Pick your favorite iconic car from any decade....

[malthumb]

I watched this auction yesterday...

 

[MonetBass]

Things like this are the reason that I'm am advocate for annual safety inspections. NY has them, and while there's parts of the regulations that I disagree with, overall it's a good thing.

I'm aware that many states don't mandate inspections and that scares me thinking about the unsafe junk that's rolling down the interstate at 70mph.

Oklahoma did away with inspections a couple of decades ago, and when they did, I groaned. There are so many junk POS cars on the road here that should not be. There's not much more disconcerting than following a vehicle on the highway with no working tail lights.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

@kesslari - I drove a 70's Caddy Fleetwood with a 500 engine in it for a short time in the 80's. The mileage should have been listed as GPM rather than MPG, and the steering and braking on that thing was a joke. But you're absolutely right about that huge back seat!

All nostalgia aside, I still love my '97 Civic hatch 5 speed that I drove to work today. It basically sits on the road compared to the taller vehicles all around it, and it won't outrun much on a straightaway, but it sure is fun to corner in!

 

[kesslari]

@kesslari - I drove a 70's Caddy Fleetwood with a 500 engine in it for a short time in the 80's. The mileage should have been listed as GPM rather than MPG, and the steering and braking on that thing was a joke. But you're absolutely right about that huge back seat!
All nostalgia aside, I still love my '97 Civic hatch 5 speed that I drove to work today. It basically sits on the road compared to the taller vehicles all around it, and it won't outrun much on a straightaway, but it sure is fun to corner in!

Sure is!
Back in the early 80's I had a Civic with the 5 speed. Just barely big enough to haul my bass gear. Seriously fun to drive. My drummer used to call me "Parnelli Jonathan"
Not this one but one very much like it.

 

[tubedude]

@kesslari - I drove a 70's Caddy Fleetwood with a 500 engine in it for a short time in the 80's. The mileage should have been listed as GPM rather than MPG, and the steering and braking on that thing was a joke. But you're absolutely right about that huge back seat!

All nostalgia aside, I still love my '97 Civic hatch 5 speed that I drove to work today. It basically sits on the road compared to the taller vehicles all around it, and it won't outrun much on a straightaway, but it sure is fun to corner in!

Dirt track!

 

[mikewalker]

...

It's incomprehensible to me why Ford ever decided to produce and market what is essentially a Mazda compact car with 4 cylinders and front wheel drive as a replacement for the truly iconic Mustang in the first place. What **** were they thinking?

Speaking of replacement Mustangs, I remember coming home one day (in the 70s) and finding a shiny new metallic brown Mustang II in our driveway! That car lasted there for a month, and was then summarily replaced with a shiny new metallic brown Chrysler Cordoba "with rich Corinthian leather"...

 

[Stewie26]

View attachment 4211603

I worked for a Buick-Opel dealership in the mid 70's and sold plenty of Opels. People called them "A poor man's Beamer" back then. Yep, they were a blast to drive. And the GT was refereed to as the mini-vette.

 

[René_Julien]

I worked for a Buick-Opel dealership in the mid 70's and sold plenty of Opels. People called them "A poor man's Beamer" back then. Yep, they were a blast to drive.
View attachment 4212522

I didn't knew Opels were sold in the US. Were these officially imported by GM? Or did dealers do grey imports?

 

[Stewie26]

I didn't knew Opels were sold in the US. Were these officially imported by GM? Or did dealers do grey imports?

Since Opel was owned by GM, they imported them and the Buick dealers were the dealerships that sold them. Over the years, I have owned three GT's. Just more recently I sold my pristine 73 GT with only 1300 original miles to a well known car collector who has a private museum. I regret now, but at the time I got an offer I could not refuse.

 

[René_Julien]

Since Opel was owned by GM, they imported them and the Buick dealers were the dealerships that sold them. Over the years, I have owned three GT's. Just more recently I sold my pristine 73 GT with only 1300 original miles to a car collector who has a private museum.
View attachment 4212529

Oh that looks so nice.

Yeah, I should have remembered.... I recall the GT was sorta popular stateside.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

 

[bluesblaster]

Don't know what this is....
View attachment 4211282

Kind of looks like the Ford version of Billy Gibbons "Cadzilla"

 

[mikewalker]

View attachment 4212533

 

[hbarcat]

Speaking of replacement Mustangs, I remember coming home one day (in the 70s) and finding a shiny new metallic brown Mustang II in our driveway! That car lasted there for a month, and was then summarily replaced with a shiny new metallic brown Chrysler Cordoba "with rich Corinthian leather"...

The Mustang II was built on the Pinto chassis. The base 2.3 L 4cyl engine produced 88 hp. The optional 5.0 L V-8 was 140 hp.

While commonly maligned today by a generation of automotive enthusiasts who are used to economy cars with 180 hp and muscle cars with 500 hp, the Mustang II debuted just in time for the gasoline shortages of the mid 70s. Over 1 million units were sold from 1974 - 1978.

It's been described as the right car at the right time.

 

[tubedude]

The Mustang II was built on the Pinto chassis. The base 2.3 L 4cyl engine produced 88 hp. The optional 5.0 L V-8 was 140 hp.

While commonly maligned today by a generation of automotive enthusiasts who are used to economy cars with 180 hp and muscle cars with 500 hp, the Mustang II debuted just in time for the gasoline shortages of the mid 70s. Over 1 million units were sold from 1974 - 1978.

It's been described as the right car at the right time.

Well ours was a POS! 4 months and the camshaft ate itself. Long story, but 2 cams, valvetrain, no car for weeks, slimy dealer, finally ditched, bought an ugly light green Maverick.

 

[René_Julien]

economy cars with 180 hp

as a european:

 

[tubedude]

as a european:

In Germany I had a little Opel that would go 128mph.

 

[René_Julien]

In Germany I had a little Opel that would go 128mph.

My first car was a nissan with a 2 liter normally aspirated diesel. Pre common-rail even.
Very slow to accelerate. I constantly had to floor it. It was dangerous in our belgian traffic because it was too slow for on-ramps and merging.
It did have a top speed of 190 kph (118mph)... eventually, long road, in fifth gear and give it a few minutes and it slowly got there.
I hated when I lost that momentum and had to do it all over again.

edit: it had 73 hp.... on paper

 

[Mike N]

@kesslari - I drove a 70's Caddy Fleetwood with a 500 engine in it for a short time in the 80's. The mileage should have been listed as GPM rather than MPG, and the steering and braking on that thing was a joke. But you're absolutely right about that huge back seat!

In stock trim that 500 cube engine in 70 and 71 churned out 425 horses and 550 ft/lbs of torque at 2800 rpm, and the engine was 100 lbs lighter than a 454 Chevy engine was.

We screwed one together for a 77 Blazer with 44" Super Swampers. Engine was .030" over, forged pistons, mildly ported heads, Edelbrock intake, roller rockers and a custom Mike N 800 cfm Quadrajet. On pump gas, thru the mufflers weighing nearly 8,000 lbs and standing 9' tall it ran 15 second quarter mile times. The engine peaked at 5,000 rpm but it tore your head off getting there.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Barges... Was just talking with an old friend. We'd go out and paint the town together. Took her dad's car, which she hated driving. So I drove, I didn't mind. It was big as a whale... You didn't turn corners in that thing, you floated around them.
Plenty of room in the backseat, too.
Good times.
View attachment 4212338

I can only imagine.................

Sure is!
Back in the early 80's I had a Civic with the 5 speed. Just barely big enough to haul my bass gear. Seriously fun to drive. My drummer used to call me "Parnelli Jonathan"
Not this one but one very much like it.
View attachment 4212499

Our family's first Honda was a 1975 Civic, like that, but in blue; my father bought it in '76. That's the car I learned to drive a stick in.

I didn't knew Opels were sold in the US. Were these officially imported by GM? Or did dealers do grey imports?

A friend of mine had an Opel GT in yellow. I remember one winter riding with his as he drove from Columbus to Cleveland, basically, sling like a rally driver up the freeway that had lots of icy patches.