I was a child of the '70's. I remember my dad leaving for work early one morning before daylight, Mom holding me in her arms, for his job in a city 50 miles away and driving his 1972 GMC long wheelbase 350ci truck. Yikes! I can't even imagine how much money he spent on gas back then. In 1977 he and Mom took me and my little brother (7 years old and 4 years old respectively) to the local Toyota dealership and he bought a snazzy little dark blue Hi-Lux pickup, trading in his old "Blue Bomber". We got into the cab, Dad driving, me in the middle, Mom on the passenger side holding my little brother in her lap and nobody wearing seat belts (as we all knew, we were invincible and it could never happen to us), and we took off for home. Dad fascinated me with how he just "knew" how to shift the gears while using the clutch, and we approached an intersection to turn off the four lane through town. I very distinctly remember all of us as a group staring at the fuel gauge as Dad said in wonder, "It just doesn't move!" Ha, we could literally watch the needle move in his GMC. I later learned to drive stick in that truck, and after he sold it in the mid-80's or so I remember seeing it around the city for many years. It happened to end up being bought by a man who parked it at his job right beside the intersection where we were first amazed by the gas gauge, so for years it sat in full view by the road during the day. :) I just realized Dad sold that truck right after I learned to drive in it. The gear grinding must have cheesed him. :D I also clearly remember the "patriotism" aspect to car buying back then. Dad was looked at sideways by all the men in the family because NOBODY related to us had ever owned an import, and with both my grandfathers fighting in WWII, it never seemed strange to me that they had problems with a Japanese vehicle either. That was just how it was. Nowadays, of course and rightfully-so, I never see any of that anymore. Great video and thanks for the memories!
Similar story--we went from various Fords to a 1976 Toyota Corolla because it was inexpensive and got good gas mileage. And Mom had to learn to drive a stick-shift (which she did with no problems). What was funny was when the Toyota finally went bad (New England winters), we went back to Ford for the Escort (must have been '81 or '82) which probably lasted at least as long as the Toyota if not longer.
Yeah, now we just take in millions of immigrants, our corporations control us, and nothing is American anymore. Good job for spearheading that movement of "change"
@@XXx-ev8in Happy memories because ignorance is bliss... the only reason people nowadays miss the "good old days" is because people didn't know what was going on and everything seemed so perfect, while if fact it was all rotting from the inside...
In the 1970s Consumer Reports did surveys on the cars their readers drove. They were always telling us that if you bought an American car , you would have to take it into the shop significantly more often than a Japanese car.
@@EdsAutoReviews I remember my stepdad's malaise era Toyota truck. Body with holes you could throw a cat thru and the finally at around 120,000 it burnt a valve. He traded it and never looked back.
@@philpatterson7085 I don't recall a Toyota truck back then... could you possibly be remembering the Datsun (now Nissan), which was based on the B-200 or B-210?
@@matthewfusaro2590 except for Tesla. Designed and built in America. (Yes. They have a factory in China and are building on in Berlin, but that’s to supply those markets only.)
Actually, the Ford Pinto and the Chevy Vega (both pictured @ 6:02) came out BEFORE the '73 oil crisis. ('71 & '70, respectively) So, the Big 3 had already started experimenting in the small car market; the '73 oil crisis is what launched them into it full-throttle.
What is often overlooked is that the oil crisis hit American companies overnight in a manner of speaking. Foreign countries had to start from the ground up after global wars and had a 20-year head start on the U.S. auto manufacturers. Also, the term "big three" is really oversimplifying the scale of operations. Some of the sub-companies under GM, Chrysler, and Ford were big enough to be their own independent companies. Trying to scale everything to meet emissions and fuel economy should have bankrupted them back then if you think about it. The sad thing is the V8 cars from the pre-'73 era were quite good and reliable. Most families and schools used to teach shop to help youth take care of cars. That seemingly stopped when Japanese cars hit the spot. Ask most youth about cars and they can't go beyond what they see in television and video games.
A contributing factor to the size of American cars was once put to me like this. In Europe, when the car became a thing, it had to be built to use the road infrastructure that already existed as these roads had been there in one form or another for centuries. In the US, the introduction of Cars came at a time when the roads hadn't been there long if at all and they could build the roads as large as they liked, hence the cars didn't have to be limited in size so much. There were many other reasons too, but I thought this was a good one. Great series, enjoying watching it.
Yeah, and that's why living in America sucks. We're so car-centric that using anything other than a car is practically impossible. You'd think that'd be good for car enthusiasts, but it makes it worse. It means EVERYBODY is on the road.
Cities were buildozed for the car not built for the car. However the suburbs were constructed in a car oriented manner in addition to the interstate highway system's construction to facilitate the movement of ICBM and military material.
Yes please, I would love to take that class. I can already feel it: "Okay kids, today in automotive history class, we will be learning about Henry Ford and the Model T, and there will be some classwork about it, which will be due tomorrow"
My grandpa always tried to support American industry, and actually bought a Chevy Vega back in the day. I kid you not, he got a ticket for the amount of smoke that piece of junk made. It was "imparting the vision of other drivers". He bought Toyotas after that.
Same! Once went with a neighbor to buy parts (surprise) for his XJ6 at the local Jaguar parts dealer. They actually had a bumper sticker at the parts counter that read: "Lucas Electrics, Prince of Darkness". 🤣
Yes, the British should stick to what they do best, beer and bespoke clothing and shoes (especially dress wear and formal wear). They need to keep their noses out of electronics and especially vehicles.
@@strawberryhellcat4738 Back in the early Seventies I had friends that owned Triumph and BSA motorcycles and would all say; "Lucas Electrics, brought to you by the Prince of Darkness!" I also had a few friends that owned MG and Triumph sports cars, they were even more problematic.
The AMC Pacer was also known as a rolling oven. When it even slightly warm out, you were in a sauna inside. Air conditioning became absolutely mandatory in Pacers. So much for good gas mileage. A better car in a cold climate with cheap gas.
That cold climate would have to be cold ALL YEAR. 😂 My father traded cars like kids traded baseball cards back in the day. He had a fishbowl about the time it was as uncool as plaid polyester pants. Rode in it once - I think I died of embarrassment. However, I still own an AMC Jeep CJ7, so props to AMC for at least _some_ styling sense. 👍
You should make an episode about badge engineering in the 80’s and 90’s. GM had 4 models that were essentially the same car. Buick Century, Pontiac 6000, Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra, and Chevrolet Celebrity. I remember having one of these...
As a kid ('60s) you almost _NEVER_ saw a "foreign car." A few Volkswagens, and an occasional Renault; even a rich guy in a Jag-but that's about it. Fast forward 15 or 20 years, and every other car is Japanese.
@@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549 I don't think you understand "almost never." Do you deny that in the '50s, '60s, even early '70s, there were about 95% American cars? The big entry point for "foreign cars" was after the oil crisis in the mid-'70s.
@@josephgaviota that’s ‘almost’ clever! When using an absolute, like ‘never’ you cannot qualify it with ‘almost’. By using almost you are undermining the word never. Your sentence ‘almost’ made sense!
@@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549 "almost never" is a common phrase, it makes perfect sense. Sure, it may not conform to the "rules" of English, but aren't the rules of a language decided by it's speakers?
I've been a Ford guy(thanks Dad)ever since the 70's as a young lad. :) I look back at what Ford did with the Pinto fiasco, if they would've admitted there was a problem; stopped sale, told the public to park, not drive & worked diligently to come up with a good safe repair; recall the Pinto, it would've saved the reputation of the car & Ford. It would've been a good long term marketing campaign for Ford to show they're responsible & having integrity for a mistake instead of covering it up. The Pinto was a good car aside from the fuel tank issue; fix that & it could've been a wonderful success.
The "exploding Pinto" is pretty much an urban myth. The entire episode was dreamt up by Mother Jones magazine, which claimed enormous calamity, as opposed to actual statistics. The only cars affected were early sedans- wagons never were cited. Do a little research.
@@loumontcalm3500 And even the early cars that would potentially break loose the fuel filler on a heavy rear impact were recalled and a different system was used so the filler pipe would separate from the fender instead of from the tank. Most of the "problem" was media hype. They were reliable little cars, I bought two of them new, and easily drove them past 100,000 miles.
@@barbmelle3136 if only the Corvair survived like the Pinto continued to do after stupid media claims. As somebody born in the late 90s, the Corvair is unironically one of my favorite cars of the 1960s and it sucks that it died way too early.
My first car was my grandmother's hand-me-down cream-puff - a malaise era '75 Chrysler Newport Land Yacht in Rotting Pesto Green. At two tons, with the anemic, detuned 360, speced at 180 hp - maybe, it did reach floaty highway speeds. And float it did. Loved that car!
Agent Orange was known to kill and burn, but law suits took 50 years to settle out of court and it was still profitable. My former company was allowed to kill employees but I survived and only got maimed for life, also perfectly legal with my union's approval. I'm alive because I moved to Europe and national health on SSDI, aka disability income. 80% of covid deaths were over 65 aka on FICA. The 1% and corporations were facing a FICA cap increase. 90% of media is in 6 corporate donors' hands also facing a FICA increase until "Covid is a Hoax" played on the news. 480,000 dead FICA recipients means no new FICA increase needed.
Great video! I was born in '55 and my first three cars were American hand-me-downs. The third one was my first new car, and boy-o-boy did I make a bad choice, a 1981 Ford Escort. Just a pile of crap, broke down all of the time and in the most creative ways possible. After that misadventure, I went to VW Diesels... I did eventually come back to American cars, and love the one I have now. 2017 Chevy Cruze Turbo 1.4L 4-banger. Comfortable, plenty of power and quickness for sane use, almost-hybridlike MPG, absolutely zero problems of any kind. Of course, that's probably not a 100% American car now anyway. And many "foreign" cars are actually built in America. It's a world industry now.
My parents were both born in '52, and yah, their story is somewhat similar. Their early cars were largely used American cars -- though Dad did get an AMC Gremlin as a high school graduation present from his dad in 1970. But after they got married, they bought a '74 VW Super Beetle. And later they had a VW Rabbit, a Saab 99, and a VW pickup truck. And from the malaise era on, neither bought American again. Apart from an early-'80s Subaru wagon that rusted way too quick, Dad has had nothing but VWs. And Mom kept driving Saabs until well after Saab went out of business. (Her most recent car is a VW -- though she's since had a little buyer's remorse and misses her last Saab.) Meanwhile my own car history has been a mix of used VWs, one used classic Saab 900, a well-used late-'80s Buick hand-me-down from other relatives, and a 2000s PT Cruiser my grandma gave me after she quit driving.
Having lived through the entire’Malaise Era’ I have enjoyed your whole series. I remember riding in the back of my grandad’s new 75 Cadillac and looked up at the headliner and I noticed that it was made out of the same cheap material as my dad’s Chevy. Then I thought to myself, the Cadillac is just a reworked Chevy in disguise 🥸
The original design of the Pacer was meant to have a Wankel rotary engine... But for various reasons, this fell through, so AMC had to wedge one of their six cylinder motors into the same space. (Rotary engines are pretty small.) The upshot was an engine which was a raging pain in the ass to service: mechanics would get headaches from rolling their eyes if one rolled into the shop.
The engine sat under the windshield. It wasn't the easiest thing to service. As pollution controls and extra plumbing became the norm, mechanics longed for a beetle engine that you could drop out in 20 minutes and service on the bench.
When I was growing up in the 60s we thought foreign cars were a joke. The American auto industry let itself go down the tubes. Many younger people today have never even owned an American car. It did not have to be that way.
Right, exactly. Not only did we think foreign cars were a joke, those in my father's generation who served in WWII refused to buy anything Japanese or German on principle alone. It took the oil crisis for them to re-think their position.
@@Rico_G Even then they still had American options such as the Ford Pinto, Chevy Vega, Dodge Colt, (Not really since that was a Mitsubishi but at this point of time Mitsubishi had no brand in America so they probably could've got away with that) and AMC's whole thing was making small cars
I'm a younger person, I had a Ford Fusion and thought it was amazing. When I went to trade it in, Ford had shifted to selling nothing but trucks and SUVs, and I just decided to go with a different brand. It's unfortunate, but American automakers don't seem to get that not everyone wants a massive SUV.
@@orangeclay0922 No, one the Fusion isn't that old, and two, Ford still sell smaller cars when compare to trucks and SUVs, it's just no one buys them, aside for the Mustang
@@nickrustyson8124 I wasn't looking to start an argument about a car that hasn't gotten a new generation in 8 years. I'm just not a fan of crossovers and SUVs, many younger buyers can't afford them anyway.
Ed, speaking as a car enthusiast who came of age during the 70s and started driving in the 80s, you hit the nail on the head. This video give an accurate and concise explanation of how the Malaise era started and Detroit's poor reaction to it.
Yep. We Americans were and, based on the most popular vehicles being sold in America today, still are the sort who like big things. They're often more reliable than small things. Japan has far more experience in tiny things, which is why their compact cars and devices are often more reliable. In fact, guess where the walkman was invented?
Both of my parents have owned Mercedes vehicles for the longest time. I'm the odd one out with my Studebaker, but I still consider it right and proper. Studebaker was a fantastic company and the sole licensed distributor for all Mercedes-Benz vehicles in North America for a good few years.
1958 for me. We had mostly GM cars when I was growing up. My own first car was a 1973 Olds Delta 88 Royale. Since then I’ve had 6 domestic and 6 foreign cars.
Ed deserves way more than 25K subscribers. These mini-documentaries are well researched, interesting, and it's fun to hear the Dutch perspective (from an American's perspective).
I had a friend that had a Gremlin. That was a tough car. He did service work for an agricultural implement dealer so that car spent a lot of time on gravel roads, dirt trails, and even right in the fields. He drove that car for years and never had any big issues with it. Even after he quit driving it day in and day out he kept it as a backup car. It wasn't that many years ago he finally got rid of it.
Ed is definitely going somewhere with this channel, keep it up. been watching for a while and glad i’m here for this channel early on, one of my favorites
I clearly recall the moment when I first laid eyes on an AMC Pacer! It definitely stood out from the crowd with all that glass! And, I don't know how long it's been since I last saw one. They came and vanished really quickly. 13:29 I owned a 1966 Olds Toronado. Largest car I've ever owned.
I loved the cars I grew up with. My dad's 1973 buick century Gran Sport. Nice car. Comfy and fast for a 73 model. Can't put a price on fun. Still prefer old school American steel.
@@chuckmartin7482 Hi! Hope it didn't sound in my comment like I was ragging on the AMC Pacer - in fact I still love that car, I still see it as a beautiful, one of a kind design and wouldn't at all mind owning one now- it's just that if you admit to actually liking the Pacer - the car that all automotive "aficionados" love to piss on- people (car enthusiasts and otherwise) usually look at you kind of strange and question your stability (laugh)... Thank you for your response to my comment and take care 😀
@@davidwhitney1171 not at all. I have had a lot of vehicles, and I could proudly say that the Pacer was a great little car, fun to drive and very comfortable. I do wish I still had it today. Cheers for now. Have a great day.
The sad part about the Pacer automobile is the entire car was designed with a rotary Wankel engine in mind, to be sourced from General Motors. Unfortunately, GM pulled the plug, and AMC was forced to scramble, shoe horning much heavier and less efficient traditional reciprocating piston engines in the engine bay instead.
Malaise era for my family started in 1965. Our new Pontiac Tempest was a lemon. The clutch linkage (3 speed column shift,) was always going out. Where was that vaunted GM quality?
I had 1977 Pacer in 1992. I loved it. Super interesting your reportage. American cars 70s were the best of the world for far, but consume of gasoline was the big problem. Big measure, big problem. Greetings from the far city of Santiago, Chile, SouthAmerica.
There were 2 additional reasons. First, US labor is very conservative and protective of their jobs. For the most part they successfully kept automation out of the factories and limited efficiency gains in the 1960's and 1970's. Second, US management cared more about saving money today rather than investing for the future. This was a change that occurred through the 1960's and is still prevalent today.
@@jeffreywilliams144 Management was grotesquely inefficient and backward thinking. You cannot blame labor for all of the failures of industry beginning in the 1960s. This was an industry that would still be promoting landlines if they were TelComs.
@@jeffreywilliams144 Even Trump said if a project fails, it’s the leader’s fault. You can’t blame labor for crap management. Crap management led to crap quality, led to crap planning and crap cars.
@@xmlthegreat no but the assembly line was producing more defective cars per 100 than the Japanese counterpart who were already incorporating automation their factories.
Labor holds almost no blame, the auto industry like all industry of that era was already automating and cutting jobs. All labor did was build the cars, they didn’t design them. Not to mention the Japanese cars in Japan were built by union workers as well.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, and a US car manufacture" If the "Chicken Tax" were repealed, the US car manufactures would to bankrupt in 5 months.
Patriotism only carries you so far. If you're making shit boxes and selling them on the fact they're locally built all it takes is a foreigner to start building good cars locally and you've lost your selling point
Most US pickups sold are bigger than overseas pickups, which are considered midsize here. The double cab Nissan Navara is as long as the shortest F-150. I doubt that American buyers would make the switch.
@@wolfthiel1894 maybe, Americans use trucks as a stand in for a d1ck measurement, and not for actual hauling. In the end, it is about how much cash (or debt) you can flash with your macho status symbol. It is how the competition goes here, in some middle class communities.
@@DumbledoreMcCracken in some cases you are correct but there are people that actually need large capabilities from their trucks. Ranchers, farmers and construction industry. Moving cattle goods and equipment for some examples. Then you have all the wannabes buying for cool factor mall crawling and penis substitution driving the prices of said trucks higher and higher with cutsie BS gadgets that are unnecessary on a real work truck.
You nailed it with the overall problem: maximum profit. American cars then (and now) are built to the absolute lowest common denominator in a misguided attempt to "maximize shareholder value" and keep costs to a minimum. GM especially was notorious for it's "what the hell, it's good enough" engineering that continues to this day. Laying the blame on long overdue government regulations is just spreading the blame.
That's quite an indictment of GM management. If they were focused on "maximum profit" which you state as if that's bad and fail to distinguish from increasing shareholder value (they are not always the same thing) then their arrival in bankruptcy court shows that they did not know how to maximize profit. What does your employer pay you from? Losses?
@@edarcuri182 There is nothing wrong with maximizing profit, that's the reason businesses exist. My problem with GM management is they focused on profit to the exclusion of all else, relying on brand loyalty and government intervention (re: the "Voluntary Export Restraints" of 1981) to keep them afloat instead of engineering better cars.
@@edarcuri182 was combined with unions that didn't care either, from drugs to even prostitution rings, lets just say there was corruption across the board throughout american society.
I love when they show the VW Beetle and label it economy car. My 1976 Mercury Grand Marquis with a 400 cui engine had the same fuel economy as the VW Beetle - or a 1967 Volvo 144 S, like my parents had. When I pull into a gas station in my Continental Mark IV, I am often asked about the milage. If I bother, I return the question with a question: "Have you asked the guy in the Porsche Panamera. or any of the German SUV's for that matter?" In Bremen, Germany, a distinguished gentleman came over and asked in German: "How much does it eat?" To which my reply was: "The same as a Mercedes 500, but then you wouldn't ask." Lincoln Town Cars and Cadillac Broughams from 1990 and up perform excellent fuel economy with gasoline engines, which Mercedes cannot beat with a diesel engine. Does anybody bother for the comparison? No. I am not against electric cars. I would buy a Mustang, if Ford would built it like a Mustang and NOT to look like a SUV. I would NEVER by a hybrid. The fuel economy in them is a joke, and the thought of them getting old would give me a nightmare. It is actually better for the world climate for me to keep driving my old Continental Mark IV, than to burden the world climate with the production of a new car.
Thanks for showing that Pacer in the thumbnail. It really brought back memories. I was a suburban pimp in 1975 and drove a Pacer-based pimpmobile, complete with large rims, candy apple red paint job, white wall tires, purple fur interior (fake fur, so don't get on my case), and fuzzy dice hanging from the read view mirror. I went by "Doctor Pimpalishuss" and was very popular with the mid-level executive crowd who appreciated a decent schtup at an affordable price. The Pacer fit my persona perfectly.
@@mattsnoozle5093 Fascinating? No. Tedious? YES! You have no idea the accounting burden! And if you have ladies who live across state lines then you have to handle THEIR states' employment laws and payroll taxes. And deductions? FEH! I should BE so lucky -- YOU try claiming on your tax returns 144 tubes of KY jelly as a business expense. But great customer service always pulled us through. Special requests, like Dr. Hirsch with the shoe fetish -- she has to always wear Christian Louboutins, never Manolo Blahniks -- we never failed on. Even my own uncle, Moishe "Three For the Price of Two" Finkelstein, had a thing for shaved. Maybe not so much of a rare thing today, but 1975? Dos iz geven MESHUGE! He made a fortune in men's hairpieces, and he goes for the shaved? Go figure. Anyway, I hung up my pimp hat (faux ermine, wide brim, purple feather, $19.95 on sale cheap from Big Daddy's on Wabash) long ago and went into software development. But to this day when I see a prostitute from Highland Park, Illinois scowl at a prospective John and ask, "You want me to do WHAT?!" it makes in me the warm fuzzies all over again.
You know I really do enjoy your channel it's when you have this dry sarcastic yet still educational kind of enlightened tone about you it sets you apart and I don't think you're just a copy of regular car reviews
The Beatles were a pop group from Liverpool and not cheap. VW made beetles. I loved them but didn't like driving them - mostly because the pedals came up from the car rather than hanging down. Bang on about the economy though - for smallish cars, they weren't that economical.
All right, let me tell you something: what you've done with this mini-series is just DOPE, really it's so good that i simply can't get enough, can't help but bringing this topic up every time these days with everybody. And i'm not even a motorist, very far from being a car-guy. But I graduated in economics some years ago and i'm very into economics and this story - the malaise era - and the way you chose to tell it - linking all the dots without never stopping being funny - is just great. Gotta praise you like I should...
Early malaise era cars are probably my favorite cars (well, the fullsize ones anyway). Styling peaked in the '50s and went downhill from there. Performance is pointless on the road. Just give me something with a lot of room, a cushy seat, and squishy suspension. My primary vehicle is a mid-70s Ford LTD. I've never driven any car nicer than it is, and I've tried many vehicles from many decades. Comfort is king, and the giant malaise boats were best at it. (And as an added bonus, the gas mileage in my LTD really isn't even that bad. When I bought it ten years ago, it was still on par with other modern vehicles of the same size. I was very impressed.)
I disagree. How much performance you have is crucial. A 600 hp borderline supercar is useless on public streets. But a 150-200hp hot hatch? Perfection.
@@urbanoman7689 - You're certainly entitled to your own vehicle preference (after all, that's why there are so many different classes of cars in the first place; different people like different things), but that's the exact sort of attitude I hate to see out of other drivers on the road. Barring an emergency, there's no reason to be darting around on the road like Zippy McSpeedster. Driving fast can certainly be fun, but public roadways are not the place to do it. A responsible driver doesn't need a high power to weight ratio, and for that reason performance just doesn't matter in a road car that's being driven responsibly. I do occasionally see people try to argue that higher performance makes you safer because you can get out of the way of accidents, and while theoretically that could be true, in practice I have never seen it make a difference. I've had to dodge reckless drivers in my LTD multiple times; it's perfectly capable of pulling very extreme swerves and turns in a pinch. I've also been rear-ended a couple times while at a light, and I can assure you that having a hot hatch or a muscle car _still_ would not have given me enough acceleration to get out of the way. However, since my car was massive with metal bumpers, it took no damage in the collisions.
@@NoName-ik2du You misunderstood me. I'm not advocating for driving like a maniac. It's entirely possible to have fun within reason and it's generally easier to do in lightweight, low power cars. 200hp was a tad much in retrospect. An old style hot hatch with 100-150ish would be even better suited for that.
Depends on where you live. Here in New England, the land of cloverleaf highway interchanges with super tight curves and no room to merge, having adequate horsepower and stiff suspension is vital for safety. Having to slow down from 70 mph to 25 when exiting because your car has noodle suspension and having to merge back into 70 mph traffic with an underpowered powertrain is not a pleasant experience.
Great take on the US downfall. Mind you, the Japanese design back then was definitely not on a par with what they're currently putting out and the bodies very prone to rust. A friend had a '76 Corolla and by '81, he could change the spark plugs without the bother of opening the bonnet (hood)
Yep. A Ford or Chevy that was driven for 20 years and then sat in a farmers field for another 20 still has a solid frame. Tacomas were literally rusting in half after 10.
@@nickrustyson8124 I own an '06. And at 10 years, and 135k miles, Toyota made good on the rusty frame, with a new frame, leaf springs, control arms, fuel & brake lines etc.. All at NO cost to me. Ford decided to pay the law suits. THAT is the difference.
When I was a kid in the early 80s, I remember thinking what a POS my friend's parents' Chevy Chevette was. I mean I was too young to really pay attention to cars, but remember noting how crappy the interior was and how cheap the whole car felt. A distinct step down from my own parents' '77 Oldsmobile wagon, which wasn't exactly a classic. When I was in high school in the mid-late 80s I was deeply ashamed of American cars in general. 95% of them were garbage. Japanese cars were #1 in my book. Fortunately, today, American cars are getting back in full swing. Most of the cars I want now are American made.
Whenever you compare the cheapest product with a better product, the cheap one comes up short. Compare the "75 Chevette to a 75 Corolla or a Datsun B210 or the entry level Mazda or the Austin America and it does not look so bad.
'Kayso, I just spent the entire night binge watching all of the episodes in this series. Great stuff! I have a suggestion, maybe? Wheels and tires (or tyres, depending on what side of the pond you're from lol), like how they basically started with wagon type wheels, and how they've evolved to what we have now. Just an idea. I may be delirious lol
I remember that AMC's Pacer got off at a disadvantage: the advance-design Wankel rotary engine intended for the car was so delayed that AMC was forced to substitute a GM-made 6, which was not the best answer...but at that point in the car's development nothing else was possible.
Yeah. That wasn't the first time GM pulled the plug on a contract in the 11th hour. They were developing the Wankel and at the same time sold AMC a bill of goods. The Wankel never made it into production and AMC is left to shoehorn a big GM in-line 6 into that engine bay. The motor was so long under the hood, it actually sat under the windshield. Our family owned one. Brand new off the showroom floor in 77. It was the only one where I lived. Everyone else had enough sense to buy a more traditional car. My old man was almost talked into buying a Honda Accord for my sister to drive, but, as usual, saw the price tag on an American built "compact car" and brought home a polished turd instead of the widely received Honda. I was never that keen for it. It was the ugliest car on the road at the time.
It was used in a famous Dutch comedy, Van Kooten & De Bie. Here, they play two unreliable self-made men, who come to rake the garden of gullible ladies (winterising it, a well-known expression since then) for a few hundred guilders. Of course, these two men drive unreliable cars, the comedians must have thought. In the Netherlands, this car looks really strange.. (BTW, usually these characters drove real big size American cars)
These are so well done and your knowledge is incredible. I subscribed two days back. I've seen part lll malaise, and this clip. Those late 1980s GM cars, like the Grand Am and the fancier models, like Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, were nice looking machines.
Interesting perspective from someone looking in. There were so many social and economic factors that went into why the American auto industry lost its way for a while. Yet today vehicles built in N. America for this market can easily last 15-20 years with basic maintenance. In the 70's it was rare that a car lasted 100K miles before being junked.
Just came upon these vids today, and I’m hooked already. (That doesn’t usually happen, trust me.) I’ll be checking out the rest of them. Well done presentations, Ed!
Just wanted to let you know that this came on autoplay on my tv and I was pretty sure I was looking at yet another guy with millions of subscribers. if all your videos are this quality I'm sure that you will be that guy someday :) Keep it up man!
I/we never gave a thought to what kind of mileage our cars were getting that was until we couldn't get enough gas.. That is when I went shopping for my first econo box. When that was over went right back to not caring.
I can't really say I approve of this video because, largely of Ed's miss characterization of the GM video "Beetles and Bugs" which was clearly aimed at GM employees and warning them that they had to up their game or they were going the way of the consumer electronics and other trades which had come to be dominated by over seas competition. Beyond that Ed also seemed to be trying to link the interest on compact cars to the OPEC oil embargo when the manufacturers were bringing out their economy cars several years before that. The place of the economy car in the US market was as a car for younger drivers who commonalty moved into larger cars when they had more money and family. The other market for small cars was as the 'second' car in a two car family. They felt they had to build small cars to keep the younger drivers in their customer base so they would continue to buy their bigger cars later. Where they really screwed up was building the small cars so badly that the younger customers never wanted to buy from them again. The Japanese builders were taking the younger buyers and selling them better cars and leading them away from ever wanting to by American again. I would add that if it had been left up to Renault, Fiat and British Leland it would all be very different today because they would not have gathered loyal owners like Toyota, Honda and Nissan did. Even if the early Japanese cars did have some shortcomings they were reliable and delivered what they promised.
Its funny, as much as people shit on american luxo barges of the 70s, I love them. Lots of low end torque, and style for days. More reliable, easier to work on and cheaper than German cars, bigger engines and more power than japanese cars. Yeah they don't have the market cornered any more, but they still sell alot of cars.
Part 2 will I assume take in emissions rules (the OTHER reason European cars didn't make as much headway). Not only do we have stupid big engines, but the only way the big 3 can get them under requirements is to cripple their power. So you can't get there fast OR cheap. On the bright side, you could actually breathe. The Vega is generally held to have died a death of 1000 (cost) cuts. The engine especially (no cylinder liners in an aluminum block). And the early 70s seem to have been the rust age as far as cars are concerned. Standing joke on the Vega, if it was a a little rusty, it was still on the production line.
I had a 1966 Volkswagen Beetle 1.3 liter 4 speed manual in the early 1970s it got 22 mpg. I now have a 2019 Dodge Challenger 5.7liter Hemi V-8 8 speed automatic it also gets 22 mpg.
The difference between the two is not comparable. The current market equivalent of the old Beetle is a VW Up!. Built to a budget. It will produce more power than a 1966 Beetle, go around corners and give you 60mpg. Besides it is more likely to get you home everyday than a Dodge.
@@bcfairlie1 My point is engine design has come a long way and today's V-8's are not the gas hogs they used to be. BTW my wifes 2012 Dodge has 122,000 trouble free miles and still runs like a Swiss watch.
@@bcfairlie1 No, actually the average age of a car has ever went down once since they started reporting it in the 1950s, plus a old Beetle has problems going up hill
@@nickrustyson8124 No, the average of a car has been going up since the Great Recession, because new cars got more expensive while cars as a whole have become much more reliable.
@@bcfairlie1 It'll give you 60mpg in an optimistic European cycle (and with British Imperial gallons rather than American customary ones), not in actual driving.
@edsautoreviews Hi Ed, I got a reply saying thanks for watching and you have a prize. Just checking if I got something or if someone left a spam comment, thanks.
Typical car owner problems of 70s in USA: "Gee, now I have to sold mah Chevy for a more fuel efficient Toyota?" Typical car owner problems of 70s in USSR: "How much time I need to stand in line for my VAZ? Well, I can stand in less long line to buy ZAZ... But my new car will be already broken by arrival, so where I going to buy the short supply parts?" Typical car owner problems of 70s in China: "What is a car? And with what you can eat it?"
In New Zealand we had carless days but you could choose which day of the week have it on. Cars carried a sticker on their windscreen identifying what day was that cars carless day.
As a youngster, I would fill up my dad's "loan cars" up the street for 23¢ a gallon. By the time I was a teen, driving (legally), gas had gone all the way up to 42¢ a gallon-and we had to wait in LINES for it-and later California introduced "odd/even" gas rationing. Oh, what a pain it was, waiting for at least an hour to buy gasoline. In high school (mid '70s), I had a friend who's JOB it was, to gas up the company cars. ALL HE DID (for $2.25 an hour) was basically wait in line, fill up a company car, drive back, get another, and repeat.
Option 6? hey, somewhat successful european subsidiary, can we have a set of production line tooling of one of your better cars so we can make it here?
@@heitorbernardes7977 Yeah, AKA Opel Kadett or the Vauxhall Shove-ette ;) Just felt like a warmed over reskinned Vauxhall Viva from the 60's. Seems odd that the US was making the RWD Chevette for most of the life of its FWD Replacement in Europe
@@jon-paulfilkins7820 fwd would be just too modern for americans at the time... And it being RWD makes it a great base for a fun car, just needs a turbo :)
@@heitorbernardes7977 A turbo Chevette would actually have been a great idea. The car already had great steering and pretty good handling for a car with a live read axle. A little speed would have made it a lot easier to live with the noise and torturous driving position.
American domestic oil production kept rising steadily until 1970, when it hit its peak and started declining. This was decades early than most authorities had expected - except for M. King Hubbert, a geophysicist who had predicted exactly this (but few had taken him seriously). After this peak, the US was heavily dependent on foreign suppliers to keep oil prices low, something OPEC was able to take full advantage of.
Wanna know a fun fact? American car maker Jeep didn't learn from the Pinto mistake. Look on the back underside of 90s and early 2000's Jeep Cherokees. See that gas tank mounted behind the rear axle? Same risk. What makes it worse is many more of those Jeeps are still driving today. Good Jeeps, unless you're unlucky in a rear-end crash. Many more have burned. Still no recall.
I remember the first oil crisis. Detroit was caught out completely unprepared. Toyota, Nissan and Honda moved in. Now we're in the EV age, and yet again, Detroit is unprepared. History repeats itself.
7:05 The Pinto was an ugly (except for the wagon) and somewhat mediocre small car, but the paranoia over its supposed tendency to explode was mostly media and litigious hype. Not only was the Pinto no more likely to explode than most of its RWD competition, the chances of dying in a Pinto were barely affected by the "fixes" Ford eventually made to the cars. We're talking about 27 deaths in over 2 million cars sold, and some of them would have died anyway, even with the improved fuel tanks. In fact, mainly because of its size, the Pinto was safer than most of its competitors. Nonetheless, thousands of Americans rushed to sell their Pintos when this "scandal" broke in early 1978. While it probably behooved Ford to put the plastic liners and bolt caps in from the start, Ford's biggest mistake was allowing the "comparative cost" memo, which wasn't even written about the Pinto, to get into the hands of liability lawyers. The fact is that Ford was famous for safer fuel tank designs in its larger cars than its competitors offered, though these designs, with the tank mounted high behind the back seat, would not have worked in a wagon or a hatchback like the Pinto, so there was some internal debate, as there would be in any company, about whatever marginal steps could be taken to make their other models a tiny bit safer. Most customers with an IQ about 60 know that such discussions take place; every extra dollar spent on safety buys less than the one before it; but they were still "shocked" to know that carmakers, and just about every other maker of consumers goods, trade off human life for dollars, as do customers every time they make a purchase. It's like buying sausage, but not wanting to see how it's made.
KRTH 101.1 theme music at the end of Chapter 20. Lived in SoCal for 33 years from 1975 to 2008. I owned: 1974 AMC Gremlin , 1976 Pacer and a 1977 Mazda RX4 from the Malaise Era
