Worst Car Decade? I Vote '70s. | Page 3 | FerrariChat

Worst Car Decade? I Vote '70s.

Discussion in 'General Automotive Discussion' started by UroTrash, Feb 8, 2007.

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  1. Meister

    Meister F1 Veteran
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    From roughly 1972-1985 car makers had to rapidly adapt to new legislation and EPA restrictions mandated by people who knew next to nothing about emissions, CO2, HP...et al, or anything else....

    It was a sad time for car builders, but they did the best they could with the restrictions of the time.

    The knowledge gained in those times have led to the cars of today and despite the lack-luster performance years, in the overall picture we are better off today from the lessons learned in that era.
     
  2. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

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    Uhhh, what?

    Today is a golden age of cars and it just keeps getting better. 20 years ago, 250hp was a ton. Today you can buy Mercedes with turbocharged V12s making 600-some horsepower and 700-some torque. You think todays cars all look alike? Maybe if you are talking generic sedans but they looked alike in the 60's, 70's and 80's too. There have been tons of unique designs that have come out in the past 20 years. The Viper, PT Cruiser, Mini Cooper, SSR, Magnum, 500, new Mustang, and lots lots more.

    You think Lambos of today look like everything else? So youd say an LP640 looks like a Ferrari 599? They could not be more different. Then you have cars like the Z06, Viper, Ford GT, Mustang (the 500hp one), Saleen S7. Every one is unique. And that group looks nothing like the sedans of today. Back in the 60's and 70s most of the hot cars were hopped up versions of regular 4-seater sedans. Today we have purpose built sports cars like McLarens, Ferraris, Lambos, Koenigseggs, and tons more.

    Taking styling out of it for a moment, there have never been cars that are so reliable, so safe, and that have so much performance with such good warranties, such longevity and such good gas mileage. What we have today would be unheard of in the 60's or even the 90's. Nobody would believe it possible.

    Sorry, you're nuts if you think this is the worst age of the automobile, especially compared to the late 70's and early 80's.


    But it sure makes for a controversial soundbyte which I venture to guess was your goal all along.
     
  3. Webby

    Webby F1 Veteran

    Sep 12, 2004
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    +1 to Mike ;)
     
  4. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

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    Uhh, no. Today the 84 Corvette is a POS. What is "advanced" about it? The horrendous crossfire ignition? The abysmal 4+3 transmission? The leaf spring suspension? The LCD dash? yeah it looked cool but was hardly "advanced". It was no leap of technology at all. The chassis sucked and was as rigid as a wet noodle, reliablity was horrible, the car had low horsepower for a 350cid V8, and rode atrociously.

    It was a cool car - I love Corvettes, I have had tons of them. But to suggest that the 84 C4 was "very advanced, even for today" means you don't know Corvettes.

    And the new C6's are "basically the same" just fatter and faster? Jebus have you ever owned one or driven one? They are lighter, MUCH better engineered, and worthy of being real sports cars, unlike the C4 (especially when compared with modern cars).
     
  5. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

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    Umm, no. Without increasingly strict CAFE requirements, we'd still be stuck in the stone age. The gov't and capitalism is what has pushed us this far, this quick. It has nothing to do with miracle cars of the 80's. By today's stanards, Countaches and C4 Corvettes were terrible cars. They had tons of stupid problems that were the result of sloppy engineering. This was only fixed when the Japanese started to show us how good things CAN be, and US companies had to respond or lose their market.

    If by nothing much, you mean everything, then I agree. The new Corvette is a TOTALLY different car. Maybe you could tell us about what the new Vettes have in common with the 80's C4s? We'll start with 'nothing' and let you take it from there.

    ;)
     
  6. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #56 Wade, Jun 19, 2007
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    Yes, the 959 comes to mind as a breakthrough car.

    "The street version of the 959 debuted at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show as a 1986 model..."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_959
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  7. parkerfe

    parkerfe F1 World Champ

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    The 1890s were much worse IMHO...
     
  8. kompressor

    kompressor Formula Junior

    Nov 28, 2006
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    1975-1985 the worst of the worst

    also ill second the corvette comments, the new c6 has a magnesium engine cradle , hydro formed aluminum chassis and about 200 other amazing technological advancements not one thing is like an 84 corvette except the name. and I may as well point out that corvette is late to the game when it comes to hydroformed chassis as ferrari and honda with the nsx have been doing it for years, also the new solstace/sky platform even has the hydroformed aluminum chassis. ie the technology is trickling down and it is far superior in every way possible to older cars.

    the problem between 75-85 is that cars had less performance than previous years and less in the looks department things started to turn around in the late 80s and have progressed to where we are today.

    I also feel that this is a very exciting time to be alive when it comes to cars there is a lot of amazing stuff on the market power and performance levels are always being raised, and there are plenty of amazing and pretty cars to buy these days.

    the dumb suv buyer is currently to blame for any current problems with car design as companies cant make enough of them if everyone bought sports cars wed be much further along. though many cars currently made i still drool over the 430, the v8 vantage, the lambo's and many many others..
     
  9. kovachian

    kovachian Karting

    Jun 27, 2006
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    Yea, those 3 hp 1 cylinder buggies must've been a bear to live with! Sad thing is though, I'd bet my very life that those times were more exciting technology wise then the 1970s.
     
  10. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

    Feb 23, 2006
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    no

    too many cool cars in the 70's to be a bad decade

    Boxer-miura SV-countach-pantera-bora-montreal-930 turbo ecc....
     
  11. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Yeah, I know that these years cover the 308 model run. Sorry guys, even 308s were (and still are) subpar cars.

    Dale
     
  12. Simon

    Simon Moderator
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    How is the 308 a subpar car?

    Great chassis, sweet V8 with 250HP and one of the prettiest bodies ever!

    Just cos you guys in the states were forced to live with awful smog regulated cars stangled to within an inch of their lives doesn't mean the 70's or 80's were bad for all of us. The late 70's and early 80's gave us Group B rally cars for the road. RS200, Metro 6R4, Lancia 037 or S4, Audi SWB Quattro :D Also cars such as Ferrari 288GTO, Porsche 930, 928, Lancia Integrales, Alfa GTV's, BMW 635 CSi and M1, Maser Indy and Khamsin
     
  13. tundraphile

    tundraphile F1 Veteran

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    2021-2030 might rival the 70's.
     
  14. James_Woods

    James_Woods F1 World Champ

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    Or, you might say - rival 1935 to 1945?
     
  15. Choptop

    Choptop F1 Rookie

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    2nd vote for the 40's.

    because of the war and The Great Depression just prior to the decade.

    The 41 Mercury and the 49 Ford are the stand outs in the production car arena. Even at that the 49 Ford ShoeBox cant be called a true beauty, it was just different than what Ford had been doing.

    Other than that most of the designs were bland at best. Most of the cars look pretty must the same. Engine design was basically frozen for more than 10 years, the Ford Flathead received a few tweaks for 49 but offered no real leaps forwards from the 1940 version. 3 speed trannies were the norm. A Columbia Overdirve meant that those that could afford the option could go 70mph although few would really want to give the performance of the tire and brakes.

    air conditioning was just a dream, 6 volt lighting systems offered just a glimmer of hope on dark roads, large diameter steering wheels were the only power assist most could afford and safety consisted of twin I-beam frame rails designed to transfer every ounce of crash energy to the driver.

    Just a few years prior to the start of the decade and lingering effects of The Great Depression had killed off nearly all of the American car makers that dared do anything different or offered high end luxury cars. What was left was bulbous family sedans targeted at the lower end of the market.
     
  16. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    Yeah, I thought this might get someone's blood going. But in my opinion (which I happen to like), any Porsche 911 from 1975 to 1985 tops any Ferrari 308 from the same period. Sad to say, but Ferrari was slow off the mark in adjusting to the US anti-fun rules. Cool looking cars, no doubt. But, I'd still buy a 911 over a 308. YMMV.

    Dale
     
  17. Tony K

    Tony K Formula 3

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    The 1940s were easily the worst decade for the automobile, largely thanks to the war.

    To call the 1970s the worst is to put too much emphasis on America and not on the rest of the world. We all felt the oil crisis, but emissions strangling was largely just North America.

    As others have already pointed out here, the 70s gave us many timeless classics, and many technologies that are the norm on cars today really came of age in the 70s. It's just that the majority of that came from Europe. This really helped the image in America of European cars being "sophisticated" and American cars being simple -- in the 1970s, they were!

    Here are some things that could be found on many European sports and performance cars in the 1970s that, with only a few lousy exceptions, could not be found on American cars in the same period:

    4-wheel disc brakes
    4-wheel independent suspension
    4 valves per cylinder
    aluminum blocks and heads
    5-speed transmission
    fuel injection
    safety cell/crumple zone body design
    mid-engined cars
    purposeful use of aerodynamics

    When Detroit finally did get around to doing these things, the didn't do it the best way they could; they did it the cheapest way they could. They did it just to say they had it. We got dinky little disc brakes, throttle body injection, spoilers and ground effects usually just for looks, some of the floppiest unibodies ever made, the Cosworth Vega disaster, etc.

    It's no wonder Americans think 1970s cars suck.
     
  18. James_Woods

    James_Woods F1 World Champ

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    +++!!! And with hardly an exception after 1974, they all did suck like a Hoover on 220AC.

    BUT, what do you think Chevrolet might have achieved if they had kept on developing the Corvair Corsa - including the integration of the Corvette disk brakes and fuel injection, adapting the obvious-by-then Euro rack & pinion steering, and somehow kept around the styling masters who did those 1960s GM cars like the Buick Riviera, the original Chevelle Malibu, or the Corvair itself?

    I submit that they could have beaten Porsche (& the 930 Turbo of 1975) to the draw; and had their revenge once and for all on our friend Ralph Nader.
     
  19. JCR

    JCR F1 Veteran
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    What? Civilian auto production ceased only from March 1942 to the Summer of 1945.

    Really? Neither Porsche nor Ferrari had 4V heads until the 1980s. Same with MB. The only BMW 4V was the M1 that began production in 1978.
     
  20. Craigy

    Craigy Formula 3

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    I wouldn't go as far to say that the 308's were subpar cars, but perhaps subpar Ferraris. Looking at a timeline, I would say that if you compared that timeframe to the ones before it and the ones after it, most would find the older and newer cars more appealing (for different reasons).

    Personally I would rather own and drive a 330, 275, or perhaps a Dino over a 308, Mondial or 512. And then on the other hand I'd rather be in a Testarossa, 348, or a 328. The Ferraris of that time are at the same time too old to be great performance cars and too young to really be considered classics. Of course I'd say that they are both classics and performance cars, but not enough of either compared to before and after. This perception will change with time, but to me they're perhaps the "oldest of the new Ferraris."

    That's nothing to get upset about, and they're still great cars which I would love to own.
     
  21. anunakki

    anunakki Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    I think it depends on what type of cars we are refering to.

    For me, the mid 70s to mid 80s are the best for exotics.

    The 60s are the best for American.
     
  22. Pcar928fan

    Pcar928fan Formula 3

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    As a 43 year old car fanatic, I would say '73 to '83. For us here in the good'ol US of A we got a BUNCH OF CRAP cars at that time.

    The 308 is gorgeous, the 928 was/is technically extreme, but all that said, it took till the mid '80's before car makers got the hang of the emissions and crash requirements down and started to build good, pretty, and high performance cars. I think have been seeing the SERIOUS fruits of all that work from the mid '90's and it has REALLY taken off since '00!

    The cars today are LIGHT YEARS ahead of anything that has come before. The only exception to that rule is really the McLaren F1 which is still ahead in a great many ways to any car currently produced.

    YMMV!
    James
    Austin, TX
     
  23. UroTrash

    UroTrash Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Dang! I started this thread and I just WILLINGLY bought a car from the '70's!
     
  24. Tony K

    Tony K Formula 3

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    What do you mean, "What?" I said the 40's were a crappy decade for cars, largely due to the war. That is kind of obvious -- not many classics, not many advances, not much to remember, and that was largely due to the war. Are you trying to debate that? I hope not, because by pointing out a cease in production, you are only bolstering my statement. Thanks. ;)


    Yes, really.

    1972 - Jensen Healey
    1973 - Dolly Sprint
    1974 - Elite/Eclat
    1976 - Esprit
    1976 - FIAT 131 Abarth
    1978 - M1

    . . . off the top of my head. I'm sure I'm missing a couple. Six cars from Europe, spanning almost the entire decade and totalling around 40,000 units . . . to one slow, miserable failure from Detroit, totalling a little over 3000 cars. So, uh, yes, really. Am I forgetting any other forgettable Detroit disasters?

    You are right -- Porsche, Ferrari, and Mercedes-Benz did not offer 4V heads on roadgoing cars in the 70s -- very good! :)
     
  25. senna21

    senna21 F1 Rookie

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    You forgot Pantera.
     

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