Impact of the 1960s and 1970s

[snakeyes]

:eusa_think:bruz ,you are partial to your 74 RR ,I no I had one and it got totaled I miss it but I still have my 70 RR that I got when it was new ,that might be why I'm very partial to it and out of all of them there my favorite , just my opinion thought:grin:

 

[2059]

one can argue the position of "what you grew up with" as a determinate of "what should appeal to you" to infinity. The fact is; there is such a thing as "Timeless Design". It doesn't happen very often and it takes a certain talent to make it come to life through craftsmanship. For instance; Andy Whorl; can't stand him or the crap he passes as art. Michelangelo, timeless. I grew up during time of one and not the other. An extreme example to make a point. The cars of the late 70's, 80's, and early 90's lacked true design value by any standard. They were merely boxes, in which you get from point A to B. You will never see an old motor trend mag on an engineers/designers desk or bookcase from that period which is used for inspiration while working on "the next great design"... my $.02... peace,out...

 

[Budnicks]

You left out an important factor for why the old natural flow of things has been upset.
Smog Laws. It is no coincidence that no one wants to build a car from 1978 or 1982. To be forced to keep the crappy original equipment or try to get government to approve your upgrades is such a pain-in-the-neck that it prevents most people from bothering with it. This is very apparent in CA. A '75 car that is exempt is worth far more than the same thing from '76 that must be smogged. Here, there are laws that state if you are pulled over by a policeman and are found to be in purposeful violation of smog laws, they can crush your car. These laws were made to hinder the street racing crowd, but they apply equally well to others.

very well put....

 

[Dennis H]

I'll second "Timeless Design. 70'Cuda for example.

There is a story on the liberal youhoo right now that says Ford is spending more on future pensions than R+D. That could explain some of it.

 

[Budnicks]

everyone has different taste

I think your parents, your up bringing, your state, your weather & your location, even smog laws insurance & registration too, has hole lot to do with what you like or dislike too... I grew up in a drag racing family, that influenced me allot, my step father Bob was a Pontiac & Mopar guy... IMHFO personally I think almost any car from 1968 with very few exceptions, are just the cars & year to have.... Most anything after 1971 doesn't appeal to me "at all" {just my opinion, not that they aren't great cars}, except 4x4's & trucks mostly, until the new Vipers & then the new Prowlers, new Challengers came out, the new Mustangs/Shelby's are kind of growing on me too, I absolutely hate any Mustang from 1971-2003... I had my far share of early-mid 70's V-8 Vegas & Monzas, 60's-70's-80's-90's Camaro's & Firebirds, mid 70's-90's Trans Ams too... Mopar had almost nothing to offer in performance cars, or any style "at all" from like 75-94 or so, let alone any real racing parts {especially cylinder heads & camshafts} or decent looking cars in the mid 80's-mid 90's, especially the parts availabilities, with out paying an arm & a leg or a kings ransom for some rusty old worn out used up crap, some old fart thought was worth it's weight in GOLD... Some day I will build a mid 80's Charger like the old Ronnie Sox P/S for the street.... Not many cars after 1971 do anything for me... that's my $0.02 cents "Class of 1977 rules"...LOL... I think I was born a decade too late...

 

[tpodwdog]

people no longer have a love affair for their cars in todays world like we did when we were kids. the 60's and 70's cars had more personality and appeal than todays plastic. this is why we restore these cars and treat them like they are our own flesh and blood.

we are currently experiencing a 40 year "lag " with the cars we own now. in 40 years...i doubt there will even be cars like ours. right now , the cars that are purchased are "disposable units". over priced...plastic things on wheels.

each of our classic cars are working, running, driving museum pieces. and only we are the ones that see them in that light. kids today with their fart can hondas dont really have a clue what a real muscle car is. now a days you put a chip in your car for horse power. back in our day it was all manual, trial and error,,,learn from your mistakes kinda thing.....and thats the romance in it that we want to keep alive , but is sadly diminishing with time and the advent of newer and newer technology. cars aint fun like they used to be....its like being in your living room....if i wanted to be in my living room....guess what...ILL STAY IN MY LIVING ROOM. theres nothing on this planet that gives me more of a rush and a charge than stepping on the loud pedal and laying a strip of burnt rubber when someone is eye f*&king one of my cars. and heres the worse part....kids today dont know what a wrench is....they never seen one let alone know how to use it or know what its for.

i might have got a bit off track here ...sorry !:kermit:

 

[RustyRatRod]

You know, I just thought of this......when was the last time somebody wrote a hit song about a car? They just ain't inspirational anymore.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

i might have got a bit off track here ...sorry !:kermit:

I've gone off track many times.........Here's an off Track video... Then back to the thread........


[video=youtube;0zxxM9EYQzY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zxxM9EYQzY&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

[Richard Cranium]

not only do they look alot better,the older cars hold value much better.when is the last time you heard of a 90's plane jane car pulling any sort of money at all.i have seen $40,000 customs from the 80's that most people wont pay $10,000 for.if you had your choice,money wise,what would you build?

That's easy to say now, but there was a long stretch of time when muscle cars weren't worth squat. That being said,it seems that the only 80's car worth anything is the Buick Grand Nationals and the only 90's cars worth anyhting are Vipers, especially the 96 & 97 Blue/white GTS'.

 

[65Satellite273]

Well I'm 20 right now and my first car was a 1977 Chevrolet Impala. That had a more boxy body style but I liked it. Now at my house there's a 1950 Chevrolet Deluxe, a 1965 Plymouth Satellite, and a 1987 Chevrolet Camaro. I love the Chevy and Plymouth but I really don't care for the Camaro. It has NO style or "soul" whatsoever. The dashes in the older cars are intricate and well designed. The dash in the Camaro is just a wall of rubber and plastic. Bottom line is I like older cars and always have. To me they have more style and look and those looks started to fade around the 80's and haven't really come back. The only new cars I'd say I have an eye for are the recent Challengers, but then again they're modeled after the OLDER ones.

 

[YY1]

I remember really liking the 78/79 Magnums when they came out.

Looking back, from about 1988 on, I always thought they were off of the curve, size wise, compared to the contemporary GM and Ford products (even the 73-76 ones, in fact the 76-79 body almost looks like it was designed to compete with the 73 GM mid-size?). The Mirada corrected that, but here come those straight lines, even though I think it looks just as good if not better than an 81-87 grand prix, which ironically, to me looks like an interpretation of a 66 Coronet as a long hood/short deck.

 

[WP29440SE]

i think the 80's **** boxes were put together so sub-standard that in essence they became disposable cars. the 4 banger technology was still being sorted out and the big 3 were still trying to keep up with the import reliability and standards. the big *** luxury cars were all but gone in favor of compacts and sub-compacts. people just didnt replace engines in citations and cimmerons, they were junking them and buying new cars. kind of like a Bic lighter, when its done you toss it. i remember those 80's cars having short life spans and going to the crusher instead of being fixed. hell, ive even filled up and thrown away a few VW rabbits, 2.2 chargers , a couple citations, a couple cadillacs. i had my share , most were junk in the 80's. it was a 4 cylinder junk fest. ive noticed more 80's V8 cars still around more than any other 80's cars

 

[ga66mopar]

I have a 1993 mustang cobra that I bought new. Everytime I take it out I have people flagging me over trying to buy it. It has a little over 60,000 thousand miles and is completely original. I'm always amazed people know what it is since it was a one year only deal. I didn't plan on keeping it this long but I'm glad I did. It's probably that last new car I will buy. I wanted a Grand National real bad back in the eighties but $18,000 was a lot of money compared to $13,500 for a new 87 lx 5.0 mustang. I loved the 78-79 4 speed Trans ams. I had a 79 t/a 400 4 speed back in 1981 and I had a great time with that car. I also remember wanting a 1980 z28. I liked the air induction hood scoop. You could take a new 1979 Z28 4 speed install a set of LT1 heads a 327 350 horse cam, alum intake and headers and it was surprise a lot of people. But like it was said it wasn't all about speed. I guess we are all men of our times.

I hear the 1993 cobra R and 1995 cobra R are bringing big money.

I even like the starsky and hutch torino.
My problem is I like them all.

 

[sublimegtx]

I occasionally let my son take the gtx to a wednesday night tuner get together. Some of these "kids" have a lot of $$$ into their cars. A lot of motor swaps and turbo work. A few of them well over 500-600hp. Then there's the honda with a fart can cars. But when he comes rumbling in with the heavily cammed 440 with open exhaust and parks away from all the rest of them they all wander slowly (like trying not to be seen) over to check it out. There seems to be an unstated respect for the look and sound of classic power. They might not admit it but it seems to be there. Why, i'm not sure. Maybe they realize that our car is 45 years old and is still nicer (our opinion), or deep inside they know that if (big if) their car is around in 35-40 years that it won't be worth it's weight in scrap. I'm glad they like their hondas, mitsubishis, and bmws. If everyone of these "kids" with $30k and up into their cars bought old mopars there wouldn't be enough to go around.

 

[benno440]

also got to remember movies make the cars more popular, never saw many tuners until the fast and furious series, alot of people swa stangs as just another pony car but now everyone wants an eleanor, or a general lee and so forth

 

[roadrunnerman]

Another thing that hasn't been brought up yet is the working class society has change also IMO. In the 50's kids went cruising. In the 60's kids went cruising but had to work to put gas,parts sped items on their cars, became hippies then had kids but didn't want their kids to grow up like they did. Told them if you wanted to get ahead in life, you had to work for it(some of those kids still had their cars). In the 70's less and less kids went cruising. Then came the gas wars and the car makers coming out with more gas economy cars and less muscle cars. It was hard to pay for gas for a car that got 7-10 mpg. muscle cars got put on the back burner. Schools were pushing for more education and more technology advancements in education. The only reason the car makers are coming out with the cars they have now is because they what our generation to relive the days when we had fast cars and maybe inspire the now generation to experience the thrill like your parents did.

 

[MarPar]

Another thing that hasn't been brought up yet is the working class society has change also IMO. In the 50's kids went cruising. In the 60's kids went cruising but had to work to put gas,parts sped items on their cars, became hippies then had kids but didn't want their kids to grow up like they did. Told them if you wanted to get ahead in life, you had to work for it(some of those kids still had their cars). In the 70's less and less kids went cruising. Then came the gas wars and the car makers coming out with more gas economy cars and less muscle cars. It was hard to pay for gas for a car that got 7-10 mpg. muscle cars got put on the back burner. Schools were pushing for more education and more technology advancements in education. The only reason the car makers are coming out with the cars they have now is because they what our generation to relive the days when we had fast cars and maybe inspire the now generation to experience the thrill like your parents did.

Very well put Roger...:headbang:

 

[Moparsmitty]

A lot of us boomers were lucky enough to grow up in the late 50s, 60s ,and early 70s. We experienced firsthand a tremendous time for the American auto industry and the entire car culture. We look at the automobile differently than probably any other generation. A car from that era isn't just transportation, it's an extension of our own personalities and influences our entire lives. People call us car crazy, or car nuts and I agree with them. It's a label that I wear proudly. I sure as hell ain't going to change now!

 

[pabster]

They all look alike. Exactly. Cars now make me laugh my *** off. I see high end Benzes that cost $80K plus, and they look like Toyota Avalons. I can't get over how uniform cars have become due to making them more sleek, more aerodynamic. Gotta hand it to Cadillac, the cars they're putting out now look different. Like someone took a chef's knife and lopped chunks off the chassis. The older I get, the more I want to pursue buying cars that look as unique as possible, just to stand out in the sea of modern vehicles that all look just the same.

Back to the original post- not that I've ever owned any American cars from the 80s-90s, but build quality seemed pretty bad, and many of them age really badly. Whenever I see 80's Mustang 5.0s, they just look like cheap plastic boxes, no matter how good they've been cared for. Trying to think of any 80s-90s cars that really stand out... um... nothing coming to mind. I started driving in '90, and none of the new American cars at the time appealed to me... I always loved the 70's vehicles. That was where the 3rd gen Charger first caught my eye, it only took 20 years for me to get one!

 

[YY1]

Didn't the fox body mustang run from 79 to 92?

That a hell of a lot of cars that all look the same.

I do kinda like the early silver pace car ones.


I LOVE this commentary, even the few parts I disagree with-

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/10/curbside-classics-central-portal-to-all-of-them-here/