Car dealer ad circa 1969.
If you could choose one, which would it be?
(They will add $100k ADP onto that price )
At those prices I’ll take all of them, even the VW !
67 GTO, please!
Either the 66 Caprice or the 66 Electra.
Now that I think about it more, the 66 Caprice. It’s a 2-door. Grandpa always said cars should be 2 doors. I guess he meant it. 56 Special, 65 Skylark, 68 GS, 75 Impala, 77 Monza, 81 Skylark, 82 Malibu, 84 LeSabre. All 2-door cars!
The Charger if it has a big block, if not, then the Goat.
What missing is a 67 Marlin!
Driving alongside a Malibu back in that era somewhere near Chicago I formed an impression that it was a good looking car, reasonably sized, with clean lines and a sort of understated elegance. That impression has lasted.
Was a V-8 too big and heavy for the car? What was the 6-cylinder alternative?
What does “straight drive” mean?
69 ss Camaro 396
68 Chevelle ss 396
67 GTO
I have a '71 Chevelle Malibu w/454 that’s punched out 60 thou and IMO, it’s perfect. I did need to beef up the rear suspension a tad to handle putting it to the pavement without dancing down the street but the car is more than suitable for BBC high horsepower (the bigger the better).
I think that refers to a 4 on the floor vs on the tree
Nice ride!
I don’t think any of the Detroit 6 cylinders were fun choices, just good for basic transportation. The Malibu was plenty big enough for the big block V8, but I’d go with the small block in the Camaro.
As a kid the guy down the street had one like that. I don’t think it was a hornet though. Rode by on my bike on day and he was painting it black in his front yard. With a brush.
Camaro SS convertible if it has the 4-bbl carb. Since this is hypothetical, of course it does!
Is that a factory BB car? I remember swapping a 454 into a 70 Chevelle that was originally a 350 and having to replace the front coil springs to handle the added weight.
these were the engine options for that year. the 402 was the 396
1971 Chevelle Engine Codes & Specifications
Engine Type | Cubic Inches | Horsepower (*gross) | Torque (*gross) |
---|---|---|---|
L6 | 250 cid (STD) | 145 hp @ 4200 RPM | 230 lb-ft @ 1600 RPM |
V8 | 307 cid (STD) | 200 hp @ 4600 RPM | 300 lb-ft @ 2400 RPM |
V8 | 350 cid (RPO L65) | 245 hp @ 4800 RPM | 350 lb-ft @ 2800 RPM |
V8 | 350 cid (RPO L48) | 270 hp @ 4800 RPM | 360 lb-ft @ 3200 RPM |
V8 | 402 cid (RPO LS3) | 300 hp @ 4800 RPM | 400 lb-ft @ 3200 RPM |
V8 | 454 cid (RPO LS5) | 365 hp @ 4800 RPM | 465 lb-ft @ 3200 RPM |
For me it would have to be the Charger or the Electra, I have never been comfortaqble in anything made by GM, their ergonomics are just wrong for me. That includes Electras, Cadillacs, Suburbans and pickups also heavy trucks, In my opinion the Brigadeer was the worst truck ever made.
Yin and yang thing I guess. I’m drawn to the 64 VW and the 66 Charger.
I wonder, which one of those is the most likely to still be on the road?
After another posting, “Are there any safety features you like/dislike and would recommend keeping on/turning off?” got so many complaints about safety features, some of which were optional over the years, I’m surprised that no one mentioned some of the optional equipment that has long since become standard equipment, whether you want it or not…
Ah, for the old days when items such as a Radio, Air Conditioning, Power Steering, Power Brakes, Whitewalls, etc… were all optional.
My first car, a 1954 Dodge Meadowbrook came loaded and as I’ve mentioned previously, but I am still amazed that Directional were not considered standard (although, when I took my written test in 1966, we were expected to know the three “arm signals” for Left/Right Turn and Stop…). The exam did have one question on this for Right Turn…
I remember Ads even used to list heaters as features back then… My '54’s heater and the defroster were also optional. The heater core was separate from the defroster core and I guess you could have one without the other…
One final note, my friends were envious of the stock radio that came in my '54, it had 7-buttons for all your favorite AM Stations…
I bet that first-gen Charger had a 318 with an automatic. Not that exciting. Probably rusted and junked by now, but who knows? I’d prefer a '68.
Those tube car radios were far better than the transistor car radios that replaced them in the early 1960s. Far superior sensitivity and selectivity.
Downsides were they were more complex, expensive and heavy.
And they used much more battery power, so more people had a non-starting car after parking a long time while listening to the radio.