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When the Caprice came out mid-year '65, it was called the "Caprice Custom Sedan" and was an option package on the Impala Sport Sedan, but no "Impala" nameplates or emblems were anywhere on the car.
No one who was around at the time would conclude that Chevy stopped calling the entry-level full-size in '86, the Impala, because of bad associations with that name. It was simply, as most all manufacturers had done at that time, pushing down the top-line trim name of Caprice, as Bel Air had been pushed down when Impala was introduced in '58.
Dodge played around with both Polara and Monaco for awhile, but for 1974 they called all their big cars "Monaco", and then "Royal Monaco" once they started calling the midsized "Monaco" in a lame attempt to make buyers think they were downsizing.
So, wasn't the Impala a car that sold like 700,000 or some ginormous figure for a few years? Was that before the downsizing or after, cause I could have swore it was around that 77' - 78' timeframe.
But what do I know, I was only 5 years old at the time lol.
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There was a couple years, I believe, in the mid-1960's, when Chevy actually sold over 1 million Impalas per year! And that was JUST Impalas...didn't include the cheaper Biscayne or Bel Air. And I think they broke wagons out separately in those days, so I think that total was just Impala sedans, coupes, and convertibles.
In 1977-78, the market was much more diverse, and the imports were bigger game players, but I think the full-sized Chevies still managed around 650-700K per year. By that time though, they grouped Caprice and Impala together. For 1979, I think it was down to around 500K or so, but in 1980 big cars in general took a beating, and I think the full-sized Chevies were down to around 250-300K.
My grandparents sold a house in 1958, for about $5800!
The '58 did have a ritzy, upscale look about it, IMO. Even the regular DelRay, Biscayne, and Bel Air models were pretty nice looking.
Yeah, I can't remember the color, wasn't it something like "a cross between pi$$ yellow and puke green";)
According to wiki, the F-150 designation was introduced in 1975 to circumvent emissions regulations. It was designated a heavy duty half ton. The F-100 stuck around until 1983 when it was cancelled in favor of the Ranger which was introduced in 1983.
Technically F as a model designation has been around since 1948 and the F-150 has only been offered since 1983.
Sorry, the anal retentive attorney/engineer/mathematician in me just had to point out the difference.
Sometimes I'll go to the parts store for my '85 Silverado, and they can't pull it up in their computer. That's when my memory gets jogged, and I'll tell them "C10".
Dodge used to be D-100, D-200, etc. The little Mitsubishi-based compact was called a D-50, but I do remember my grandparents' '81 did have a Ram logo on it.
There are only two things I don't like about the Impala that year--the striped upholstery, and that bright-metal 'comb' on the rear quarters. I like the added length over a Bel Air, and the three taillights on each side, a tradition that lasted for decades.
The first car of my grandparents' I can remember was a '58 Brookwood station wagon, light green and dark green two-tone. It was traded on a new '63 Bel Air wagon.
Others:
The Pharoahs drove around in a chopped 1949-51 Mercury.
The girls who threw a water balloon at John Milner, but hit Mackenzie Phillips' character drove a 1960 Cadillac.
The man whom Toad backed into while driving his friend's Impala was driving a 1959 Plymouth.
The police car that got wrecked was a 1961 Ford.
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The '55 that was rolled at the end was a salvage car; you can spot the single exhaust and the painted-not chrome-wheels...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Think it also had some great music of the era depicted.
Remember the guys got underneath the police car, tied up with chains(?) the differential to a utility pole.
But how could we when there are no decent actors to cast such as Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman and similar?
Not to mention This classic filled with interesting American cars - also plot, diction, spectacle, etc.
This one also has long scenes with a 55 Chevy 2 door post - maybe a leftover from the previously mentioned movies?
When I was a kid, my Dad took me to the movies one day. I wanted to see whatever Herbie the Love Bug movie was out, but Dad wanted to see "Smokey and the Bandit". I was only 7 at the time, didn't know what a Smokey was, only knew Bandit as the dog on Jonny Quest. I thought it was about Smokey the Bear!
I think I threw a little bit of a protest but Dad said no, trust me, you're gonna love it! And, I did. I still remember that we walked in on maybe the last 5-10 minutes of it, the final police chase just before they got to the Georgia Fairgrounds, where police cars started coming out of the woodwork. But, we sat through the end, and waited for it to come on again, and I loved it!
IIRC, I managed to see it two more times in the theater. I think I got Mom to take me, and Granddad.
For some reason, I had a premonition that first link you posted was going to be "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World"! I caught an episode of Newhart last night, and George Utley the handyman said that when he's depressed, he likes to rent that movie. But then when he thinks about all the actors in it who have died since then, he gets depressed again...
Don't forget Jackie Gleason. He was the do anything actor.
But then when he thinks about all the actors in it who have died since then, he gets depressed again...
I haven't watched Mad Mad World in 20+ years. I still see Phil Silvers in that stream. Probably the finest collection of great comedians ever assembled for anything.
It seems everything about America today is phony. Don't need anyone but a graphics artist to make a movie. Digitize the actors and all the special effects.
What American car today is as distinctive as a 58 Chevy or 59 Caddy Convertible? Unless it is a Retro Mustang, Camaro or Charger. When I was in HS through 1961 I could tell you every car and model on the road. Ask a HS kid today and they may be able to ID their parents cars. They all look alike more or less.
I doubt there could be a successful remake of "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" with today's cars and celebrities as most are tiresome and dull.
What about Clooney, DiCaprio, Statham, Craig? All great actors IMHO.
In movies like Vanishing Point, etc., there was a reality associated with the stunts... In other words, what you saw on the screen was actually possible, no CGI make believe. Nowadays, that wouldn't sell. Viewers want to see someone jump the Grand Canyon in a Tercel, an obviously impossible feat... Yet, it sells. Just look at how popular the super hero CGI movies are.
I'm afraid the day of the actors carrying the movie by great acting and a great plot (think Bogart, Flynn, Gable, Mitchum, and the like) are long gone.
I'll respectfully disagree - at least when it comes to award winning movies. CGI has only come into use in the past 15 years. In that same time, the Oscar winning best pictures have been largely devoid of major use of CGI except for The Lord of The Rings, Gladiator and Titanic. And even in those cases, they are considered excellent films due to the strength of the acting.
Good films are still about great acting, great directing and great screenplays.
Oh, a few other road movies from the 1970's that I think were kinda cool..."Moving Violation" (not the 80's one, although that was was cool in its own right), "Slither", and "Race the Devil".
I wonder if the stunts in "Moving Violation" might have inspired "Smokey and the Bandit" a bit. There was one scene where a police car goes under a tractor trailer and loses its roof. And even a scene where a '74 or '75 full-sized Olds police car crashes, and you can see the airbag deploy. In "Smokey and the Bandit", there was one scene where they ran an airbag-equipped '74 Olds into a '77 LeMans, but the airbag didn't deploy. I've heard that the car was used some years later in a crash test video, and the airbag deployed as it should have.
"Race the Devil", with Peter Fonda, was kinda cool because they were doing a lot of stunts using a Vogue motorhome and some trucks, which I'm sure has to be a lot harder than with cars. And "Slither" with James Caan, Petre Boyle, and Sally Kellerman, used a '72 Impala toting an Airstream about, and two evil looking motorhomes that were built by a company called RecTrans.
I do think some pretty cool newer movies have come out, but I just don't find them as endearing. For instance, I kinda liked that "Joy Ride", with Paul Walker and "Helen Hunt Junior", and the '71 Newport. But I can't watch it over and over again like I can "Smokey and the Bandit". What in the hell is the world comin' ta? :P
I agree except that I would draw a distinction between reality-based movies and the science fiction/superhero genre. I think CGI don't improve movies like "Vanishing Point" or "Mad Max"- practical effects are the way to go. However, first-rate CGI like that seen in the recent Marvel films or ST Into Darkness are a critical factor in their success(assuming of course, that the plot and characterizations are spot-on as well).
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Yeah, you know I am a IAMMMMW fan. Good point about the actors - now it's been 50 years, not many left from it.
And Moving Violations, it's now kind of a cult classic, pretty funny and underrated. One of my favorites from when I was a kid, I have it on DVD now.
And indeed unrepeatable due to the cars and people.
Gleason was at his best in the SAB series of movies.
Yeah, you know I am a IAMMMMW fan. Good point about the actors - now it's been 50 years, not many left from it.
Got me to thinking about buying the DVD. It seems they cut close to 30 minutes from the original theater version for the DVD. The original Mad World was 192 Minutes. The DVD version is 161 minutes. There is a cult following that claim the VHS version is not as cut. Still not full length. The claim is MGM is not willing to spend the money to transfer the original onto DVD. Another supposed authority says there are not any usable 70MM originals left. Only 186 minute 35MM copies. Hope they didn't leave out any of my favorite scenes. It would be like buying a new vehicle and finding your street is not on the $2000 NAV.
Nope. I thought about waiting. But I don't know if the diesel would really be worth the extra cost when you factor in $4k plus for the engine, and 50 cents a gallon more for the diesel.
Plus the Hemi sounds nice;) I'll bet the Hemi has more towing power overall due to torque output being close (diesel will have about 13 ft-lbs of torque more) while the hemi has about 150 more HP. It will have to rev more and no doubt will probably get 1/2 the mileage of the diesel when towing.
I had a bunch of driving to do today. Put about 130 miles on the Ram today. The Expedition would have yielded about 14mpg with the type of driving I did. The Ram showed 17.1 avg. at the end of the day and it now has 141 miles on it. So I'm somewhat pleased with the mileage thus far.
I like how it rides and drives. It's not luxury car smooth, but it feels tight and well controlled.
I looked at the Silverados but they left me cold. Didn't even bother to drive them. Plus every one on the dealer lot had 3.08 gears.
My friend was driving, I was just riding. The Ford 5.0 V8 felt very comparable to the first Dodge we drove, with a 6 speed. Then my friend test drove an upscale Dodge, with the 8 speed, and that made an appreciable difference. The engine was the same (5.7 liter Hemi), and the body size was the same (quad cab, or extended cab if you're not up on "Dodge speak"). The rear end ratio might have been different, which would have helped, but it seemed like it was the transmission.
At any rate, the Ford was a LOT cheaper, so he's leaning in that direction.