I had a neighbor with a Gremlin. If he braked hard it totally turned around with rear wheel lockup. He joked that’s because it didn’t have a back end to hold it down. Probably used the same brakes as in the Hornet which had a rear end.
I rented one once in Oahu. Same thing. Could have timed 0-60 with an egg timer.
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Look, despite whether we loved 1971 cars or hated them, many of us can agree on one thing, life was better in 1971.
Its fall 1970, I have been working at Mr. Johnsons Factory for almost a year now, I have been able to purchase a small house with my fair wage and am now am looking foward to the exciting new 1971 models of cars.
Living in a time of less greed and great abundance I can easily afford a new car on my entry level wage, I will probably get a Vega, it is the sporty Camaros little brother and has the sensible instrument panel layout fron the larger GM cars. Life is good
By 1977 I am still working at the plant however due to my hard work and dedication I am now a product line foreman, making a great wage and looking for a personal luxury automobile or a hot rod to take to the Disco.
I chose the Camaro! The 1977 Camaro. Sure its not as fast as the 1967 models, but whos in a hurry these days, it has a touch of the luxury class yet the sportiness that the Camaro is known for.
Next thing I know its the go go 80s! Now that I have a family and a bigger house afforded to me by a time of great abundance and my new position as department manager, i bought a sweet 4 door Brougham Caprice!
This wonderful time of slow living and a full horn of plenty will never end! I know that there is a new President elected however, he cant be that bad can he? No one could ruin this!
Once again, you assume that most people are in agreement with you regarding how “wonderful” the past actually was.
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The Viet Nam war ended in 1975 - in 1984 mortage loan rates were about 12 percent.
Your memory is faulty and hardly anyone ever agrees with the nonsence you post Rick.
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In the summer of 1983 we bought a home just after our marriage. The interest rate was 17-3/8 %.
Life was good then, it’s good now, but for different reasons.
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Alot of people agree with me. Alot of people here lived much better lives in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Now your choices for work are Dollar Generals, gas stations or factory work that pays a fraction of what it did even 25 years ago. Hard times. No one is buying a new car around here anymore. Not like the 70s.
If we are going keep this on automotive terms, consider the difference in fuel economy between an '84 Chevy Caprice (The EPA’s website doesn’t go any further back than 1984) and a 2025 Toyota Camry:
Besides having an engine that is… literally.. only half the size of the old Chevy’s engine, the Camry is also faster, emits an incredibly-low level of pollutants, handles and brakes MUCH better, and is a lot (two words 
) safer than the cars from “The Good Old Days”.
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Did it ever occur to you that most vehicles nowadays last a lot longer than the cars of the '70s did? And do you realize that there were fewer people living below the poverty line in 2024, than there were in 1971?
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You know, a lot depends on where in the country you lived- then and now. It would have been a fantasy where I grew up to afford a new house and a new car on an entry level wage. Especially if you were raising a family.
Right now, where I live, new cars are selling like hotcakes. Look around, very difficult to spot a beater and most cars are higher end models/trim levels too.
The area you are recalling fondly was probably enjoying growth back then but has since entered a decline. You can find examples of either end of that spectrum no matter where you look around this country. Follow the growth industries and you’ll also see the financial opportunities.
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Reminds me of the old joke “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”. Millions of reliable cars are sold every year, yet we’re supposed to believe this fiction of the ‘good old days’. The same entry level workers that could afford a new car then can afford one now. Different jobs, of course.
Back in the 1970s and earlier, an entry level hourly worker made a great hourly wage, but they had to stack hours to make a living annual wage. As time went on, they went from temporary to full time workers. I worked a summer job in a steel mill and my hourly pay was $4.50; good money for the time. In today’s money, that would provide a $71,800 annual wage. That only happened after several years of part time work until someone could work 2080 hours per year.
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Temporary or part time workers were not hired at any of the three places I worked, except for summer student workers at one. The student workers were just used to fill in for guys on vacation. One plant just shut down for two weeks and everyone took their vacation at the same time. Then we’d sweep or clean up or maintain some critical functions until vacation was over.
At some point we can discuss how a wage earner could build wealth. Not easy.
I was born in 1972
If I’m not mistaken, you’re around my age, perhaps even a year or 2 younger
If so, that means you literally CAN’T know if life was better in 1971
Correct I wasn’t around then, Ive heard enough stories from the glory days and lived as an adult in the late 80s and early 90s to know those were the last of the truly good economic times for the common man.
Ironically, people buying the most expensive cars today don’t buy them for longterm reliability. They are usually leased, or if not, the owners bail in a few years. They don’t get to see the worst 2/3rds of their luxury car’s life. And, for some reason, many luxury car buyers don’t mind the beating they take on depreciation, again because of leasing.
Well life was not better for me in 1970 and 71. We had a recession and I was wearing army green with school loans to pay for.
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So, in other words, your good old story about Working in Johnson factory is just some more bull $hit fantasy garbage.
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Both my parents were born in the 30’s, moms side of the family was so poor that the great depression didn’t affect their life in anyway… Mom did not have indoor plumbing until after she was grown, only the well off had indoor plumbing in her area not far from Nashville… Dad grew up in the mountains and still remembered dirt floors, meaning just walls built over mother earth…
Yeah they often talked about how good it was NOT having indoor plumbing and very limited electricity or no electric in dads case, no electric or gas stoves, just coal burning heat and stove… My moms mom still lived in that old house until the late 80’s, although added running water and a bathroom and very basic kitchen, the kitchen added 2 more rooms, and a bathroom, went from a 4 room to a 6 room with the bathroom being added even later on and on the back deck, again after mom was grown…
So a much simpler time? Yes, a better time? NO!!!
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Yup!
My mother grew-up in near poverty, in NYC’s Greenwich Village. In those days, it was a neighborhood populated by poor people of all races, and her building’s toilet facilities consisted of an outhouse in the back yard. That’s correct. In NYC, as late as the 1930s, there were still outhouses in use.
Her father could no longer work because of a severe cardiac condition (which would have been easily treatable nowadays), but because she was an excellent student, my mother was fortunate enough to receive a full scholarship to Smith College–a very exclusive women’s college. But, her mother forbade her to attend Smith because she would have been surrounded by very wealthy girls with elaborate wardrobes, and that would have made my mother feel truly inferior.
Instead, she attended Hunter College–the women’s division of NY’s City University. Back in those rough days, the tuition–and books–were free-of-charge, and after graduation she was able to secure a teaching job which paid the grand sum of $5 per day. That would be equivalent in buying power to ~$95 today, but it was just enough to enable her to support her family during The Great Depression.
When people used to talk about “The Good Old Days”, Mom would give them a little lesson in just how bad those days really were.
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