Fashion in the 70's Vehicles 70s

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Far Out and Funky: 12 Forgotten Cars of the 1970s That Are Worth Remembering

Tough times gave rise to some memorable, if non exactly vivid, cars.

Nosotros remember a lot of 1970s cars: the AMC Pacer, the Ford Mustang Two, and the Porsche 914, just to name a few with intriguing, if not always happy, stories. Simply those weren't the only significant cars of the 1970s, an era when hard times gave rise to a love of funky rides, many of which history has generally forgotten. Well, folks, information technology'due south time for u.s.a. to remind you: Here are a dozen forgotten 1970s cars that deserve a parking identify in our collective retentivity.

1970 AMC Hornet

American Motors, smallest of what used to exist known as the Big Four, fabricated some of the most memorable 1970s cars. Most of u.s.a. know the Pacer, Gremlin, Javelin, and peradventure even the Matador, but what about the Hornet? This funky-looking little sedan was, like many AMC products, alee of its time, a useful meaty that hitting the market place simply as America realized big cars were no longer where it's at. What set the Hornet autonomously from its crummier competitors was the car'due south stubborn penchant for reincarnation: The AMC Hornet would be gussied-upwardly and reborn equally the 1978 Hold, then mashed upwards with iv-bike-drive Jeep parts to make the AMC Eagle, itself the 25-years-besides-early forerunner of the modern crossover SUV.

1970 Ford Maverick

We're not certain why the Maverick hasn't gotten more love during the past four decades. This is the ultimate early 1970s car, a humble cheapie sedan, the 1970s equivalent of a Nissan Sentra, and yet look at that dandy styling! Considering everything deserved a fastback in the 1970s, even the cheap-ass car you lot bought because you lot couldn't beget anything meliorate. The Maverick was a reliable runner, and Consumer Reports even liked it more than than the Maverick's Japanese competitors. And withal somehow the car customs has all merely forgotten it. What a shame.

1971 Volkswagen 411/412

Stoked with the Protrude's success, along with that of the Bus and the Fastback, Volkswagen decided information technology was time to bring a luxury car to the U.S.—except VW's thought of a luxury automobile was a world away from that of boilerplate Americans'. Sure, the edgeless-nosed 411 was among the most modern of air-cooled Volkswagens, with the MacPherson-strut front suspension from the Super Beetle. Merely equipping information technology with standard-fit metal paint and wall-to-wall carpet was still not enough to transform information technology into a Cadillac competitor. Volkswagen was right most one American luxury expectation: the standard-fit automatic transmission. But as it was coupled to an 80-horsepower Volksboxer, the 411 couldn't muster the acceleration Americans expected from a luxury car—or from a ride-on mower, for that matter. Volkswagen gave up selling the Type 4 to Americans in 1974, and its adjacent try at a luxury car, the Phaeton, wouldn't fare much better 30 years later.

1972 Ford Torino

The Torino and its slightly nicer sibling, the Gran Torino, were Ford'due south intermediate cars, stalwart soldiers boldly doing boxing with GM's handsome mid-sizers. They played many roles, from sporty muscular coupe (as seen in the hit TV bear witness Starsky & Hutch) to wood-paneled family wagon to sensible-if-anonymous sedan. As its Italian name unsaid, the Torino brought style to the masses, combining sinewy 1960s curves with blocky 1970s-motorcar presence. The Torino as seen here was fabricated from 1972 until 1977, when it was unceremoniously replaced with the LTD 2 and its snooty upscale aspirations. Muscle-car versions of the Torino have attracted some collector interest, but the world at big seems to have forgotten how the Torino was a fixture of 1970s American-car life.

1973 Pontiac Astre

Everyone remembers the rolling disaster that was the Chevrolet Vega, merely few remember GM's beginning foray into badge-engineering the Pontiac-ized version. Every bit nosotros recounted in our history of the disastrous Vega, Pontiac was working on its own modest automobile, which (like Chevy's dwelling-grown smallster) was punted by the corporate-designed Vega—and if that wasn't bad plenty, the brand had a barely-bearded version forced on it in the form of the Pontiac Astre. GM had ironed out most of the Vega'south issues by 1973, but the Astre was likewise expensive and as well thinly disguised, and it was never a large seller.

1973 Oldsmobile Omega

Ever wonder why people didn't get as well upset about badge-technology products when the idea get-go reared its ugly caput? Because in the beginning, it wasn't always awful. Take the Omega, Oldsmobile'due south version of the common-as-houseflies Chevrolet Nova. It was pleasant enough, a solid and reliable 1970s motorcar, and differed enough from the Nova to hold its caput (lights) up high. The same tin be said for Buick'south version, the likewise-forgotten Apollo. In the 1970s, the horrific dark side of badge engineering was still in the future, though it would be realized presently enough at Oldsmobile when the Omega moved to the ill-blighted front-bicycle-bulldoze X-trunk platform.

1975 Ford Granada

Fashion-wise, the 1970s were a bit stuffy. Unless you were 1 of those radical Californians, you were still expected to wear a business adjust to work, though you might loosen things upwards a bit with shaggy hair (grown over the ears? You hippie!) or a wide tie. To usa, the Ford Granada reflects those fashions of the day—upright and formal and not entirely comfortable with itself. Ford advertisements compared the Granada to the Mercedes-Benz 280—first sparingly, then gratuitously—and while that seems laughable today, the 1970s public must take bought it, considering it bought a lot of Granadas. Ford sold well-nigh i.eight million examples between 1975 and 1980, and nosotros're not fifty-fifty counting the look-alike Mercury Monarch.

1975 Mercury Bobcat

Badge engineering was even so in its infancy in 1975 when Ford delivered a gussied-up Pinto in the form of the Mercury Bobcat. Ford's stylists made some try to differentiate the Bobcat's front end with a formal, upright grille and a boxier hood, but the dorsum end always makes us chuckle. To differentiate the Bobcat from the Pinto, Ford took an extra ready of Pinto taillights and glued the left one inboard of the right taillight and vice-versa, a move we're pretty sure fooled almost no 1. In fact, we know it didn't: From 1975 to 1980, Ford sold 1.3 million Pintos, while Mercury couldn't even move 225,000 Bobcats.

1977 Datsun 200SX

Most people recall Japanese automakers taking over the American marketplace in the 1980s, but not everyone realizes they had their share of stumbles with their ain 1970s cars. One of those was Datsun'south (now Nissan) alleged sports coupe, the 200SX, arguably one of the ugliest cars of the 1970s. At the time, the Japanese were known for economy cars and (to a lesser extent) for sports cars, simply the 200SX was neither—it was pokey and impuissant, and while Datsun touted the superior fuel economy of its B210, the 200SX had an obvious drinking problem. The few 200SXs Datsun managed to sell were soon consumed by rust, and before long the 200SX was forgotten similar a bad dream. Merely the failed 200SX did inspire Datsun to do ameliorate: information technology launched a new 200SX for 1980 that would get an oft-overlooked classic.

1978 Buick Century/Oldsmobile Cutlass Aeroback

America'south obsession with Europe was taking house agree in the tardily 1970s, so when GM downsized its intermediate models for 1978, it decided the cars needed a Euro-manner hatchback profile. The result of this wisdom was the 2- and four-door "Aeroback" body way applied to the Buick Century and Oldsmobile Cutlass. While Chevy and Pontiac intermediates got a traditional notchback sedan, GM didn't think Buick and Oldsmobile needed them. Wrong! The failure of these most-hatchbacks took GM by surprise, and it took the company ii years to get a proper sedan into production. How much did the 1970s car-buying public hate the Aerobacks? Between 1978 and 1979, Buick sold fewer than 48,000 Century fastbacks. When the sedan arrived in 1980, Buick sold 130,000.

1978 Ford Fairmont

Some other sign of America'south budding Euro obsession was the Ford's Granada replacement, the Fairmont, which took simplification to a new level. Stripped of all formal adornment, the Fairmont was a brown paper handbag of a sedan, simple and functional and honest, and a refreshing change from the oversized, over-chromed barges that constituted virtually of the Ford lineup throughout the 1970s. The two-door version, called Fairmont Futura, was actually kind of a absurd-looking car in an oddball manner. The Fairmont has been largely forgotten, but we all know the Fob platform on which it was based, which would go forward to underpin the Mustang for the next quarter-century.

1978 Contrivance Magnum

No, not that Dodge Magnum—this Dodge Magnum was Chrysler's attempt at a mod "personal luxury" car to accept on the sharply creased and abrupt-looking Ford Thunderbird of the late 1970s. If cipher else, y'all accept to dearest it for its articulate headlight covers, which flipped down when the lights were switched on (see them in action in this old moving picture). Ironically, the then-"new" Magnum was fabricated from rock-age parts. It was based on a mid-size platform first developed in the early on 1960s, and it was one of the last Chrysler passenger cars to offer a big-block engine, in this case the 400-cubic-inch (six.6-liter) outgrowth of the legendary 383. Chrysler was in dire straits with piffling money for advertising, and with fuel prices spiking, few people had involvement in an expansive, two-ton, V-8-powered coupe. The Magnum sold poorly, as did its as well-forgotten 1980s follow-on, the Dodge Mirada.

Memorable 1970s Cars

1970 AMC Hornet
1970 Ford Maverick
1971 Volkswagen 411/412
1972 Ford Torino
1973 Pontiac Astre
1973 Oldsmobile Omega
1975 Ford Granada
1975 Mercury Bobcat
1977 Datsun 200SX
1978 Buick Century/Oldsmobile Cutlass Aeroback
1978 Ford Fairmont
1978 Dodge Magnum