Although late to the game, the 79 Mustang's new fox body was the beginning of the Mustangs comeback. I had to order my V8 and waited 6 months for it due to the gas issues and auto manufacturers having to make/sell so many 4cyl engine cars before making 8's. I put 278k miles on that car and drove to all 49 continental states and all of Canada.
I remember when my mom had to special order her 1978 Mustang Ghia. She insisted on a 302 V8 and did not want any sized engine smaller than that. It was a very nice looking car too. Black with half tan vinyl roof with sunroof. Tan interior, tan pin strip and also tan spoke hubcaps That car sure was a great little muscle car as that 302 was just a little too much for a compact car, only problem was the automatic transmission did not seem to hold up too well for some reason. I bet my mom had that transmission repaired at least 4 times. Then again, I was a teenager at the time and I may have not been any help with it either.
@@nazfan01 Yeah, mine was a 4spd stick. I only replaced it once in that time. At the 255k miles mark on a drive to Alaska from PA. It had a heavy-duty clutch that made my left calf larger than my right :-)
Nice list. The '70s were quite a time. Still remember parents checking the calendar so they could go put gas (went by last digit of license plate, odd or even numbers). Family car then was 78 AMC Concord, had velvet interior and woodgrain dash. Memories.
I was a mechanic in the middle of the 1970s and that was the best job in the world I got to work on all those cars do I miss those days and the opportunity to buy those cars back then were not cheap and that was when the dollar was worth something if I had the opportunity I would have bought all those cars I made a fortune selling them off in the future I never thought the value would go so high on some of these beauties
Excellent production! Remember folks, he's not talking about his favorites, or the most powerful, or the fastest, etc., but the most influential in the marketplace of that decade as well as future influence.
This is absolutely amazing. In the early 1980s if you had come down my street, you would have been able to find the house I lived in by those exact three cars sitting in our driveway.
the '76 Cadillac Seville was a game changer it showed that Americans would buy a smaller luxury car which led the way to the 1977 downsizing of GM which really was pulled off with excellent quality and design for the day.
Smokey and the Bandit was an icon but most people forget the red Trans Am Burt drove in "Hooper". Between the 2 movies there was no doubt that the Trans Am was popular in the late '70's!
While this video is great, I would argue the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was more influential than the Thunderbird as it consistently sold 400,000+ units per year and, in fact, was America's bestselling car in some years.
Yes I would pick Cutlass over Thunderbird too. Cutlass became the best selling car in America in 1976. 515,000 were sold. It was the first time a car other than a Chevy or a Ford was the best seller so that was pretty significant. In 77 Cutlass sales went up again to 632,000 but sales of the new for 77 Impala jumped to over 700,000 to beat Cutlass. When it was down sized for 78 - 80 sales dropped off considerably and then picked up again in the early 80's.
I agree the Cultlass Supreme was the car to own. Monte Carlos were second. Other than guys who turned wrenches, still made the most they could of sixty muscle cars and newer second gen Camaros and Firebirds. No one except a Charlie’s Angel would be caught dead in a Mustang ll. Imports such the 260 and 280 Z’s and Celicas GT’s were gaining traction with the younger generation.
I had a '68 Dodge Dart with the 'Bumblebee' motif; yellow with black trunk stripe 340 Carter 4bbl all stock, 2nd owner. What a awesome vehicle. Others included 70 & 71 Plymouth Dusters and (71 I think) Dodge Demon, all with the never-die 225 slant 6. Dad had a '69 Plymouth Satellite with that other great V8; the 318.
My aunt purchased a 1978 Thunderbird- it was pale green with Hunter green leather interior- she had it detailed once a week and put mop n glo on the seats - we always loved the slip n slide while riding with her - By 1984 the car was still showroom new except for 65000 miles on it - A deer ran out in front of her one night and she ended up taking Down a fence row - She wasn’t hurt , but the car was severely damaged - but still drivable - it drove like it did the day she bought it , it just looked like a crash car victim - Insurance totaled it - The 1985 Thunderbirds had just hit the showroom - We went and she purchased a black 1985 Thunderbird- loaded - digital dash , power seats , everything - After about a year , she started having problems - one after another - It ended up being nothing but trouble !
I wasn't aware they didn't have a catalytic converter. Honda was smart. They started simple but realized Americans love the options list. Sunroofs, comfortable seating, quiet, well controlled ride. They did just about everything well.
Randy Jackson Check out Kia and Hyundai the Koreans are on a roll much like the Japanese cars of the 80’s they enjoy a bit of a price advantage as well as excellent design .i switched from 25 years of Toyota to Kia.
Randy Jackson The times are changing Korean cars have excellent residual values according to JD powers Korean cars now enjoy the highest resale in there class. In fact according to JD Powers the top brands in customer satisfaction are genius Kia and Hyundai . 10 years ago you were spot on but times are changing
Randy Jackson On line debates are silly I respect your point of view but I have a different perspective. I had the pleasure of driving a Genesis G70 it more then holds its own again BMW, Audi , Benz, Lexus, infinity and and Acura its the better car. In years past people bought a Kia or a Hyundai only because it was cheap. They were not up to Japanese standards by the latest crop of Korean cars ( the Kia Stinger & G 70) are superb automobiles
My very first car was a 1976 Pontiac Trans Am - it was brown with a golden chicken on the hood. Plus a 455CID engine and a four speed manual transmission. It was awesome.
kd1s A friend had the same car. Always loved, how it was geared so high, that it would go down the highway, going blub, blub, blub. No strain on the engine, just a little above idle.
Wish I had my first car again. A 77 Trans Am. I had it until 89 when I was rear ended by a new driver in his mom's Daytona. I replaced my first Trans Am that was a Sterling silver car with a Y82 special edition. The memories of first driving the Trans Am was awesome. It rode nice and handled well. I had so much fun working on that first car and turning it into a real performance car capable of 60's era muscle car stats.
There were a lot of great cars in the '70's but this video picked the top 3. And while it may be hard to narrow it down to three I think they were good choices.
I always liked the styling of the Thunderbirds of the 1970s... the long hood, elegant front end and full-width tail lights always stood out. For sure mention should have been given to GM B-Body cars of the 1970s such as Chevrolet Caprice, which were some of the most durable and reliable cars of all time until production ended in 1996.
@@wadeguidry6675 I always wondered what Ricardo drove around the island with that little midget tattoo while driving around fantasy island in their Cordoba!.
I remember. My sister had a brand new 77 thunderbird stolen. They only found the rear part of car, shell. Everything else was gone. Man I really dig your videos.
Eduardo Palomo My girlfriends’s Mother bought a brand new 1977 Ford Thunderbird. It was gold in color. Her other car was a 1974 Mercury station wagon, that we took a month long trip in July 1976 out West. After returning home, some woman in Illinois rear ended it, totaled it. That was when my friend’s Mother decided to buy the 1977 Thunderbird. Sorry about your sister’s car. I’ve never had a car stolen, thank God.
As a kid of the 70's, the Thunderbird to me was ALWAYS those big land barges! The Trans Am was the coolest car you could buy. We all wanted a Screaming Chicken! Looking at the Accord, I long for a basic small car like that today. No frills, no electronics to break, and great gas mileage. I'd buy one.
I graduated from high school in 1979 so I remember the ‘70’s very well. When the ‘77 T-Bird first “spread its wings” in the fall of 1976, my buddies and I were BLOWN AWAY! We said THAT’S A T-BIRD?? I’ve always LOVED the looks of that car, and would take a nice clean one today in a heartbeat! Throw in also the 1977-79 Lincoln Mark V. A car which I think actually GREW in size instead of shrinking in overall length.
Yes, the 77 impala/caprice was the beginning of the box Chevy models. Much more important and significant than the Thunderbird. That body style lasted until the bubble model, which I think began in the early nineties.
While I tend to prefer the vehicles built during the early 1970's due to them having better powertrains, my favorite vehicles built from 1973 onward are the 1973-77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 1977-79 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, 1975-78 Mercury Marquis and the 1977-79 Buick Electra.
My parents had the Thunderbirds sister, the 1977 Mercury Cougar. It had an impression on the trunk lid that mimicked the one on the Mark V. It was squared off though. Beautiful car, but even with the 400 V-8 struggled to get out of it's own way. I would live to have that car today, but with its 26.5 gallon gas tank would cost a small fortune to fill up. In February 1979 my parents purchased the first four door car ever in our family. That car was a silver 1979 Honda Accord. The 4 door Accord and Prelude had just hit the market so if you acted real fast you could buy one off the lot like we did. About a week after the purchase the waiting list was six months long and the Honda appreciated about $2000.00. We were going in for gas crisis number two then. It was a 2 speed Hondamatic with dealer installed air conditioning. After I got used to having a car with 4 doors I really liked it. Back then I thought it was embarrassing to be seen in a car with 4 doors or a station wagon. Anyway with that transmission this car did not get great gas mileage. About 19 per gallon on the Highway. To compare. I had a Datsun 210 5 speed. I could drive from San Jose Ca to Lake Tahoe and back on one tank of gas. In the Honda it was one fill up to get there and one fill up to get home. Both cars had a 13.2 gallon gas tank. My cousin had a 2 door Accord Hatchback 5 Speed that got fantastic gas mileage. All in all they were all great cars that I wouldn't mind owning in 2019.
‘77-78 Lincoln Mark V. 7.5L 460, C6 trans, big bearing 9” rear, four wheel disc brakes, Designer Series editions, and 400 lbs lighter than the Mark IV. Last of the blue chip Full-size, or the last graduate of the old school. Wonderful cars. Also any GM full-size, and the ‘76 Honda Accord.
All pretty good choices. If I was going to add a fourth I would probably choose the Chevrolet/ GMC Suburban. Although the Suburban had been around in some form since 1935 the 1970s started to see the change from viewing the SUV as purely a utilitarian vehicle to more of an everyday commuter car. This was seen with cars like the Ford Bronco, the International Scout, the Jeep CJ's and of course the Suburban. All leading towards a trend that dominates the market to this very day. The 1970s Suburban; the rise of the SUV.
'77 GM Caprice/Impala, Bonneville/Parisienne, LeSabre/Electra/Park Ave, 88/98- in the end these were the HUGE money makers for GM. Ford? Fox & Panther chassis. Chrysler? K-car beginings & F,M,J bodies
My mom had a baby blue Aspen with t-tops, white vinyl interior and a V8. Loved that car. Unfortunately I was only around 10-12, so it was long gone by the time I was old enough to drive
Friend bought a 240Z new, it was a maintenance nightmare, needing stuff every few thousand miles, then needing same stuff again... he traded it for a 260Z which was much improved...
As a Brit. with a passion for Detroit muscle and a happy owner of several such cars over the years - I love this site, thank you so much for the regular downloads and best wishes for your future endeavours ( spelled correctly).
You cannot compare EPA mileage from different eras. The formulas used to compute the numbers are completely different. The 1976 Honda Civic would not rate 44 mpg today, it would be considerably lower.
I definitely had a feeling the Thunderbird was going to be in there. Those 1977-1978 models were a big hit. I'm surprised the Nova isn't listed as I've heard many people from that era say they'd see plenty of them all over the place. A few other cars I'd consider significant during the 70s after the original muscle car era include the 1976-1977 Eldorado convertible, boat tail Riviera, Olds Cutlas, and AMC Gremlin.
In 1976. my next door neighbor went to the local Ford dealer to buy a truck. He saw a new red ‘77 Thunderbird and was awestruck. My dad laughed and said he had never heard of anyone going to buy a truck and drive back a car. Lol 😂
Ah the 70's,the era in which I grew up in. I do remember the Trans Am. These were basically hot rods out of the box. A Corvette of the late 70's had a hard time keeping up with the T/A due the 400 ci V8 which a Corvette was never equipped with from GM. Your analysis of the Trans Am is just about on point. They were popular cars during my high school years so I remember them well. I do remember the Thunderbird as well especially the Lincoln Continental Mk lV style models of '72 -'76. They were nice but real gas hogs. I didn't care much for the Honda Accord at the time but I must admit the CVCC engine was revolutionary. I've been dealing with cars since the late 60's so I've worked on a number of the aforementioned models. Can you do a video of the Corvette. In spite of the idiosyncrasies between the Corvette and Trans Am, lets not forget its Americas sports car and a legend at that. Have a gr8 day.
'78 Lipstick Red Thunderbird, White Vinyl Top - 351 Windsor. Could peg the speedo needle BACK around to "0". A SMOOTH 120mph, even on expansion-jointed interstate.
The T-bird was more significant as a marketing gimmick than as a car. Ford was offering a car to people who couldn't afford a truly big, luxurious car like a Cadillac Fleetwood, that created the illusion of bigness in the form of a 7 foot hood that, being much longer than the V8 engine underneath it, contained a lot of air. Behind it was basically a mid-sized car. The '77 downsizing made this even more obvious by pulling the front wheels in about 6 inches, leaving the empty shell of a nose suspended in mid air. Noses that long had been obsolete since straight 8 cylinder engines went out of production in the early 1950s, but no one seemed to care, and it did provide a little extra crash protection, despite making every left-hand turn a major victory. The reason the sales volume picked up so much for 1977 was a huge price cut and decontenting, offering a once-prestigious badge on a dressed up LTD II (which itself was a dressed up Torino). It was a bad joke of a car at a firesale price, but they sold like a fake Rolexes.
PC No....mostly though, they sold because they weren't a Garbage Motors product, which have been absolute junk since the first one rolled off the assembly line way back when.....
I remember the Honda Accord and the Civic of this generation. Compared to today's Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, and Mitsubishis, I prefer those of the 1970s. I was too young to drive during the 1970s, since I was born in 1973. But I remember seeing these cars when I was a boy.
I’m a Mustang nut of more than 30 years, but let’s be real. The Boss 351 was only available for one year (1971), and the 429 was discontinued after ‘71, leaving the 351 HO as the only real performance Mustang for 1972’-73.
I knew people who bought the Honda CVCC, and they Loved them. Few, if any, problems, well made, great gas mileage. I looked at them myself and was impressed. Honda had a great car at that time.
My first car waa a 1971 pontiac Grand Prix SJ Model with a 455 hydromatic transmission. I buried the speedmotor 140 mph on I-70 coming in Colorado. Since then I've owned many nice luxury cars sports cars and suvs that Grand Prix is still my favorite car. Also owned several T-Birds my second favorite car was my 1978 Heritage Edition T-Bird it was hard loaded with every available option even the factory CB Radio LOLOL. Great video thank you for sharing
Ford Maverick and Maverick grabber. It even had brothers that were successful in the 70s in the Comet and Pinto! Even continued in Brazil for several more years.
The Old Man bought a new 1976 Civic for commuting. In 1979 he upgraded to a new Pontiac Grand Prix with T-tops. Still have both cars in the barn, the GP still runs, Honda has a cracked head. Both need work.😉
My favorite late 70s car is a 77 Pontiac Can Am. My favorite car of the entire 70s though is either a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner 440 Six Barrel/4 speed or a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda/4 speed
Several to choose from - but I can agree with your choices. The Firebird Trans Am (and Formula - which sometimes got the top motor as well without the Screaming Chicken decal and other add ons) was the only pony car that stayed true to its performance heritage throughout the 1970's. The T-Bird is a great example of all the different, popular styling changes of the 1970's. And the Civic - for me - was the first time Japanese econoboxes were taken really seriously. Thanks for this video. Enjoyable as always.
I had a 1977 Cadillac Coupe Deville and a 1979 Cadillac Sedan Deville. Both had a 7.0 liter 425 ci V8 with the four barrel Rochester Quadjet carburetor. They may not have had high horsepower, but they were torqued to be stump pullers. Very good off the line.
KoldingDenmark I have a friend who has a 1979 Cadillac Eldorado birattz has the 5.7 litre V8 and Bosch fuel injection. the Seville also had fuel injection when it came out in 1975. the Eldorado was used in the film Casino.
While I like the Thunderbird, the video states the T-bird had its highest selling year in 1978 with 352,751 built. If sales success indicates significance, other 70's 2 door personal luxury cars sold much better. The most amazing example was the 1977 Cutlass with 632,742 built. And even the 77 Monte Carlo outsold the T-bird with 411,038 built.
A good case can be made for the Accord, but a better one can be made for the Civic. It wasn't the first FWD compact ever made, but it was the first one that found success in the American market. Within a decade, almost everything on the road that wasn't a full-size family sedan was FWD. The Civic was nothing less than a revolution, and it also established Honda in the American market; without the Civic, the Accord may never have even happened. It's hard to overstate how important this car was, and continues to be. Here are my other two most significant vehicles of the '70s: 1) The downsized GM B-bodies, for one simple reason: they were IMMENSE sellers, and were produced basically unchanged for another 20 years. They also proved that car buyers would pop for smaller full size cars, which led to a massive wave of downsizing across the industry. And they were great cars to boot. This was a brilliant design that probably saved GM in the long run. 2) Full size pickups from Ford/GM. In the '60s, no one drove a truck who didn't have to. But in the early '70s, Ford and GM introduced pickups that were far nicer to drive, with more luxury features and equipment. By the end of the decade, it was commonplace to see people who didn't need pickups using them as daily transportation. That trend just kept picking up (pun intended) speed to the present day.
My parents were considering a Mustang II back in 1977 when I was in high school. Fortunately they test drove a Toyota Celica after they drove the Ford. They bought the Toyota.
@@manthony225 They eventually bought a Fairmont for a family car a few years later, but mom wanted a little sporty car for herself. She let me drive the Celica to school quite a bit though. :D
Came here to see if the Trans Am was one of the three, was not disappointed. I own an original ‘79 Special Edition just like the one at 3:01. It turns heads everywhere it goes.
The seventies Datsun 510 was a pretty cool car. Sure, the styling was plain and the interiors kinda cheap but... but a car then with overhead camshaft, independent suspension, and a 4 speed transmission was pretty advanced. This was particularly true in an economy car. A low buck BMW. A true sport sedan. By the way, the Trans Am was a great choice. Back when it was new, I saw a SD-455 at Orange County Raceway that other than slicks, looked bone stock including smog equipment. Had time slips in the low 12 second range.
There were two generations of the 510. I recall the earlier version carried over from the late sixties with the independent suspension and spectacular handling, and I remember a reskinned version with a live rigid axle, the latter introduced in '73 or '74. My US Government teacher in high school had one of the latter versions, and a couple of my buddies had the older. The earlier 510 must be considered to be significant for the sixties, but the one introduced in the early seventies was just another generic econobox.
The Oil crisis 70s was when fuel efficient Japanese imports really took the market by storm. I would say the Datsun 240Z and the Toyota Celica could also be considered very significant.
They were the last of the 2 door aggressive body style big block cars. Pontiac held the torch in very dark time's for muscle car's. And I'm a Ford Guy.
My first car was a 79Honda Accord 2dr 5speed. I bought it used nice car I have to say 6 cars after, this was the best most reliable car I ever owned. Just routine maintenance the only problem was some minor rust this car just kept going you couldn't kill it.☺☺
Honorable mentions: AMC Hornet. Introduced in 1970, this is the car that was the foundation for every single car the company built after, including the Eagle. It also spawned the Hornet Sportabout which was the only domestically produced compact wagon for a very long time. Triumph TR7: This was a radical departure for the time-honored company and a true contender for the cheap and cheerful performance car market. It is also the last car the company would produce. Such is the industry.
Jake; Actually, there was an exception: The Pacer, introduced in 1975, while sharing a lot of parts with other AMC models, was so unique that you can't really say it was based on the Hornet. I would not have been surprised to find it on a list of the most significant cars of the 70s as it originated the idea of the "cab forward" design that became standard in the car industry. It was also one of the first US built cars with standard electronic ignition and rack and pinion steering.
Wish I still had my 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo. Drove it during high school and five years of college. Waxed it often and kept it clean as a whistle. That car would fly!
Just to say...im from the UK and am a car veteran despite now owning a typical domestic appliance capable of over 60mpg...( I guess I swapped rpm for mpg?!) - however being born in the very early 80s and in UK i never had the fortune to live in USA with such ace muscle that I knew little about (other than a mate 7 year ago importing a 68 ford thunderbird which was my first and only taste...) I just wanted to say that I have learned a lot from this channel and the rich history of USA type cars.... so thank you for being easy to listen and understand such as I now can convert CC to CU easily and the difference between pony and muscle... many thanks and keep it going. Love learning and best wishes from the UK.
‘75 Buick Electra 225 sedan, bought for $150 because was too big and gas guzzler (455 4-bbl) almost perfect condition. Bought as an everyday car to not use my Tran-Am.
My Mom’s 1976 Delta 88 Oldsmobile was rad. It had the 455 Rocket engine in it. She ordered it straight from the factory. It was metallic blue with a white vinyl top. She drove it many years.
I grew up in the '70s great time to be a kid - Blizzards of '77-'78 , I drove to high school in a very nice '75 Camaro Type LT with a Moon Roof and one of my girlfriends had a red '79 Civic just like that one at 9:07 , $5.00 was good for a Quarter Tank in my Camaro ! .
I remember that blizzard. I was 12 at the time. Lived just north of Baltimore. My grandfather and I shoveled his driveway out and the snow was piled up higher than our heads on each side.
97MstngCobra Agreed! If I could afford it (I can’t) I would have Kounts Customs in Las Vegas build me a period correct looking 77 through 81 Black Bandit edition Trans Am! However, I would want it completely modern under the skin for reliability. Oh well, maybe if my book sells 1 million copies! Here’s hoping!
I agree 100% on the Pontiac Firebird / Trans Am, your points about the Thunderbird are valid but I say the Chevy Monte Carlo was even more significant in the personal luxury coupe market. I think THE most significant performance car of the 1970s was the Porsche 911 Turbo (930)
No reason to sell it. They're one of the most servicable cars ever, along with many other MoPars and other makes BEFORE 1973. I have a '71 Imperial Coupe and 2 '68 Furys. Amazingly bulletproof cars!
As long as you can get gas and batteries, those cars are the transportation answer in case of a real zombie apocalypse! 😂 You can keep them going with not much more then a screwdriver, a pliers and chewing gum! 👍
@@DaveGringo and bailing wire to hold the body panels and bumpers on once they started rusting away! Dad had a '77 Aspen that you could see through to the engine in 1979. He got rid of it in 1981 after the rear end shifted due to the mounts rusting away!
Makes me want to go out and find a 75 Cutlass.That's what I drove all throughout high school.2 dr colonnade ht.Bench seat column shift 350 4bbl.Full vinyl top.Sticky dash top and all.Good memories.
You forgot to mention the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the best selling personal luxury car of all time. I had a 1976 and it was EXCELLENT! Also you forgot to mention the new down sized full size 1977 Chevrolet full size cars: Caprice Classic, Impala, and Bel Air Sport Coupes, Sedans, and Station Wagons which was Motor Trend's 1977 Car Of The Year! Them and The Monte Carlos and Malibus were the best selling cars of all time! My Family, Friends, and Neighbors bought a lot of them and still do! Just like my 2015 Camaro which I own and drive now!
My sister and brother in law bought a 78 Caprice brand new,at 46,000 miles the engine was shot and had to be replaced. Chevrolet cars and trucks are way over rated.
@Randy Jackson Theirs was the 350 4bbl,I'm the one who diagnosed the engine and recommended a long block replacement which is what we did. I have never found the 350 lived up to the hype associated with it.
I owned a 1977 Buick Riviera, my friend owned a 1977 Toyota Corolla, despite the better gas mileage of the Corolla, for long trips the Buick was a AC comfort, soft quiet couch, compared to a hot, noisy wooden bench.
My first new car was a 1976 Mazda 808 2dr Coupe 4cyl. It was around $3,500. Fun to drive. Traded it in on a new 1979 Chevy Monza V6. To a 1982 Trans Am, 1983 Trans Am 25th Anniversary Daytona 500, 1986.5 Nissan Hardbody, 1989 IROC-Z, and a lot of others. Fair winds and following seas to all.
@@jeffmorse645 RIGHT I had completely forgotten the Diesel Rabbit! My brother in law had one and I used it many times. A turtle! Took time to start BUT Heck Was It fun to drive! I used to "swap cars" even for weeks. Since everyone liked my ´64 1/2 mustang I was fortunate enough to "test" many cars that way. The one I enjoyed like nothing else was a Renault 5 "le Car", its Suspension and Transmission were Awesome!
I recall it being a sales disappointment. My sister had one. The window cranks were made of plastic and used to snap off so often that she bought them by the dozen.
It was a time when I was a boy // teenager was the time I was in love with cars and lucky to drive all Early and late 70s cars loved it..my mom had some pretty cool cars at that time.
Yeah, me too... 77 to 90 with largely the same body style? I recently sold my 89 Caprice. It was fun to drive. Nobody under 40 had any idea what they were looking at!
Back in 1981 I purchased a pristine ‘78 Ford T-bird with the rare T-tops. It was white with white rear vinyl roof, red pin stripes. Interior was white leather upholstery, red carpet and red dash. It was powered by the Ford 351 engine. It was a very nice looking car. In 1983 I had the opportunity to trade it for one of a couple of ‘70 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbirds (the big winged NASCAR warriors) powered by Chrysler’s 440 magnum engines which were for sale on a couple of used car lots in the Orange County California area where I was living at the time. Not knowing that the $5,500 to $6,500 prices those Superbirds then had on them would soon shoot up toward the $100,000 mark, I passed ‘em both up, sold the T-bird to a friend and bought a ‘79 Plymouth Arrow mini pickup truck with a small economical 4-cylinder engine that was built by Mitsubishi. I loved the little ‘Plymouth’ truck, drove it for the next 5 years and put many miles on it, but have kicked myself over and over again for not having made the trade for one of those ‘70 Plymouth Superbirds! I had really wanted one but bought the little truck instead to ‘save money’ - only to end up LOSING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS by missing out on the wonderful investment those big-winged warriors turned out to be.
Just before my 25th birthday I bought a beautiful 78 Thunderbird Jubilee Edition. That was my favorite car to this day and I would still be driving it if it hadn't been T-boned by a red light Runner in 1993. I put an 8-track player in it and a beautiful 10 band booster equalizer for the audio system. Under the hood with a 6.6 L 400 cubic inch. It was two tone brown and gold tone.
Although late to the game, the 79 Mustang's new fox body was the beginning of the Mustangs comeback. I had to order my V8 and waited 6 months for it due to the gas issues and auto manufacturers having to make/sell so many 4cyl engine cars before making 8's. I put 278k miles on that car and drove to all 49 continental states and all of Canada.
I remember when my mom had to special order her 1978 Mustang Ghia. She insisted on a 302 V8 and did not want any sized engine smaller than that. It was a very nice looking car too. Black with half tan vinyl roof with sunroof. Tan interior, tan pin strip and also tan spoke hubcaps That car sure was a great little muscle car as that 302 was just a little too much for a compact car, only problem was the automatic transmission did not seem to hold up too well for some reason.
I bet my mom had that transmission repaired at least 4 times. Then again, I was a teenager at the time and I may have not been any help with it either.
@@nazfan01 Yeah, mine was a 4spd stick. I only replaced it once in that time. At the 255k miles mark on a drive to Alaska from PA. It had a heavy-duty clutch that made my left calf larger than my right :-)
@@nazfan01 Yep, good old Ford quality! lol
1978 Ford Fairmont would be my vote. They used that same platform on many models till the mid 90s.
If that car could float, I bet you would have sailed it to Hawaii as well 😎.
I owned a 1978 orange trans-am.
I still think of it everyday !!! Style and performance.
A friend of our family had a 76 cvcc and it was the first time I have ever heard of a car being totaled in a hail storm unheard of in the 1970s
I still drive a Trans Am.
You just made me go and check my local auction platform for a nice T/A.
Me too 79 black and gold
Bandit Trans Am.
@Nomad to each his own. Better looking than any camaro.
I own a 81 nascar edition a 1997 trans am and my 2002 ws6 with a six speed only 18 k miles.
Nice list. The '70s were quite a time. Still remember parents checking the calendar so they could go put gas (went by last digit of license plate, odd or even numbers). Family car then was 78 AMC Concord, had velvet interior and woodgrain dash. Memories.
I was a mechanic in the middle of the 1970s and that was the best job in the world I got to work on all those cars do I miss those days and the opportunity to buy those cars back then were not cheap and that was when the dollar was worth something if I had the opportunity I would have bought all those cars I made a fortune selling them off in the future I never thought the value would go so high on some of these beauties
Excellent production! Remember folks, he's not talking about his favorites, or the most powerful, or the fastest, etc., but the most influential in the marketplace of that decade as well as future influence.
As I remember it; Cultass and Monte Carlo’s were all the rage.
Monte Carlos never died.
This is absolutely amazing. In the early 1980s if you had come down my street, you would have been able to find the house I lived in by those exact three cars sitting in our driveway.
That is amazing...i had 76 trans am...my buddie had the t-bird(he was married).. my girlfriends bro had the cutless
the '76 Cadillac Seville was a game changer it showed that Americans would buy a smaller luxury car which led the way to the 1977 downsizing of GM which really was pulled off with excellent quality and design for the day.
The Trans am was great for sure but we all know why its sales were good and that's BURT REYNOLDS
Steven Marzullo Burt made the Trans Am ready for its close-up. RIP Bandit!
Smokey and the Bandit was an icon but most people forget the red Trans Am Burt drove in "Hooper". Between the 2 movies there was no doubt that the Trans Am was popular in the late '70's!
Actually it was the Trans Am that made Burt. I doubt Smokey would have become a legend driving a Pinto.
At the time, it was about as fast as you could get, and the look was timeless. They still look good today.
Actually, it was the giant chicken on the hood.
While this video is great, I would argue the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was more influential than the Thunderbird as it consistently sold 400,000+ units per year and, in fact, was America's bestselling car in some years.
Yes I would pick Cutlass over Thunderbird too. Cutlass became the best selling car in America in 1976. 515,000 were sold. It was the first time a car other than a Chevy or a Ford was the best seller so that was pretty significant. In 77 Cutlass sales went up again to 632,000 but sales of the new for 77 Impala jumped to over 700,000 to beat Cutlass. When it was down sized for 78 - 80 sales dropped off considerably and then picked up again in the early 80's.
I was going to make the same comment. The 73-77 Cutlass was absolutely the biggest hit of the 70s!
These videos don't get much correct... they're just pumped out to generate clicks/thumbs up...
@@BuzzLOLOL Yep, just info they read off the web. No real research ever.
I agree the Cultlass Supreme was the car to own. Monte Carlos were second. Other than guys who turned wrenches, still made the most they could of sixty muscle cars and newer second gen Camaros and Firebirds. No one except a Charlie’s Angel would be caught dead in a Mustang ll. Imports such the 260 and 280 Z’s and Celicas GT’s were gaining traction with the younger generation.
My first car;
1973, 340 four barrel CUDA.
Best car I’ve ever owned.
I had a 73 Duster with a 340/4 speed. Man I miss that car
Jeremy Thompson :
Amen.
So many years. 😕
AV8B AV8r A friend of mine just finished his ‘74 Cuda 340. It sat for over 10 years, but she’s out now, fully factory restored..
I had a '68 Dodge Dart with the 'Bumblebee' motif; yellow with black trunk stripe 340 Carter 4bbl all stock, 2nd owner. What a awesome vehicle. Others included 70 & 71 Plymouth Dusters and (71 I think) Dodge Demon, all with the never-die 225 slant 6. Dad had a '69 Plymouth Satellite with that other great V8; the 318.
AV8B AV8r i had a rebuilt 340 cid and a pistol grip shifter sitting in my garage... Gave both away to a friend... If I only new then...😔
My aunt purchased a 1978 Thunderbird- it was pale green with Hunter green leather interior- she had it detailed once a week and put mop n glo on the seats - we always loved the slip n slide while riding with her -
By 1984 the car was still showroom new except for 65000 miles on it -
A deer ran out in front of her one night and she ended up taking Down a fence row -
She wasn’t hurt , but the car was severely damaged - but still drivable - it drove like it did the day she bought it , it just looked like a crash car victim -
Insurance totaled it -
The 1985 Thunderbirds had just hit the showroom -
We went and she purchased a black 1985 Thunderbird- loaded - digital dash , power seats , everything -
After about a year , she started having problems - one after another -
It ended up being nothing but trouble !
Honda was an engineering driven car company. The Accord was ahead of its time and fuel efficient by modern standards.
I wasn't aware they didn't have a catalytic converter. Honda was smart. They started simple but realized Americans love the options list. Sunroofs, comfortable seating, quiet, well controlled ride. They did just about everything well.
Randy Jackson
Check out Kia and Hyundai the Koreans are on a roll much like the Japanese cars of the 80’s they enjoy a bit of a price advantage as well as excellent design .i switched from 25 years of Toyota to Kia.
@Randy Jackson Two mechanics told me that Kia and Hyundai use cheap parts. Good for about 70k miles and then it gets dicey.
Randy Jackson
The times are changing Korean cars have excellent residual values according to JD powers Korean cars now enjoy the highest resale in there class. In fact according to JD Powers the top brands in customer satisfaction are genius Kia and Hyundai . 10 years ago you were spot on but times are changing
Randy Jackson
On line debates are silly I respect your point of view but I have a different perspective. I had the pleasure of driving a Genesis G70 it more then holds its own again BMW, Audi , Benz, Lexus, infinity and and Acura its the better car. In years past people bought a Kia or a Hyundai only because it was cheap. They were not up to Japanese standards by the latest crop of Korean cars ( the Kia Stinger & G 70) are superb automobiles
Thanks to this channel, I have become a full on classic car enthusiast and I learn more with every video you upload. Please keep up the amazing work
My very first car was a 1976 Pontiac Trans Am - it was brown with a golden chicken on the hood. Plus a 455CID engine and a four speed manual transmission. It was awesome.
Love the Firebirds of the '70s,btw the bird on the hood is a phoenix. Hence the name Firebird.
@@carlosjohnson8625 People would jokingly, call it the screaming chicken.
kd1s A friend had the same car. Always loved, how it was geared so high, that it would go down the highway, going blub, blub, blub. No strain on the engine, just a little above idle.
One year only front end style...
The Trans Am being in Smokey and The Bandit from 1977 certainly helped the popularity of the car and is still a good looker today
Wish I had my first car again. A 77 Trans Am. I had it until 89 when I was rear ended by a new driver in his mom's Daytona. I replaced my first Trans Am that was a Sterling silver car with a Y82 special edition. The memories of first driving the Trans Am was awesome. It rode nice and handled well. I had so much fun working on that first car and turning it into a real performance car capable of 60's era muscle car stats.
There were a lot of great cars in the '70's but this video picked the top 3. And while it may be hard to narrow it down to three I think they were good choices.
Why bother replying
I always liked the styling of the Thunderbirds of the 1970s... the long hood, elegant front end and full-width tail lights always stood out.
For sure mention should have been given to GM B-Body cars of the 1970s such as Chevrolet Caprice, which were some of the most durable and reliable cars of all time until production ended in 1996.
I had a 1976 Cougar XR7 that was one of the best looking cars of the 70's
Awww, not the Corrrdoba, with the fine Coreeenthian leather?
Rich Corinthian Leather indeed
My mom drove a 1977 Cordoba...green on green with a green vinyl top. I hated that car!
Da plane, da plane!
What about the Monte Carlo. 75 was my ride. Before that was a 74 javelin 401 4 speed. Oh to young again. And the bikes. Snorten Norton.
@@wadeguidry6675 I always wondered what Ricardo drove around the island with that little midget tattoo while driving around fantasy island in their Cordoba!.
I remember. My sister had a brand new 77 thunderbird stolen. They only found the rear part of car, shell. Everything else was gone. Man I really dig your videos.
Eduardo Palomo My girlfriends’s Mother bought a brand new 1977 Ford Thunderbird. It was gold in color. Her other car was a 1974 Mercury station wagon, that we took a month long trip in July 1976 out West. After returning home, some woman in Illinois rear ended it, totaled it. That was when my friend’s Mother decided to buy the 1977 Thunderbird. Sorry about your sister’s car. I’ve never had a car stolen, thank God.
As a kid of the 70's, the Thunderbird to me was ALWAYS those big land barges! The Trans Am was the coolest car you could buy. We all wanted a Screaming Chicken! Looking at the Accord, I long for a basic small car like that today. No frills, no electronics to break, and great gas mileage. I'd buy one.
I graduated from high school in 1979 so I remember the ‘70’s very well. When the ‘77 T-Bird first “spread its wings” in the fall of 1976, my buddies and I were BLOWN AWAY!
We said THAT’S A T-BIRD?? I’ve always LOVED the looks of that car, and would take a nice clean one today in a heartbeat!
Throw in also the 1977-79 Lincoln Mark V. A car which I think actually GREW in size instead of shrinking in overall length.
I loved the look of the 77 tbird. I bought one. Now when I see a 77-79 bird I think it's ugly.
What no Vista Cruiser?
The 70s was all about station wagons.
Good point. Every family had one.
Great Point!
I was expecting a station wagon as well. No honorable mention to the Country Squire? Estate Wagon? Vista Cruiser?
To be fair, I don't think body styles are the point here, but I stil like where you're going with it!
Who didn't grow up with a wagon back then?!
Eric crashed it 2 nights ago
The 77 Chevy Caprice Classic is more significant then the Thunderbird
Mike Keil
I agree the Caprice was a nice car
Yes, the 77 impala/caprice was the beginning of the box Chevy models. Much more important and significant than the Thunderbird. That body style lasted until the bubble model, which I think began in the early nineties.
Talking about a full decade. 🧐
Dave auf dem BMW
Cutlass was the top seller most of the 70s
Now now, Chevrolet and GM both said the Thunderbird was a purpose built race car...
While I tend to prefer the vehicles built during the early 1970's due to them having better powertrains, my favorite vehicles built from 1973 onward are the 1973-77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 1977-79 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, 1975-78 Mercury Marquis and the 1977-79 Buick Electra.
Doobie1975...those Mercury's were nice...
Mercury never gets any love
And the the 1973-77 Pontiac Grand Prix
A short European car list:
1. Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit)
2. Mercedes-Benz W123
3. Citroën CX
dont forget the opel kadett and ford escort
I was looking for someone to post this.
My parents had the Thunderbirds sister, the 1977 Mercury Cougar. It had an impression on the trunk lid that mimicked the one on the Mark V. It was squared off though. Beautiful car, but even with the 400 V-8 struggled to get out of it's own way. I would live to have that car today, but with its 26.5 gallon gas tank would cost a small fortune to fill up. In February 1979 my parents purchased the first four door car ever in our family. That car was a silver 1979 Honda Accord. The 4 door Accord and Prelude had just hit the market so if you acted real fast you could buy one off the lot like we did. About a week after the purchase the waiting list was six months long and the Honda appreciated about $2000.00. We were going in for gas crisis number two then. It was a 2 speed Hondamatic with dealer installed air conditioning. After I got used to having a car with 4 doors I really liked it. Back then I thought it was embarrassing to be seen in a car with 4 doors or a station wagon. Anyway with that transmission this car did not get great gas mileage. About 19 per gallon on the Highway. To compare. I had a Datsun 210 5 speed. I could drive from San Jose Ca to Lake Tahoe and back on one tank of gas. In the Honda it was one fill up to get there and one fill up to get home. Both cars had a 13.2 gallon gas tank. My cousin had a 2 door Accord Hatchback 5 Speed that got fantastic gas mileage. All in all they were all great cars that I wouldn't mind owning in 2019.
i had a 79 t-bird heritage with 26.5 gal tank. i now drive a linc navigator with a 30 gal tank and premium fuel. do you sense a problem here?? ha
‘77-78 Lincoln Mark V. 7.5L 460, C6 trans, big bearing 9” rear, four wheel disc brakes, Designer Series editions, and 400 lbs lighter than the Mark IV. Last of the blue chip Full-size, or the last graduate of the old school. Wonderful cars.
Also any GM full-size, and the ‘76 Honda Accord.
All pretty good choices. If I was going to add a fourth I would probably choose the Chevrolet/ GMC Suburban. Although the Suburban had been around in some form since 1935 the 1970s started to see the change from viewing the SUV as purely a utilitarian vehicle to more of an everyday commuter car. This was seen with cars like the Ford Bronco, the International Scout, the Jeep CJ's and of course the Suburban. All leading towards a trend that dominates the market to this very day.
The 1970s Suburban; the rise of the SUV.
'77 GM Caprice/Impala, Bonneville/Parisienne, LeSabre/Electra/Park Ave, 88/98- in the end these were the HUGE money makers for GM. Ford? Fox & Panther chassis. Chrysler? K-car beginings & F,M,J bodies
First car... 1976 Dodge Aspen coupe with slant six and a four speed".... I loved it!!!
My mom had a baby blue Aspen with t-tops, white vinyl interior and a V8. Loved that car. Unfortunately I was only around 10-12, so it was long gone by the time I was old enough to drive
I always love your intro music and your top quality info and research. Always on point.
I would say the Datsun 240Z was the most significant. It made the American market take Japanese vehicles seriously.
I owned a 1973 240z as my second car in 1984. I had good luck with mine and really liked it. I later bought a 280zx, fun cars in their day.
Friend bought a 240Z new, it was a maintenance nightmare, needing stuff every few thousand miles, then needing same stuff again... he traded it for a 260Z which was much improved...
It led the flood of Japanese cars that changed the American automotive world forever. You are correct. It was the most significant.
Yes, top 5
@@stephenarzoomanian8074 Somebody has to be on the bleeding edge.
As a Brit. with a passion for Detroit muscle and a happy owner of several such cars over the years - I love this site, thank you so much for the regular downloads and best wishes for your future endeavours ( spelled correctly).
You cannot compare EPA mileage from different eras. The formulas used to compute the numbers are completely different. The 1976 Honda Civic would not rate 44 mpg today, it would be considerably lower.
I definitely had a feeling the Thunderbird was going to be in there. Those 1977-1978 models were a big hit.
I'm surprised the Nova isn't listed as I've heard many people from that era say they'd see plenty of them all over the place.
A few other cars I'd consider significant during the 70s after the original muscle car era include the 1976-1977 Eldorado convertible, boat tail Riviera, Olds Cutlas, and AMC Gremlin.
Michael Simko you mean 1977 - 1979 Thunderbirds. All three years were the same body style. It got smaller in 1980.
In 1976. my next door neighbor went to the local Ford dealer to buy a truck. He saw a new red ‘77 Thunderbird and was awestruck. My dad laughed and said he had never heard of anyone going to buy a truck and drive back a car. Lol 😂
Ah the 70's,the era in which I grew up in. I do remember the Trans Am.
These were basically hot rods out of the box.
A Corvette of the late 70's had a hard time keeping up with the T/A
due the 400 ci V8 which a Corvette was never equipped with from GM.
Your analysis of the Trans Am is just about on point. They were popular cars during my high school years so I remember them well. I do remember the Thunderbird as well especially the Lincoln Continental Mk lV style models of '72 -'76. They were nice but real gas hogs. I didn't care much for the Honda Accord at the time but I must admit the CVCC engine was revolutionary. I've been dealing with cars since the late 60's so I've worked on a number of the aforementioned models. Can you do a video of the Corvette. In spite of the idiosyncrasies between the Corvette and Trans Am, lets not forget its Americas sports car and a legend at that. Have a gr8 day.
'78 Lipstick Red Thunderbird, White Vinyl Top - 351 Windsor. Could peg the speedo needle BACK around to "0". A SMOOTH 120mph, even on expansion-jointed interstate.
Another great video and all good points, one thing T birds had was great quality upholstery. I remember the 77 -8 as the Disco bird
The T-bird was more significant as a marketing gimmick than as a car. Ford was offering a car to people who couldn't afford a truly big, luxurious car like a Cadillac Fleetwood, that created the illusion of bigness in the form of a 7 foot hood that, being much longer than the V8 engine underneath it, contained a lot of air. Behind it was basically a mid-sized car. The '77 downsizing made this even more obvious by pulling the front wheels in about 6 inches, leaving the empty shell of a nose suspended in mid air. Noses that long had been obsolete since straight 8 cylinder engines went out of production in the early 1950s, but no one seemed to care, and it did provide a little extra crash protection, despite making every left-hand turn a major victory. The reason the sales volume picked up so much for 1977 was a huge price cut and decontenting, offering a once-prestigious badge on a dressed up LTD II (which itself was a dressed up Torino). It was a bad joke of a car at a firesale price, but they sold like a fake Rolexes.
PC No....mostly though, they sold because they weren't a Garbage Motors product, which have been absolute junk since the first one rolled off the assembly line way back when.....
I remember the Honda Accord and the Civic of this generation. Compared to today's Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, and Mitsubishis, I prefer those of the 1970s. I was too young to drive during the 1970s, since I was born in 1973. But I remember seeing these cars when I was a boy.
100 percent on board with the Trans Am and Thunderbird. I love 1970s Thunderbirds. Such a cool car
1971-73 Mustang Mach 1, 429 V8, 351 Boss
Yup
I’m a Mustang nut of more than 30 years, but let’s be real. The Boss 351 was only available for one year (1971), and the 429 was discontinued after ‘71, leaving the 351 HO as the only real performance Mustang for 1972’-73.
I thought the 428CJ was in the Mach 1 for 71
Long nose short deck still my favorite
I knew people who bought the Honda CVCC, and they Loved them. Few, if any, problems, well made, great gas mileage. I looked at them myself and was impressed. Honda had a great car at that time.
My first car waa a 1971 pontiac Grand Prix SJ Model with a 455 hydromatic transmission. I buried the speedmotor 140 mph on I-70 coming in Colorado. Since then I've owned many nice luxury cars sports cars and suvs that Grand Prix is still my favorite car. Also owned several T-Birds my second favorite car was my 1978 Heritage Edition T-Bird it was hard loaded with every available option even the factory CB Radio LOLOL. Great video thank you for sharing
C. Haas Need to have the speedometer checked.
Ford Maverick and Maverick grabber. It even had brothers that were successful in the 70s in the Comet and Pinto! Even continued in Brazil for several more years.
My mom had a 73 and 74 Tbird. They were classy and comfortable, and road worthy.
The Old Man bought a new 1976 Civic for commuting. In 1979 he upgraded to a new Pontiac Grand Prix with T-tops. Still have both cars in the barn, the GP still runs, Honda has a cracked head. Both need work.😉
An SJ with the 301? I had a 1980. You never see those anymore, not even at car shows.
@@stepheng3667 LJ 301 with 4 barrel Rochester.
had to get rid of the barn..that farm "tool" ate too much
If you mean your FATHER, why not just say "my dad," instead of trying to be Joe Cool. Show some respect, fool.
Do you're dad want to sell the G.P.?
My parents TransAm and the first Honda I fell in love with!! This guy knows his stuff!
My favorite late 70s car is a 77 Pontiac Can Am. My favorite car of the entire 70s though is either a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner 440 Six Barrel/4 speed or a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda/4 speed
I think of 1970's as '71 - '80... 1970 was still tail end of fabulous 1960's...
The Can Am’s were cool. To this day, I have only seen one and it was pretty new at the time.
Several to choose from - but I can agree with your choices.
The Firebird Trans Am (and Formula - which sometimes got the top motor as well without the Screaming Chicken decal and other add ons) was the only pony car that stayed true to its performance heritage throughout the 1970's.
The T-Bird is a great example of all the different, popular styling changes of the 1970's.
And the Civic - for me - was the first time Japanese econoboxes were taken really seriously.
Thanks for this video. Enjoyable as always.
I had a 1977 Cadillac Coupe Deville and a 1979 Cadillac Sedan Deville. Both had a 7.0 liter 425 ci V8 with the four barrel Rochester Quadjet carburetor. They may not have had high horsepower, but they were torqued to be stump pullers. Very good off the line.
Wonderful cars! Wonderful. Coupe deVille? a dream for me...
The Caddy 500 with 472 heads added for higher compression ratio was the ultimate in factory parts... toss in a mild cam...
Andyco79 Cadillacs from 1977 to the present came with fuel injection. the Cadillac Seville was the first Cadillac with this.
@@frankdenardo8684
It was an option, not standard. My 1978 Fleetwood limousine did not have fuel injection.
KoldingDenmark I have a friend who has a 1979 Cadillac Eldorado birattz has the 5.7 litre V8 and Bosch fuel injection. the Seville also had fuel injection when it came out in 1975. the Eldorado was used in the film Casino.
While I like the Thunderbird, the video states the T-bird had its highest selling year in 1978 with 352,751 built. If sales success indicates significance, other 70's 2 door personal luxury cars sold much better. The most amazing example was the 1977 Cutlass with 632,742 built. And even the 77 Monte Carlo outsold the T-bird with 411,038 built.
A good case can be made for the Accord, but a better one can be made for the Civic. It wasn't the first FWD compact ever made, but it was the first one that found success in the American market. Within a decade, almost everything on the road that wasn't a full-size family sedan was FWD. The Civic was nothing less than a revolution, and it also established Honda in the American market; without the Civic, the Accord may never have even happened. It's hard to overstate how important this car was, and continues to be.
Here are my other two most significant vehicles of the '70s:
1) The downsized GM B-bodies, for one simple reason: they were IMMENSE sellers, and were produced basically unchanged for another 20 years. They also proved that car buyers would pop for smaller full size cars, which led to a massive wave of downsizing across the industry. And they were great cars to boot. This was a brilliant design that probably saved GM in the long run.
2) Full size pickups from Ford/GM. In the '60s, no one drove a truck who didn't have to. But in the early '70s, Ford and GM introduced pickups that were far nicer to drive, with more luxury features and equipment. By the end of the decade, it was commonplace to see people who didn't need pickups using them as daily transportation. That trend just kept picking up (pun intended) speed to the present day.
Thanks for showing the cars of my youth. Keep up the good work.
1978 Plymouth Fury 440 Police package was one quick four-door for its time it would run with all the Mustang and Trans Am
My first car was a 78 mustang 2 with the v8. My second car was a 78 trans am gold edition with a 4 speed. Only car i wish i still owned.
My parents were considering a Mustang II back in 1977 when I was in high school. Fortunately they test drove a Toyota Celica after they drove the Ford. They bought the Toyota.
Your parents were cool. Mine bought a Fairmont sedan
@@manthony225 They eventually bought a Fairmont for a family car a few years later, but mom wanted a little sporty car for herself. She let me drive the Celica to school quite a bit though. :D
@@jeffmorse645 The Fairmont was a good car to learn to drive on and for taking the driver's test. My sister had to take her test in a 73 LTD. 😄
Came here to see if the Trans Am was one of the three, was not disappointed. I own an original ‘79 Special Edition just like the one at 3:01. It turns heads everywhere it goes.
The seventies Datsun 510 was a pretty cool car. Sure, the styling was plain and the interiors kinda cheap but... but a car then with overhead camshaft, independent suspension, and a 4 speed transmission was pretty advanced. This was particularly true in an economy car. A low buck BMW. A true sport sedan.
By the way, the Trans Am was a great choice. Back when it was new, I saw a SD-455 at Orange County Raceway that other than slicks, looked bone stock including smog equipment. Had time slips in the low 12 second range.
Datsun 510 gained Nissan a lot of loyal customers
There were two generations of the 510.
I recall the earlier version carried over from the late sixties with the independent suspension and spectacular handling, and I remember a reskinned version with a live rigid axle, the latter introduced in '73 or '74. My US Government teacher in high school had one of the latter versions, and a couple of my buddies had the older. The earlier 510 must be considered to be significant for the sixties, but the one introduced in the early seventies was just another generic econobox.
@@5610winston That's exactly right! Forgot about that disappointing "new" model.
The Oil crisis 70s was when fuel efficient Japanese imports really took the market by storm. I would say the Datsun 240Z and the Toyota Celica could also be considered very significant.
There's a 1974 Impala 350 c.i. 4-door hardtop sedan parked in my driveway right now with less that 100K miles. 😊👌
Could be mine.
Still have my mom's t-bird that she got as a Christmas gift in 1978 from my dad. It's red with red inside with wire caps. Mint. and a treat to drive.
its obvious you love pontiac
Yeah, they were the best!
What's not to love about them?
They were the last of the 2 door aggressive body style big block cars. Pontiac held the torch in very dark time's for muscle car's. And I'm a Ford Guy.
@@tinyb69 Over-the-top disco cars (starting in 1975), along with the mid/late-70s Corvettes. Ugh. And I had a 1974 Formula 455.
who doesn't?
The Trans-Am was amazing. It gets respect from every brands car base and no one would deny wanting one.
My first car was a 79Honda Accord 2dr 5speed. I bought it used nice car I have to say 6 cars after, this was the best most reliable car I ever owned. Just routine maintenance the only problem was some minor rust this car just kept going you couldn't kill it.☺☺
Smokey n the Bandit, helped Trans Am quite a bit!!!
Honorable mentions:
AMC Hornet. Introduced in 1970, this is the car that was the foundation for every single car the company built after, including the Eagle. It also spawned the Hornet Sportabout which was the only domestically produced compact wagon for a very long time.
Triumph TR7: This was a radical departure for the time-honored company and a true contender for the cheap and cheerful performance car market. It is also the last car the company would produce. Such is the industry.
Poor AMC! That's another car company that didn't get enough love!
Jake; Actually, there was an exception: The Pacer, introduced in 1975, while sharing a lot of parts with other AMC models, was so unique that you can't really say it was based on the Hornet. I would not have been surprised to find it on a list of the most significant cars of the 70s as it originated the idea of the "cab forward" design that became standard in the car industry. It was also one of the first US built cars with standard electronic ignition and rack and pinion steering.
Wish I still had my 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo. Drove it during high school and five years
of college. Waxed it often and kept it clean as a whistle. That car would fly!
Just to say...im from the UK and am a car veteran despite now owning a typical domestic appliance capable of over 60mpg...( I guess I swapped rpm for mpg?!) - however being born in the very early 80s and in UK i never had the fortune to live in USA with such ace muscle that I knew little about (other than a mate 7 year ago importing a 68 ford thunderbird which was my first and only taste...) I just wanted to say that I have learned a lot from this channel and the rich history of USA type cars.... so thank you for being easy to listen and understand such as I now can convert CC to CU easily and the difference between pony and muscle... many thanks and keep it going. Love learning and best wishes from the UK.
When the road looked like this I was in the backseat Basecamp!!! 💯😆👍🏾 So much fun riding in cars then playing
‘75 Buick Electra 225 sedan, bought for $150 because was too big and gas guzzler (455 4-bbl) almost perfect condition. Bought as an everyday car to not use my Tran-Am.
i had a deuce and a quarter too ! i loved that car along with my 67 GTO and cougar rx7
My Mom’s 1976 Delta 88 Oldsmobile was rad. It had the 455 Rocket engine in it. She ordered it straight from the factory. It was metallic blue with a white vinyl top. She drove it many years.
I had a 1975 Civic and traded for a 1976 both really good Accord superb
At John Eagle Honda in northwest Houston there's a 1977 CVCC with 20,000 miles on display.
I grew up in the '70s great time to be a kid - Blizzards of '77-'78 , I drove to high school in a very nice '75 Camaro Type LT with a Moon Roof and one of my girlfriends had a red '79 Civic just like that one at 9:07 , $5.00 was good for a Quarter Tank in my Camaro ! .
I remember that blizzard. I was 12 at the time. Lived just north of Baltimore. My grandfather and I shoveled his driveway out and the snow was piled up higher than our heads on each side.
Shawn Fox Firth 👌👌
I could drive into town apx 15 miles, back and forth to school and work on $15.00 a week in my 71 Duster 225 slant 6.
thats the very car I learned to drive in '73 Duster beer bottle brown with a parchment interior INDESTRUCTIBLE other then the rust .
Mid '70's, gas was 25.9c around here, so a Camaro couldn't even hold $5 worth, unless totally empty before fillup...
About Japanese cars being small and cheap....wish they were still that way today.
i know. remember when you could buy a small Japanese pickup truck?
Talk to you beloved Democrats.
Love the second generation Firebird Trans Am.
97MstngCobra Agreed! If I could afford it (I can’t) I would have Kounts Customs in Las Vegas build me a period correct looking 77 through 81 Black Bandit edition Trans Am! However, I would want it completely modern under the skin for reliability. Oh well, maybe if my book sells 1 million copies! Here’s hoping!
varflane Do you live in the UK or the US?
They were okay, but I really prefer (to this day) more sports car style of the 3rd generation. The 4th gen, not so much.
Squirmin Herman the one eyed German YOU LUCKY DUCK!
Pontiac can thank Burt Reynolds for making the Trans Am super popular
Grew up in the 80s, but sounds like the 70s were more dramatic and interesting.
I agree 100% on the Pontiac Firebird / Trans Am, your points about the Thunderbird are valid but I say the Chevy Monte Carlo was even more significant in the personal luxury coupe market.
I think THE most significant performance car of the 1970s was the Porsche 911 Turbo (930)
I love my 19 69Chrysler Newport 2dr hardtop 383 never sell it.
No reason to sell it. They're one of the most servicable cars ever, along with many other MoPars and other makes BEFORE 1973. I have a '71 Imperial Coupe and 2 '68 Furys. Amazingly bulletproof cars!
Mopar RULES
As long as you can get gas and batteries, those cars are the transportation answer in case of a real zombie apocalypse! 😂 You can keep them going with not much more then a screwdriver, a pliers and chewing gum! 👍
@@DaveGringo and bailing wire to hold the body panels and bumpers on once they started rusting away! Dad had a '77 Aspen that you could see through to the engine in 1979. He got rid of it in 1981 after the rear end shifted due to the mounts rusting away!
Makes me want to go out and find a 75 Cutlass.That's what I drove all throughout high school.2 dr colonnade ht.Bench seat column shift 350 4bbl.Full vinyl top.Sticky dash top and all.Good memories.
You forgot to mention the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the best selling personal luxury car of all time. I had a 1976 and it was EXCELLENT! Also you forgot to mention the new down sized full size 1977 Chevrolet full size cars: Caprice Classic, Impala, and Bel Air Sport Coupes, Sedans, and Station Wagons which was Motor Trend's 1977 Car Of The Year! Them and The Monte Carlos and Malibus were the best selling cars of all time! My Family, Friends, and Neighbors bought a lot of them and still do! Just like my 2015 Camaro which I own and drive now!
My sister and brother in law bought a 78 Caprice brand new,at 46,000 miles the engine was shot and had to be replaced. Chevrolet cars and trucks are way over rated.
Monte Carlo gets my vote.
I drove a Monte. 77 medium blue, white interior, white Landau top swivel bucket seat,Corvette rallys. Beautiful car. Land yacht! Shawn
@Randy Jackson Theirs was the 350 4bbl,I'm the one who diagnosed the engine and recommended a long block replacement which is what we did. I have never found the 350 lived up to the hype associated with it.
I owned a 1977 Buick Riviera, my friend owned a 1977 Toyota Corolla, despite the better gas mileage of the Corolla, for long trips the Buick was a AC comfort, soft quiet couch, compared to a hot, noisy wooden bench.
The car's ACTUAL name was the Pontiac *FIREBIRD* Trans Am.
(You DO know that the Trans Am is a *FIREBIRD*, Right ?
Grow Up
Thank you for this very short but great clarification.
@@njshire6317 grow a brain.will ya!
I personally like the 2000's WS6 ram air and the Firehawk which was a bad mofo.
My first new car was a 1976 Mazda 808 2dr Coupe 4cyl. It was around $3,500. Fun to drive. Traded it in on a new 1979 Chevy Monza V6. To a 1982 Trans Am, 1983 Trans Am 25th Anniversary Daytona 500, 1986.5 Nissan Hardbody, 1989 IROC-Z, and a lot of others.
Fair winds and following seas to all.
Datsun 240Z, VW Rabbit/Golf, 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible
Great video and three great car selections! Love it! Thanks!
I would add one other small car for the 70s, the Volkswagen Rabbit.
Of Course! That car set the 80s in motion! Maybe to a lesser degree in the US but as to the rest of he world...
When the diesel Rabbit came out you literally couldn't buy one. They were snapped up as fast as they took them off the truck.
@@jeffmorse645 RIGHT I had completely forgotten the Diesel Rabbit! My brother in law had one and I used it many times. A turtle! Took time to start BUT Heck Was It fun to drive! I used to "swap cars" even for weeks. Since everyone liked my ´64 1/2 mustang I was fortunate enough to "test" many cars that way. The one I enjoyed like nothing else was a Renault 5 "le Car", its Suspension and Transmission were Awesome!
I recall it being a sales disappointment. My sister had one. The window cranks were made of plastic and used to snap off so often that she bought them by the dozen.
@@winomaster Yeah! Still it broke new ground in auto engineering. I mean even the Focus and Fiesta Today are based on that engineering.
It was a time when I was a boy // teenager was the time I was in love with cars and lucky to drive all Early and late 70s cars loved it..my mom had some pretty cool cars at that time.
I'm kind of surprised that the 1977 GM B Bodies (e.g. Chevrolet Impala/Caprice) did not make the cut.
Yeah, me too... 77 to 90 with largely the same body style? I recently sold my 89 Caprice. It was fun to drive. Nobody under 40 had any idea what they were looking at!
The 77 Caprice Classic four door was a beautiful car, especially with the blue two-tone paint.
77 Caprice Classic was the best selling car in 1977. So no it didn't get outsold by the t bird
Back in 1981 I purchased a pristine ‘78 Ford T-bird with the rare T-tops. It was white with white rear vinyl roof, red pin stripes. Interior was white leather upholstery, red carpet and red dash. It was powered by the Ford 351 engine.
It was a very nice looking car.
In 1983 I had the opportunity to trade it for one of a couple of ‘70 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbirds (the big winged NASCAR warriors) powered by Chrysler’s 440 magnum engines which were for sale on a couple of used car lots in the Orange County California area where I was living at the time. Not knowing that the $5,500 to $6,500 prices those Superbirds then had on them would soon shoot up toward the $100,000 mark, I passed ‘em both up, sold the T-bird to a friend and bought a ‘79 Plymouth Arrow mini pickup truck with a small economical 4-cylinder engine that was built by Mitsubishi. I loved the little ‘Plymouth’ truck, drove it for the next 5 years and put many miles on it, but have kicked myself over and over again for not having made the trade for one of those ‘70 Plymouth Superbirds! I had really wanted one but bought the little truck instead to ‘save money’ - only to end up LOSING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS by missing out on the wonderful investment those big-winged warriors turned out to be.
The 70s had amazing music and movies. It was also a simpler time to live. I guess you can't have everything.
I grew up through my teenaged years in the UK and USA during the 1970s, indeed it was a magical time.
Just before my 25th birthday I bought a beautiful 78 Thunderbird Jubilee Edition. That was my favorite car to this day and I would still be driving it if it hadn't been T-boned by a red light Runner in 1993. I put an 8-track player in it and a beautiful 10 band booster equalizer for the audio system. Under the hood with a 6.6 L 400 cubic inch. It was two tone brown and gold tone.