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Old 10-22-2012, 06:46 PM
 
12,115 posts, read 33,536,952 times
Reputation: 3865

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Well, in the showroom they benefited from your not hearing them start or run. They were still junk compared to the well-refined, quiet, and luxurious cars GM and Ford were producing.

Sorry, man - no disrespect intended as this is all personal opinion. No right or wrong here. But facts demonstrate that most opinions favored GM and Ford.

the above is what CrownVic95 had described. In virtually all of Consumer Reports tests of the big Mopars in the early 70's and late 60's, the Mopars "lacked the smooth quiet ride" of the Marquis or GM cars in CR's tests

In the Feb 1973 test of 7 big cars, only the Marquis, Caprice and Electra 225 were rated "quiet". Oddly the LTD did not make that award and not surprisingly , neither did the huge New Yorker or Fury.

in 1973 CR's came out with actual objective sound level tests measured in not decibels but in sones. The first sones measurement is a quiet road at 30 mph, second is a noisy road at 30 mph, third is a highway at 60 mph and last is highway at 70 mph. Here's the breakdown:

Marquis: 16,24,28,32
Caprice: 17, 23, 29, 33
LTD: 17, 27,33,38
Fury: 21,27,33,38
New Yorker: 18,26,30,34
Electra225: 17, 21, 28, 31

if you look at the New Yorker vs the Caprice, generally the New Yorker is only one point over the Caprice(except for the rough road ride which might be significant)

if someone riding in the 2 cars compares the noise levels subjectively, for only one point more, what would they hear in the New Yorker that they aren't hearing in the Caprice?

and overall, comparing the New Yorker with the Marquis, Caprice and Electra, would you tend to think the difference would be great?
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Old 10-22-2012, 07:39 PM
 
Location: San Diego A.K.A "D.A.Y.G.O City"
1,996 posts, read 4,742,335 times
Reputation: 2742
if you look at old Motor Trend mags from the 60's and 70's, the big Merc's and Lincolns were usually much quieter to drive than the equivalent GM luxury car from reported DB levels in comparison tests.

I owned a 72 Cadillac Deville, and currently own a 78 Lincoln Continental, and the Lincoln is a much quieter car to drive than the Caddy was. Even the drivetrain is overall smoother and silkier feeling.

Although a lot of older classic Ford vehicles lacked the power and performance of GM and Chrysler vehicles, I believe that they were better constructed/built. It's like Ford put more of an emphasis to make sure that the bodies were stronger, tighter, and quieter than a GM or Chrysler biggie.

This is from my experience.
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Old 10-22-2012, 07:52 PM
 
Location: Beautiful Niagara Falls ON.
10,016 posts, read 12,518,788 times
Reputation: 9025
I had a 73 Grand Fury police special. It was a special order for the chief in the town I was living in and I have to tell you it was one great car. It was very fast and handled very well. It was quiet also. If you were driving 60mph it hardly felt like you were going. I think those Furys were a very under rated car. The only car I have had that could compare to it was a 95BMW 353. I did like one thing better about the BMW. It was a standard tranny but the car was not near a tough as the Fury and was prety much scrap at 300,000 KM. I sold the Fury to a friend at 300,000 KM and it was still mint.
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Old 10-22-2012, 07:58 PM
 
Location: Northeast Tennessee
7,305 posts, read 28,093,513 times
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Thanks for posting this. I wish they had of tested the big 1973 Pontiacs. As you may recall, I have a 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville (which was Pontiacs most luxurious car for '73). I will say it is a very quiet car. I also had a 1972 Buick Electra 225 Custom 4-door hardtop sedan that was also a super quiet car. I would also like to see how the '73 Cadillac DeVille and Fleetwood rated in this test since the GM cars seemed to have take the cake in this test... and since the Cadillac was the cream of the crop, I wonder if it was the quietest car on the road back then... or did Lincoln do better?

Quote:
Originally Posted by rlrl View Post
Well, in the showroom they benefited from your not hearing them start or run. They were still junk compared to the well-refined, quiet, and luxurious cars GM and Ford were producing.

Sorry, man - no disrespect intended as this is all personal opinion. No right or wrong here. But facts demonstrate that most opinions favored GM and Ford.

the above is what CrownVic95 had described. In virtually all of Consumer Reports tests of the big Mopars in the early 70's and late 60's, the Mopars "lacked the smooth quiet ride" of the Marquis or GM cars in CR's tests

In the Feb 1973 test of 7 big cars, only the Marquis, Caprice and Electra 225 were rated "quiet". Oddly the LTD did not make that award and not surprisingly , neither did the huge New Yorker or Fury.

in 1973 CR's came out with actual objective sound level tests measured in not decibels but in sones. The first sones measurement is a quiet road at 30 mph, second is a noisy road at 30 mph, third is a highway at 60 mph and last is highway at 70 mph. Here's the breakdown:

Marquis: 16,24,28,32
Caprice: 17, 23, 29, 33
LTD: 17, 27,33,38
Fury: 21,27,33,38
New Yorker: 18,26,30,34
Electra225: 17, 21, 28, 31

if you look at the New Yorker vs the Caprice, generally the New Yorker is only one point over the Caprice(except for the rough road ride which might be significant)

if someone riding in the 2 cars compares the noise levels subjectively, for only one point more, what would they hear in the New Yorker that they aren't hearing in the Caprice?

and overall, comparing the New Yorker with the Marquis, Caprice and Electra, would you tend to think the difference would be great?
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Old 10-22-2012, 08:17 PM
 
Location: Northeast Tennessee
7,305 posts, read 28,093,513 times
Reputation: 5523
You know this sound carried on over to the trucks... for 1973, the Dodge trucks were noisier than the Ford or Chevy trucks, but it looks like in this case that the Ford truck was quieter than Chevy.

One interesting thing that I learned while reading this is that the 1973 Chevy truck was the only one to have a safety energy absorbing steering column... Ford and Dodge did not. Down at the bottom left you can see the interior sound levels... at 70, the Dodge was much more noisier.

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Old 10-22-2012, 08:19 PM
 
12,115 posts, read 33,536,952 times
Reputation: 3865
tennesee the last big Cad tested was in '68 but oddly CR's thought it had poor ride comfort under load--actually inferior to the Dodge Dart and Ford Galaxie Sedans tested for 1968

and of course the Electra 225 was tested in 73 in CR's but they were not impressed at all with the car--inferior handling and ride

i remember that truck test back in August or September of 73
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Old 10-22-2012, 08:31 PM
 
12,115 posts, read 33,536,952 times
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those sound measurements indicate "noisy" ratings. the gas mileage figures were slightly better than the average 1973 mid sized car tested by CR's (like the Chevelle, Torino, Century). Seeing this page brings back memories
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Old 10-22-2012, 10:32 PM
 
Location: north of Windsor, ON
1,900 posts, read 5,871,842 times
Reputation: 656
How did AMC do? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Ambassador was very quiet.
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Old 10-23-2012, 12:26 AM
 
Location: San Diego A.K.A "D.A.Y.G.O City"
1,996 posts, read 4,742,335 times
Reputation: 2742
The Buicks in the 70's were very nice cars, better than Cadillac in some instances. The electra's had awesome seats, I remember before I bought my 72 Cadillac, I checked out a 71 Buick Electra, and it had a dark midnight blue interior, with this uniquely pattern stitched seats. It look really luxurious. The Cadillac interior was rather drab in comparison.

Cadillac interiors looked and felt much nicer starting in 75 on up, but the previous years were boring and cheap feeling. Once Cadillac introduced packages such as the De' Elegance packages, it truly enhanced the interior quality and comfort over the standard line. So maybe the luxury package interiors were quieter than the regular Cads.

I see the Lincoln Continental as equal to the Fleetwood in size and luxury especially if you upgrade to say the Town Car package or own a Williamsburg edition which is the highest of luxury for a Lincoln. thicker carpeting, more lighting options, more comfy, better quality seats with the Lincoln emblem and pattern sewn into them, twin comfort lounge seats, no C-Pillar oval, or Coach Lamps to give it a sleeker cleaner styling.

What made the Fleetwood feel more like a Rolls Royce was the rear seat foot rest, and in the older Fleetwoods, a rear pull down tray for eating and drinking. Now that is a touch of class and luxury.

As for what cars were the most quiet, we need more people that have owned both brands to tell us. No biases please
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Old 10-23-2012, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Beautiful Niagara Falls ON.
10,016 posts, read 12,518,788 times
Reputation: 9025
Quote:
Originally Posted by us66 View Post
How did AMC do? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Ambassador was very quiet.
In 75 I got a 68 Ambassador 9 passenger stationwagon. It was totally loaded and it had a GM V8, 305 I think. Anyways, that car was very quiet and drove great. Can you imagine today getting a mint shape car like that for $500. I drove it for 3 years and sold it for $500.
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