User Panel
Posted: 3/12/2023 9:46:59 PM EDT
I feel this was the pinnacle of car design.
Doesn't matter if you're into American muscle, Japanese, European, this was the best period for car design and simplicity. You can be talking about a Mustang or 911 and people will always look at this period as some of the most memorable models. Just a time when designers could style a car without safety nannies over their shoulder. Or engines were not crippled by emission standards. Post your favorites. |
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1987-1992:
Sports/muscle cars- Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe, Nissan 300ZX, Buick Grand National/GNX, Chevy Camaro Small trucks- Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Tacoma Full Size trucks- Ford |
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Have wondered what happened with car designers from 1964/65-1970. Seems like they went from stodgy designs of the previous 30 years to sleeker jetson like looks of the dodge challenger, ford fastback mustang, chevrolet chevelle etc... almost overnight. Styles that still look good even today.
Was there an influx of new younger designers who were cut lose and told anything goes within reason? LSD? |
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I would say '64 to '71. After that, insurance, safety and EPA regs killed the muscle car.
No more Hemis, LS7s and SCJs for you. The early factory wars - MaxWedge, 409, 427 FE - got into full swing in the early '60s. At one point in the late 60s, early 70s, every American car company had a muscle offering. Big block Darts, Camaros and Mustangs were at the top of the food chain. Still are in some places. American muscle cars built during that time are still the focal point of the lives of many car guys and racers these days. |
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Quoted: 1987-1992: Sports/muscle cars- Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe, Nissan 300ZX, Buick Grand National/GNX, Chevy Camaro Small trucks- Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Tacoma Full Size trucks- Ford View Quote Attached File |
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Visual design, yes. EVERYTHING else, no. Modern vehicles are faster, safer, more comfortable, more reliable, have more power, yet better fuel economy, handle better, the list goes on.
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Late 70’s to mid 80’s sucked for the most part. I’d say the hay day is nice (regarding performance.) Mid 60’s to early 70’s for style.
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Quoted: 1987-1992: Sports/muscle cars- Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe, Nissan 300ZX, Buick Grand National/GNX, Chevy Camaro Small trucks- Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Tacoma Full Size trucks- Ford View Quote 968 Corrado SC 400 Eclipse GSX 3000 GT vr4 GTiR R32 Skyline Supra Mazda rotary garbage WRX Etc |
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I like watching these junkyard crawl videos. Steve Magnante adds a lot of history and context to the vehicle.
Help Me Gas Ronda |
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Quoted: Visual design, yes. EVERYTHING else, no. Modern vehicles are faster, safer, more comfortable, more reliable, have more power, yet better fuel economy, handle better, the list goes on. View Quote True. But they do not have the same spiritual experience that comes from rowing through the gears with a loud, over cammed, hopped up big block. Not close. |
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My fave cars of all time were 55-57 Chevy. Followed closely by late 60s novas and Chevelle's. 63 split window Vette.
I'm not sure which way to zig or zag on the 5 year period thing Edit, after thinking more, I'll throw the 68 to 72 time period for chev trucks in there. So let's say 67 to 72 for the 5 year period and I'll take the trucks, novas, and Chevelle. I'll miss out on my all time fave 55 to 57 chevs |
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Quoted: 1987-1992: Sports/muscle cars- Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe, Nissan 300ZX, Buick Grand National/GNX, Chevy Camaro Small trucks- Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Tacoma Full Size trucks- Ford View Quote I can go with this... Buick Regal T-Type Monte Carlo's Fox Bodies Ferrari TR's Countach Pantera's 911 Turbo Nissan Hardbody (had a 1986.5) |
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All the current muscle cars and SUV’s are outstanding and the current Corvette is breathtaking. Etc, etc, etc….
We are in golden age for car design and performance . |
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Quoted: 968 - Unmemorable, unreliable Corrado - Jellybean generic design trash compared to the Guigario-styled (IIRC) Scirocco that preceded it SC 400 - Girl's car, weak performer Eclipse GSX - Trash. Seen one on the road lately? Hardly any survived their 2nd/3rd owner, and styling was generic 3000 GT vr4 - Too heavy and complex, both mechanically and design. Ahead of its time in some ways, but won't endure as a classic. GTiR - Meh, the ones that came after exceeded it by so much that it will be forgotten R32 Skyline - the only potentially enduring classic on the list, and not sold here Supra - A70 car was a boulevardier, and not much of a performance car. A case can be made for the '93-up car for sure Mazda rotary garbage - GTU was a better purist sports car than anything on this list, as was the Turbo II, but neither was really the pace setter that the 1st gen was and the next gen would be WRX - Didn't come here until 2002, first overseas-only ones weren't much to look at Etc View Quote In summary, all of these cars may be great on Gran Turismo, and they may have been the wet dream for teens of the era, but none will be really memorable or collector cars. |
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Quoted: 1971-1973 Riviera.... PURE Sex.... https://assets.whichcar.com.au/image/upload/s--pn3BI8j---/ar_1.9047619047619047,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good/c_scale,w_1200/v1/archive/whichcar/2020/04/14/-1/buick-riviera-side.jpg https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ37E1xDGAEA0B20keFYErQwz5QYrDhq-8j1g&usqp=CAU View Quote Great pick, but also the last of its breed. The Riv was a styling leader from its inception up through this generation. The first gen car was so striking that it is still meme material with Leonard Nimoy posed next to it. |
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Quoted: All the current muscle cars and SUV’s are outstanding and the current Corvette is breathtaking. Etc, etc, etc…. We are in golden age for car design and performance . View Quote The golden age was when an average kid could buy his own car, take it apart, learn to build and modify an engine, transmission, change gears, make it faster, understand it, know how it works. How many people these days own a timing light or tools to work on a carb? Hell, you can barely change oil without scan tools and computers. |
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Quoted: The golden age was when an average kid could buy his own car, take it apart, learn to build and modify an engine, transmission, change gears, make it faster, understand it, know how it works. How many people these days own a timing light or tools to work on a carb? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: All the current muscle cars and SUV’s are outstanding and the current Corvette is breathtaking. Etc, etc, etc…. We are in golden age for car design and performance . The golden age was when an average kid could buy his own car, take it apart, learn to build and modify an engine, transmission, change gears, make it faster, understand it, know how it works. How many people these days own a timing light or tools to work on a carb? Work on a carb? Like a lawnmower? |
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2015-2020:
918 Spyder Laferrari 2nd gen Ford GT pagani Huayra Shelby gt350R porsche 911 turbo S SLS AMG dodge Demon LAST gen Viper mclaren 720s Lamborghini centenario Bugatti chiron nissan GTR nismo Acura NSX Jaguar XF-R Dual motor Tesla's corvette ZR1 |
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6 year window, but 2014-2020.
2013-2014 GT500 is pure sex, and has 662HP 2018+ Mustang is legit 5.0/A10 with N2O or boost 2017+ Camaro ZL1 is fucking gorgeous, 640hp 2020 C8 Corvette Hellcats, RedEyes and Demons oh my!! |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: All the current muscle cars and SUV’s are outstanding and the current Corvette is breathtaking. Etc, etc, etc…. We are in golden age for car design and performance . The golden age was when an average kid could buy his own car, take it apart, learn to build and modify an engine, transmission, change gears, make it faster, understand it, know how it works. How many people these days own a timing light or tools to work on a carb? Work on a carb? Like a lawnmower? You would be surprised. Was at a cars and coffee meet and there was a lot of younger guys with carb'd cars. Like 240Z, BMW 2002, Datsun 510, Porsche 912 and 911T, etc.. Even a lot of guys with fuel injection cars that converted them to sidedraft carbs like 80's VW and Toyota guys. It's like anything else, if the parts are in good condition, it's not hard to tune a set of Mikuni/Weber/Solex etc.. I don't know a lot about V8 carbs but I'm sure it's similar. If you have a carbs with rusty linkage and bad gaskets, yeah, it's going to be a pain. But they're a basic mechanical item. It's not rocket science. |
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Quoted: There's something to be said for a time when cars looked like they were designed to crush poor people. https://www.velocityjournal.com/images/org/2019/821/du1930modeljtorpedophaet82188552.jpg Also the 50s were cool. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/1959_Ferrari_250_GT_Pinin_Farina_Coup%C3%A9_%281433GT%29%2C_front_left.jpg/1200px-1959_Ferrari_250_GT_Pinin_Farina_Coup%C3%A9_%281433GT%29%2C_front_left.jpg?20180801033711 View Quote I came here to say the 20s cars were absolutely beautiful, and many had superchargers or other advanced technology. |
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nothing tops 65-70
and nothing is worse than mid-70s to mid-80s |
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68-72
With the more stringent bumper requirements and smog equipment, cars rolled over and died until the late 90's, bottoming out in 1980-81 where the Corvette had a whopping 170HP. Another good run of 5 years is probably 2006-2010. Retro Mustang, Retro Camaro, Z06, etc |
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Quoted: Visual design, yes. EVERYTHING else, no. Modern vehicles are faster, safer, more comfortable, more reliable, have more power, yet better fuel economy, handle better, the list goes on. View Quote Agreed, OP is going to have to explain what he means by “design”. Otherwise my answer is 2019-2023, and next year it will most likely be 2020-2024. |
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I liked the old cars for a long time, as a hobby. But after working with them for 20 years at an actual job, I'm pretty much burned out on most of them and most of the people I can't stand anymore.
I have started to like more of the 90's cars. Even though I didn't like them at the time, looking back now they are a good balance of modern stuff while still being simple enough to work on. |
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Quoted: You would be surprised. Was at a cars and coffee meet and there was a lot of younger guys with carb'd cars. Like 240Z, BMW 2002, Datsun 510, Porsche 912 and 911T, etc.. Even a lot of guys with fuel injection cars that converted them to sidedraft carbs like 80's VW and Toyota guys. It's like anything else, if the parts are in good condition, it's not hard to tune a set of Mikuni/Weber/Solex etc.. I don't know a lot about V8 carbs but I'm sure it's similar. If you have a carbs with rusty linkage and bad gaskets, yeah, it's going to be a pain. But they're a basic mechanical item. It's not rocket science. View Quote Have to understand the circuits and systems and how to tune them. More to it than changing jets. |
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When I left the US 30 years ago I sold off the following -
1967 Chevelle SS396 - stock 1971 Ford F-150 - engine swapped for a 351 Windsor and 4-speed 1972 Datsun 510 - engine bored to 2000 cc, dual side draft carbs, 5-speed from a Datsun-Z, headers, electronic ignition 1974 Porsche 914 - fuel injection swapped for dual down-draft carbs Keeping all that retro iron on the road was a full time hobby. Always adjusting/replacing spark plugs, timing, carb tuning, etc... Lots of work - much more than most people these days might know |
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A 1970 4-4-2 4 speed was my first car so I am biased. Not much beats rowing a 4 speed behind a torque monster big block or rocket in OLDS case. Yeah you could build a screaming small or big block chevy for cheaper and the B O P tax is real. The OLDS just had style. I also dropped that built rocket into a 79 trans am and even with the 2.4 rear end I still smoked cars around. Even with the torque it was a dog out of the hole but damn once it hit 40 mph it didn't stop pulling.
I smoked a mint green late 60's vette on Damn Neck road. I was cruising doing 45 and I saw him in the rear view mirror. Then I saw the black rich smoke coming out of his side pipes and gave him the run until he got next to me. Dropped it into 1and made both shifts into 2 and 3 and just dragged him hard. He came into the machine shop I was working in at the time and started bitching to the owner at the time about how some piece of shit TA stomped him. I started laughing and the boss just gave me the look. He let me walk him to my car and pop the hood. Sorry gramps your mild 350 isn't going to hang with a built 455 rocket. Then I told him he built both motors so it wasn't the bosses fault. Then the boss asked him why he was racing in the break in period and that was the end of that. Damn to be 20 again and have 5 grand into a motor in a shit box. The doors dropped 2 inches every time they were opened. But the brakes were good and the motor and tranny was fresh. I blew out that ten bolt rear within a year. |
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