The best selling car in America the year you graduated high school

The best-selling car in the United States in 1975 was the Oldsmobile Cutlass, with 324,610 sales. The Ford Granada was the second best-selling car, with 291,140 sales. The other top-selling cars in 1975 were:
  • Chevrolet Chevelle: 276,206 sales
  • Ford Pinto: 271,880 sales
  • Chevrolet Monte Carlo: 267,803 sales
  • Chevrolet Nova: 256,438 sales
  • Plymouth Valiant: Ranked seventh in 1975, down from second in 1974
 
The list doesn't go back far enough for me. I checked, and was surprised to find the new Buick Riviera was the best selling car in the U.S. the year I graduated high school.
That can't be right Shel, Buick never produced over 53K units in a model year from '63 up through '75.

Watch out for A.I. it's been lying to me; I was just looking for 100% corn bourbon and it sent me down an un-lit dead-end street.

- Arco
 
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1971 = Chrysler New Yorker. Over 1 million were sold in 1971.

Scott
Thats appears incorrect. There is a lot of bad "data" on the web. Need multiple reliable sources- or just ask Steve Magnante, lol.

Production numbers from ALLPAR:

Screenshot 2024-12-15 105703.webp
 
Graduated in ‘70, but moved to Lansing in ‘78 where Cutlasses were built and it seemed like everyone worked for Oldsmobile. There sure were a lot of them.
 
I find it amazing that pick up trucks top the list. It really goes to show how affluent society has become. Pick up trucks used to be for those that needed a pick up and they were basically tins cans void of creature comforts. Now they are popular for the tough "look" and dressed up extravagantly in looks and comfort.
Nothing wrong with that, I dont own one but I think many of them are awesome.
 
2009; so it was the Camry or f150 depending on how you consider sell.
 
View attachment 254238

1976. Great HS Year. Back when chicks started to dig me.
Pablo, you're a young'n.

I was the tallest in my graduating class - and was terrible at basketball - track was my thing.

Anyway, the 1971 Graduation Gods looked down favorably on me and blessed me to escort the two tallest girls in our graduating class. A friendly and pretty blonde named Kathie and a bold and sexy brunette named Sandy. Two girls on high school graduation night in California in 1971... Let your imagination run wild. :cool:

Scott
 
That can't be right Shel, Buick never produced over 53K units in a model year from '63 up through '75.

Watch out for A.I. it's been lying to me; I was just looking for 100% corn bourbon and it sent me down an un-lit dead-end street.

- Arco
Well, I was surprised by the Riviera being the most popular car, and looked further. I may have been fooled by the AI bug ... further investigation suggests that in '63 Buick produced 40,000 Rivieras, and without having looked deeply (yet) it's hard to believe that Ford or Chevy didn't sell more cars than that. I did come across this chart, however, which certainly suggests the Riviera was far from the most popular car in 1963:

1734284420550.webp
 
Fun article for a Sunday morning read and look back. Lots has changed in top selling vehicles, since many of us graduated high school.

When I was in high school, liked many cars. But a car that always caught my eye was a late 1970s Pontiac Grand Prix with t-tops.

Yearning for yesteryear.

1978 Olds Cutlass
1979 Olds Cutlass
1980 Olds Cutlass
1981 Olds Cutlass
1982 Ford Escort
1983 Olds Cutlass
1984 Chevy Cavalier
1985 Chevy Cavalier
1986 Chevy Celebrity
1987 Ford Escort
1988 Ford Escort
1989 Honda Accord
1990 Honda Accord
1991 Honda Accord
1992 Ford Taurus

Want to see the rest of the list, click on the article link.


https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g24403577/best-selling-car-annually/?
And to think Oldsmobile is long gone. I remember Taurus and Accord battling every year for the #1 spot. Ford was accused of dumping Tauruses to fleets and rental companies to pad their numbers. No fleets bought Hondas or Toyotas back then.
 
The 1974 post Vietnam war return of thousands of men had subsided by 1976 and any left over women had to settle for something.................. :unsure:
Girls my age, 17 and 16, they really didn't want much to do with the few vets in our area, the guys returning were mostly all headed to 24-25+ years old. Kinda icky.
 
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That can't be right Shel, Buick never produced over 53K units in a model year from '63 up through '75.

Watch out for A.I. it's been lying to me; I was just looking for 100% corn bourbon and it sent me down an un-lit dead-end street.

- Arco
I've been moving away from Google's AI-based answers and doing more searches wth Ducky (https://duckduckgo.com/)
 
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