What the hell happend in the mid-late 70s?

[Bones68charger]

We all know what happend to the Muscle car back in the early 70s, but what happend with cars in the late 70s in general. Now the Trans Ams were cool, but look at every thing else. Ugly! Even in the grand ma cars of the 50s 60s were good looking or atleast in my opinion. The mid to late 70s where crap!

If they could not make them fast, they could have atleast made them good looking!

My 2 cents

[nh_mopar_fan]

I like the look of the Mirada and all the Aspen/Volare models.

[mikepmcs]

I think this one looks pretty good.  Courtesy of Big Kahuna

[Chris G.]

It got even worse in the 80's...



But it's getting better as time prevails. 



What's next? ..........

[BrianShaughnessy]

Ever watch that '70's Show and everybody is sitting around in a circle getting messed up?   


There ya go.


Or it could have been the Disco music. 

[TruckDriver]

I used to own one of these. It looked just like this one.

[hemihead]

I liked the late 70's and even the 80's Mopars but you will never sell me one of those butt ugly Creeders! 

[JimsSE]

I guess it depends on your perspective...



Jim

[694spdRT]

My family had one of the 2.2 Chargers also. Dad bought it brand new in 1982 and it was our family car.

Here are some pics of it back in 1983 when we were going on vacation to Florida. That is my dad in the red and black jacket with mom, me and my sister. I still can't figure out how we all got in that thing plus a weeks worth of luggage. Nowadays you need a full size SUV to do that....I guess we just worked with what we had.

[bull]

Jimmy Carter is what happened. He started the smog regulations and the American car companies got a haymaker upside the head. Yes, Jimmy killed the muscle car. That's when itty-bitty Japanese cars took over the market because of the supposed gas shortage. That's when Hemi Charger Daytonas began selling for $2k. That's when Chevy began producing Corvettes with 160 hp because they were too choked down to run. That's when Chrysler almost went bankrupt and IH stopped producing Scouts and Travelalls because they didn't build any rice-burners to up their company's average mpg. That's when the phony smog pump was created to effectively fool government testing equipment by pumping air into the exhaust manifolds. And that was pretty much the last time anyone produced a car that the average schmuck could work on. Maybe I should thank him for helping drive up the value of my Charger, or maybe I'll keep cussing him for helping drive up the prices of the well-used junk we call replacement parts? Nah, I give him too much credit. He is a dork though, I'll give him that.

[bull]

It got even worse in the 80's...



But it's getting better as time prevails. 



What's next? ..........

Better? I believe they call that devolution and the '06 is the missing link.

[hemihead]

Jimmy Carter is what happened. He started the smog regulations and the American car companies got a haymaker upside the head. Yes, Jimmy killed the muscle car. That's when itty-bitty Japanese cars took over the market because of the supposed gas shortage. That's when Hemi Charger Daytonas began selling for $2k. That's when Chevy began producing Corvettes with 160 hp because they were too choked down to run. That's when Chrysler almost went bankrupt and IH stopped producing Scouts and Travelalls because they didn't build any rice-burners to up their company's average mpg. That's when the phony smog pump was created to effectively fool government testing equipment by pumping air into the exhaust manifolds. And that was pretty much the last time anyone produced a car that the average schmuck could work on. Maybe I should thank him for helping drive up the value of my Charger, or maybe I'll keep cussing him for helping drive up the prices of the well-used junk we call replacement parts? Nah, I give him too much credit. He is a dork though, I'll give him that.

You can't blame Carter for that. Try going back to the Fuel Embargo of 1973.That would have been Nixon.As far as Mopar almost going bankrupt,what were all you Mopar lovers buying?Probably drooling over Camaros and Trans Ams.

[BrianShaughnessy]

Jimmy Carter is what happened. He started the smog regulations and the American car companies got a haymaker upside the head. Yes, Jimmy killed the muscle car. That's when itty-bitty Japanese cars took over the market because of the supposed gas shortage. That's when Hemi Charger Daytonas began selling for $2k. That's when Chevy began producing Corvettes with 160 hp because they were too choked down to run. That's when Chrysler almost went bankrupt and IH stopped producing Scouts and Travelalls because they didn't build any rice-burners to up their company's average mpg. That's when the phony smog pump was created to effectively fool government testing equipment by pumping air into the exhaust manifolds. And that was pretty much the last time anyone produced a car that the average schmuck could work on. Maybe I should thank him for helping drive up the value of my Charger, or maybe I'll keep cussing him for helping drive up the prices of the well-used junk we call replacement parts? Nah, I give him too much credit. He is a dork though, I'll give him that.

       


The EPA was created and the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970 (Nixon).  Catalytic converters first showed up on cars about 1975.   Smog pumps were on cars already in the late 60's. 
Insurance companies and the 1973 arab oil embargo effectively killed off what was left of the muscle car era together.   


   

[bull]

Ok fine, I'm talking out my a$$ regarding Carter. I knew I was giving him too much credit. But either way the end of the muscle car era can be traced back to government regulations, and Carter's foreign policy in the Middle East drove the last nail in the coffin and dashed any hope of recovery when oil imports from Iran were stopped in November 1979 and caused Americans to burn 150,000 barrels of oil per day idling their cars in lines at the gas stations. American car makers got caught with their pants down and suffered for about 15 years because of it. I think Nixon's record speaks for itself but I'll start cussing him too now. Whether the emissions regulations really do that much to help, I don't know. If we were burning something clean other than gasoline (like ethanol) we wouldn't even need the regulations and added layers of government. It reminds me of the recycling kick we're supposed to be on now. Instead of putting that stuff in the trash we send out a second truck to follow the route of the first and pick up used paper, tin cans, glass and plastic -- and burn twice as much fuel doing it.

[Bones68charger]

Boy I really did not want to make this thread political, I was just saying that I think late 70s cars of ugly. I just recently saw a Charger that was post 1974 and I about wanted to puke.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Just recently?

Were you in the process of moving to a new cave or what?

[Bones68charger]

I live close to the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. If you ever want to know where every old car you have ever heard of is parked or driven just go there. They do not through away cars up there! That is where I saw this Charger. A friend of mine found a 68 Charger R/T up there and bought it from the guy. It turned out the guy did not own the car, so he had it for one day before the cops came and took it from him. That is not uncommon up here. There are literally fields of cars up there just sitting there, but there is no such thing as a title either.

[Orange_Crush]

Lots of things happened in the seventies that caused cars to become what they did  and the fault REALLY rests squarely on the shoulders of the car companies.

When emmissions and clean air regs started becoming the norm, car companies reaction was "we'll just take existing engies and put bad-aids on them."

When the japanese started making inroads by offering great fuel economy and decent quality, the American car companies laughed and said "Americans won't drive economy cars."

When the oil embargo hit and Japanese cars took off, the US companies' response was the Pinto and the Vega which were SERIOUSLY outclassed.

When insurance rates went up, they took existing cars and de-emphasized performance and emphasized "personal luxury" with velour seats, landau tops, wire hubcaps, and super-smogged engines which barely made enough power to run a lawn tractor (remember the 500 CID '75 ElDorado which put out all of 190 horsepower?).

[694spdRT]

When insurance rates went up, they took existing cars and de-emphasized performance and emphasized "personal luxury" with velour seats, landau tops, wire hubcaps, and super-smogged engines which barely made enough power to run a lawn tractor (remember the 500 CID '75 ElDorado which put out all of 190 horsepower?).

Don't forget the exclusive "Corinthian" leather offered up by Chrysler. 

[Sublime/Sixpack]

We all know what happend to the Muscle car back in the early 70s, but what happend with cars in the late 70s in general. Now the Trans Ams were cool, but look at every thing else. Ugly! Even in the grand ma cars of the 50s 60s were good looking or atleast in my opinion. The mid to late 70s where crap!

If they could not make them fast, they could have atleast made them good looking!

My 2 cents

Ugly? For the most part I would have to agree. Most cars I remember from the late '70's were very unimpressive performance and style wise. But in all fairness there were a few that weren't too bad though. A few that come to mind (that I have actually owned) are a 1978 Chrysler New Yorker 2 dr hardtop, 1979 Trans Am, and 1980 Z28.
Pickins' were petty slim.
Of course other than the Viper, Corvette, Chrysler SRT8, there's not many current american cars that really interest me. I wish they'd get it right!

[73chgrSE]

Some Darts and Demons from mid seventies were cool, and fast.

[hemihead]

I liked just about everything Mopar made then( yes , even the 4th Gen Charger).I don't think personally that the Z28 and T/A were all that great looking.The Mustang II looked better.Hell, even the Granada looked better.Oh, don't forget that Chrysler offered the dodge Colt and Plymouth Arrow.They were made by Mitsubishi but not many people bought them.Why? people saw Dodge and Plymouth on them and thought they weren't " built as good as the Imports ".So much for that theory. The myth about quality still has everyone brainwashed.

[Orange_Crush]

I liked just about everything Mopar made then( yes , even the 4th Gen Charger).I don't think personally that the Z28 and T/A were all that great looking.The Mustang II looked better.Hell, even the Granada looked better.Oh, don't forget that Chrysler offered the dodge Colt and Plymouth Arrow.They were made by Mitsubishi but not many people bought them.Why? people saw Dodge and Plymouth on them and thought they weren't " built as good as the Imports ".So much for that theory. The myth about quality still has everyone brainwashed.

The myth about quality does have its roots in reality though.

The aforementioned Pinto and Vega are PERFECT examples (as well as the Chevette).  And let us NOT forget Chrysler's F-bodies, The Ford Granada (one of which my uncle threatened to drive through a dealership window because it was such a piece of crap), the Chevrolet...well...hell any of em...they all sucked.

The Colts actually sold pretty ell once they added the little "by Mitsubishi" badge to them.

[nh_mopar_fan]

When was the last time you saw a Japanese import made in the mid-late 70s?

Most of them were long done less than 10 years later.

Apparently, rust wasn't considered a "quality" issue.

[Brock Samson]

What appened in the mid-'70s?..

well,..
It started some years before, when the book unsafe at any speed came out, penned by a guy who had been tailed by G.M.s' spooks...
See, the corvair was one of a bunch of an american small cars,..
falcon, corvair, lancer/dart,.. metropolitan, lark,.. 
there were several horrible spectacular automobile race accidents plain in the public view...but they wasn't enuff by themselves, it took a new Department of the U.S. Federal goverment called D.O.T. perhaps you've heard of them?.. to publish death and accident stats. after every national hoilday...
There was a growning concern by concerned folk, mostly folk singers and comedians who felt the automobile was technological progress out of control.
In any case,.. what started with seatbelts and padded dashes led to ignition interlocks and bumper standards,.. a tale which basicly wags the dog even today as can be seen in a particular four-door sedan today...




                                 


Then there is this Orginaization known as OPEC... about 1972 they werre formed and drove up the price of gasoline using supply and demand manipulations.

So, what is the definition of progress any way?..

[Old Moparz]

I'm pretty sure Murphy's Law states that 90% of everything is crap. That should also summarize the automobile fairly well, but we're all too stupid to let the love of independent transportation go, & too blind to see the problems most of the time. As for quality in the 70's, we had cars that rotted in the showrooms like Vegas & Pintos, & one time the car of the year was a Volare. (Sorry, but that makes me laugh.) My mother had a '73 Impala that was just a rolling piece of junk, from the trim that fell off, to mechanical parts that simply didn't last.

Planned obsolescence was a way of doing business & almost put the automakers out of business.

[MichaelRW]

This was one of the better 70's car imho. For those of you that are too young to remember them when they were new and haven't had the "opportunity" to experience one - they ran like crap. When they were started when the engine was cold the exhaust smelled like rotten eggs (the early catalytic converters caused this), and when the engine was turned off they would sometimes continue to run for 20 or 30 seconds. This was called dieseling and it sounded like you were shaking a box of rocks. Ah yes, the good old days, not.

[Lightning]

well, I own a mopar from the mid '70's, a '77 LeBaron.  I know it's not a sexy as a Charger, but I love it.  I love it so much it's getting turned into a stock car since I don't need it for the street anymore, lol ($3 a gallon gas convinced me of that)

[ChargerBill]

The very first Earth Day took place in 1970 and the environmentalist movement gained momentum...that is what happened to the automobile, along with just about everything else. I personally believe in conservation, but environmental fanaticism has always been out of control. A major cause of higher prices in every industry including energy, transportation, manufacturing, etc.. is due to their voodoo science, unprovable theories and militant activism. The wacked greenies are a significant cause of the problems we face today regarding land usage, unreachable EPA and CAFE standards, animal protection leading to overpopulation, etc...

BTW: Nixon only caved in to the demands of the environmental movement...place the blame where it belongs...extreme left environmental ideals.

[Brock Samson]

  ..i think he's talking about the styling Bill. Their looks.. the five mile an hour bumpers 'n all that... greenpeace didnt do that it was the D.O.T., our Govt. responding to the insurance companys and the percived fragilities of our mighty beloved juggernautts in low speed traffic accidents...
If ya' wanna blame anyone blame consumer reports..

[hemihead]

Greenies = Hippies which turned into Yuppies which are now just old greedy hippies.

[Brock Samson]

no, i still hold it was the damn liberal media... 

[BigBlackDodge]

When was the last time you saw a Japanese import made in the mid-late 70s?

Most of them were long done less than 10 years later.

Apparently, rust wasn't considered a "quality" issue.

Very true.

I see '70's American cars running around town every day performing as daily drivers. Seldom do I see any Japanese car that old still on the road.........or even parked in a field.


BBD

[Orange_Crush]

When was the last time you saw a Japanese import made in the mid-late 70s?

Most of them were long done less than 10 years later.

Apparently, rust wasn't considered a "quality" issue.

Very true.

I see '70's American cars running around town every day performing as daily drivers. Seldom do I see any Japanese car that old still on the road.........or even parked in a field.


BBD

I see a lot of them.

Old civics, late '70s Accords, the original Preludes, LOOOOTS of corollas and more than a few old Datsuns (and not just 240/260/280s.

Sure, they were prone to rust, but when's the last time you saw a daily-driven, unrestored '70s car that didn't have some rust.

In any case, I'm not just talking about rust.  We can talk about cars lasting ten years 'till we're blue in the face, but lets look at what happened  before the car was sold the first time....but on top of that, lets also look at what happened when there WAS a problem.  What kind of treatment did people get when they took their car back for service?

Hell, you talk to anyone, and I mean ANYONE who owned an E-body new and they will ALL tell you that the cars suffered from HORRENDOUS quality problems.  Leaking widow gaskets, poor body panel fit, seatbacks that contantly broke, latches (glove box, etc) that wouldn't hold closed, electrical problems out the ass, etc. 

Believe me, I FIRMLY believe that American cars' quality issues are a thing of the past and the current "Japanese cars are better" sentiment is purely media-fueled...but lets face it...in the '70s and most of the eighties, American companies built absolutely dismal cars.

[Brock Samson]

yeah, let's face it people, after the second gen. it was all over... 

[hemihead]

Not Quite! 

[73chgrSE]

Any car can be made to go fast right? Some just look nicer doing it.

[Lowprofile]

When was the last time you saw a Japanese import made in the mid-late 70s?

Most of them were long done less than 10 years later.

Apparently, rust wasn't considered a "quality" issue.

Very true.

I see '70's American cars running around town every day performing as daily drivers. Seldom do I see any Japanese car that old still on the road.........or even parked in a field.


BBD

Most of them have been crushed,shreaded & melted into Tuna Cans, brillo pads, & New Accords. 

[Headrope]

Lots of things happened in the seventies that caused cars to become what they did  and the fault REALLY rests squarely on the shoulders of the car companies.

When emmissions and clean air regs started becoming the norm, car companies reaction was "we'll just take existing engies and put bad-aids on them."

When the japanese started making inroads by offering great fuel economy and decent quality, the American car companies laughed and said "Americans won't drive economy cars."

When the oil embargo hit and Japanese cars took off, the US companies' response was the Pinto and the Vega which were SERIOUSLY outclassed.

When insurance rates went up, they took existing cars and de-emphasized performance and emphasized "personal luxury" with velour seats, landau tops, wire hubcaps, and super-smogged engines which barely made enough power to run a lawn tractor (remember the 500 CID '75 ElDorado which put out all of 190 horsepower?).

I think the fault rests on the shoulders of those who bought the cars. Car companies only build what they think they can sell. When cars sell it just reinforces their decisions.

[Mike DC]

 
Detriot got caught with its pants down in the mid-1970s, and I think America was right to give them a few years' leeway to get back on their feet.

But ten years later, Detriot hadn't learned a damn thing.  They were still ignoring the public's demand for better-built cars and coasting on consumer brand loyalty left over from previous decades.