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Most of what you say is true, but I disagree with the bolded statement. The late 1960s - early 1970s was probably the high point in terms of selection. You could get many models in six configurations: 2 & 4 door hardtop, 2 & 4 door sedan, convertible, and station wagon. Heck, you could get the Chevelle in seven. Manufacturers made colors available across the board rather than limiting certain colors to certain models. And if you didn't like any of the colors, you could to a COPO and get it whatever color you wanted. Same goes for drivetrains, trim, etc., etc. Want an otherwise fully-loaded car with manual windows? Not a problem. Bench seat with floor shift? You bet. Today your options are limited to what you see in the brochure.
You could buy a station wagon with a manual transmission.
That depends, but have you ever driven a mid to late 70’s Lincoln Continental?
If you never have, then none of these modern FWD cars nor any of the modern Town Cars even compare to the ride smoothness and isolation that the older Lincoln’s from the 70’s provided. The ride is even smoother than a similar year Cadillac.
They are also very solid and well built for being a 70’s vehicle.
Unibody cars still transmit too much road harshness and road impacts vs the luxury framed rides of the past.
I remember an open field near a park which is quite bumpy. There is no road or even a dirt trail. So, I drove my '76 Cadillac on it and a friend did the video for me.
It is definitely bumpy; I have seen other cars drive on it and they bounce a lot! As can be seen in the video, my Cadillac makes to road seem almost smooth!
Because regulations are much, much, stricter now than back in the day?
Here's a challenge. Pick ANY true street legal car from pre-1970 (no slicks, acid-dipped race cars, etc.) I guarantee you that I have at least three vehicles in my garage (all of which are completely 2018 emissions compliant) that will destroy ANYTHING you can name is a straight line, around a road course, and still be much, much more reliable.
You're engaged in a debate you can't win. There's a mountain of empirical data proving you wrong. If you love old cars for nostalgic reasons - great. I too have lots of fond memories of muscle cars from back in the day. But, but today's standards, 60's performance cars are just sad.
Hmmm. In terms of bone stock muscle cars from the 60's and early 70's you would be correct. Most were mid 13 to low 15 second cars (keep in mind most of these cars could run much, much quicker with slicks as the old bias ply tires just weren't up to the task). Fact is, even many of today's econoboxes could dust them. That said, a few minor modifications could/can make a huge difference in how these cars perform and they can be quite streetable. Back in the early 70's my Ram Air 67 GTO with a few mods would run consistent 12.6 quarters. My current 67 GTO has the benefit of improved cam and head technology which has resulted in well over 600hp and 600 ft pounds of torque. It runs all day on 93 octane and doesn't overheat. No nitrous, no blower. It is certainly not a race car but with slicks it should run the quarter well into the upper 10's. My slightly modified C6 Corvette wouldn't even come close to this car. I have about the same amount of money in both cars.
There is no question about which cars are more reliable...the new ones win by a large margin.
Mainly it's the styling and overall look of the cars from that era that set them apart. Used to own a 1970 Ford Torino fastback with the 351 cubic inch V8. Wish I had not gotten rid of that one.
But the handling of those cars was really sloppy. You saw a lot of them cars rolled over in the ditch or wrapped around trees and telephone poles - they were a handful during any high speed maneuver.
Mainly it's the styling and overall look of the cars from that era that set them apart. Used to own a 1970 Ford Torino fastback with the 351 cubic inch V8. Wish I had not gotten rid of that one.
But the handling of those cars was really sloppy. You saw a lot of them cars rolled over in the ditch or wrapped around trees and telephone poles - they were a handful during any high speed maneuver.
One of the main causes of bad handling in muscle cars is that they had suspensions that weren't set up for best handling on the road, they were set up for maximum weight transfer to the rear wheels when launching the car off the line in drag racing.
Pony cars like the Mustang, Camaro, and Barracuda could be set up to handle well for road courses in the Trans-Am series of racing, and the larger cars that ran on the NASCAR circuit could be made to also turn right so they could run at Riverside.
But on the street, it was drag racing, with traction bars, lifted rears, big giant tires in back and little skinny tires in front; great for launching it, but not exactly a good combination for road handling.
Hmmm. In terms of bone stock muscle cars from the 60's and early 70's you would be correct. Most were mid 13 to low 15 second cars (keep in mind most of these cars could run much, much quicker with slicks as the old bias ply tires just weren't up to the task). Fact is, even many of today's econoboxes could dust them. That said, a few minor modifications could/can make a huge difference in how these cars perform and they can be quite streetable. Back in the early 70's my Ram Air 67 GTO with a few mods would run consistent 12.6 quarters. My current 67 GTO has the benefit of improved cam and head technology which has resulted in well over 600hp and 600 ft pounds of torque. It runs all day on 93 octane and doesn't overheat. No nitrous, no blower. It is certainly not a race car but with slicks it should run the quarter well into the upper 10's. My slightly modified C6 Corvette wouldn't even come close to this car. I have about the same amount of money in both cars.
There is no question about which cars are more reliable...the new ones win by a large margin.
Yes, absolutely true. A few common mods put those "13 second" muscle cars into the 12s; a few more mods put them in the 11s.
Here are two examples:
A 1970 Dodge Charger R/T with 426 Hemi engine, 4-speed manual transmission and 4.10 gears. The only changes I see are headers with 3-inch Flowmaster exhaust. The 1/4 mile is 12.77 secs @ 111 mph.
1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee with 440-6 pack engine, Torqueflite automatic transmission and 4.10 gears. Modifications included boring out the 440 engine to 496 cu. in., aluminum Edelbrock cylinder heads, aftermarket cam, electronic ignition, Dynomax mufflers and Mickey Thompson redline drag radial tires.
They dyno reading is 544 horsepower @ 5500 rpm and 578 lbs-ft torque @ 4000 rpm.
The 1/4 mile is 11.84 seconds @ 114 mph and it doesn't even have headers!
Those 69 Cornet and 70 Charger above both with 4:10 gears would be in the right lane on the freeway going 55 MPH making a lot of noise and drinking gas while i'm in the left lane in my Integra GSR doing 85.
Those 69 Cornet and 70 Charger above both with 4:10 gears would be in the right lane on the freeway going 55 MPH making a lot of noise and drinking gas while i'm in the left lane in my Integra GSR doing 85.
Most likely the owners of those cars don't drive it on the freeway. Or very rarely. They probably have other cars for that.
Also, the "noise" (I call it "sound") the classic muscle cars make is music to my ears!
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