- I miss the time when different brands were distinctive. You could tell a Ford from a Chevy at first glance. And it makes me sad to drive by a dealership & see 50 shades of gray.
- I don't miss it, but I fondly remember it. My dad had an Oldsmobile Delta 88, which was just fucking gigantic. That's the sort of car you could comfortably fuck in, LOL. But, I'd hate to drive it today. So cumbersome. And, you could see the 5 feet of nose ahead of you. LOL.
- So let's have some pix!
http://imganuncios.mitula.net/1976_buick_electra_225_96635412458081383.jpg
- They're a lot more fun to ride in than to drive. If you're in the back seat, it's a soft, comfortable ride. Well, I do miss V8 engines, but the turning radius in a land yacht makes it hard to handle.
- I miss the days when cars had cool, dangerous-sounding names. Like Mustang, Barracuda, Cougar, Maverick, Tempest, Fury, Nova etc.
In recent years cars have really gotten sissified, non-threatening names like Prius, Acura, Geo Metro, the various Kias etc.
SickEvilFuck
- Yes, very much miss the distigtive American cars. The were unique and they were charming. They were huge and comfortable. I am 40 and as a kid I was obsessed with cars. Now there's not much difference between a Honda or a Cadillac. The othe guy was right, you used to be able to tell an Olds from a Buick from a Mercury from a Chevy. Now many American car brands are forever gone, and the ones remaining copy the imports in the cycle of trying to keep up.
My dad had Cadillacs Mercurys Fords Buicks and there is nothing that compares to the distinctive styling Thea cars had. So yes, I miss the old American cars very much.
Olds%20Mobile
- [quote]I miss the days when cars had cool, dangerous-sounding names.
Mary!
- Your daddy still disapproves of you, R5.
- I just watched "The Conversation" from 1974 and thought the cars were ugly and all looked alike.
- Too many cars today have numbers or letters attached to them. The C series, the RX 350, the the G35, the CX3, the CRV, the X5, etc
So boring.
- Cars began losing their individuality in the 60s and 70s when the bean counters started getting more influence in the boardroom. All of the Big 3 were notorious for it. You could tell a Ford from a Chrysler or a GM, but the brands within were hard to differentiate. I think Motor Trend did an interesting article in the 70s claiming, and proving that there was not much difference between the Cadillac DeVille and the Chevy Caprice. And they were right.
And now you can't tell American cars from Japanese.
- I think Americans miss American cars that didn't run like ass.
- Not me. I thought the huge American land barges were ridiculous, and loved the zippy little cars I saw on my first trip to Europe in 83. Later the fad became huge ridiculous SUVs, which are still around, but I'm happy that small cars are more in fashion here now than before.
- All cars look the same these days. Boring.
Anon
- I can't believe how many cars ape the Lexus RX 300/330/350. It used to be a very distinctive looking car. Now every crossover looks just like it.
- If you are ever in Michigan you have to visit the Henry Ford Museum. Of course the original Model T but the most gorgeous cars from the 20's and 30's like a green Packard that is a piece of art.
- They were grand, but rather cheaply built, with many defects as part of the package. Still, they looked marvelous, like the carriages of royalty.
- American cars in the 70's were all crap.
Pacer and Pinto
- Putting looks & aesthetics aside, in workmanship and reliability, roughly 1975-1990 was the lowest point in America's automotive engineering. Anyone interested in cars should check out a car-satire book called "Automotive Atrocities." It's the most side-splitting, hilarious book ever written on the subject.
SickEvilFuck
- In the 1990s I knew a (young) guy who kept a restored fleet of ridiculously large 1970s American cars. He kept a half dozen in the city and that many more at a family house.
They were absurd then, even, when the car were only 20 or so years old - antiquated but not classic, not "antique", not yet quite old enough to be taken for cool or vintage, though maybe he was onto something well ahead of his time.
- No one here cares about your weird stereotypes of America, OP.
- I once took care of an older couples dog while they were gone for 3 weeks. I would go there early am and hang out with the dog for an hour and back later in the day. I stayed several hours in the evening. I had full access to the house, food, tv etc.because I was expected to stay for awhile.
He was a car collector. 15 cars, 1930's chev convertible. Old beautiful pink and black Packard. One of the huge old long pink Imperials etc. When they left he showed me where the keys were kept, on a peg board. "Drive whatever you want". I came and went each day with a different car. I was respectful of that and did not abuse and sure didn't want to wreak anything. Each day I did take a little cruise through town.
- I miss my '67 Chevy Impala with a 427 under the hood.
- R22, if they were older, that would make them at least, what, 80?
- Absolutely gorgeous!
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/lincoln/73linc/bilder/9.jpg
- beautiful land yacht
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/lincoln/73linc/bilder/12.jpg
- R25 r26
My favorite cars are 70's luxury cars, Lincoln's and Cadillacs. Beautiful.
- I loved my Grandpa's Chrysler Imperial. It was better than sitting in my parents' own living room.
http://i45.tinypic.com/34ljp.jpg
- R26 - I knew a lady who had a Lincoln like that in white - I thought it was the most luxurious car I'd ever sat it - MARY! I wouldn't want to own a big rear-wheel drive like that in the snow belt, though. I was ecstatic when my folks finally got a front-wheeler because it meant not getting stuck in 2 inches of snow.
I admit I like the look of today's cars much better than the old ones. I think the new Ford Fusion, for example, is a nice looking piece of metal. It's very European, which is what North American's apparently wanted, and it does look nice. At the same time, I'd love to see cars such as Lincoln stay 'American' looking. I really hate the new MKZ. You could probably slap a Buick badge on it and no one would know the difference. There have been some really good Lincoln concepts (and some Ford ones) that unfortunately will never make it, such as the 2002 Lincoln Continental Concept, or the Ford Interceptor Concept.
http://c745.r45.cf2.rackcdn.com/img/2009/2013_lincoln_MKZ.jpg
- 2002 Lincoln Continental Concept
http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Lincoln/2002-Lincoln-Continetal-DV-10-RMM-01.jpg
- Ford Interceptor Concept
http://www.diseno-art.com/images_2/Ford_Interceptor_concept_angle.jpg
- The Lincolns of the late 1970s I think are the most beautiful cars ever made. I wasn't old enough to drive until the next decade and the new cars of the 80s, sucked so badly. If I could find one of the late 70s Lincolns in mint condition, I would buy it. I wouldn't drive it because they are death traps today, but I would buy it and just sit in it.
Ford brought back the Mustang retro style, I wish they would bring back the Lincolns retro style too. The Lincoln brand exists today only as a Ford model upgrade option of cheaply made and assembled parts.
Lincoln is dead.
- My grandmother refused to ride in my grandfather's new 1966 Pontiac because the headlights were stacked on top of each other instead of side by side, and everyone knows that's dangerous.
http://www.ritzsite.nl/Pontiac66/Pontiac_Catalina_Ventura_Coupe_1966_red.jpg
- lol @ R33 - grandmothers always know best...
- The driver of R31:
http://www.ratewall.com/cpics/be88363d-82f7-4db7-a110-ef61c24d0502_moonraker_jaws.jpg
It%27s%20not%20just%20dogs%20%26%20their%20owners%20that%20look%20alike
- I'm not crazy for the massive size, though I do like the angularity of 1970s cars. Everything now looks like the same well-used bar of soap.
I also like some of the odd rear window forms, like this 1971 Buick Riviera (from the film Gattaca):
http://www.bluntgraffix.com/buick-riviera/buick-riviera-hollywood/1971-buick-riviera-gattaca.jpg
- Really, R35?
- I grew up with an old yellow Caddie that we called the boat. During an accident, the front hood flew up and folded OVER the roof ot the car, without breaking the windshield.
Damn I loved that car. Like having a tank. And boy could it hydroplane on the Dan Ryan expressway! Awesome!
Damn%20I%20miss%20that%20car%21
- It used to look so funny when you saw little old ladies driving those vast cars. Seat pulled right up to the wheel.
Loved the colors, like burgundy with matching velveteen seats. Great heavy doors.
The cars @ R25 and R26 are beauties. Vast with probably not a lot of room inside.
I think it was the fuel crisis of 1979 that accelerated their demise.
- We should keep the American car meme in the permanent DL archives. Let's keep bumping this until it reaches 600.
- Yes OP. Cars all look alike now. A guy in my neighborhood has a 1959 pink Cadillac I would love to have.
[quote]I think Americans miss American cars that didn't run like ass.
You don't much about those old cars. They ran great and were built to last.
http://m-and-m-on-cars.blogspot.com/2012/02/convertible-drop-top-drop-head-cabrio.html
- 70's Cadillac comfort
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/cadillac/73c2/bilder/4.jpg
- What about the rich Corinthian leather?
Ricardo%20Montalban
- My mother drove a green 1977 Monte Carlo for the longest time. She was a teacher at the time and had a long commute, so she traded that big body car for an '86 Izuzu I-mark.
- Sigh R42
R38%20
- for R43
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/mopar/77cordo/bilder/2.jpg
- I drove a 60 Cadillac this summer. It had been sitting for a couple of years, but it fired right up with a jump.
What was amazing was the air conditioner. It put out huge volumes of the coldest air I've ever felt. You could store meat in that thing with the air on.
- I grew up poor. My best friend in high school was wealthy and the family owned a car dealership. I didn't even know there were cars with air conditioning, electric windows, electric seat controls that made the seats all the way flat back in 1970. I felt like I was in a spaceship when I rode with them I'm the family car.
My mother's car supposedly had heat, but we never drove far enough for it to get warm, lol
- R48 - we had a teacher with an old Beetle that didn't have any heat. Or, rather, it had this tiny little heater that barely heated. I remember her driving around with these little holes scraped in the frost. It's a wonder she never hit anyone or anything.
- I went from a 1969 Jaguar XK-E coupe (worst car, ever but sexy to look at) to a 1977 Cadillac Seville, which I loved. It was black on black. You could actually watch the gas needle go down if you were driving uphill.
- [quote]I went from a 1969 Jaguar XK-E coupe (worst car, ever but sexy to look at)
If this is what you're talking about, yes...v. cool
http://good-wallpapers.com/pictures/11134/1024_Jaguar%20E-Type%20Coupe%201961-67.jpg
- Check out these Lincolns by Givenchy,Pucci, Cartier and Bill Blass. Perfect for arriving at Studio 54's door
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/lincoln/76lin/bilder/3.jpg
- This threads reminds me of a quote from the movie Sin City: "modern cars . . . they all look like electric shavers."
SickEvilFuck
- Do I miss those big gas guzzlers? YES! Man, at least back in the good old days cars had style of some kind. These tin cans today have zero style.
- The big aesthetic problem with all newer cars is that they're not necessarily ugly per se, but they all look identical - just a generic pod with four wheels. Nowadays there are no unique, mechanical characters that really stand out on the road.
Ideally, I wish someone would combine the reliability/technology/efficiency of today's cars with the gonzo physical style of older cars.
SickEvilFuck
- What is with the modern obsession with making rear windows smaller and smaller?
- My mother had a 1971 Tbird 4 door. Coolest car ever made!
- My mom had a Chevy Corvair. The backseat floor kept falling down. I could
see the road. My mom would say, "Just don't put your feet down!" it used to get the shakes. The steering wheel would start shimmying and the whole front of the car would do the hippy hippy shake.
My mom owned some real bombs.
My sister's bf owned a fantastic-looking turquoise Triumph.I loved to be seen in that car, but it rarely made it more than 4 or 5 blocks before nearly exploding. Cops would always try to help us fix it when it would break down -- they just loved looking over that Triumph because they couldnt believe how bad it was. We had to grab the joints and roaches out of the ashtray and stow them under the seat.
He sold it for a case of beer. Great-looking car, though
- Top of the line AMC Ambassador 1958 version
http://i45.tinypic.com/2roovhi.jpg
- This is what I drove to school and kegs my senior year in 1979. It was a boat, but did it impress!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/that_chrysler_guy/6368458975/
- If I had a place to store a classic car, I would be all over a really nice AMC Pacer. I think in another 10-20 years people will wake up and realize what classics those cars were.
(I'm talking about styling. I'm well aware they were pieces of shit to drive)
http://gomotors.net/pics/AMC/amc-pacer-wagon-02.jpg
- I like when people post links. This thread is useless without pics.
The pic @ R52 is other worldy.
Imagine driving off the lot in one of those things, brand new.
http://thatcarguy.typepad.com/.a/6a0105355ab3fc970b010536e189ba970b-pi
- I agree, R61, Pacers were cool looking.
- I don't really miss them because they put lead in the air and were so wasteful of fuel.
But I do miss the big V-8 engines that sped up so easily and the cushy soft feel, especially on long trips, sort of like floating on a marshmallow.
- I just remembered, those oval windows on Fords/Lincolns were called opera windows.
Speaking of windows, take a look at this Mercury. The rear window opened.
http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2008/11/23/05/23/1963_mercury_monterey-pic-62781.jpeg
- Mercury Cougars from the late 1960s and early 1970s had great forms, really distinctive front and rear ends and a great sloping rear window. They were angular and sleek without looking like a Kleenex box on wheels, and though they sometimes got up jacked up and tripped out with motorhead shit, they could just as easily make a bridge between conservative luxury and forward-looking sportiness.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nEcS7mTzh94/SmO7jj9ph3I/AAAAAAAADXA/qv0MzlKfgDM/s400/1967-mercury-cougar-ta.jpg
- My car looks just like every other new car on the road, and I can't afford the really distinctive new ones, but what amazes me is how far we've come with technology in the past 50 years. Check out this crash test between a 1959 Chevy and a 2009 Chevy.
http://youtu.be/joMK1WZjP7g
- R66, don't forget the rear sequential lights
- Interesting video, R67. I bet if you ask anyone whether or not today's vehicles are safer, or the old iron land yachts, most people would probably pick the old iron land yachts.
- Since this is DL...
1972. A week before my graduation from high school, Ron, David, and I were in the car that my father owned. A 1968 Buick that was enormous. What still amazes me is that you could park a car like that in those days. Today? LOL! You would take up probably two spaces. Anyway, I was the designated driver. We went to Staten Island to drink (the legal age was 18). On the way home to North Jersey, we ended up parked near a woods, getting high. Alcohol and pot and teen horniness. David joked about how big he was and Rond and I wanted to see what David was talking about. We all ended up in the back seat jacking and sucking.
I cannot imagine this happening in my Nissan Maxima. Those old cars were definitely made for sex.
- I haven't the slightest idea of what might be wrong if something does go wrong in my car. I take it to get the oil changed when it'sdyne due date and everything is fine.
When I read some of these "worst car I ever owned stories," I'm amazed at how many things people would fix themselves. Thermostats, gear shafts, belts, blocks, rods. It seems people were used to fixing their cars themselves. I've never even checked the oil in my car with a stick.
I've had my car (my first) for 7 years and haven't had problems except to get new tires.
- I find the 1964-1966 Imperials so handsome and so stately looking. The only reason I'd look at MAD MEN from time to time would be to see Don Draper in that obscenely gorgeous Imperial Crown Convertible:
http://fp.images.autos.msn.com/Media/580x348/4c/4cda0028424d4d639e947cf2c2df8968.jpg
- R61 AMC designed the Pacer with the passenger door a few inches longer than the driver door for easier access to the back seat for rear passengers. Not sure if you knew this fun fact.
- Both the Pacer and the Matador Coupe were a waste of AMC's limited resources, and played a big role in the company's fall.
- R71, when I had big American cars, I could do some of my own minor maintenance: changing the oil and oil filter, changing the air filter was a cinch, draining the radiator. I tried changing the air filter on a Mitsubishi Galant: it took me at least half an hour. I had to move all sorts of stuff out of the way just to get to the filter. It would have taken me about two minutes on an Oldsmobile.
- I always liked Kelly's little Mustang in Charlie's Angels...yellow with the two tone roof.
Why don't cars come in cool colors any more?
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DW53HK-AJ0j8
- If the AMC Matador never existed Pedro Almodovar would have had to invent it.
http://gomotors.net/pics/AMC/amc-matador-01.jpg
- My best friend had a powder blue Camaro sport coupe with a white roof and tan interior. It wasn't all that uncommon to get a different colored roof on a car in tne 70s. you could get racing stripes, too. Or pinstripes.
You can get racing stripes and a different colored roof on the Mini and the Mustang now, but are there other contemporary cars that come with those options?
- I agree about the 64-66 Imperials. Elegant luxury.
- My first car was a Lincoln just like in R52's post.
It was royal blue metallic and had royal blue metallic leather seats and shag carpeting. Also a Cartier clock. The back seat was huge, like a living room, perfect for sex. I loved hat car.
I%20know
- I love old American cars. I have a black '67 Mustang coupe. I can't bring myself to buy a Japanese car. It was a depressing sight driving past all the car dealerships today and not being able to tell which one sells American cars! Cadillac is the only one that still has a hint of American style in every model.
- In the 1960's, my grandparents had a gorgeous slab-sided four door Lincoln Continental with the suicide doors - light greeny/tan color with matching leather interior. I think it was a 1965 model. I barely remember it but do remember the car being enormous and all four of us grandkids could easily fit in the backseat. I also remember it having electric windows and we'd constantly run them up and down. I'd love to have a convertible version of that same car now. A classic beauty.
- So is this what all the Romney supporters talk about now?
- Look who's driving a 75 Mercury Cougar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofaCGy-wVV0
- I love that the little window in the back (@R84) is called an 'Opera Window'. Never heard that before.
- 1975 Cougar - where vinyl goes to die.
- At my first job, all the Italian girls wanted a black Trans Am. It was the Guidette Car of the Year.
http://www.nashnut.com/k08-kitt-83transam.jpg
- .
- I just love this car. So classy.
The AMC Matador Barcelona
http://images.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/amc-matador-barcelona-2.jpg
- I think the nadir of American car design occurred in the early 1980's when GM introducted the "J" car. It was the first platform to be used by all 5 divisions, including Cadillac. While the Chevy, Pontiac and Buick versions of this car sold well, the Olds version was the beginning of the end for Oldsmobile, and the Cadillac Cimarron is listed as one of the 50 worst cars of all time.
I also remember during that same period, Lincoln was still a very distinctive car, and its ads made fun of the sameness of the Buick Electra 225/Oldsmobile 98/Cadillac Sedan DeVille.
- Which car was the first Japanese luxury car?
- I would say the Toyota Cressida, R91. My uncle had one that was about an '85 model. I remember it was loaded with gadgets and goodies - it was pretty luxurious for the time. It was a really small car, though. I think the most significant, though, was the Lexus is400.
- Thanks r92, that's the answer I was trying to think of. My uncle had one around 1982, and yes it was small and boxy
- The other day I saw a 57 Desoto. It was spectacular. Yellow and white with fins that were halfway to the sky.
- This, right here is what I want to own:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A2KJkCA596ZQ91UA9CaJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=1957 chevy belair pink&fr=yfp-t-701&fr2=piv-web&tab=orga
- The correct link:
http://www.profimedia.si/picture/ice-pink-1957-chevrolet-bel-air-convertible/0030702678/
- Go fuck yourself with a spiked dildo, #83. ALL guys - gay or straight - love cars and engineering. It's a mental absolute of this gender, so get used to it you little sissy. SOMEONE has to be interested in car mechanics so your car can get from point A to point B.
SickEvilFuck
- Strange post R97. You could have made your point far more effectively without all the vitriol, don't you think?
To say all men love cars and engineering is ridiculous. Plenty of men, straight and gay, haven't the slightest interest in cars.
I remember some time ago there was a thread about telephones, I think and some guy posted that he was surprised that there was a thread on DL that sounded like a bunch of stereotypically boring straight guys.
- this one must have made a huge impact when it appeared in 1967
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/cadillac/eldo.html
- OP, when I went to London in 73, I couldn't believe how small the cars were.
Suburbs raised me. Loved driving along in gigantic early 70s land-yachts, big convertibles, sofa-like seats, power-steering with zero road feel you steer with one finger, 500 cu in engines, top down and careening along the FDR drive.
Englishman, you have no idea. They were great. I treasure the sense-memory.
Pontiac%27s%20Catalina%20%26%20Wildcat%20%26%20big%20ol%27%20Caddies
