You never grow up, you just get older
“I’ve never had issues with the 60s era Chrysler products I’ve owned.”
My father’s '63 Plymouth was a well-constructed, very reliable car, and my first car–a beautiful '71 Charger–was equally reliable.
However, my brother had the misfortune to own a 1970 Barracuda, and that thing was the worst-assembled car that I ever saw. The paint looked like it had been applied with a broom, the fit of both body panels and interior panels was amateurish at best, and some of the accessories were–literally–barely hanging onto their attachments as a result of slipshod assembly quality.
The A/C compressor clutch grenaded after ~13 months, and that Barracuda visibly deteriorated over the space of just a couple of years.
So, even though my '71 Charger was a very good car, I have to conclude that Chrysler’s slide into bad quality did begin in the '70s.
The 60’s era Chryco’s were mechanically as reliable as any other vehicle out there. The slant-6 was almost indestructible. But in snow country where they use salt…they rusted out quicker then any other american manufacturer vehicle.
I was very happy with a 1965 Plymouth Valiant. It’s been many years but I don’t recall ever having a major breakdown and I drove it like the derelict teenager that I was.
My first wife’s father bought a brand new Ford F-100 pickup truck and immediately had it rustproofed by the company that advertised “It’s us or rust”. That truck had terminal rust in four years.
Back in the 1970s, a lot of Asian cars had terrible rust problems. Honda replaced the front fenders on many Civics and Accords. After I lost my first wife, I dated a woman who had a Datsun 210. It was only 6 years old but had to be replaced because of the rust. I think some of the Asian cars in the 1970s rusted worse than anything on the road at that time.
On the other hand, I bought a 1947 Pontiac in 1961. There was absolutely no rust anywhere including the floorboards. The engine used a quart of oil every 250 miles and the cluster gear in the transmission made it howl in 1st gear. I wanted to find another engine and have the transmission rebuilt, but people advised me not to put that kind of money into a car that I bought for $75. I wish I hadn’t listened to them. I have since learned that if the body is solid, the car is probably worth saving.
Well,if it had good rhyme and meter ,I listened and it stuck"see the USA,in your Chevrolet"“wouldnt you really rather have a Buick,a Buick.,” etc,the gas ads were spiffy too"Esso Extra gasoline,keeps the car your driving,helps the car your driving…," showing a corvette and some other cars,but I do not like the Marathon"get yourself a full tank of freedom…,"it alludes to other things I will not discuss here-I used to really like the tobacco,cigarette,cigar commercials(an old friend of mine told me why the tobacco ads were banned so quickly and He said it wasnt because of health effects,oh well
Re those tobacco ads, in the mid 60s it seemed like most men smoked and a great many women. There was virtually nowhere that smoking was not allowed unless there was gasoline puddled on the floor or natural gas leaking. Every doctor I new smoked then. The advertising was obviously quite successful but why was advertising banned if not for health reasons @kmcune?
@ Rod,you probaly wont like the answer,My lay Preacher friend said it was because it was a Southern industry,while the beer industry was largely a Northern endeavour.
Cigarette advertising was banned for political reasons.
Politicians don’t care if people are dying horrible deaths all around them… but it was costing them votes.
A few years ago there was a car tv ad that touted its vehicle as preferable to giant sized SUVs by showing a small woman jumping, trying to reach the open overhead hatch door of such an “undesirable” competitor’s tank. A few weeks ago I actually did see a very petite lady jumping to grab the open hatch and close it on a huge SUV. I forget the make/model but it was the huge one with bulbous front hood that looks like an oversized beluga whale.
The ones that show high performance cars being driven on deserted roads is one that annoys me. Case in point, the recent ads for the 700+ HP Dodge Challenger Hellcat driving at speed on deserted highways through a major city. Where are these roads at? I’d like to find them.
Actually one or two of these roads exist,where ,for a fee,you can lose your car and life(disclaimers aside) A Hellcat at speed apparently will run out of gas real fast.
(some Folks try it on Interstates,from time to time,doesnt work)
A friend once told me how he drove across much of Kansas on I-70 in his Camaro Z-28 in 6th gear at night, gas pedal matted, and doing 130 mph. He was mad because it was supposed to do 160. I didn’t tell him he needed to use 5th.
Would a Camaro actually do 160? the old Ford GT 390 would do 140 indicated
Why would a slighty lower gear help the topspeed?I thought power was power,either you have it or not,I figured HP was what limited top speed not torque,I never considered a jet as having much torque ,but they are faster then the blazes. But in retrospect maybe this car has a speed limiter that limits it to 130 in 6th gear.
A Z-28 might under the right conditions, but I have no doubt that insightful’s friend embellished the story. He wouldn’t be the first.
I wondered about the gears too. I just assumed it was a typo.
Has anyone here seen that recent car advertisement for print magazines featuring a blind person reading brail? Just shows their finger scanning the raised dots on a brail page. What they are trying to convey apparently is something about how precision is needed to build a fine car, and they (the car manufacturer) knows how. But doesn’t putting a blind person as the key image in a car advertisement seem sort of unusual? I can see putting a blind person in a computer advertisement, or a clothing advertisement, or pretty much any other advertisement, but I mean blind people don’t usually drive cars.
@GeorgeSanJose
Remember that cheesy Rutger Hauer movie from years past . . . Blind Fury
He was a blind Vietnam Vet, and at one point in the movie, the characters had to drive a van. The other person didn’t know to drive, and Rutger Hauer did . . . but was blind.
Naturally, he couldn’t see where he was going, so he almost crashed into some other car. The guy in the other car said something like “What are you, blind?!” And Rutger Hauer let him see his blind eyes and said “Why, yes, what’s your excuse?”
my main ad gripes ;
FREE ? ? ?
I don’t think so. You have to BUY something…to get something.
FREE ?
they should be FORCED by the FCC to make the wording…’‘INCLUDED’’
( all of ‘‘those’’ ads, not just cars )
AND…
that proverbial MUTE button is a scam also…( just turn it down )
why?
Because when it’s muted…YOU ARE FORCED TO WATCH IT !
otherwise, you’d not know when it’s over. ( turned down, you can pick up your book and catch when it’s done )
( the next technology we should push TV manufacturers for is a ‘’ mute this commercial’’ or a ‘‘mute 3 minutes’’ feature. )
Car dealers are allotted so much per car by the manufacturer for advertising purposes. I have no idea what that amount is now but even a couple hundred bucks per car X 500 new cars on the lot buys a lot of grate on your nerves ad time.
Just some food for thought. Ever notice that when a local TV station does a story on ripoff auto repairs they always go after a fast lube or some smaller independent shop?
They NEVER, EVER, do an expose’ on new car dealers; or at least not one that I’ve ever seen.
Think back to the ad money per car and no way is local TV going after their gift horses that keep on giving on a daily basis…
But for some odd reason…maybe just the Albuquerque market area…they seem to flood the airwaves with car ads…around the 10 o’clock news time block.
FLOOD ! car ad after car ad, over and over.
Is this evening news time car ad overload true in your market areas ?