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And back in the 70’s ac was a option as with am/fm stereo i put my own 8 track player in my 74 Pinto then later a cassette player both had fm radio and i installed it under the dash with a slide in connector bracket so i could take it out a nighttime or when away from the car because i didn’t want it stolen because back then they were quite popular among car breakins. And i had to put in the stereo speakers. Cars back then were much easier to work on except for the driveshaft tunnel on the floor because remember these were RWD vehicles. And had to install my own radio antenna also witch plugged into the back of my Craig 8 track player.
Fm was very rare in 70s cars, most just came with an am radio. I had to add an fm converter to every 70s car I owned. Also, nearly all cars got just a single speaker atop the dash, adding door and rear speakers was an extremely common thing.
Actually fm was rare in 70s cars, most just came with an am radio. I had to add an fm converter to every 70s car I owned. Also, nearly all cars got just a single speaker atop the dash, adding door and rear speakers was an extremely common thing.
Fm was very rare in 70s cars, most just came with an am radio. I had to add an fm converter to every 70s car I owned. Also, nearly all cars got just a single speaker atop the dash, adding door and rear speakers was an extremely common thing.
And on some cars back then you had to add a resistor to get rid of static from the ignition system. Because it was a points and rotor not electronic.
And on some cars back then you had to add a resistor to get rid of static from the ignition system. Because it was a points and rotor not electronic.
I remember doing that. I also remember when leaded gas was still on the pumps and not heeding the unleaded only warning because I wanted to save money on cheaper leaded gas. That car started running like crap, but I was like 15 what are you gonna do.
You can't really treat "Cars from the 70's" as a category that makes any sense. There are 3 periods:
70 to 72 - much like late 60's cars. Remember the Superbird is a 1970 MY car. HP went way down on paper in 71, but, not so much in reality. Still too softly sprung to handle well, and with suspension and brakes unable to cash the big check the engine was willing to write. But same as late 60's really.
73 and 74 - these were the turds. Wheezing engines, 5 MPH bumpers. Slow and ugly.
75 to 79 - the beginning of the HP Renaissance. In 75 you got the first catalytic converters, so HP and drive-ability started coming back. Later in this period many German cars came with early fuel injection systems.
Fm was very rare in 70s cars, most just came with an am radio. I had to add an fm converter to every 70s car I owned. Also, nearly all cars got just a single speaker atop the dash, adding door and rear speakers was an extremely common thing.
I remember doing that. I also remember when leaded gas was still on the pumps and not heeding the unleaded only warning because I wanted to save money on cheaper leaded gas. That car started running like crap, but I was like 15 what are you gonna do.
My 1964 Dodge Polara ran on leaded gas i remember when it started getting very hard to find and eventually you had to add a lead additive to unleaded gas. Remember the little flapper in the fill spout on the new unleaded so you could not use a leaded gas pump because the nozzle was smaller around on the new unleaded gas pumps.
My limited experience from being a teen in the 70s:
Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon....first car my parents let me drive.....fake wood on the bottom......sunroof and glass all over.....AC.....awesome car to me.
Monte Carlos.....such a pretty car.
Stingrays.....what can you say...
And those Caddys that just stretched forever...(I loved the massive cars with two doors.....you built muscles opening and closing those doors!)
'70 Monte Carlo was my first car. Fast. Hugged rural roads like a dream. My mom once drove it into a telephone pole at 65 miles an hour and walked away. The car was fixed and back on the road shortly afterward. Cracked block and bent frame were the major repairs.
It ran best on the premium gas that came before unleaded hit the market. In any case, it averaged 7 miles per gallon which is hardly fuel efficient, especially in a time where gas costs around $3 a gallon.
I was born in 1967. I have an early memory of being with mom and dad when we picked up a then-new 1972 Plymouth Duster, zero miles. Great little car, best of the era IMO. Color was what I would call "Petty Blue" after old number '43.
Not so my dad's ill-fated 1975 Dodge wagon. Off the lot, so many things broken he listed them all and had it right back in the shop for warranty work to fix them, which they pretty much did. This was not uncommon back then, I don't remember dad being angry or bitter and it was just understood that after five years max, that car was totaled with residual essentially zero $ due to "wear and tear," meaning in that case rusted out to the floorboards, burning oil, more squeaks than a Disney movie, and wasted transmission too. After towing a 21' trailer for a couple years...
Today, that sucker would be Lemon Law'ed in what, couple months? Not many of those these days, I'm to understand, even from companies like Chrysler than I didn't trust then, as a kid, and sure don't now 45 years later.
1970s cars are 99% miserable garbage. First car I "considered" collecting was an '89 BMW, then my '01 Porsche Turbo. Sadly, it is not to be due to lack of space and I don't need to hold onto dead equity, but just saying there is/was very little out there terribly attractive in terms of quality and engineering excellence until c. 1990, at least made on these shores. Meanwhile masterpieces like the Porsche 928S4, BMW M6, Mercedes 450SL, and a very few others were best of that era by a long, LONG shot. And prior to that, the 1970s BMW mid-size 5-series sedans were by-far best of a bad lot.
Agree for the most part. I personally love late 60's cars with the Mustang my favorite but the Camaro and Firebirds were also nice and something I'd love to own. My dad used to favor Falcons and Fairlanes.
I also love any car before the 60's. That's when cars were a work of art!
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