1960 Plymouth Valiant

It may be a contender for the title of America's Ugliest Car, but the 1960 Plymouth Valiant introduced one of the most successful engines of all time and it was also the foundation of many of Chrysler Corporation's best-loved products of the 20th century.

The '60 Valiant was the first car built with Chrysler's all-new Slant-6 engine. Chrysler would eventually build more than 13 million copies of the Slant-6. It was available in the Dodge Dakota pickup as late as 1987, and the final Slant-6 was built in Mexico in 2000.

From the New York Times,

"Initially available in either a base 170-cubic-inch (100-horsepower) or slightly taller 225-cubic-inch (110-horsepower) version, the cast-iron Slant Six’s main mission was clearing the unusually-low hoodline and relatively short engine compartments of the ’60 Valiant and ’61 Lancer drawn by Plymouth designers. Angling the cylinder bank reduced the new engine’s vertical height, while laterally offsetting its water pump shortened overall length. Additionally, the space created on the driver side enabled longer intake and exhaust manifolds whose nearly-equal length produced excellent airflow through the engine.The engine’s tilt lowered its center of gravity, which contributed to its handling characteristics. The combination of power and handling was so successful, a pack of Valiants won the top seven places in Nascar's compact car race in 1960."

The Plymouth Barracuda and Duster were both derived from the Valiant. A 1970 Valiant was used for the Stephen Spielberg movie Duel.

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1959 Ford Ranchero

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1956 Ford F-250 truck

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1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1

Rare 1973 Mach 1 Mustang. Note that this car has the Ram Air hood, but it does not have a functioning Ram Air system. The scoops are decorations only, a casualty of increasing emissions standards.

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1978 Datsun 810

This Datsun looks so new, it must be a time machine.

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1980 Chevrolet Citation

No product in automotive history has ever made a spectacular debut followed by an even more spectacular crash quite like the Chevy Citation.

Introduced into a weak market, the Citation nevertheless sold a staggering 810,000 units in it first year. GM factories couldn't keep up with demand, and the Citation was named Car and Driver's Car of the Year. Car makers like to call everything they make "revolutionary", but the Citation could actually make some claim to that title. Lightweight and fuel efficient, the front-wheel drive Citation was completely different from what Detroit had been selling.

Then the problems began. GM's existing 4-cylinder engine was ill-suited for the Citation. The cars became subject to constant recall, and, from Car and Driver,

"While staring down 60-month payment books, Citation owners were having trim bits fall off in their hands, hearing their transmissions groan and seize, and finding that if they listened closely enough they could hear their cars rust. At times it seemed the suspension in some X-cars wasn’t even bolted in correctly, as the ride motions grew funkier and funkier while the steering developed an oceanic on-center dead spot.

As GM’s first front-drive compacts, the X-cars were significant vehicles: They slaughtered GM’s reputation for a whole generation."

Furthermore, Wikipedia, regarding the Citation's early, very positive reviews notes that,

"Car and Driver and several other car magazines at the time were duped when GM lent them specially modified versions of the X-body vehicles in which heavy torque steer (for which they became infamous) had been engineered out. Patrick Bedard of Car and Driver said that they were completely surprised by this when they drove a production version some time later." More here.

On top of all that, as soon as this car was introduced in 1979, GM began getting complaints of rear brake lock-up and cars spinning-out in sudden stops or on wet roads. GM finally issued a recall of 1980 X-cars to fix the problem... in 1983. One has to wonder what percentage of 1980 Chevy Citations were even still on the road by that late date.

Indeed, the Citation caused many to abandon American makes for good just when the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord were redefining what high-quality, inexpensive cars could be.

Even 25 years ago, it was uncommon to see a Citation on the street. It must take real mad courage to try and keep one running now.

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1957 Chevrolet 3100 pickup truck

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1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille

The giant slept deeply. In the giant's dream, all the gas stations on Route 66 were open again, and all selling 100-octane premium leaded gasoline. The giant roared down the desert highway to a vanishing point on the western horizon. And the giant dreamed on.

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1965 Buick Special

That is not the factory hood ornament.


































 














 

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1987 Chevrolet El Camino

Chevy El Caminos, Ford Rancheros, VW Caddys, Subaru Brats. Yes, the vintage car-truck is popular here is Seattle. This late-model El Camino is in mint condition.

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1977 AMC Hornet Sportabout wagon

The Hornet was a new car for American Motors in 1970. This same basic station wagon body staggered all the way to the 1988 model year atop the all-wheel drive Eagle chassis. Chrysler Corp. then purchased AMC and closed their Kenosha, WI factory.

The most famous Hornet is of course the 1974 model X used in the corkscrew-jump in the James Bond film The Man With the Golden Gun.

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