What Car would you purchase in the 1970's ... - Page 5 - Toyota Yaris Forums

Loren · 01-17-2009, 09:51 PM

I had a 72 Pinto back in the late 80's. Best beater ever! Transmission was so well-worn that I could clutchless shift through all four gears up and down without grinding. Didn't care where I parked it, and like the Yaris, it was small enough to park anywhere. Good stuff.

I miss that car.

GeneW · 01-18-2009, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loren

I had a 72 Pinto back in the late 80's. Best beater ever! Transmission was so well-worn that I could clutchless shift through all four gears up and down without grinding. Didn't care where I parked it, and like the Yaris, it was small enough to park anywhere. Good stuff.

I miss that car.

Used to call them and the Maverick the "MB RDT", Mobile Bomb Rolling Death Trap" because of their propensity to explode when they were struck from behind. Something about a plastic gas filler component which would shear and spew gasoline throughout the passenger compartment if a good sharp hit to the rear was experienced. Apparently some yummie at Ford saved fifty cents per unit by the substitution but cost Ford more because of lawsuits from people being incinerated alive in crashes.

Heard that you could replace it with a good durable filler component and then the car was pretty much foolproof. At least as much as a Ford can be foolproof.

At least your Pinto didn't have an air cooled THD 350 tranny. I still feel a little green thinking about such a thing in the Vega series. One of my friends used to rebuild THDs for lunch money and swears up and down that air cooled THDs are fine but I don't buy it.

Gene

TEHxFALLEN V1.2 · 01-18-2009, 05:03 AM

i wiould have choiuse some kind of corveete or something

Demon · 01-18-2009, 08:50 AM

Chevrolet Chevette is just a re-dressed Opel kadett:

Obviously, running on an 1.6L petrol engine, was the most economic car of the US.

mikenacarato · 01-20-2009, 12:50 AM

oh man...i would hate being seen in a ford gt or a v model caddy.......

for the record....jk

fearturtle44 · 01-20-2009, 10:45 AM

I purchased a 1977 brand new Datsun B-210. Hatchback. Good car with great MPG with no power. Purchased new for $4300. At the time the 240Z sold new for around $8500.

Kevin

ZING · 01-20-2009, 11:42 AM

My friends '60 or '62 (forgot) Buggy.

500snakz · 01-20-2009, 11:42 AM

Yeah...I'd be embarased to be seen driving an 09 dodge viper with an 8.4 liter 6 speed, or even a 70 hemi cuda' with a 426 hemi!
NASCAR would be interesting. I can hear it now..."here comes Earnhardt in his Hundai elantra". DON'T HATE!

gid · 01-20-2009, 12:49 PM

we briefly had a used '79 (or '80 ?) CHEVETTE that you could see roadkill through the hole in the drivers side floorboard . Like a glass bottom boat on land . " Honey , was that a woodchuck or a raccoon that we just passed over ? " . "

dear " .

. That car was nothing but a pain in the

.

. After that we went over to anything foreign made . Such as CHEVY Nova ( Corolla ) , PLYMOUTH Champ / DODGE Colt ( Mitsus') , etc..

to those .

*kimona* · 01-23-2009, 10:18 PM

I bought a new 73 240Z exactly like this one.

TheSilkySmooth · 01-27-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimona

I bought a new 73 240Z exactly like this one.

Love the chocolate colour - good enough to eat off of. Fun car in its day. Ive been lusting after a early 90's 300ZX; had a rental once - best handling stocker I've ever driven.

churp · 01-24-2009, 12:22 AM

Drove a 63 SS Impala from 68-74.
Also drove a 64 Triumph Herold from 72-73.
Sold the Herold to buy a 58 GMC Suburban (daily driver for a year and 3 trips from Miami to Nebraska).
Bought a Datsun 411 to replace the Suburban in 74.
Traded the Datsun for a Fiat 124 Sport coupe in 75.
Bought a 53 buick in 74 (painted it with laquer and had wide whites...Beautiful)
Bought a 63 VW bus in early 75.
When I sold the buick in late 75...the 'then' wife ran off with the Fiat a week later and left me with the POS VW Bus...oh well life goes on!

Sold the bus and bought a nearly finished 66 corvair (mid engine 350/headers/solid lifters/double pumper Holley) and had fun!

This is typical for me since graduating high school in 68....

The 70's gas crisis was a PITA for getting gas more than affording gas, and it was short lived....worst part was it was the reason for the double nickle speed limit!!

LtNoogie · 01-24-2009, 12:48 AM

My very first car was a 1974 Chevy Vega that I got in 1976 right out of high school. I don't remember how well it did in the gas milage department. The BIG thing then if you could afford it was to replace the four cylinder engine with a V8. Yeah, not economical but whooo that would have been fun for a guy in his 20's. I gave it to my brother when I entered the Army. He trashed it and then sold it for nothing.

From this:

To this:

TheSilkySmooth · 01-29-2009, 10:26 AM

LtNoogie
"My very first car was a 1974 Chevy Vega that I got in 1976 right out of high school. I don't remember how well it did in the gas milage department. The BIG thing then if you could afford it was to replace the four cylinder engine with a V8."

Did it myself. I took my dad's commuter 74 vega GT and stuffed the 327 into it using the don hardy v8 kit. A lot more work than first thought given my sub-2000 budget. Bought a 10 bolt z28 posi rear diff and converted it from leaf to 4-link, long narrow vette radiator mounted in FRONT of the rad mount, TH350 auto trans from the junk yard with a oil cooler and a new filter, flip the hearter core 180deg so the outlets would clear the engine, cut and reshape the trans tunnel, new cut down front springs from a 63 impala, multipiece headers with header mufflers with side turn outs UNDER the doors, etc etc. 0-100 in 10 secs with a lazy motor and 3:55 rear gears. and YES you would lift the front off the ground when you nailed it at a stop light. Ended up selling to a 17yo kid for 1700 bucks after a year of ya yas and terrorsing the town.

Yaris Hilton · 05-04-2010, 03:29 PM

When the gas crisis hit I was already driving a 1972 Chevy Blazer 4WD with a 250 Six and truck 4 spd. (New Process 435.) Didn't do too bad, I got 20 MPG on the highway with it and about 16 around town. I was sort of a hypermiler then. I got hit in it and replaced it with a '75 Pontiac Astre. (Rebadged Vega.) I loved that car! And it got around 30 MPG while I was flogging it at 75 MPH, flouting the 55 MPH limit while using the CB to check for Smokey Bears. (Didn't always work.) It topped out around 100 MPH, same as the new 351 powered '78 T-Bird I was cruising up the Interstate with from Alabama to Tennessee one day. My Yaris sedan would run circles around it, of course. (And the T-Bird.)

wooverstone8 · 05-04-2010, 04:36 PM

or an Isetta...

Yaris Hilton · 05-04-2010, 05:11 PM

Isettas were classic antiques for sale in the back of Road & Track in the early '70s.

kargoboy · 01-24-2009, 05:04 PM

I love the Vega, I've always wanted a Cosworth and even have mentioned it in this thread.
They rusted so easily though, even more than average for it's era, and that was pretty
bad.

01-17-2009, 09:51 PM	#1
Loren What? Drives: 2007 Yaris LB Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Safety Harbor, FL Posts: 1,006	I had a 72 Pinto back in the late 80's. Best beater ever! Transmission was so well-worn that I could clutchless shift through all four gears up and down without grinding. Didn't care where I parked it, and like the Yaris, it was small enough to park anywhere. Good stuff. I miss that car. __________________ ----------------------- Loren@InvisibleSun.org -----------------------

01-18-2009, 05:03 AM	#3
TEHxFALLEN V1.2 Banned View User's Garage Drives: '08 Lexus IS-F Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Calabasas, CA Posts: 1,890	i wiould have choiuse some kind of corveete or something __________________ DON'T LIKE ME? TAKE A SEAT WITH THE REST OF THE BITCHES WHO ARE WAITING FOR ME TO GIVE A FUCK. Sponsored by: Micro Image http://microimageonline.com

01-24-2009, 12:22 AM	#12
churp Clean and (dis)Functional View User's Garage Drives: Yaris 2dr--Black Betty Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tropical Minnesota Posts: 562	Drove a 63 SS Impala from 68-74. Also drove a 64 Triumph Herold from 72-73. Sold the Herold to buy a 58 GMC Suburban (daily driver for a year and 3 trips from Miami to Nebraska). Bought a Datsun 411 to replace the Suburban in 74. Traded the Datsun for a Fiat 124 Sport coupe in 75. Bought a 53 buick in 74 (painted it with laquer and had wide whites...Beautiful) Bought a 63 VW bus in early 75. When I sold the buick in late 75...the 'then' wife ran off with the Fiat a week later and left me with the POS VW Bus...oh well life goes on! Sold the bus and bought a nearly finished 66 corvair (mid engine 350/headers/solid lifters/double pumper Holley) and had fun! This is typical for me since graduating high school in 68.... The 70's gas crisis was a PITA for getting gas more than affording gas, and it was short lived....worst part was it was the reason for the double nickle speed limit!! __________________ ____________ Old School Cobble Jockey

01-24-2009, 12:48 AM	#13
LtNoogie View User's Garage Drives: '08 Bayou Blue LB AT Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: West Hills, CA Posts: 2,517	My very first car was a 1974 Chevy Vega that I got in 1976 right out of high school. I don't remember how well it did in the gas milage department. The BIG thing then if you could afford it was to replace the four cylinder engine with a V8. Yeah, not economical but whooo that would have been fun for a guy in his 20's. I gave it to my brother when I entered the Army. He trashed it and then sold it for nothing. From this: To this: __________________ aFe Intake \| Blitz Supercharger \| Megan Header \| TRD Exhaust \| NST Pulley Set TRD Shocks/Struts \| Tanabe NF210 Springs \| TRD Sway Bar \| Motegi TRAKLITE wheels \| Kuhmo Ecsta XS R1 Concepts slotted rotors \| Carbotech 1521 brake pads \| stainless steel brake lines \| Seibon vented carbon fiber hood

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fearturtle44 Drives: S Flint Mica Join Date: May 2006 Location: Virginia Posts: 209	I purchased a 1977 brand new Datsun B-210. Hatchback. Good car with great MPG with no power. Purchased new for $4300. At the time the 240Z sold new for around $8500. Kevin

01-20-2009, 11:42 AM	#7
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500snakz Drives: 08 Polar white hatch Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 76	Yeah...I'd be embarased to be seen driving an 09 dodge viper with an 8.4 liter 6 speed, or even a 70 hemi cuda' with a 426 hemi! NASCAR would be interesting. I can hear it now..."here comes Earnhardt in his Hundai elantra". DON'T HATE!

01-20-2009, 12:49 PM	#9
gid Drives: '08 Yaris sedan , '08 Liftback Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northeast Posts: 643	we briefly had a used '79 (or '80 ?) CHEVETTE that you could see roadkill through the hole in the drivers side floorboard . Like a glass bottom boat on land . " Honey , was that a woodchuck or a raccoon that we just passed over ? " . " dear " . . That car was nothing but a pain in the . . After that we went over to anything foreign made . Such as CHEVY Nova ( Corolla ) , PLYMOUTH Champ / DODGE Colt ( Mitsus') , etc.. to those .

01-29-2009, 10:26 AM	#14
TheSilkySmooth Drives: 08 3DR 5M Bayou Blue; 09 Fos Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 622	LtNoogie "My very first car was a 1974 Chevy Vega that I got in 1976 right out of high school. I don't remember how well it did in the gas milage department. The BIG thing then if you could afford it was to replace the four cylinder engine with a V8." Did it myself. I took my dad's commuter 74 vega GT and stuffed the 327 into it using the don hardy v8 kit. A lot more work than first thought given my sub-2000 budget. Bought a 10 bolt z28 posi rear diff and converted it from leaf to 4-link, long narrow vette radiator mounted in FRONT of the rad mount, TH350 auto trans from the junk yard with a oil cooler and a new filter, flip the hearter core 180deg so the outlets would clear the engine, cut and reshape the trans tunnel, new cut down front springs from a 63 impala, multipiece headers with header mufflers with side turn outs UNDER the doors, etc etc. 0-100 in 10 secs with a lazy motor and 3:55 rear gears. and YES you would lift the front off the ground when you nailed it at a stop light. Ended up selling to a 17yo kid for 1700 bucks after a year of ya yas and terrorsing the town.

05-04-2010, 03:29 PM	#15
Yaris Hilton Half a Bubble Off Plumb Drives: 2009 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Bristol, Tennessee, USA Posts: 1,593	When the gas crisis hit I was already driving a 1972 Chevy Blazer 4WD with a 250 Six and truck 4 spd. (New Process 435.) Didn't do too bad, I got 20 MPG on the highway with it and about 16 around town. I was sort of a hypermiler then. I got hit in it and replaced it with a '75 Pontiac Astre. (Rebadged Vega.) I loved that car! And it got around 30 MPG while I was flogging it at 75 MPH, flouting the 55 MPH limit while using the CB to check for Smokey Bears. (Didn't always work.) It topped out around 100 MPH, same as the new 351 powered '78 T-Bird I was cruising up the Interstate with from Alabama to Tennessee one day. My Yaris sedan would run circles around it, of course. (And the T-Bird.)

05-04-2010, 04:36 PM	#16
wooverstone8 View User's Garage Drives: 2017 VW Jetta 1.4L Manual Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Olympia, WA Posts: 349	or an Isetta...

05-04-2010, 05:11 PM	#17
Yaris Hilton Half a Bubble Off Plumb Drives: 2009 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Bristol, Tennessee, USA Posts: 1,593	Isettas were classic antiques for sale in the back of Road & Track in the early '70s.

01-24-2009, 05:04 PM	#18
kargoboy Drives: '07 Yaris Sedan/'03 Protege Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: St. Augustine, FL Posts: 260	I love the Vega, I've always wanted a Cosworth and even have mentioned it in this thread. They rusted so easily though, even more than average for it's era, and that was pretty bad.