I had to break out my poison pen

[68BabyBlue]

Dang, that is slick!

My dad would shake his head in disbelief. He chose the Suburban for its utilitarian look, and as an anti-status symbol in the era. To my dismay as a kid, he refused to own any of the gorgeous forward look wagons, because he felt they were too gaudy and pretentious.

 

[F4R/T]

Makes me think of the YT video I stopped watching this morning when the guy narrating made the comment the Chrysler is the laughing stock of the auto world.. He then proceeds to comment on how GM design boss was out of town (1958) and another guy was in charge for a bit so he ran down the road to see what Chrysler was up to.. there he realized how the 59 GM design cars were compared to the new forward look cars... interesting video but the narrator needs a swift kick in the nuts and educated on something he knows nothing about. The chrome mobile was mentioned in regards to GM putting trim every where just to put it on there.

 

[murfman]

Dang, that is slick!

Built it for my daughter. Original flathead with a homemade adapter to a World Class T5 and an Explorer 8.8. Four wheel disc brakes and a GM HEI. Split manifolds and an Offenhauser dual carb intake.

 

[moparedtn]

Dang, that is slick!

Get that suspension fixed and a decent paint job and it sure would be!

 

[kiwigtx]

I'm writing in regards to Jeff Koch's Magnum Opus article in HMM #237

Maybe he is what his name says........

 

[1STMP]

1978. The beginning of the metal to
plastic transition. All manufacturers
we're scrambling for ways to meet
EPA'S gas mileage requirements
to lighten the load, and were more
or less forced into using lower
quality parts. Plastic replaced almost
every part in the dash, right down to
the ashtray. (remember those?)
Plastic parts composition those days
would see rapid deterioration due to
UV and heat. The worst I've witnessed
was a '81 vette with t-tops. The guage
bezels twisted so bad the needles
wouldn't move, the glovebox door
wouldn't close, the bottoms of the
cup holders were broken out.
Almost all American car
manufacturers sourced their plastic
parts from the same suppliers, the
quality, or lack thereof, affected them
all.

 

[Hey-O]

We had problems and so did all the others in the big three. In my opinion it was when we brought out the new truck redesigned for the 1994 model year that things kind of went sideways. The transmissions were junk and they knew it. Everyday I saw the warranty reports at work and it was sad. They were standing in line to get the new truck after basically 22 years without any major changes only to get burned with a shifting problem and if you were lucky you had one that was recalled, I love the two I had, but the transmissions got me too. The transmission problems were so widespread on these earlier Dodge Ram trucks that it gave them a bad reputation. Some buyers were hesitant of the brand for years after hearing horror stories from owners about how their transmissions had failed and were expensive to replace. We sold those trucks like there was no tomorrow. I know for a fact that like all car manufactures they hope the cars get resold, problems blamed on the previous owner or they just go to the grave and go away rather than a massive recall. Case in point, the lift gates on our early minivans, it was a huge PR problem that we grew through rather than fixed. I saw that one everyday for a long time.

 

[WileE]

Jeff Koch is a pencil-pushing idiot. I've read that dumbass' articles many times. Like many, especially younger guys, they've never experienced reality from the day and/or they only parrot what they've heard/read from others. But then again, outright biased writers have existed even back then, such as Joe Oldham who was nothing more than a GM shill.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Jeff Koch is a pencil-pushing idiot. I've read that dumbass' articles many times. Like many, especially younger guys, they've never experienced reality from the day and/or they only parrot what they've heard/read from others. But then again, outright biased writers have existed even back then, such as Joe Oldham who was nothing more than a GM shill.

I wrote professionally for a medical newspaper group for a short time after I got out of Penn State. What we're seeing here is use of "tertiary sources," a trade expression for third hand information. It takes a lot of time and effort to talk to "primary sources," such as the guys who built the cars, worked on them, or managed production. I used to use medical research summaries for background material, but I was expected to have interviews with actual doctors who were conducting the studies. Journalistic standards have declined in the last five decades.

 

[69L48Z27]

I just read it this morning and the writer was setting up the article to explain how the owner was meticulous and wanted everything perfect on the car while it was in warranty and then wrote about defects found in things like the K-frame and how it was missing a rear sway bar that the owner thought should have been there. This info came from the owner of the car. The article was far from trashing any brand or car. I mean, they had an article on a 78 Magnum. That in itself is a big deal I think. The publication is part of Hemmings, its Hemmings Muscle Machines, not Motor News.

 

[YY1]

It wasn't just Mopar, NO ONE in the mid 90's to mid 00's had a transmission that lasted more than 40K.

If it did, you were lucky.

 

[murfman]

1978. The beginning of the metal to
plastic transition. All manufacturers
we're scrambling for ways to meet
EPA'S gas mileage requirements
to lighten the load, and were more
or less forced into using lower
quality parts. Plastic replaced almost
every part in the dash, right down to
the ashtray. (remember those?)
Plastic parts composition those days
would see rapid deterioration due to
UV and heat. The worst I've witnessed
was a '81 vette with t-tops. The guage
bezels twisted so bad the needles
wouldn't move, the glovebox door
wouldn't close, the bottoms of the
cup holders were broken out.
Almost all American car
manufacturers sourced their plastic
parts from the same suppliers, the
quality, or lack thereof, affected them
all.

78 was far from the switch to plastic. Look at 66/67 Chargers compared to 68-70 cars. Plastic Grilles, more plastic on the dash and interior. Go back to 64 and my 300K had zero plastic on the dash.

 

[Tony Tee]

Hey thanks for sticking up for the 78 magnum! I like my triple black 78 magnum t-top 400 console 4-speed 9.25" 3:21 sure grip ps.pb.pw cruise control, power seat. a/c leather seat magnum project! And the 11 other mopars I own.

 

[1STMP]

78 was far from the switch to plastic. Look at 66/67 Chargers compared to 68-70 cars. Plastic Grilles, more plastic on the dash and interior. Go back to 64 and my 300K had zero plastic on the dash.

This is a quote:
"First enacted by Congress in 1975, the purpose of CAFE is to reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks. The CAFE standards are fleet-wide averages that must be achieved by each automaker for its car and truck fleet, each year, since 1978. When these standards are raised, automakers respond by creating a more fuel-efficient fleet, which improves our nation’s energy security and saves consumers money at the pump, while also reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."
The CAFE standards are what drove
the quality/longevity of vehicles way
below those built in the past.

 

[SteveSS]

But Mopars are so much better than other companies in Naming their vehicles and engines.

I noticed several mistakes in the last few HMMs. Mostly they are just dumb proofreading types of mistakes.

 

[Ron H]

There have been a few articles prompting me to write to one magazine or another when it became obvious the writer didn’t know squat about vehicles. Example is taking opinion and expressing it as fact such as “10 Muscle Cars that are Worthless.” First off, some of the subject vehicles were not or are not muscle cars, and 2nd, the details were shallow cuz that’s all the writer knows or too lazy to hunt them down. 3rd, the cute writing and obvious effort to increase the word count some editor wants for publication. Over used lingo? “Power is sent to the rear wheels…” via bullshit. Lol.

 

[CoronetDarter]

To get a different perspective, that same Magnum was featured in a couple prior issues of Mopar Action.
MA's slant was better written, with irrelevant humor thrown in.

 

[murfman]

This is a quote:
"First enacted by Congress in 1975, the purpose of CAFE is to reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks. The CAFE standards are fleet-wide averages that must be achieved by each automaker for its car and truck fleet, each year, since 1978. When these standards are raised, automakers respond by creating a more fuel-efficient fleet, which improves our nation’s energy security and saves consumers money at the pump, while also reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."
The CAFE standards are what drove
the quality/longevity of vehicles way
below those built in the past.

But that has nothing to do with all
The plastic used in domestic cars. The latest car I’ve owned with close to no Plastic was my 64 Chrysler. The armrest bases are the only plastic parts in the interior. And the tail light lenses and grille emblem were the only exterior pieces.

 

[WileE]

Must we argue over the pros and cons of plastic ?

 

[1STMP]

Must we argue over the pros and cons of plastic ? View attachment 1448084View attachment 1448085

No argument here.....
But there's no substitute for the
real thing.