I like that '66 T-bird. That's one of my more favorite years. There's just something about the tall, lattice grille I like, compared to the lower grille of the '64-65, although I think most people prefer those.
I'd actually prefer the regular hardtop model, but looking at the stats in my old car encyclopedia, it looks like the market didn't agree with me. Here's the breakout for that year:
Town Hardtop coupe (basically the landau roof with the wide pillar, but no vinyl on the roof): 15,633 Hardtop coupe (the roll-down rear window type): 13,389 Landau Hardtop coupe (like the one Benjaminh saw): 35,105 Convertible: 5,049.
I know 36-48 months was a normal car note term then, but if on a common 2022 72-84-96 month financing setup, I bet many of those wouldn't be on the road at the end of the term. Those cars almost don't exist today.
I bet people thought the 3 window was more distinctive or even sporty. Seems to be plenty of 60s Birds in the PNW, they pop up in local classifieds all the time.
I like that '66 T-bird. That's one of my more favorite years. There's just something about the tall, lattice grille I like, compared to the lower grille of the '64-65, although I think most people prefer those.
I'd actually prefer the regular hardtop model, but looking at the stats in my old car encyclopedia, it looks like the market didn't agree with me. Here's the breakout for that year:
Town Hardtop coupe (basically the landau roof with the wide pillar, but no vinyl on the roof): 15,633 Hardtop coupe (the roll-down rear window type): 13,389 Landau Hardtop coupe (like the one Benjaminh saw): 35,105 Convertible: 5,049.
Let's step away from 1983 and go back 5 years, to roughly this date in March, 1978. Malaise was setting in, but not as much of a part of life as in 83. Donna Summer or KISS was on the radio, and you probably had a choice of orange or yellow for your kitchen counters. Local housing was laughably cheap, appears to be maybe 8-15x more expensive now. As leasing was mentioned, here are a couple of irresistible deals:
I think this is a lease too, unfortunately was hard to read:
I like that '66 T-bird. That's one of my more favorite years. There's just something about the tall, lattice grille I like, compared to the lower grille of the '64-65, although I think most people prefer those.
I'd actually prefer the regular hardtop model, but looking at the stats in my old car encyclopedia, it looks like the market didn't agree with me. Here's the breakout for that year:
Town Hardtop coupe (basically the landau roof with the wide pillar, but no vinyl on the roof): 15,633 Hardtop coupe (the roll-down rear window type): 13,389 Landau Hardtop coupe (like the one Benjaminh saw): 35,105 Convertible: 5,049.
A good friend’s dad bought new a 66 Thunderbird, white, red interior. I don’t know the specifics but my friend said it was his favorite version of that car as well. I think the novel sequential tail light turn signals were introduced in 66. The full width red tail lights was attractive and was a cool look when lit up at night, especially when one of the turn signals was activated.
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On Fin's 1978 ads, I knew through work a young guy back when I was a young guy myself, who had a LeCar. He fancied himself as a bit of a ladies man, handsome, sharp dresser, sported a pipe despite his age, yet he never seemed able to overcome the LeCar stigma.
Around here those first-gen Civics were lucky to get to the end of the finance period before they succumbed to terminal rust. Honda sold a ton of them despite that of course.
The comment about kitchen counters reminded me that I've been watching vintage This Old House episodes on Roku lately. The first season with the decrepit house in the Dorchaster part of Boston they basically had to tear down the kitchen part of the house and build new. They went with orange Formica counters. But even better, Bob V. touted the superiority over tile of two Formica shower wall enclosures that he had installed, one bright yellow, one green. I had never seen that before nor since.
More from March 1978, how about some cars that are going to look old really soon:
(Dishman Dodge is still around, when I was a kid they had a goofy mascot/logo that was like a dinner plate with a face, named "Dish Man" (Dishman is an area just to the east of Spokane)).
I'm really surprised at the price of that '70 Monaco. $899 seems like an awful lot of money for an 8-year old car that, by those more fuel-conscious times, really was a dinosaur. Especially one that needed work.
But, inflation was really bad back then as well, and I imagine it kept used car prices high, as well.
My Grandfather had a '62. He bought it for my grandmother, who was going to learn to drive. Never happened. He kept driving his '49 Ford until they moved to the city in 1968.
When he died in '71, the '62 Galaxie only had 30K miles, and my grandmother sold it for $500.
About the only reference points I can think of for the 70's are: 1964 GTO post, primer gray and beat-up, that my Dad bought for $400 around 1973. I forget how long he had it, but he ended up selling it for $400 and the buyer threw in a little "something extra", so let's call it "420" 1964 Ford Galaxie 4-door sedan, 352/automatic, that my Granddad bought for us, because Dad kept driving Mom's car and leaving his wrecks with her. It needed a new starter, but otherwise was decent. It was like $90. This was also around 1973. And, it didn't work. Dad still kept driving the "good" car (first her '68 Impala and then '75 LeMans) and left Mom to drive the Ford. 1972 Chevy LUV, that Granddad bought from one of Mom's friends, for $200 in 1978. It was light blue, a stick, and had a small camper shell on the back. I have a vague memory Grandmom, though, saying that Granddad ripped off my Mom's friend, but, who knows? I don't remember anything bad about the truck, except it was small and slow. I think Granddad gave it to my uncle, and then bought an '81 Dodge D50 (the little rebadged Mitsubishi), and then my uncle either wrecked it, or sold it to someone who wrecked it. 1975 LeMans coupe. Mom had bought it new, and got like $1000 trade-in, when she bought the Malibu in 1980. It had about 60,000 miles on it. Dad had hit a tree with it drunk-driving back in 1977, and I think that was the last straw in their marriage. It got fixed, but I remember Mom saying it never ran correctly after that.
Oh, almost forgot. My grandparents sold their '72 Impala 4-door hardtop to some friends of the family for $600 in 1982. It had around 100,000 miles on it. The white vinyl top was pretty well-shredded, and the lower parts of the car were pretty rusty. They had a new top put on, kept it about a year, and sold it for $700.
I mostly remember new cars of ours in the '70's. Best value by-far was the new '73 Nova, bought 10/6/72, sticker price including destination, $2,625. It's almost hard to believe. It was a six, 3-speed, base trim level, no ps or pb, AM radio, optional floor shift, Rally Wheels, whitewalls, and Exterior Decor Group (body side moldings and bright moldings around the side window frames). Workmanship-wise, it was the worst Chevy we had. Obvious gaps and such. But a 111-inch-wheelbase car at that sticker price was a great value. There was a dent, painted over, in the roof gutter above the LR quarter window. Right at eye-level and nothing could be done to repair it.
It was hit in the side pretty hard in Aug. '74, and with the insurance check, we received more than it cost new, as cars like that were increasing in both cost new and value as used, between when Dad bought it and when it was traded. It was traded on the '74 Impala Sport Coupe, sticker at bottom $4,408.
That car was traded in on the new '77 Impala coupe, sticker at bottom $5,503.
That '77 was given to me as a college graduation present. Their '80 Monte Carlo stickered at the bottom for $7,070.
They got $3,100 for the '74 Impala as a trade and the dealer had it on its lot for $3,295. Keep in mind that this dealer always started at sticker price and with a trade you got no $$ off the new car, which made their trade-in offers look generous.
Our hometown Chevy dealer would put your last name on the "OK" sticker in the quarter window, so you knew whose car you were looking at. I can remember people calling Dad at home about his trade-ins. Don't think that would happen today.
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I have no memory of new 70s cars as I am a youngster , but I know when I was born, my dad had a 70 Mustang, which he kept until getting a Horizon after 1980. I am not sure what he got out of the Mustang. I know my mom's big Bird, which admittedly had some kind of mechanical fault, was worth so little in 1985 when we parted with it, that my dad gave it to a friend of his for free, who I think wanted a powertrain component.
I was born in 78 and can still remember the mid 80s cars coming out. I thought I was hot stuff because at 8 years old I could tell an 85 from an 86 for most models because of the third brake light.
I also was able to tell a very early 86 Taurus from a later run 86. Does anyone know that here?
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That '73 Nova might have been a good value, but I'd say that the '74 Impala was a killer deal on a per-pound basis!
True dat.
The '74 was a nice car, despite the color. I remember thinking it was well put-together compared to that Nova. It was by-far the nicest car we had ever owned to the point. As hard as it is to imagine now, in our town, then, an Impala two-door hardtop sort-of meant you had 'arrived' and got your piece of the pie, to paraphrase 'The Jeffersons'. You were directly, fairly-successful 'middle America'.
My Dad did not like the Custom Coupe at all, for lack of roll-down rear windows (he still wasn't buying an A/C-equipped car), and even though at the delivery date of 8/27/74 some '75's had already trickled in, he did not want unleaded fuel-only.
Speaking of having 'arrived', my best friend in high school worked for a well-liked local pharmacist and pharmacy-owner in town. He had a '75 Sedan deVille and would have my friend run it through the car wash in town for him--after promptly picking me up for the ride! The phamacist told my friend, "You like driving that Cadillac, don't you? It took me twenty years in business to get my first Cadillac (a '69)." Apparently they really were something to aspire to then--at least in our small town. (The Chevy dealer was also the Cadillac dealer.)
Back to our '74 Impala--I can remember that once on a trip, we hit 15 mpg. That never happened again.
RE.: My thinking that our '74 Impala was well-built:
An older buddy of mine trained at GM mechanics school in Cleveland in the late '60's. He used to say that his profs at the time were pretty upfront about GM having the most pride in their standard-sized cars, and that anything smaller was pretty-much forced upon the divisions. I know my sister's '73 Chevelle, and '75 Buick Century Special, both had more warranty-return issues than our '74.
My buddy's training story did remind me that Chevy called the full-size cars "Chevrolet", and identified everything else by series. I know in all actuality that was because they had several different series names for the standard-size cars over the years.
Our '74 was built at Wilmington, DE. The plant's long-gone--shocker.
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There were different taillights. The design below eventually dropped the amber lens in 87 or 88, but the very early models had a different design (same profile). For the life of me I can’t find an image. I’ll keep looking.
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There were different taillights. The design below eventually dropped the amber lens in 87 or 88, but the very early models had a different design (same profile). For the life of me I can’t find an image. I’ll keep looking.
Mom’s 87 LX had the amber turn signal taillight.
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Yep, CHMSL was a big deal. Our very late production (8/85 or 9/85 I think) 85 Tempo had a factory CHMSL and a 1986 style (4 spoke) steering wheel - the former of which was important to me at the time as it made the car look newer.
Taurus - taillights? I remember there was something about the stripes on the lights, but that might have been L vs GL/LX. I've mentioned it before, my uncle an early run 86 Taurus L, plastic disc wheelcovers, V6, no AC, manual windows, etc. I was very impressed with it when I was young, I thought it seemed very European.
I was born in 78 and can still remember the mid 80s cars coming out. I thought I was hot stuff because at 8 years old I could tell an 85 from an 86 for most models because of the third brake light.
I also was able to tell a very early 86 Taurus from a later run 86. Does anyone know that here?
One last time machine visit for now - late March 1968. Lots of social strife during that time, and a terrible war was ramping up, also the zenith of the (North) American working/middle class. Local housing was insanely cheap then, minimum of 20x more expensive now, perhaps 40x or more for some houses. And the cars, what a variety - the era when there were almost no really bad choices among domestics, endless good choices, and the prices weren't bad either.
The only graphic ad in that issue:
And some others to browse through - a Toyota Crown catches my eye, insanely rare today. A nearly free 60 Ford wagon and 58 Impala wouldn't be bad to have:
As hard as it is to imagine now, in our town, then, an Impala two-door hardtop sort-of meant you had 'arrived' and got your piece of the pie, to paraphrase 'The Jeffersons'. You were directly, fairly-successful 'middle America'.
That got me thinking, about the progression of hardtops. When the Bel Air was introduced in 1950, as a hardtop coupe in the Styline DeLuxe range, the pricing structure was like this:
Town sedan 2-dr: $1,482 Town sedan 4-dr: $1,529 Sport coupe: $1,498 Bel Air hardtop coupe: $1,741 Convertible: $1,847.
By 1957, the Bel Air was a full range, and not just a hardtop. By this time, the pricing was: 2-door sedan: $2,238 4-door sedan: $2,290 Sport hardtop coupe: $2,299 Sport hardtop sedan: $2,364 Convertible: $2,511
Kinda interesting how, at first, the hardtop was a bit of a luxury item, priced close to the convertible. But by '57, it was priced closer to the 2-door sedan, and more mass-market. And the 2-door hardtop was only a few bucks more than the pillared 4-door sedan.
Now, fast forward to 1974, and the Impala range was...
Impala 4-door pillared sedan: $4,135 Impala Sport coupe (the hardtop): $4,162 Impala Custom coupe (fixed-window): $4,229 Impala Sport sedan (4dr hardtop): $4,215 The convertible had been moved to the Caprice line for '73, and was now at $4,745.
I still find it amusing that they charged more, to give you less functionality, with the Impala Custom, vs the Sport coupe.
And, there really wasn't that big of a jump between the 4-door sedan and the hardtop sedan, but buyers were still buying them in fewer numbers. So, while it's fun to blame government regulations for pillarless styles, and convertibles, going away, it looks like it was just getting to the point that the market didn't really prize those models as much as they used to.
I'd take the '64 Stude two-door for $995. No model name; the mind wanders.
The chances are best, that it's a Commander; but could've been the even-cheaper Challenger. But maybe a Daytona? A Gran Turismo Hawk? An Avanti? The last two are doubtful but I do wonder.
A lot of guys in the national Studebaker Drivers' Club used to say that got into Studes in the late sixties, when they were available as cheap used cars. At that point they found they were not only cheap to buy as the stench of orphanhood was pretty recent, but they found lots of NOS available and leftover, and cheap, and that mechanically they were pretty sound.
The Falcon (no such thing as a two-door hardtop Falcon then) as a new car is somewhat interesting to me. I like those last few years' Falcons--taut dimensions, clean and simple styling. You just don't see them around here at any shows either.
I'll admit that I have goofed on Rambler products before, but in those late '60's, I think you could do worse for a low-buck entry-level car than their American (just called "RAMBLER" in '69). I think even compared to Studebakers, their styling was basic--blunt in front, blunt in rear, uber-basic instrument panel--but I seem to remember them being advertised new nationally for as little as $1,799, and that's pretty darn close to basic Beetle territory.
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The SC/Rambler was a clever model name. The performance was pretty cool. Then, as now, not into 'boy racer' graphics, nor that hood scoop, but I can remember at least one in my small hometown when they were new. I would imagine they're pretty sought-after today.
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CHMSL--I was initially so turned-off at the idea, I ordered my Celebrity Eurosport two-door so that it would be an '85 (I took delivery 6/3/85). The lights looked especially bad IMHO, on Corvettes and Camaros as they were mounted outside the car.
All these years later, I do think the center stop light is easy to see. In fact, I worry a lot about driving my Studebaker without one, with today's generally inattentive drivers, plus the fact the '66 Studebaker's stop lights sort-of aim down.
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An acquaintance has an early ('64?) Rambler American convertible that has the original front end styling which I prefer to the ones with the square headlight openings. It is a pretty neat little car, nicely trimmed inside. Though if I was in the market for a compact convertible back then, I think a '64 Falcon with the 260 would win me over.
Big shock I know, but here'd be my '64 compact convertible choice (this is a hardtop that's been at Hershey, but I can't find a pic of a convertible with those wheels, in this color; oval badge reads "Avanti Supercharged"):
Only 703 1964 convertibles built, between South Bend and Hamilton, ON. My friend with the silver/black vinyl top '64 Hawk also has a black '64 convertible with blue interior. According to details published in the club magazine, his serial no. was the only black with blue interior '64 convertible built in South Bend.
I love the 'pie crust' look of bias plys on an old car; too bad they're miserable to live with now.
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IIRC the A-body and probably other GMs had a CHMSL that sat on kind of a mount or stem, and looked like one of the aftermarket items popular at the time - not the best look. Some others, Ford included, at least had the light mounted lower, fairly flush on the rear deck area, which looked better.
MB SL also had it mounted outside, on the trunklid, but it was mounted low, and not too insane. One of the funniest, to me, was the 911- sticking up on a mount/stem and hard to miss (I suspect some owners removed these):
CHMSL--I was initially so turned-off at the idea, I ordered my Celebrity Eurosport two-door so that it would be an '85 (I took delivery 6/3/85). The lights looked especially bad IMHO, on Corvettes and Camaros as they were mounted outside the car.
All these years later, I do think the center stop light is easy to see. In fact, I worry a lot about driving my Studebaker without one, with today's generally inattentive drivers, plus the fact the '66 Studebaker's stop lights sort-of aim down.
I still find it amusing that they charged more, to give you less functionality, with the Impala Custom, vs the Sport coupe.
andre, if you feel like it, and if/when you have the time, you'll have to check my memory on this.
I think that starting in '73, the Colonnade sedans started at less than the Colonnade coupes of the same series.
That's the same pillared body, the same frameless door glass, the four-doors have four inches more wheelbase, plus rear windows that rolled about halfways down, and they still cost less than the coupes with fixed rear glass AND shorter wheelbase!
That's what I remembering, anyway. I might be wrong.
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The wide CHMSL up at the top of the hatch glass on Corvettes and Camaros just slapped me in the face, the way we discussed how those old Star Chiefs, especially the '62 four-door pillared sedan, are longer in the back than in the front.
'Slap me in the face'--you know, like Will Smith and Chris Rock. Yeesh, now I remember why I stopped watching awards shows years ago.
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I still find it amusing that they charged more, to give you less functionality, with the Impala Custom, vs the Sport coupe.
andre, if you feel like it, and if/when you have the time, you'll have to check my memory on this.
I think that starting in '73, the Colonnade sedans started at less than the Colonnade coupes of the same series.
That's the same pillared body, the same frameless door glass, the four-doors have four inches more wheelbase, plus rear windows that rolled about halfways down, and they still cost less than the coupes with fixed rear glass AND shorter wheelbase!
That's what I remembering, anyway. I might be wrong.
Nope, you're right! I just checked for the '73 Chevelle, and here's a pricing sample: Deluxe V8 4-door: $2,835 Deluxe V8 2-door: $2,860 Malibu V8 4-door: $2,987 Malibu V8 2-door: $3,010 Laguna V8 4-door: $3,179 Laguna V8 2-door: $3,203
It's odd that they'd do that, but maybe they did it so that people thought of the coupe as still being a step up, rather than the 2-door post that it really was. They narrowed the gap between the two to around $5 for 1974-75, and for '76 the sedans were more expensive.
Another thing that I think is odd is that the 4-doors were, for the most part, only about 40-50 lb heavier than the equivalent coupes. I'd think that 4" more frame, driveshaft, sheetmetal, plus the additional structure for the two back doors, would add more than that.
Doing a quick look at the '72, it looks like the 4-doors were also about 30-35 lb heavier, but I could see this, considering the 2-door was a hardtop and had to be beefed up. The 4-door hardtop was 111 lb heavier than the 2-door hardtop.
When they downsized for '78, there was only about 5 pounds difference between the sedan and the coupe. That actually surprises me a bit, too. Even though the sedan and coupe were on the same wheelbase by this time, the sedan was a bit more upright, taller, and had a longer roof. I'd think that, plus again, the additional structure required for the back doors, would add more than 5 pounds.
Here's something a bit interesting with the Colonades, over at Pontiac. With the LeMans, in '73 the 2-door was $2,920 and the 4-door was $2,918. So while the 4-door was cheaper, it was, only by two dollars. Moving up to the Luxury LeMans though, the 2-door was $3,274 and the 4-door was actually more, at $3,344.
I just did a quick check with Buick, and the Century/Regals were all a bit more expensive in 4-door form than 2-door. Same with the Oldsmobile Cutlass. So that habit of pricing the coupes higher was pretty much just a Chevy thing (and marginally, Pontiac).
That is weird. You know me, I'm often suspect of those 'guide' books. Plus, I seem to remember price increases through the model year at times back then. But, where else to look for base prices then? Funny, I actually remember the Malibu Colonnade Hardtop Coupe starting at $3,010, like your book said, as that's most of the Chevelles I was looking at in '73 at Dart Chevrolet-Cadillac. I was fond of those cars at the time, despite the big front bumper. Midway through the year the front bumper filler became body-color instead of gray/silver, which helped the railroad tie look--a bit.
Funny how little money separated the models back then. Would buying a Chevelle Deluxe really be all that more affordable? LOL
My sister bought a new '73 Deluxe six-cylinder wagon, in a nice dark brown metallic. Moon hub caps. I hated those at the time but now I think they look better than most dog-dish caps. Older lady down the street from us had a new '73 Deluxe four-door sedan. White, black vinyl top, blackwalls, full wheel covers, no radio, 307. Who buys a Deluxe with a vinyl top? She ordered it I believe as I don't remember it sitting down there. She did buy it locally as it had the "Dart" license plate frame.
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andre, your mentioning the '78 midsize GM's reminds me what a big swallow it took to accept the '78 four-door midsizes. As I've often mentioned, I really liked the Malibu Classic coupe specifically optioned out, but the four-doors looked like the cabin was too big for the rest of the car.
The no-roll-down windows, baby spare, and to my eyes, the standard Malibu instrument cluster in that curved pod, was way-more of a change to digest than the '77 big cars were from the '76.
I plainly remember the first new '78 Malibu I saw....Classic four-door, two-tone gold and cream, goldish cloth interior. Frankly, I was pretty shocked. It was at my hometown dealer. I saw my first '78 Grand Prix at the dealer where I went to college (Clarion, PA). It was that ubiquitous light green metallic. I was equally shocked.
I'll say, I rode with a friend from western PA to Missouri to visit a friend of ours in college out there, in his parents' new '78 Cutlass Salon Brougham 4-door in that orangish-copper color. But I remember thinking, what a smooth, quiet, nicely-appointed car for a car that size. It was a 260.
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Yeah, these Consumer Reports auto books aren't always fully accurate. But about the only other place I can think of to find prices for back then, is if someone hoarded a bunch of old new-car price guides, like what Edmunds, Consumer Guide, etc, puts out each year.
And yeah, I'm sure they raised prices several times during the year, especially once inflation got severe.
Now that I think about it, even by 2000, I think the price of the Intrepid got raised during course of the year. I bought mine somewhat early, on 11/6/1999, and I remember it was $20,390, plus $560 shipping, or $20,950 total. My auto encyclopedia, which goes up through 2002 (but only shows production figures through 2001), shows the 2000 Intrepid at $20,545.
As for the pricing difference between a Deluxe and a Malibu, looks like it was about $150. Adjusting for inflation, that's about $958 today. So, it does add up, I guess. On a 5-year car note, it would probably come out to around $16-20 per month, depending on your interest rate. I guess if you're naturally a penny pincher, or you're struggling to make the payments, it would make a difference.
The base price of my Mom's 1980 Malibu coupe was $5502. I can remember her saying she wanted to get another LeMans, but ended up going with the Malibu, partly because of its lower price. I just looked it up, and the LeMans coupe started at $5652 that year. So, $150 was enough to make a difference. That's about $516 in today's dollars. Although, there may have been other factors at play as well. I'd be curious to ask her, but she just doesn't have a memory for details like that. Anyway, at the time, she was 31, a single parent, and had just bought a house in the summer of '79, and had to watch every dollar. I can still remember, every other Wednesday we'd go out to McDonalds as a special treat. And one time, I really wanted some jelly donuts. She sent me into the store by myself with a $5.00 bill. I think what she said was "buy 5 jelly donuts and bring me the change", but instead I bought $5.00 worth of jelly donuts! At the time I didn't understand what the problem was, but apparently it messed up her budget for the week!
The LeMans never was a hot seller like the Malibu though, so I wonder, if she was a good enough negotiator, if she might have actually been able to get a better deal on a LeMans, if she really tried.
One memory I have about Mom and the LeMans, that strikes me as funny, is the first time she really paid any attention to my '76 LeMans. I forget the exact year, but it would have been the late 2000s most likely, as I bought the car in 2005. She looked at it and stared for a moment, almost as if in shock, and asked, "Did I seriously used to drive a car that big?!" It took me a few minutes to convince her that yes, her old '75 was every bit as big.
On the road today saw a very clean Eagle Vision, late 80s Century sedan with a hood scoop (!), Maybach S-class on the road, MB dealer had a Kia Amanti of all things on the lot, also a weirdly equipped few year old S560 coupe in the showroom with no distronic/driver's assist, special order by a luddite apparently.
O'Slap me in the face'--you know, like Will Smith and Chris Rock. Yeesh, now I remember why I stopped watching awards shows years ago.
LOL Uplander, I just now saw your edit on that post, where you mentioned it. Yeah, I didn't see the Academy Awards either. I was actually watching an old Benny Hill episode that I had dvr'ed the night before!
Although keeping on the subject, on one of the skits, there was a red station wagon that caught my eye. It was kind of long, low-slung, and wide, large-ish by English standards, and kind of expensive looking. I'll have to run through that episode and take a picture of it...unfortunately, I remember as I was watching it last night, when they showed the front of the car, it was accelerating and the picture was blurry; even moreso when paused. But, it had round quad headlights, and a fairly simple grille.
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I'd actually prefer the regular hardtop model, but looking at the stats in my old car encyclopedia, it looks like the market didn't agree with me. Here's the breakout for that year:
Town Hardtop coupe (basically the landau roof with the wide pillar, but no vinyl on the roof): 15,633
Hardtop coupe (the roll-down rear window type): 13,389
Landau Hardtop coupe (like the one Benjaminh saw): 35,105
Convertible: 5,049.
I think this is a lease too, unfortunately was hard to read:
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Around here those first-gen Civics were lucky to get to the end of the finance period before they succumbed to terminal rust. Honda sold a ton of them despite that of course.
The comment about kitchen counters reminded me that I've been watching vintage This Old House episodes on Roku lately. The first season with the decrepit house in the Dorchaster part of Boston they basically had to tear down the kitchen part of the house and build new. They went with orange Formica counters. But even better, Bob V. touted the superiority over tile of two Formica shower wall enclosures that he had installed, one bright yellow, one green. I had never seen that before nor since.
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(Dishman Dodge is still around, when I was a kid they had a goofy mascot/logo that was like a dinner plate with a face, named "Dish Man" (Dishman is an area just to the east of Spokane)).
But, inflation was really bad back then as well, and I imagine it kept used car prices high, as well.
So, $900 seems about right from a dealer..
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When he died in '71, the '62 Galaxie only had 30K miles, and my grandmother sold it for $500.
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1964 GTO post, primer gray and beat-up, that my Dad bought for $400 around 1973. I forget how long he had it, but he ended up selling it for $400 and the buyer threw in a little "something extra", so let's call it "420"
1964 Ford Galaxie 4-door sedan, 352/automatic, that my Granddad bought for us, because Dad kept driving Mom's car and leaving his wrecks with her. It needed a new starter, but otherwise was decent. It was like $90. This was also around 1973. And, it didn't work. Dad still kept driving the "good" car (first her '68 Impala and then '75 LeMans) and left Mom to drive the Ford.
1972 Chevy LUV, that Granddad bought from one of Mom's friends, for $200 in 1978. It was light blue, a stick, and had a small camper shell on the back. I have a vague memory Grandmom, though, saying that Granddad ripped off my Mom's friend, but, who knows? I don't remember anything bad about the truck, except it was small and slow. I think Granddad gave it to my uncle, and then bought an '81 Dodge D50 (the little rebadged Mitsubishi), and then my uncle either wrecked it, or sold it to someone who wrecked it.
1975 LeMans coupe. Mom had bought it new, and got like $1000 trade-in, when she bought the Malibu in 1980. It had about 60,000 miles on it. Dad had hit a tree with it drunk-driving back in 1977, and I think that was the last straw in their marriage. It got fixed, but I remember Mom saying it never ran correctly after that.
Oh, almost forgot. My grandparents sold their '72 Impala 4-door hardtop to some friends of the family for $600 in 1982. It had around 100,000 miles on it. The white vinyl top was pretty well-shredded, and the lower parts of the car were pretty rusty. They had a new top put on, kept it about a year, and sold it for $700.
It was hit in the side pretty hard in Aug. '74, and with the insurance check, we received more than it cost new, as cars like that were increasing in both cost new and value as used, between when Dad bought it and when it was traded. It was traded on the '74 Impala Sport Coupe, sticker at bottom $4,408.
That car was traded in on the new '77 Impala coupe, sticker at bottom $5,503.
That '77 was given to me as a college graduation present. Their '80 Monte Carlo stickered at the bottom for $7,070.
They got $3,100 for the '74 Impala as a trade and the dealer had it on its lot for $3,295. Keep in mind that this dealer always started at sticker price and with a trade you got no $$ off the new car, which made their trade-in offers look generous.
Our hometown Chevy dealer would put your last name on the "OK" sticker in the quarter window, so you knew whose car you were looking at. I can remember people calling Dad at home about his trade-ins. Don't think that would happen today.
One last look at 1978:
I was born in 78 and can still remember the mid 80s cars coming out. I thought I was hot stuff because at 8 years old I could tell an 85 from an 86 for most models because of the third brake light.
I also was able to tell a very early 86 Taurus from a later run 86. Does anyone know that here?
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True dat.
The '74 was a nice car, despite the color. I remember thinking it was well put-together compared to that Nova. It was by-far the nicest car we had ever owned to the point. As hard as it is to imagine now, in our town, then, an Impala two-door hardtop sort-of meant you had 'arrived' and got your piece of the pie, to paraphrase 'The Jeffersons'. You were directly, fairly-successful 'middle America'.
My Dad did not like the Custom Coupe at all, for lack of roll-down rear windows (he still wasn't buying an A/C-equipped car), and even though at the delivery date of 8/27/74 some '75's had already trickled in, he did not want unleaded fuel-only.
Speaking of having 'arrived', my best friend in high school worked for a well-liked local pharmacist and pharmacy-owner in town. He had a '75 Sedan deVille and would have my friend run it through the car wash in town for him--after promptly picking me up for the ride! The phamacist told my friend, "You like driving that Cadillac, don't you? It took me twenty years in business to get my first Cadillac (a '69)." Apparently they really were something to aspire to then--at least in our small town. (The Chevy dealer was also the Cadillac dealer.)
Back to our '74 Impala--I can remember that once on a trip, we hit 15 mpg. That never happened again.
RE.: My thinking that our '74 Impala was well-built:
An older buddy of mine trained at GM mechanics school in Cleveland in the late '60's. He used to say that his profs at the time were pretty upfront about GM having the most pride in their standard-sized cars, and that anything smaller was pretty-much forced upon the divisions. I know my sister's '73 Chevelle, and '75 Buick Century Special, both had more warranty-return issues than our '74.
My buddy's training story did remind me that Chevy called the full-size cars "Chevrolet", and identified everything else by series. I know in all actuality that was because they had several different series names for the standard-size cars over the years.
Our '74 was built at Wilmington, DE. The plant's long-gone--shocker.
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There were different taillights. The design below eventually dropped the amber lens in 87 or 88, but the very early models had a different design (same profile). For the life of me I can’t find an image. I’ll keep looking.
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There were different taillights. The design below eventually dropped the amber lens in 87 or 88, but the very early models had a different design (same profile). For the life of me I can’t find an image. I’ll keep looking.
Mom’s 87 LX had the amber turn signal taillight.
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Taurus - taillights? I remember there was something about the stripes on the lights, but that might have been L vs GL/LX. I've mentioned it before, my uncle an early run 86 Taurus L, plastic disc wheelcovers, V6, no AC, manual windows, etc. I was very impressed with it when I was young, I thought it seemed very European.
The only graphic ad in that issue:
And some others to browse through - a Toyota Crown catches my eye, insanely rare today. A nearly free 60 Ford wagon and 58 Impala wouldn't be bad to have:
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Got it!
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That got me thinking, about the progression of hardtops. When the Bel Air was introduced in 1950, as a hardtop coupe in the Styline DeLuxe range, the pricing structure was like this:
Town sedan 2-dr: $1,482
Town sedan 4-dr: $1,529
Sport coupe: $1,498
Bel Air hardtop coupe: $1,741
Convertible: $1,847.
By 1957, the Bel Air was a full range, and not just a hardtop. By this time, the pricing was:
2-door sedan: $2,238
4-door sedan: $2,290
Sport hardtop coupe: $2,299
Sport hardtop sedan: $2,364
Convertible: $2,511
Kinda interesting how, at first, the hardtop was a bit of a luxury item, priced close to the convertible. But by '57, it was priced closer to the 2-door sedan, and more mass-market. And the 2-door hardtop was only a few bucks more than the pillared 4-door sedan.
Now, fast forward to 1974, and the Impala range was...
Impala 4-door pillared sedan: $4,135
Impala Sport coupe (the hardtop): $4,162
Impala Custom coupe (fixed-window): $4,229
Impala Sport sedan (4dr hardtop): $4,215
The convertible had been moved to the Caprice line for '73, and was now at $4,745.
I still find it amusing that they charged more, to give you less functionality, with the Impala Custom, vs the Sport coupe.
And, there really wasn't that big of a jump between the 4-door sedan and the hardtop sedan, but buyers were still buying them in fewer numbers. So, while it's fun to blame government regulations for pillarless styles, and convertibles, going away, it looks like it was just getting to the point that the market didn't really prize those models as much as they used to.
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The chances are best, that it's a Commander; but could've been the even-cheaper Challenger. But maybe a Daytona? A Gran Turismo Hawk? An Avanti? The last two are doubtful but I do wonder.
A lot of guys in the national Studebaker Drivers' Club used to say that got into Studes in the late sixties, when they were available as cheap used cars. At that point they found they were not only cheap to buy as the stench of orphanhood was pretty recent, but they found lots of NOS available and leftover, and cheap, and that mechanically they were pretty sound.
The Falcon (no such thing as a two-door hardtop Falcon then) as a new car is somewhat interesting to me. I like those last few years' Falcons--taut dimensions, clean and simple styling. You just don't see them around here at any shows either.
I'll admit that I have goofed on Rambler products before, but in those late '60's, I think you could do worse for a low-buck entry-level car than their American (just called "RAMBLER" in '69). I think even compared to Studebakers, their styling was basic--blunt in front, blunt in rear, uber-basic instrument panel--but I seem to remember them being advertised new nationally for as little as $1,799, and that's pretty darn close to basic Beetle territory.
True, but you did still get that concave rear window, which I'm old enough to remember people thinking that was a cool styling feature.
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All these years later, I do think the center stop light is easy to see. In fact, I worry a lot about driving my Studebaker without one, with today's generally inattentive drivers, plus the fact the '66 Studebaker's stop lights sort-of aim down.
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Only 703 1964 convertibles built, between South Bend and Hamilton, ON. My friend with the silver/black vinyl top '64 Hawk also has a black '64 convertible with blue interior. According to details published in the club magazine, his serial no. was the only black with blue interior '64 convertible built in South Bend.
I love the 'pie crust' look of bias plys on an old car; too bad they're miserable to live with now.
MB SL also had it mounted outside, on the trunklid, but it was mounted low, and not too insane. One of the funniest, to me, was the 911- sticking up on a mount/stem and hard to miss (I suspect some owners removed these):
andre, if you feel like it, and if/when you have the time, you'll have to check my memory on this.
I think that starting in '73, the Colonnade sedans started at less than the Colonnade coupes of the same series.
That's the same pillared body, the same frameless door glass, the four-doors have four inches more wheelbase, plus rear windows that rolled about halfways down, and they still cost less than the coupes with fixed rear glass AND shorter wheelbase!
That's what I remembering, anyway. I might be wrong.
The wide CHMSL up at the top of the hatch glass on Corvettes and Camaros just slapped me in the face, the way we discussed how those old Star Chiefs, especially the '62 four-door pillared sedan, are longer in the back than in the front.
'Slap me in the face'--you know, like Will Smith and Chris Rock. Yeesh, now I remember why I stopped watching awards shows years ago.
Deluxe V8 4-door: $2,835
Deluxe V8 2-door: $2,860
Malibu V8 4-door: $2,987
Malibu V8 2-door: $3,010
Laguna V8 4-door: $3,179
Laguna V8 2-door: $3,203
It's odd that they'd do that, but maybe they did it so that people thought of the coupe as still being a step up, rather than the 2-door post that it really was. They narrowed the gap between the two to around $5 for 1974-75, and for '76 the sedans were more expensive.
Another thing that I think is odd is that the 4-doors were, for the most part, only about 40-50 lb heavier than the equivalent coupes. I'd think that 4" more frame, driveshaft, sheetmetal, plus the additional structure for the two back doors, would add more than that.
Doing a quick look at the '72, it looks like the 4-doors were also about 30-35 lb heavier, but I could see this, considering the 2-door was a hardtop and had to be beefed up. The 4-door hardtop was 111 lb heavier than the 2-door hardtop.
When they downsized for '78, there was only about 5 pounds difference between the sedan and the coupe. That actually surprises me a bit, too. Even though the sedan and coupe were on the same wheelbase by this time, the sedan was a bit more upright, taller, and had a longer roof. I'd think that, plus again, the additional structure required for the back doors, would add more than 5 pounds.
I just did a quick check with Buick, and the Century/Regals were all a bit more expensive in 4-door form than 2-door. Same with the Oldsmobile Cutlass. So that habit of pricing the coupes higher was pretty much just a Chevy thing (and marginally, Pontiac).
Funny, I actually remember the Malibu Colonnade Hardtop Coupe starting at $3,010, like your book said, as that's most of the Chevelles I was looking at in '73 at Dart Chevrolet-Cadillac. I was fond of those cars at the time, despite the big front bumper. Midway through the year the front bumper filler became body-color instead of gray/silver, which helped the railroad tie look--a bit.
Funny how little money separated the models back then. Would buying a Chevelle Deluxe really be all that more affordable? LOL
My sister bought a new '73 Deluxe six-cylinder wagon, in a nice dark brown metallic. Moon hub caps. I hated those at the time but now I think they look better than most dog-dish caps. Older lady down the street from us had a new '73 Deluxe four-door sedan. White, black vinyl top, blackwalls, full wheel covers, no radio, 307. Who buys a Deluxe with a vinyl top? She ordered it I believe as I don't remember it sitting down there. She did buy it locally as it had the "Dart" license plate frame.
The no-roll-down windows, baby spare, and to my eyes, the standard Malibu instrument cluster in that curved pod, was way-more of a change to digest than the '77 big cars were from the '76.
I plainly remember the first new '78 Malibu I saw....Classic four-door, two-tone gold and cream, goldish cloth interior. Frankly, I was pretty shocked. It was at my hometown dealer. I saw my first '78 Grand Prix at the dealer where I went to college (Clarion, PA). It was that ubiquitous light green metallic. I was equally shocked.
I'll say, I rode with a friend from western PA to Missouri to visit a friend of ours in college out there, in his parents' new '78 Cutlass Salon Brougham 4-door in that orangish-copper color. But I remember thinking, what a smooth, quiet, nicely-appointed car for a car that size. It was a 260.
And yeah, I'm sure they raised prices several times during the year, especially once inflation got severe.
Now that I think about it, even by 2000, I think the price of the Intrepid got raised during course of the year. I bought mine somewhat early, on 11/6/1999, and I remember it was $20,390, plus $560 shipping, or $20,950 total. My auto encyclopedia, which goes up through 2002 (but only shows production figures through 2001), shows the 2000 Intrepid at $20,545.
As for the pricing difference between a Deluxe and a Malibu, looks like it was about $150. Adjusting for inflation, that's about $958 today. So, it does add up, I guess. On a 5-year car note, it would probably come out to around $16-20 per month, depending on your interest rate. I guess if you're naturally a penny pincher, or you're struggling to make the payments, it would make a difference.
The base price of my Mom's 1980 Malibu coupe was $5502. I can remember her saying she wanted to get another LeMans, but ended up going with the Malibu, partly because of its lower price. I just looked it up, and the LeMans coupe started at $5652 that year. So, $150 was enough to make a difference. That's about $516 in today's dollars. Although, there may have been other factors at play as well. I'd be curious to ask her, but she just doesn't have a memory for details like that. Anyway, at the time, she was 31, a single parent, and had just bought a house in the summer of '79, and had to watch every dollar. I can still remember, every other Wednesday we'd go out to McDonalds as a special treat. And one time, I really wanted some jelly donuts. She sent me into the store by myself with a $5.00 bill. I think what she said was "buy 5 jelly donuts and bring me the change", but instead I bought $5.00 worth of jelly donuts! At the time I didn't understand what the problem was, but apparently it messed up her budget for the week!
The LeMans never was a hot seller like the Malibu though, so I wonder, if she was a good enough negotiator, if she might have actually been able to get a better deal on a LeMans, if she really tried.
One memory I have about Mom and the LeMans, that strikes me as funny, is the first time she really paid any attention to my '76 LeMans. I forget the exact year, but it would have been the late 2000s most likely, as I bought the car in 2005. She looked at it and stared for a moment, almost as if in shock, and asked, "Did I seriously used to drive a car that big?!" It took me a few minutes to convince her that yes, her old '75 was every bit as big.
Although keeping on the subject, on one of the skits, there was a red station wagon that caught my eye. It was kind of long, low-slung, and wide, large-ish by English standards, and kind of expensive looking. I'll have to run through that episode and take a picture of it...unfortunately, I remember as I was watching it last night, when they showed the front of the car, it was accelerating and the picture was blurry; even moreso when paused. But, it had round quad headlights, and a fairly simple grille.
I'm kinda curious now, as to what it was.
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