Awful American cars

[Lukas]

I can´t imagine why anyone would buy a Talbot Horizon in the US. There was no autoshite-community in the 80s, or am I wrong?

[mattblack]

The 1965 AMC Rambler American that I (briefly) owned... a sort of US equivalant of a Lada...

 

 

 

The straight six had been hoiked out and replaced with a 350 cu in (5.7L) Oldsmobile V8...

[boobydoo]

I can´t imagine why anyone would buy a Talbot Horizon in the US. There was no autoshite-community in the 80s, or am I wrong?

They were cheap!!! And economical. At the time, Chrysler in the US didn't manufacture a home-produced four cylinder engine.

 

You could by a Plymouth Horizon with A/C and PAS and 'chintzy' american interior for about $5000....$1500 less than a VW Rabbit (Golf) with plain 'european' style interior.

 

At launch, the car took a healthy 2% market share of the whole US auto market, but then WHICH? magazine declared the car "unacceptable" and "frightening" when it tested the car for accident avoidance resulting in dramatic 'fishtailing'.

Sales slumped until the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration conducted similar tests and found it to be 'satisfactory' and showing ' no unusual safety risks'. They claimied that both the VW Rabbit and Merc 280 showed similar characteristics.

 

Chrysler management claimed this second NHTSA test "sprinkled holy water on the car" as production rose to 300,000 for 1979.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

#

'68 Galaxie

Anyone else seeing the styling cues for the mk3 Cortina...?

Yes, but the Mark 2 Corty came first in '66. The 1966 Galaxie has four 'stacked' headlamps.

This photo is from Dirty Harry with Clint driving - the white car driven by the bank robbers that flips over is a 1966 model.

Sixties Fords are very together cars. I did a load of work on a RHD Canadian built 1966 Galaxie 500 4 door with the 390ci mill. Proper motor.

[Station]

A 1987 Buick Grand National

 

How do they come up with the names for these cars I wonder? Seem to be a thread of majestic, olde-age, sporting related stuff. The Buick Jousting Magnificent World Series Celábratione.

Cars from this era either had frills on the body or not - this looks very flat! I like the coffin-esque after-thought added to the rear of the cockpit. It needs one of those f things in chrome stuck on the side. Not that shit really.

 

[barrett]

IMO, in the sixties the US built possibly the best cars in the world, at least for their own market. In the seventies they threw it all away and let the Japanese take over.

I've been reading quite a bit about the decline of the US car industry recently, and I sort of agree with this. As has been mentioned on the 'replacement/displacement' thread, american engines (and cars) were perfectly suited to their enviroment, greatly understressed motors designed to go huge distances with massive service intervals, in europe/asia there was no car that could really perform that sort of task, save perhaps the Peugeot saloons. And the export market was so small compared to domestic sales, they didn't really have to worry about what people in other countries wanted from cars.

In the early 70s, when Japan really cracked making the ultra-reliable engines they became famous for, the US market was starving for cheap, small, fuel-efficient cars, what with the fuel crisis and everything, and hence they began to dominate the market. The American-made cars didn't really get worse (except in terms of styling which is a transient and shallow point anyway (remember how long people sneered at 'ugly' 50s barges before they became 'cool'....)), it's just that they didn't become any better, to suit the new needs of the customers. Remember that most of the people in charge of the US auto industry in the mid 70s were the same people that came up with the idea of 'built-in obsolecence' and yearly styling revisions, at the cost of any tecnological advancements... And even when every domestic manufacturer began to slump in sales comapred to imports, they refused to really make any changes, just dress the same old bilge up as 'compact' and 'light on gas!'. Exactly what happened to the UK car industry but on a far, far larger scale and with repercussions through american society that are still being felt today.

Definitely the 60s was a high-water mark for the US industry, but I can't honestly say that late 70s/80s cars were worse, it's just that the whole world had changed and, as usual, the insular American psyche failed to take any notice of it....

[barrett]

eugh what a boring post. here's a pic of one of my all-time favourites to make up for it, '66 Galaxie 500 4 door in black...

Utterly wonderful!

[boobydoo]

eugh what a boring post.

I don't think it was boring at all....I like educational little posts like that , that concentrate more on the 'social' aspect of a car...and it was relevant to our site.

 

I least like the 'technical' "What's the best way to bleed the offside rear scruttock shafts on a 1995 Megane " type posts ..simply because I don't understand them due to my non-technical mind.

 

Each are justified of course.

[Rusty Pelican]

eugh what a boring post. here's a pic of one of my all-time favourites to make up for it, '66 Galaxie 500 4 door in black...

Utterly wonderful!

Wonderfull !!!!!!!!!!, maybe im blind then , looks designed in 2 minuites by a 10 year old , sorry but not my cup of tea Barrett , Do like the AMC Rambler earlier on though

[Station]

eugh what a boring post.

Thought it was quite good!

[chaseracer]

The 1965 AMC Rambler American that I (briefly) owned... a sort of US equivalant of a Lada...

 

 

 

The straight six had been hoiked out and replaced with a 350 cu in (5.7L) Oldsmobile V8...

Some years ago, rummaging around a slightly dodgy dealer's lot in Brum helping a mate look for a motah (frogface Scorp in the end ), I found hidden away at the back the station wagon version of this, bog-standard and nicely patinated.

 

I was sorely tempted...

[Station]

I do love those stacked headlights, there's something about them. They tried on recent Cadillacs, but it just didn't have any effect.

 

How about this Mercury Comet Cyclone?

 

 

 

And a normal Comet:

 

 

Holy Jesus! 2002 Chrysler 300M:

 

 

2004 Chrysler Concorde:

 

[chaseracer]

How about this Mercury Comet Cyclone?

 

Yes please

 

Did the same bloke do the mk3 Z-car in his spare time?

[Station]

Not awful, but the daddy of stacked headlights:

 

1959 Lincoln Premier

 

 

This was in an illustration in a UFO book I had when I was little, I loved it.

 

Balanced out with some shite:

 

1991 Dodge Daytona

 

 

Following the Chrysler takeover of Lamborghini, product programs general manager Jack Stavana introduced a program to fit a Lamborghini Jalpa V8 into a Daytona ... the project was abandoned due to the car having just 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of ground clearance, necessitated by the comparatively tall engine block.

 

The 96 hp 2.5 L K engine was added for 1986.

Ah, that should fix it.

[Negative Creep]

 

 

The original Ford Probe looks pretty dismal, even compared to its sucessor

 

 

A few of these around over here and dear God are they dismal

 

 

"So it's back to mine for coffee then babe?"

"Of course..........oh hang on, I've just realised I left the iron on. Don't worry, I'll walk"

[Volksy]

"So it's back to mine for coffee then babe?"

"Of course..........oh hang on, I've just realised I left the iron on. Don't worry, I'll walk"

I remember having the hotwheels catalogue in the mid eighties, and always wanted a model of this.

 

Quite a good looking car i think.

[Station]

Quite a good looking car i think.

Yeah, the grille looks ace. That's one of the better looking dismal Yank cars.

[CIH]

"Genuine" Yank cars have their personality but I think the real choice shite is the late80s/mid90s where they tried to copy the imports;

 

 

 

 

 

Also check out this guys choice diary of yank shite

 

TBH I'd rock any for a couple of days.

[chaseracer]

"Genuine" Yank cars have their personality but I think the real choice shite is the late80s/mid90s where they just stuck domestic badges onto imports...

EFA.

 

HTH.

 

[Station]

 

Is that a Swift with a different front end?

[whiskeyonesix]

That Ford Taunus/Taurus/Whateveritis looks like it's been microwaved and melted. Isn't it a Mazda underneath?

I have to say I'd have one!

 

And then I'd probably sell it...

[vicsmith]

Glad to see other folk on here like a good stacked headlight as much as I do, also glad the late `60s, early `70s full-size service vehicles are getting some props too, I recently paid good money for a Superman box set purely beacuse of the `71 Custom action in the first 2 films, especially the Red one Lois Lane falls down a big hole in, maybe it`s something about Bright Red American cars on dirt roads or something, I always like to witness the Valiant getting really dusty in Duel as well.

 

Thing is, anyone that pours scorn on how American cars drive needs to remember that they take a bit of acclimatising to, they might seem a bit unresponsive at first then you suddenly realise you could happily drive this thing all day without a break, which is probably deliberate considering the size of the country they`re built for. Anyway, check this out:

 

[barrett]

That's fantastic Vic!

On my way home from work I remembered another one I love, the AMC Matador from Assault on precinct 13:

Has to be this one though, black with no trims. GR8 4 shootin kids!

[Guest]

I was rewatching Used Cars not too long ago - absolutely packed with weird cars of all descriptions, but I reckon the best is probably this Mercury Monarch fire chief car (with a bad blowover).

 

 

And Death Wish turns up a nice big chunky Coronet taxi.

 

 

If you like service vehicles though, Dog Day Afternoon is the film for you, check out all this Fury/Coronet combo.

 

 

And now just the Coronet on its own.

 

 

HARD. Mr Majestyk, apart from being EXCELLENT, has a meaty selection of cars too.

 

 

This Polara is one of the main bad guy cars.

 

 

This Custom 500 (basic spec) cop car turns up at one point to do a huge lean into a corner.

 

 

And it doesn't really end well for this Fury. Bye!

[Cavcraft]

"So it's back to mine for coffee then babe?"

"Of course..........oh hang on, I've just realised I left the iron on. Don't worry, I'll walk"

I remember having the hotwheels catalogue in the mid eighties, and always wanted a model of this.

 

Quite a good looking car i think.

Am I the only one who thinks 'Chrysler Alpine' when looking at the side of that car?

[wuvvum]

 

A few of these around over here and dear God are they dismal

I had a Taurus once. It was the older shape but I think the running gear was pretty much the same. I didn't think it was too bad to be honest, apart from the usual over-light American steering. It went OK too (3.0 V6), and it had a stunning red velour interior.

 

[CIH]

[Volksy]

I used to service an ex-Police LTD. Was quite a weapon, looked not dis-similar to this..

 

 

 

He replaced it with a Taurus SHO, which had a V6 with a Yamaha designed 24v head.

 

[boobydoo]

http://www.americancarsuk.com/Chrysler_ ... page01.htm

 

Love everything about this car....the colour, the dash, the fake wood veneer, the metallic material on the seats, the chrome...BEEEYOOTIFUL!!!!

[vicsmith]

The continuous strip taillights on that New Yorker are a master stroke. Always been a big fan of the Precint 13 Ambassador and Used Cars Merc, and in a similar vein, check out Uncle Jessie`s moonrunnin` special in Dukes of Hazard:

 

 

I bought THAT box set anticipating lots of stacklight Mopar action but was delighted to discover a huge `71 Custom/Galaxie/LTD presence.