civic...the things I remember the most were the horriffic rust, and just how NOISY it was. It bordered on being painful above 60MPH...it rivaled even a canvas-top Jeep. Also, it was pretty reliable...but any time it DID need work, it seemed to cost three times as much as the same work on my Fairmont!


The $3000 basic stripper Rabbit would be about $13,000 in today's dollars. No A/C, no radio, no carpet, vinyl seats, heater and speedometer and fuel gauge.
I think our 5 door 1976 Rabbit was about $6000 with a rear defogger, automatic, and the Sapphire AM/FM radio. Radio, not stereo.

The national speed limit was 55mph and that car wanted to go faster than that. License revoked range indeed!

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

In the 70'S I barely remember seeing any Japanese cars in Miami or NYC...I was between both cities a lot..I remember seeing a sprinkling of Coronas floating around but that was about it.

After the mid 6O'S everyone in Miami wanted ice cold factory a/c and cars that could handle it without overheating when stopped in traffic..The most popular cars in the 70'S in Miami were the Ford LTD and Chevy Impala..But overall most cars were V8 fully loaded cars from Ford,General Motors and even Chrysler..They ran just fine..I did not see them breaking down on the side of the road like someone here is trying to say.

I did not see a lot 6 banger or 4 banger cars..The ones I did see seemed to die of heat stroke on I-95 or in gridlocked Miami Beach in the jungle heat..I will have to admit the Plymouth Duster and Dodge Dart [6 banger] did overall very good.

In Miami Beach on weekends [when there are no showers in the air] I see 70'S Caddies,Lincolns,Impalas,LTD'S and even 80'S Caprices riding around Collins Ave and Ocean Drive with their special antique plates..I do not see any 6 or 4 Banger cars from the 70'S there.

I thank addguy for posting this AWESOME thread and posting those AWESOME pictures..It is a shame this thread had go sideways for awhile because of one person..I guess when you have close to 40K members I should expect that to happen