Do you remember the 1975 AMC PACER . . .

The 70's was the pinnacle of car design IMO. And then something just went awfully wrong in the 80's...something terribly bland. Just look at the 70's Cortina Mark III for instance:





And compare it with the Cortina Mark V, introduced in the 80's:






It's gone downhill from there. I hate the generic looking soap-bar cars of today. They all look the same. I can barely tell them apart. 

I had a 1977 nova in the 80s.  Yellow.  Those were my wheels for my teenage years in the 80s. Kinda ironic for this thread huh 

Jonbouy


I took my test in one of these.
 

 
Whatever went wrong happened before the 80's...
 
Funnily enough I probably got more practical use out of that thing than I have out of pretty much anything since.

That was my mother's first car when she passed her test in 1982. It was a red one, registration JRG 961P. We drove around France in it. Dashboard gear sticks FTW!

drumstixkev


I remember my friend and I would drive around in his 1975 baby blue Pacer and we would hope no one would see us.  Now I look at this photo and think what a cool looking car.

I remember seeing one of those on my first trip to the US and thinking it was way cool ! I was 15 then, but truth is I still kinda like it. There was also a..2dr/2 seater small amercian coupe that I fell in love with, but can't for the life of me remember the name of it.

I've owned some rubbish in me time..

Started out with this, which I loved (walnut dashboard, leather seats..starting handle..);





Then this heap, which caught fire at Heston Services;






Then this lumpen great thing, not even power steering;



Then the best one of the lot, said goodbye after 10 years and 265,000 miles;






Now I drive this;






Ah, the glamour of it all...

My first car got 41MPG in 1976:
 
 

My first vehicle...1960 Willy's jeep wagon....

djwayne


My first vehicle...1960 Willy's jeep wagon....

I'd LOVE that for my gardening business! 

 This was my first car. I worked on it more than I drove it. It was very used when I got it.



 Shortly thereafter I had this. Also needed a lot of work.



 This was the first car I had that I really liked.This isn't a pic of my car but this is the same car and color mine was. I replaced pretty much everything in that car and even painted it at a place I worked at that let me use their paint equipment.



 This was my next car. It was the Brogham edition and it literally felt like you were riding on a full sofa on a cushion of air going down the road in it.



 Next was this. I don't know what got into me. This car would really move though with a straight 6 in it and almost nothing to pull.



 This is what I keep in the yard as my utility vehicle now. What else has AWD,can haul 7 people and has a truck chassis  under it so I can hook up my trailer and pull two tons if necessary? Its getting a little long in the tooth but you can't beat it for a gigging van....when I look at a possible replacement for it I can't find anything that fits the bill unless I want to drop 40,000 on a car....NOT.




 My gas sipping daily driver.

Good memories:

Every 20 miles or so I'd stop at a produce stand and fuel up on oranges, bananas, and apples.

:-)

I like your Chevelle.

I had a 1970 two door swept back Impala.

Good times.



:-)

I could fit 8 (yes 8) bicycles in the trunk and squeeze as many humans inside. We'd drive out into the forest at unmentionable speeds looking for bicycle trails to ride and explore.

:-)

Thanks Mike. My bike had to have a motor...a big motor. :) I like your thinking and agree...the trunk or out in the woods is the place for them.

Yeah Star...it moved very well. I have a
'69 El Camino SS that I just sold. It's only half-way restored....ready for interior and paint.
It's going to be even faster. The El Camino was designed to hook-up better.
I just got tired of restoring. Funny dude too...he left it in my yard ( my Ok) and haven't seen him since. Maybe he thinks I'll finish it LOL...I think I may sell it again LOL.

I restored a '49 Willys "Stakebed" that James really wood have loved for gardening.
Sold it to a guy that put the Willys truck bed on it....friggin' bozo...if I'd know that I would
have kept it...or not sold it to him.

WITH GREAT POWER THERE MUST ALSO COME - - GREAT RESPONSIBILITY! -Stan Lee

Star the Camino was because my wife liked them. I've never cared for them and she
decided she wanted a full size truck....women.

My opinion of the US '80 models is that we were the ones paying for them testing out
how to make them run with computers....much the same way we've been paying for testing
how to record with them for the last twenty years....I think we're getting very close to having that well taken care of. JMO.

I had a 1983 Olds Toronado. Beautiful ride but run like doggy do because of the electronic
failings.
Well I changed all of that. When I was done the only thing the computer did was remember where I set the seat positions.
It was a bat out of hell front wheel drive when I finished. A luxury car that would haul.
It also had the air ride leveling suspension so I had a tow package put on it.
Then it was a fast, luxury, horse trailor pulling most excellent ride. Ya didn't even know the
horses were back there and because it was heavy in the front it was also great in snow.
It was truly a cowboy Cadillac....that screamed.

It was kind of funny....everytime I got pulled over in any of my fast rides the officer would
get to talking about the ride...when he realized that I knew about the vehicle and was
"in control" they'd usally say, "well try to keep it down and watch out for those other guys" and let me go.

I wish I had pictures of a '70 Camaro that I drove for years. Now that was a mean street machine. Had a quad stereo in it too! Steely Dan was fantasic in that car! True quad too...they had some other crap that was like quadrsonic or sumpin...don't remember much about that. I think it was just reversing LR in front or back...stupid whatever it was.

Yep, I remember those... lol. My first car was my parents car of course. Then when I was 18 I got a VW campervan. I didn't know you had to put oil in it... and I was a slow learner. I blew that engine, blew another engine, then got another VW van but not a camper, blew that engine... a VW van has what is called a "pancake engine" and it will ive you NO warning before it blows... it ticks for about 5 seconds, louder each time then CRACK... it is BUSTED. 
After the VWs I got an Opel Kadet. Of course I didn't take very good care of it either. I completely burned the clutch out and found I could drive it without one. I would shut the car down at a stop sign or traffic light, put it in 1st, turn the key and it would start up and start going. It had no second gear anymore... so I would let off the gas and flip it into third, let off and into 4th. I could even gear down with no clutch, just let off the gas and it would let me gear down. It was pretty amazing considering what I put it through. I junked it when a brake caliper broke.

I finally began to mature a little and began taking care of cars and other things. The last truck I had before I met my wife and settled down was a '51 Ford with a flathead V-8 (Sanford and Son truck).

I drive a 2003 F-150 now but I might as well be driving a muscle car for the mileage I get... or a Pacer!
 
BTW... 1959 was the pinnacle of auto design. I would love to see some automakers revisit those body designs with modern guts. Curves and fins... awesome!!

J