Name Some obscure US Produced Cars Made during the 1970s

[Bruce Urie]

I'd have to say the AMC Gremlin. My buddy's wife had a new one back then, which I quickly renamed it "The Grelber." Bleah! Now I know where the "YUGO" came from.

Amazing thing about that Grelber....his wife left it in the parking lot one morning to catch the train to work.....leaving the car running with the keys locked inside all day!! She didn't know she did that until we got a call at work to come pick her up at the lot....when we got there, the Grelber was still idling away as it had been for over 9 hours....and never overheated! I couldn't believe it....my buddy's wife had five sets of spare keys made for her after that

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[supercrackerbox]

Ford vehicles have a much better quality in assembly, fit and finish. No wonder why Chrysler cars are the least popular among the "big three".

Hey now, I'm quite fond of my Dodges . . .















. . . and I totally agree with this statement.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Ford vehicles have a much better quality in assembly, fit and finish. No wonder why Chrysler cars are the least popular among the "big three". I've had two Chrysler cars in my life (a '69 Charger R/T and a '94 Concorde), had issues with both of them, and don't plan to own one ever again. The problem with the Charger was that every time it rained, water was leaking into the car so much that it formed a puddle of water soaking the carpet, which eventually led to the floor rotting through We tried everything to fix the problem going as far as replacing the wiper pivot shafts with no good results.

And I was under the impression a '69 Charger was actually a well built car for the 60's era. How old was the car when you owned it?

 

[toofastforyou]

Hey now, I'm quite fond of my Dodges . .
. . . and I totally agree with this statement.

"supercrackerbox", I hope I didn't offend you...At least you agree with what I said...and frankly, what's important is that if you like your Dodges, that's all that counts! :smile:

and:

And I was under the impression a '69 Charger was actually a well built car for the 60's era. How old was the car when you owned it?

My father bought the car brand new and we kept it for 9 years. We complained to the Dodge dealer where the car was bought from several times about some water leaking in, but they were never able to fix the problem. This eventually led to the carpet having a bad rotten smell and the floor pan rusting through... not only that!...The front fenders did not have any plastic liner in them and all the road debris and mud got stuck inside of them and they made them rust through pretty rapidly ...This is why I said that the quality of the body construction wasn't the same as GM and Ford cars of the same era.
A few years later, I had a '69 Chevelle, a '76 Vette, etc. and now my GN and my Thunderbird and I've never had any water leak problem of that kind with any of them...

Claude.

 

[bison]

What a bunch of crap that isnt even worth its weight in scrap. More validity that the 70's sucked balls. A Pinto Bobcat? Wtf? I never knew such a creature existed.

 

[toofastforyou]

Here...Mercury Bobcat...It was Mercury's equivalent of the Ford Pinto.

Claude.

 

[Scott A.]

I had a 78 Cordoba for my first car, similar to the Magnum. Thinking it was longer than my dad's bonneville station wagon! I always liked the looks of the Magnum better though.

How about the Chevy 'Heavy Half' trucks?

 

[RIFF RAFF]

thats a good one!!!!!!

how about 78-79 plymouth roadrunner ply volari with strpes and a wing my dixie chopper lawn mower is faster then that ... dont forget the fiat what big pile of chit ..parts from the open market no two the same wonder why you dont see them anymore huh ..

 

[supercrackerbox]

"supercrackerbox", I hope I didn't offend you...At least you agree with what I said...and frankly, what's important is that if you like your Dodges, that's all that counts! :smile:

and:

A few years later, I had a '69 Chevelle, a '76 Vette, etc. and now my GN and my Thunderbird and I've never had any water leak problem of that kind with any of them...

Claude.

My Charger's an '86 and it leaks somewhere around the windshield too. Can't figure out where yet, but I had to completely remove the interior and coat the floors with Rust Encapsulator to hopefully delay the inevitable. Heck, my '91 Daytona leaks through the rear shoulder belt mounts, and now I've got a hole forming in the rocker panel.

 

[turbo39151]

How about the 78 King Cobra? 5000 made quarter mile a scorching 16.59 @ 82.41mph...

I used to work for a car auction and got a chance to drive one of these. I would have sworn that someone dressed up a pinto and simply called it a mustang... It sounded good but I never got a chance to "test" it.

And as for ugly cars... My parents were tricked out of their Blue Maverick and into a new Dark Green Gremlin... (long story)
Then there was the Cadillac Cimmeron (wtf where they thinking...)- I know it's not a 70's car but it was too ugly not to mention.

 

[supercrackerbox]

How about the 78 King Cobra? 5000 made quarter mile a scorching 16.59 @ 82.41mph...

I've got a set of wheels off one of those that I'd love to unload. Can't bring myself to just recycle them though, in case someone might actually want them.

 

[moparkid]

The other "other" GTO. 1974 LeMans GT. I love the honeycones!

My mom had this car when I was a young kid. Of course by 1984 my dad was driving it to and from work only because the trunk and floor pans had completely rusted out of it. When the ESC went to hell, and they decided it wasn't worth fixing, it became a jungle gym of sorts in the backyard for my brother and I.

Though its popular among Mopar enthusiasts, it wasn't a high-production car. But, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird was ahead of its time.



I know some guys mentioned AMC's, but what about the '77 Hornet AMX?

 

["Turbo-T"]

My father bought the car brand new and we kept it for 9 years. We complained to the Dodge dealer where the car was bought from several times about some water leaking in, but they were never able to fix the problem. This eventually led to the carpet having a bad rotten smell and the floor pan rusting through... not only that!...The front fenders did not have any plastic liner in them and all the road debris and mud got stuck inside of them and they made them rust through pretty rapidly ...This is why I said that the quality of the body construction wasn't the same as GM and Ford cars of the same era.

Interesting. I did own a '75 Nova once that would leak water from the windshield onto the pass seat. But the car was 21 years old when I got it so I suppose that's to be expected. I have heard that all Chryslers built in the 60's and 70's were notorious for rust issues more than GM or Ford, and that there were not as many built/went to the boneyards = why Chryslers are more expensive to restore/buy today. I have to wonder if they all had poor fitment issues though.

My Charger's an '86 and it leaks somewhere around the windshield too. Can't figure out where yet, but I had to completely remove the interior and coat the floors with Rust Encapsulator to hopefully delay the inevitable. Heck, my '91 Daytona leaks through the rear shoulder belt mounts, and now I've got a hole forming in the rocker panel.

The 80's and 90's Chryslers were what I would consider to be the "junk" years. Certainly more so than the 60's models.

How about the 78 King Cobra? 5000 made quarter mile a scorching 16.59 @ 82.41mph...

I used to work for a car auction and got a chance to drive one of these. I would have sworn that someone dressed up a pinto and simply called it a mustang... It sounded good but I never got a chance to "test" it.

And as for ugly cars... My parents were tricked out of their Blue Maverick and into a new Dark Green Gremlin... (long story)
Then there was the Cadillac Cimmeron (wtf where they thinking...)- I know it's not a 70's car but it was too ugly not to mention.

I drove a '78 Cobra II once. It wasn't stock but I still think it had the best steering I've ever driven. The Cimmaron was just a 80's Cavalier with a nose and tail upgrade, but year far from what a true Caddy is.