The Sorry State of Affairs in Automobilia in the 1970s, 80s and 90s

[formulanone]

If you mash the throttle, you'll typically get torque steer in powerful front-wheel drive car. Low-profile tires on modern cars also nudge the steering a bit if the road isn't perfectly flat.

I get it a tad on my 128-hp front-driver, but it's fairly gentle.

[Max Rockatansky]

If you mash the throttle, you'll typically get torque steer in powerful front-wheel drive car. Low-profile tires on modern cars also nudge the steering a bit if the road isn't perfectly flat.

I get it a tad on my 128-hp front-driver, but it's fairly gentle.

Speaking of mashing the throttle of a FWD car, see 3:12:

[Henry]

How about two for the price of one? As in two of Ford's earliest Fox-body applications.

Fairmont

Zephyr (aka the better-looking Mercury variant)

[Henry]

Perhaps the ultimate oddball from GM, or all of Detroit for that matter:

On a side note, I've always wondered why GM allowed the Riviera to be a RWD car from 1966 to '76, even though it rode on the same platform as the Toronado and Eldorado (which were both FWD)? At least they got it right in '79, when it was finally converted to FWD as well.

[Max Rockatansky]

The funny thing is that people were really so enamored with Dallas in the 1980s that it would have been a viable marketing ploy. 

I love the "losing cemeteries of customers line."    Funny to thing that the HT line was really the last engine family that was exclusive to Cadillac.  The Northstar Alllantes were a lot more impressive considering they had some pretty strong engines for the early 1990s.

I thought Kelly Bundy was a much better spokes person at 20:10:

Way to keep it classy Cadillac, put your car on THE definitive white trash show. 

It also might be just me....but man was Pininfarina overrated in my opinion.  That was always the hot thing for automotive styling back in the 1980s with the whole "Italian" thing.

[Henry]

Another GM oddball, this time the 1982-86 G-body Bonneville:

Yes, there was a time when the Bonneville was not Pontiac's flagship; back then, that honor fell to the Parisienne, which was just a dressed-up version of the humble Chevy Caprice. As the LeMans was no longer made, and the Grand Prix needed a sedan companion, the Bonneville filled that role rather nicely.

[PHLBOS]

Yes, there was a time when the Bonneville was not Pontiac's flagship; back then, that honor fell to the Parisienne, which was just a dressed-up version of the humble Chevy Caprice. As the LeMans was no longer made, and the Grand Prix needed a sedan companion, the Bonneville filled that role rather nicely.

That blunder on Pontiac's part was the result of:

1. Anticipation of future rising gas prices & stringent CAFE standards forcing production of full-size cars out of existence.  One needs to keep in mind that the original plans for all the RWD B & C bodies were to be replaced with smaller, FWD-based models for the 1983 model year.  Slapping the Bonneville badge onto what was the previous year's ('81) LeMans (A, then later G-body) was a way of gradually weaning the public from the larger B-Body.  Nobody back then thought for a moment that the RWD B (Chevy & Buick) & C-body (Cadillac) platform would be produced through the '96 model year let alone have an aero makeover in the early 90s.

2.  Another attempt for GM to separate the product line-ups in their respective divisions.  The long-term plan was to only have product overlap w/all the divisions in its mid-size car line-ups.  The full-sizes were planned to be restricted to Oldsmobile, Buick & Cadillac.   Such was the main reason why Pontiac didn't receive a version of the FWD H-body until 1987 & why Chevy never received a version of such at all; police package variants of its full-size cars would've been offered on Buicks (LeSabre) & Oldsmobiles (Delta 88) en lieu of the Chevy Impala (Caprice from '86 onward).  With the above in place; Chevy & Pontiac would have been the only GM divisions selling small (compact, subcompact) cars.

Needless to say, the plan described in 2. never was fully carried out/executed and the Canadian market (that had their Pontiac Catalina/Bonneville named Laurentian/Parisienne) still wanted a full-size Pontiac for a new car at the time; models sold to markets outside the U.S. (including Canadian models) weren't required to meet CAFE standards.  Dressing up a Caprice as the '82-1/2 Parisienne was a low-cost effort to meet that demand.

[Stephane Dumas]

No more auto plants in Australia. Here what really killed the Aussie auto industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62xwizjP67M

[Max Rockatansky]

No more auto plants in Australia. Here what really killed the Aussie auto industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62xwizjP67M

That was actually a really well put together piece.  I miss when people would do serious automotive journalism here without using swear words five times in a sentence. 

[Max Rockatansky]

First gen MR2:

Too bad Toyota doesn't make these anymore, they were fun small light weight rear-engine cars.

[Henry]

First gen MR2...

Too bad Toyota doesn't make these anymore, they were fun small light weight rear-engine cars.

Agreed on that; it's also too bad that they don't make the Celica or Supra either. In fact, the closest thing to a sports car in today's lineup is the 86, although I've heard rumors of a possible Supra comeback.

[Max Rockatansky]

First gen MR2...

Too bad Toyota doesn't make these anymore, they were fun small light weight rear-engine cars.

Agreed on that; it's also too bad that they don't make the Celica or Supra either. In fact, the closest thing to a sports car in today's lineup is the 86, although I've heard rumors of a possible Supra comeback.

And I'm kind of surprised Toyota really went with the 86 after Scion went defunct, the brand hasn't exactly been known for making fun cars for awhile.  Really if they had a turbo option for the 86 and Subaru BRZ it would fill the niche that has been missing since the GM Kappa cars went defunct.

[TXtoNJ]

Even the heyday of the late 1960s it was hard to find even a 4,000 plus pound car out that crowd.  They were basically big metal bodies but there wasn't anything in them like you said...like air bags which probably drive most of the weight increases alone.

I wouldn't go that far.  The largest of the large vehicles (mostly luxury vehicles (Cadillacs, Buicks/Oldsmobile's C-bodies, Lincolns & Imperials) weighed over 4000 lbs. even during the early 60s.  The '59-'60 Cadillacs were even close to or over 5000 lbs. back then.

By the early 70s, most standard, full-size cars weighed over 4000 lbs.; and by the mid-70s, many of them were close to and even over 5000 lbs.

I was reading how much of the weight of cars in those days had to do with maintaining traction on bias-ply tires, and that the shift to radials, which didn't need as much weight to maintain cornering traction, in the mid-70s led to much of the weight (and cost) reduction. That's what's sort of fascinating about this thread - while many of these cars are pretty awful in retrospect, they represent the first attempts of large, lumbering bureaucracies to adapt to new ideas and technologies.

[Max Rockatansky]

Even the heyday of the late 1960s it was hard to find even a 4,000 plus pound car out that crowd.  They were basically big metal bodies but there wasn't anything in them like you said...like air bags which probably drive most of the weight increases alone.

I wouldn't go that far.  The largest of the large vehicles (mostly luxury vehicles (Cadillacs, Buicks/Oldsmobile's C-bodies, Lincolns & Imperials) weighed over 4000 lbs. even during the early 60s.  The '59-'60 Cadillacs were even close to or over 5000 lbs. back then.

By the early 70s, most standard, full-size cars weighed over 4000 lbs.; and by the mid-70s, many of them were close to and even over 5000 lbs.

I was reading how much of the weight of cars in those days had to do with maintaining traction on bias-ply tires, and that the shift to radials, which didn't need as much weight to maintain cornering traction, in the mid-70s led to much of the weight (and cost) reduction. That's what's sort of fascinating about this thread - while many of these cars are pretty awful in retrospect, they represent the first attempts of large, lumbering bureaucracies to adapt to new ideas and technologies.

That's kind of the really crappy thing was that it took regulation to drive innovation.  At least with some prospective regulation rollbacks it looks like the automakers are still looking to innovate today because of competition.  I'd say the door opening for Japanese competition during the emissions era which is really what was the driver behind the modernized cars we see today.


Speaking of Japanese Cars....1987 Corolla:

[Max Rockatansky]

Early SN95 Cobra, pretty good braking distance...not sure about the "Asian" looking spoiler. 

300D, never really the appeal of these....they seem to have a decent following:

[Max Rockatansky]

Stagea:

[Henry]

I can't believe no one mentioned this:

This 80s attempt at reviving one of the most revered nameplates in GM history may have been a great idea in theory, but it was too bad they put it on a copycat Japanese subcompact (although it's nice that they retrofitted the front for four headlights, which the original Nova never had) instead of a proper-sized compact (like what they'd get with the Corsica/Beretta twins). At least it led to the more plausible Prizm. And today's Regal is sort of a deja vu thing, compared to what is seen here.

[Takumi]

I love these judgmental car show videos.
https://youtu.be/1TAv0jFChQg
Also, I need to send them my TSX.

[Max Rockatansky]

Fancy pants Fox Body:

[Henry]

Most people forget that this was Cadillac's version of the 1970s X-body:

[PHLBOS]

Most people forget that this was Cadillac's version of the 1970s X-body:

The styling of that car would influence nearly all of GM's line-up in the subsequent years following its inaugural 1975 launch.

[Max Rockatansky]

Euro Fiesta:

[Max Rockatansky]

1983 Chrysler lineup; love to see the Rampage, Scamp, and Cordova:

1983 Ford Lineup:

[PHLBOS]

1983 Chrysler lineup; love to see the Rampage, Scamp, and Cordova:

That's Cordoba. 

1983 Ford Lineup:

The LTD Crown Victoria sedan shown is actually an '82 model.  The '83s grille featured wider eggcrate squares & looked less Oldsmobile-like.  The full-size Mercury wagon shown after it is also an '82 model (Marquis wagon).  From '83 onward, all full-size Mercury wagons were Colony Parks (with the simulated woodgrain on the sides & rear).

Got a chance to review the Ford video.  Not sure if the narration was actually from 1983 or not; but there's a few errors even for then:

1.  Although such might have been ultimately planned as a replacement for the Panther-based full-sizes years down the road; it was already well known prior to their introduction that the Fox-bodied LTD/Marquis would not replace them.  Both wound up replacing the Fox-bodied Granada & Cougar (non-XR-7) models that were only around for 2 years.

2.  1984 would not be the year that the Panther platform would be retired.  The platform would continue on (with a switch to sequential-port injection for 1986, a major restyle & engine change for 1992) in some fashion for 27 more years.  Granted, nobody back then thought the platform would survive beyond the mid-80s.  Not mentioned is the fact that the '83 full-size Panther-based Fords & Mercurys would receive throttle-body fuel injection for its now-standard 5.0L/302 V8.  This would replace the previous year's variable-venture carburation system (such was still on the 5.8L/351 engine that was only offered for Police Packages & Canadian-marketed models).  The smaller 4.2L/255 V8 engine was dropped for good; such was true for the entire line-up that had previously offered this engine.

3.  The 5.0L/302 V8 was still offered as an option on then-new aero-T-Bird & Cougar.  The narrator made no mention of such.

[Stephane Dumas]

Chrysler Australia had once a Hemi 6, a inline 6 265 ci with Hemi head used in Aussies Valiants and Chargers in the early 1970s. Too bad it didn't go under the hood of Dart/Valiant/Duster, Cuda/Challenger, Coronet/Satellite, Polara/Fury. That engine could had helped Chrysler to pass the 1st oil crisis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWmf3TKV-1M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAXcqLW2_zs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML50Vj7xwcw