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

[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.