The Massive American Cars of 1970

[Moparnut72]

And then are Toyota PUs that have broken in half on lifts.
kk

[Rough Edge racing]

And then are Toyota PUs that have broken in half on lifts.
kk

Are those the ones that Toyota replaced the frames at no cost to the owners? I'm no Toyota fan boy but  they did step up and take care of it....
 GM Ford and Dodge all suffer from rusted through rear front spring hangers on half tons...No factory recall I know off...

[JJ]

European cars have got bigger over the years. But Clarissa still shocks when i take her out for a ride! :-).  She’s a big girl.  (72 Newport)

Reminds me of the B-52' "Love Shack" song line..."I Got Me A Car That's As Big As A Whale..." 

[Bulldog9]

Are those the ones that Toyota replaced the frames at no cost to the owners? I'm no Toyota fan boy but  they did step up and take care of it....
 GM Ford and Dodge all suffer from rusted through rear front spring hangers on half tons...No factory recall I know off...

Yes, some of the early Tundras and Tacomas had frames that would rust out. Long taken care of.  Mine is a 2017, so no issues for me (yet) lol 

[Bulldog9]

Talking about rusty cars, I had a 1963 Buick Skylark Special 2 door that had a rod knock in the little v6 that sounded like a jack hammer, and a rust problem like I've never seen before or after. The whole car from the back seat rearward was so rusted it sank over the frame, and the rear frame rails were 4" up into the trunk. Eventually, it dropped the fuel tank out of the car when I hit a bump on a left handed sweeper.  About 1/4 mile down the road the car sputtered and died. While standing in front of the car with the hood up trying to figure out what was happening a town police officer pulled up and asked me if I lost anything.  He walked me back to his truck (was a 4WD truck as it was a beach community) and pointed to a gastank..... He helped me bungy it down inside the tank, took me to a hardware store and gas station, we ran new rubber fuel line to the tank, put 5 gallons in and away I went.....

I loved that car.

[blackcat]

My ex-business partner had a 03-04? Tacoma with the rusted frame issue and Toyota offered a frame replacement or an alternative which I can't remember what the offer was but the ex took the alternative. At that time I thought that was a big mistake but he wasn't the listening type.

[Demar]

At the end of 1973 my dad bought a new Chevy Caprice Estate wagon that had sat on the dealer lot for over a year. Nobody wanted a gas guzzler during the oil embargo and gas rationing. I guess he got a good deal. That wagon was a tank. It was loaded and had a 454 cu.in V8. A/C, power everything. It weighed 4779 lbs. I remember driving it to San Francisco and parking it on a hill where the parking was 90-degrees to the street. I had to really work to get the door open uphill. It got about 10 mpg. My friend Wade's parents had the same wagon. I was following him up the street to our house going faster than we should have (I was 16) and suddenly Wade veered a little to the right and mowed over a stop sign. The sign bent over 90 degrees at the bumper height and was parallel to the street. The car had a huge chromed steel bumper.
When I was 16 I inherited a 1969 Dodge dart slant 6 from my grandfather. It had been sitting for over a year and when I got it in 1975 it had 9900 miles on it. I had that car thru college and drove the hell out of it. It was a great car. The trunk was so big I could fit 220cm snow skis in it..... I never needed a ski rack even with four guys off to the slopes for the weekend. The Chevy picture looks very much like our wagon. My Dart had the same color vinyl roof but the body was a metallic dark tan and didn't have fancy wheels and no turn indicators on the hood. It wasn't fast but would cruise at 100mph all day long once it got there. At stop lights passengers would ask me if my engine had died because you couldn't feel it.

[s1120]

Too funny- we moved to SC in 80 with our 76 Volare wagon.  It was my mother's car and wasn't all rusted up. I think it was 84 when i jacked it up in the driveway to fix a flat back tire.  There was only about 1" (probably less) of frame rail remaining at the top of the frame arch.  I told Ma the Volare was parked for good...

This was after we rebodied our completely rotten 73 Chevy C20 4x4 farm truck, also from VT.  We only had to burn off a few bolts and the remains of the body fell away on its own. I've still got it parked out back, think the entire rolling chassis is now officially lace paper thin.  It's like art.  It makes my current 73 Cheyenne daily driver look like its rust free, even with the holes through the floor.

Back in the day my dad had a 76 aspen wagon with a 318 and 4 speed. Cool car. My sister was driving a 76 Volarie..  Nice looking two door. Bucket seats, center consol, but a slant six, and MAN those things were SLOW back then!!  Still think they were one of the best looking cars of the late 70's, and after you rebuilt them right, and fine start of a cool car project.   As for trucks...  Im working on my old 74 Powerwagon as we speak..  Step dad got it in 76, and it only has 19k miles on it. Been off the road since 86.  Shes rough but the chassis and drivetrain are real solid.

[cliffrod]

Back in the day my dad had a 76 aspen wagon with a 318 and 4 speed. Cool car. My sister was driving a 76 Volarie..  Nice looking two door. Bucket seats, center consol, but a slant six, and MAN those things were SLOW back then!!  Still think they were one of the best looking cars of the late 70's, and after you rebuilt them right, and fine start of a cool car project.   As for trucks...  Im working on my old 74 Powerwagon as we speak..  Step dad got it in 76, and it only has 19k miles on it. Been off the road since 86.  Shes rough but the chassis and drivetrain are real solid.

Our 76 Volare was silver with wood grain 318 automatic. Very good car. We replaced it with an 82 Buick Estate wagon.   My grandparents had a burgundy 75 or 76 Volare 4 dr, pretty sure it was a slant 6 because Gramp had no need for more.  Before that, they had a 69 Coronet 2dr post, dark green.  Same stripped down base model deal.  I can remember popping open the back windows for fresh air.  They didn't roll down.  When I started doing cars and driving down here, My Mopar friends liked the 2 doors' especially with a 340-360. 

The Powerwagon sounds like fun.  Our old 4x4 is toast, really just needs to go away.  Not many miles on it. My 73 Cheyenne is just a good old truck that cost $350 20+ yrs ago.  Over 200k on the original plain distributor 350 at this point, still gets 18mpg on the interstate.  I'm 2nd owner.  It's got quite a backstory that's not WG pc...  I didn't get or groom it as a "patina" truck.  Now some people respond to that stuff.  They don't get that a truck is a truck & paint doesn't matter.  Beyond that, it's had so many motorcycles in the back & behind it, it's hard to count them-





Kinda rusty, but a good heavy floor mat helps...









We went to cut & bring home a Christmas tree yesterday. The tree farm owner asked a bunch of questions about the truck, said how great they are, typical comments.  We drove home past our old dairy farm, pretty cool to be bringing our tree home in my old truck. Kinda hard to believe it's nearly 50 yrs old. I've been driving a 73 Chevy longbed almost continuously since i started driving there on that farm, even before I got my license.

I've got another nearly identical but much less rusty 73 Cheyenne longbed to replace it when this one finally ends its run. 





Engine & trans are newer in it. 

[JJ]

This LAND YACHT is from 1960...but you get the point!!

[Lannis]

Are those the ones that Toyota replaced the frames at no cost to the owners? I'm no Toyota fan boy but  they did step up and take care of it....
 GM Ford and Dodge all suffer from rusted through rear front spring hangers on half tons...No factory recall I know off...

I just picked up a Toyota from a relative, a 2004 Solara convertible with a 3.3L V6.

The car had been abused and then abandoned, and left to set at the edge of the woods for a year and a half.   The property owner wanted it gone, for free if that would get it out of there.  I gave the $.06/pound scrap price for it and towed it to the house, trailing water and leaves.

I pulled all the rubber plugs out of the trunk and floorboards; the resulting creek almost washed the gravel out of my driveway, must have been 30 gallons of water in it, the spare tire was floating a foot above the trunk floor.

I stripped out all the mats and carpets, let it set in the sun for a couple days, and behold - not a speck of rust anywhere.   I promise you (having been there/done that) that if this had been an old MG or Fleetwood, it would have been in two pieces from corrosion.

I flushed the engine, radiator, and transmission, put in a new battery, and she purrs like a kitten.   Put in new brake lines, rotors, and calipers, and two CV joints/axles, took off the tires and rebalanced the wheels, and she drives straight and handles great.   Then I sprung for a new convertible top; now I've got the electric window and the electric top motor to sort out and I should have a nice car.

At any rate, that era Toyota must have been made of stuff so tough that you can't kill them!

Lannis

[geoff in almonte]

"Twenty-eight feet from bumper to bumper
The last of the big old time gas guzzlers
Hard to drive, harder to park
But when you do, somebody remarks
'That's a mighty big car!'"

Fred Eaglesmith

[Bulldog9]

Back in the day my dad had a 76 aspen wagon with a 318 and 4 speed. Cool car. My sister was driving a 76 Volarie..  Nice looking two door. Bucket seats, center consol, but a slant six, and MAN those things were SLOW back then!!  Still think they were one of the best looking cars of the late 70's, and after you rebuilt them right, and fine start of a cool car project.   As for trucks...  Im working on my old 74 Powerwagon as we speak..  Step dad got it in 76, and it only has 19k miles on it. Been off the road since 86.  Shes rough but the chassis and drivetrain are real solid.

My mom had a baby powder blue Volare (maybe Valiant?) But it was a Plymouth with slant 6 and 3 on the tree manual. She offered it to me and I made a hard pass for a 63 Buick......

[Lannis]

My mom had a baby powder blue Volare (maybe Valiant?) But it was a Plymouth with slant 6 and 3 on the tree manual. She offered it to me and I made a hard pass for a 63 Buick......

Probably a Volare if it was '75 - '76 or later ... Valiants were older.

Lannis

[Tom]

Y'ep.

[wymple]

I had 3 slant 6's, a truck from the early 80's, a van from the late 70, and an Aspen from the early 80's ( I think). They were all junk. I did like my 318's.

[s1120]

I had 3 slant 6's, a truck from the early 80's, a van from the late 70, and an Aspen from the early 80's ( I think). They were all junk. I did like my 318's.

Mid 70's to mid 80's was a bad time for the old /6...  They responded to mother Mopars attempt at cleaning emissions pretty badly. Zero power, bogging, pingging, dieseling lump it was..  I likened it to driving a ship...  you had to go faster, you pushed the pedal..  that information was transferred to the engine room... after the engineer finished his coffee, he would respond, and wake the stokers, and get the power going...  0-60 was measured in days..  A sad twilight for a great, tough old engine!! 

[Rough Edge racing]

I just picked up a Toyota from a relative, a 2004 Solara convertible with a 3.3L V6.

The car had been abused and then abandoned, and left to set at the edge of the woods for a year and a half.   The property owner wanted it gone, for free if that would get it out of there.  I gave the $.06/pound scrap price for it and towed it to the house, trailing water and leaves.

I pulled all the rubber plugs out of the trunk and floorboards; the resulting creek almost washed the gravel out of my driveway, must have been 30 gallons of water in it, the spare tire was floating a foot above the trunk floor.

I stripped out all the mats and carpets, let it set in the sun for a couple days, and behold - not a speck of rust anywhere.   I promise you (having been there/done that) that if this had been an old MG or Fleetwood, it would have been in two pieces from corrosion.

I flushed the engine, radiator, and transmission, put in a new battery, and she purrs like a kitten.   Put in new brake lines, rotors, and calipers, and two CV joints/axles, took off the tires and rebalanced the wheels, and she drives straight and handles great.   Then I sprung for a new convertible top; now I've got the electric window and the electric top motor to sort out and I should have a nice car.

At any rate, that era Toyota must have been made of stuff so tough that you can't kill them!

Lannis

  was it filled with a solution of water and road deicing salt or chemicals? 

[Bulldog9]

Probably a Volare if it was '75 - '76 or later ... Valiants were older.

Lannis

Yeah, either that or an Aspen, but I think it was the Volare. Congrats on the Solara!

[Lannis]

  was it filled with a solution of water and road deicing salt or chemicals?

I didn't analyze it, but it was whatever it is you get when you fill a container up with water, oak leaves, and sycamore leaves for 18 months.   Maybe it's a preservative of some sort, like leather tanning solution.

Lannis

[steven c]

My mother got my Grandfathers 68 Dart with a slant 6 I love that car,it looked great maroon with matching interior with bucket seats. Then when my sister got out of collage she bought a low milage Plymouth Scamp,Plymouth version of the Dart with the slant 6, I don't remember the year, but it was an early emissions car, what a POS car would stall a stop signs, no power, she hated that car. It's amazing now you can buy a car with 700 hp  that get good milage and run clean.

[ozarquebus]

I did not realize that many modern luxury cars were so heavy.  I guess the main factor in a smooth ride is still the ratio of unsprung axle mass to gross body mass. I would have guessed axles and wheels had become significantly lighter in order to achieve a more fuel efficient overall weight while still maintaining a smooth riding axle:body weight ratio.

The 66 Coronet 440, which I nicknamed The USS Forrestal with a big block 360 was my biggest entry into the field, but it had a two cylinder air conditioner and I got it from a retired heating and airconditioning business owner. It was so sweet and chilled like an ice box at 8 mpg on a good day. Perhaps the best $350 I ever spent.



 

[Rough Edge racing]

I didn't analyze it, but it was whatever it is you get when you fill a container up with water, oak leaves, and sycamore leaves for 18 months.   Maybe it's a preservative of some sort, like leather tanning solution.

Lannis

  My wife puts oak leaves in the brine when making pickles....
  I know that the later Toyotas and many others are coated well to prevent rust....But one pinhole in the finish and if there's chemicals that promote corrosion, it's bad news . But it does appear you got a winner.....

[Wildroamer]

Funny the talk of the slant 6, and the Darts! My first car was a sky blue 1972 Dodge Dart with the slant six. Bought it, with some help from Mom and Dad, in 1985. What an absolute dog that hing was, lol. Not like the 318 my brother's convertible Dart had. I beat the living hell out of that car in my late teens, then it sat at folks house for over a decade. Started right up with a new battery when sold years later. The Blue Thrasher.

[RinkRat II]

       In 1973 My oldest brother ordered this Charger. 400 Big Block,Torqueflight, 323Posi and rallye suspension.


     
  He drove it for ten years and then gave it to my Dad when he retired. In '99 my Dad quit driving so the Charger came to me. I have taken care of this car and done a driving restoration over the last 20 or so years



    In September My great nephew turned 16 so the Charger went to Santa Fe to stay in the family and now he can carry on the stewardship .



   Paul B 

[Two Checks]

Quote from: ozarquebus on Today at 10:49:36 AM

I did not realize that many modern luxury cars were so heavy.  I guess the main factor in a smooth ride is still the ratio of unsprung axle mass to gross body mass. I would have guessed axles and wheels had become significantly lighter in order to achieve a more fuel efficient overall weight while still maintaining a smooth riding axle:body weight ratio.

The 66 Coronet 440, which I nicknamed

The USS Forrestal with a big block 360 was my biggest entry into the field, but it had a two cylinder air conditioner and I got it from a retired heating and airconditioning business owner. It was so sweet and chilled like an ice box at 8 mpg on a good day. Perhaps the best $350 I ever spent.

That was a 361. The 360 was a small block.and didn't c[size=78%]ome out until 71 and was available at first only in the C body (full size) cars.[/size]

The reason the leaning tower of power was so gutless was because they had 2.40-2.70 gears in them. Then throw in the OD 4 speed and it's a real slug.

[Lannis]

       
    In September My great nephew turned 16 so the Charger went to Santa Fe to stay in the family and now he can carry on the stewardship .



   Paul B 

That's one lucky 16-year-old but I hope the car comes with an allowance from grandpa's Trust Fund to pay for gasoline.   Not many 16-year-olds have a job that would allow them to drive a 10-mpg car!

Lannis

[Two Checks]

And MoPars don't have Posi rears!  They have Sure Grips! 

[GMies]

Not toyota,

https://youtu.be/RJc5NxtoGAQ

[ScepticalScotty]

This is like a reunion - I too had a Honda Z, the Z360 which was very underpowered the 600 would have been more like it. Though, as compensation it was like brand new condition when I bought it...apart from a blown engine. So Dad bought a N360 that was rusted and we swapped engines. I once had 8 people in it, well I was 17. I think I had it up to 55 once, downhill.

And to continue the theme I replaced it with a 1968 Fairlaine with a Cleveland 302 that I never should have sold. The boot was big enough to put a couple of shortboards in. You could sleep on the bench seats. The steering was a little vague.....And we once scraped up 98c for petrol.....I had ideas for the car, but rust attacked a critical area and I sold it to my Uncle Maurice for very little....