1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow

If you like talking about cars, this is always an interesting car to talk about. Observations:

* This car was crazy expensive. In 1976, It went for about $36,000, or four times the starting price of a Cadillac two-door. I once heard that back in the day Rolls had cranked up their prices even more just to make the cars more exclusive and thus somehow more appealing to the uber-rich. Apparently, that really happened as the price of the Shadow went to about $65,000 in 1980, or $250,000 in today's dollars. Of course the cheapest new Rolls you can buy now starts north of $340,000, so never mind.

* Were these cars worth the crazy cost? Depends on how you look at it I guess. One source will tell you, "Every Rolls-Royce vehicle is meticulously handcrafted to the highest standards, with artisans meticulously shaping every curve and stitch to perfection. This dedication to quality ensures that each car is not only a marvel of engineering but also a work of art designed to stand the test of time."

On the other hand, just because something is "made to perfection" that doesn't means it's reliable or durable. The Shadow's complex braking and suspension system have given it the reputation of a car that bankrupts owners who try to keep it running. The last Plymouth Duster was also made in 1976. It sure as heck wasn't made to perfection, but it wasn't always in the shop.

 

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Old Cars in Fremont

The Fremont neighborhood in Seattle has long since ceased to be affordable for ordinary human beings, but it retains some of its quirky character in the form of a lot of old cars and trucks.

This 1949 Ford F-1 has been nicely restored. That's a pretty nice chrome grill for a working pickup from this era.

 

 

The mid-80s Chevy El Camino, still a fairly common sight on the west coast.

 

This 1976 Datsun 280Z was the first car in the series with fuel-injection. It was way ahead of the dinosaurs Detroit was offering at the time.

 

1987 Dodge Ram. Far less common that the old Ford and Chevy trucks you see on every block here.

 

1980 Toyota Celica. One of the few cars from that era that is hard to kill.

 

And finally, right in front of the Ford F-1, quite a contrast: A 1990 Mercedes 560 SEC. This car cost around $85,000 new. That would be over $200,000 in 2024 dollars.

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Sucking in the 70s: Three Cars from America's Most Tasteless Decade

Stop by 15th Ave West and Dravus, and you'll find the gas station where the 70s survived. Both cars pictured below were very successful. The Chrysler B-body coupe, pictured here as the 1976 Dodge Charger but also sold as the Chrysler Cordoba, Plymouth Fury and a bunch of other names, was a big hit at a time when the company was staggering toward bankruptcy. And the 1978 Mercury Cougar, which was the same car as that year's Ford Thunderbird, sold an unbelievable 565,000 copies for Ford and Mercury combined.

On the one hand, these cars are remembered as gas-guzzling land yachts from an era when Detroit was increasingly losing market share due to its inability to compete with smaller, more practical, higher quality and less garish-looking cars from Japan. On the other hand, at least these cars tried to add a little artistry to their design, unlike today's world of identical gray SUVs.

The 1974 Maverick pictured below is parked around the corner; I suspect it also belongs to the gas station. Love the vintage stereo receiver in the back seat!

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Concours d'Lemons: 1976 AMC Pacer

The Concours d'Lemons is a car show, "Celebrating the oddball, mundane and truly awful of the automotive world."

The Pacer was the last all-new car AMC ever built. It put a lot of money into the project, and although initial sales were strong, it seems everybody who thought it was cool bought one, then they couldn't sell any more. It also got a reputation as a not very well-built car.

So you may look at the Pacer and simply ask, "Why?!" Well, Americans were used to driving big cars, and there was a market in the 70s for small cars that were as wide as big cars and that drove the way big cars did. AMC had used this same idea for the Gremlin.

* This car is done up as a replica of the Mirth Mobile from Wayne's World.
* I've never seen a Pacer on the street in Washington, though I have seen a couple of Gremlins. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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America's best-selling car: 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass

The Olds Cutlass was the best-selling car in America 7 times between 1975 and 1983, despite being a fairly large, mid-price vehicle. This is the base model, not a Cutlass Supreme. The Supreme got a whole different grill and front-end treatment. It probably has a V-8, though it's possible it's got a Chevy inline-6. Beginning in 1977, the Buick V-6 became the most popular choice for these cars. This car is parked outside a garage full of collector cars in Interbay. Why is it being saved? Perhaps it was garaged-kept for many years and has very low miles.

 

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Peaked in High School? 1976 Chevrolet Nova

 A guy you knew (loudly) drove this car to your high school. He was either:
1. That guy who beat you up and who died two years after graduation in a motorcycle accident.
OR
2. That poor kid who could rebuild an engine blindfolded and who now works at your Audi dealership and owns a house with a three-car garage.

I love the Max Max touches: homemade grill, mop and bucket paint job.

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1976 Ford Maverick with "Luxury Decor Group"

One of the many weird phenomena of Detroit cars in the 70s. Start with a bare bones economy model that's been around for years. Glue a lot of plastic and vinyl over a two-tone paint job and -presto!- it's a "luxury compact".

The Maverick had already been around for most of a decade when Ford made the copy seen here with the "Luxury Decor Group". This car cost about $600 more with the package; that's about $3,000 in 2020 dollars.

* The owner of this Maverick has scraped off the vinyl top, leaving the paintless metal.
* This '79 AMC Concord is another cheap compact re-imagined as a luxury car. It's certainly takes a lot of imagination.
* Here's a fun article on the "luxury compact" phenom.

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1970 and 1976 Checker Marathon Aerobus

The Markin company manufactured and sold Checker brand taxis for most of the 20th century. The iconic Marathon was virtually unchanged from its introduction as the Checker A9 in 1959 until the last car was built in 1982. These two Aerobus models designed for airport use show one of the few changes made over the years: the earlier car has chrome bumpers but the later car has enormous steel shelf bumpers designed to meet increasing federal safety standards.

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