70s cars

enjenjo · July 23, 2010, 06:26:17 PM

I was out driving today, and a 74 or so Malibu pulled up to the corner. Nice shape. It struck me that it was a pretty good looking car. I had kind of overlooked them when there were tons of them around, it took being scarce for me to notice it. I bet it would make a great cruiser.

Carnut · July 23, 2010, 06:46:33 PM

heh, heh, well, I ain't real artistically inclined, but 74 Malibus and Monte Carlos are pretty close to the bottom of my list of good looking cars of the 70's.

Monte Carlos up thru 72 are good looking to me.

Malibus 78 and later start looking good to me.

Guess I don't like the swoopy look and am more interested in square and boxy look in cars as well as pickups.

I really like Chevy Pickups in the 61-66 era and the 73-87 era because they are square trucks, the 67-72 are too sloopy or rounded for me. I was also put off by the 88 and later pickups because they got rounded again.

But then again beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

57larry · July 23, 2010, 07:08:14 PM

I got to put 1972 as the cut off date for everything

UGLY OLDS · July 23, 2010, 07:50:41 PM

I think as we get older & the cars we now see are getting more simular, anything we see that stands out as "different" catch's our eye & makes us "remember" ......
I drove my pick up to work today & was daydreaming what it would be like if I could by a brand new '89 truck ...

One of the guys I work with has spent the last 3 weeks looking for a certain model new Ford pickup.."Stripped"...( IE: NO options) .....
He cannot find one ........

Bob......

Carnut · July 23, 2010, 10:29:44 PM

Heh, heh, my pickup I brought brand new gets an antique tag next yr.

GPster · July 23, 2010, 10:30:09 PM

The longer they update body styles the less I like them. The simpler the style the more I like it. I like '55 Chevys but then they start to complicate the style on '56 and '57 and I loose interest. '57 Fords are nice but add 2 more headlight and the style looses any sense. I every once in a while will see a '62 to '66 Ford truck. I have liked them since they were new in SWB step side mode and I look at almost every one I see parked and even dream about shortening the frame and changing the bed to build one. I check under the front end and if it's twin-I-beam I walk away from a lost cause. '70 Monte Carlo are nice but then it starts to get lost and the last good looking Corvette they made was '57. I built a Model a coupe starting with a frame from under a farm wagon a cowl two doors and two quarter panels. After back surgery I didn't think I could drive it again so I sold it and bought a '37 Studebaker out of a barn. I worked on it for five years but it was so complicated that I lost the desire to finish it. My style (or lack of it) is not like any one else's. GPster

58Apache · July 24, 2010, 07:34:10 AM

While I don't like the general drive train, I really like the styling on the Corvettes of the 70's! Including and especially the 79's

The Chevy trucks are also pretty good looking.

The Mopars were still good looking into the mid-70's The 74 Charger SE was a very good looking car!

Mac · July 24, 2010, 01:54:53 PM

Quote from: "58Apache"
The Mopars were still good looking into the mid-70's The 74 Charger SE was a very good looking car!

Ha!
That exactly what my boy thought and it's what we dragged home for his project when he was 14. Frankly I don't see it; my taste run to the more curvacious styles.

57larry · July 24, 2010, 03:58:12 PM

Quote from: "58Apache"While I don't like the general drive train, I really like the styling on the Corvettes of the 70's! Including and especially the 79's

The Chevy trucks are also pretty good looking.

The Mopars were still good looking into the mid-70's The 74 Charger SE was a very good looking car!

I had a 81 Corvette back in the day. Happy when I bought it, happier when I sold it!

jaybee · July 25, 2010, 05:13:56 PM

I think another reason why we didn't look at those cars when they were newer is that the drivetrains were just awful compared to those available just a few years earlier. Engines that had their power cut in half in some cases, weights increasing rapidly, and nothing else really to add. Plus in some cases the necessity to make smog tests.

Things have changed now. Updated motors can easily be installed. Swap to a manual trans if you want. Suspension upgrades are easier than ever. Plus we didn't think of replacing headlights, building grills, new instrument panels and interiors. That was for street rods, not later cars. At the time I thought 78 and up GM A and G bodies were just awful, now I'd like to have one...rodded, of course.

n.c.rodder · July 25, 2010, 11:03:25 PM

Back in 1988 when I quit circle track racing & got back into street cars.....I bought a 79 Monte Carlo. It had some awful 260 C.I. V8. That got pulled & a 350 dropped in. Drove that car till 1990 when I got my first Street Rod. Ironically the guy I sold it to.....turned it into a race car!

Mike

Crosley.In.AZ · July 25, 2010, 11:07:45 PM

We had a 77 Monte Carlo... my wife loved that car... till I sold it

Later about 1995 we bought a 1983 Monte Carlo. Interior looked near new. Wore out the 305 , installed a 350 crate motor. Sold the monte to my brother in 2000. Now the Monte sits on 3 flat tyres

chimp koose · July 26, 2010, 12:57:05 AM

most of the cars I seem to like have round headlights.The ones I like usually have some kind of defining contour to the flanks,and were only made in that particular style for a few years.I think the cutoff for me would be around 72 ,74 latest for a car I would spend any real money and time on.

Carps · July 26, 2010, 03:08:04 AM

I often smile seeing my pals arrive at rod runs with the family loaded into a nice riding 'late model' that only a few years ago none of them would have peed on if it was on fire.