"malaise era" cars :)

[cfz2882]

at a rummage sale this weekend and bought a repair manual covering 1975-82 cars-right in the thick of the "malaise" era of clunky smog controls,tacky 70s-early 80s kitsch such as vinyl roofs,opera windows,big personal coupes,etc. These cars were pretty tough though with the 5 MPH basher bumpers.GM started giving the first tases of the era with '69 models:I had a '69 Camaro,and though that is an icon and everything,certain details of that car were cheaper and crappier than '68 version..and GM was finishing up design work on the Vega at that time too.most "malaisiest"years of the era were probably 1979-81 when CAFE regs were causing trouble.Certain malaise era cars are hot collectors items now

 

[rp2813]

Agreed.

 

While still a nice car, my dad's '69 Continental Mark III was no match for build quality compared to his '65 Continental sedan.

 

[wilkinsservis]

No coincidence

These were the manufacturer's first attempts to cope with the rise of the different cheaper Japanese cars. Reduce production costs and offer details that distinguished American cars from imports.

 

[48bencix]

Personal Coupes

I always loved Personal Coupes. Over the years I owned a 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, 1979 Buick Riviera, 1980 Cadillac El Dorado, 1988 Lincoln Mark VII, 1990 Mercury Cougar. Other 2 doors I had were 1969 Pontiac GTO convertible, 2000 Chevrolet Camaro, 2005 Ford Mustang convertible and presently 2014 Ford Mustang Convertible. Those Mustangs were V6 not V8 so probably classified as Personal Coupes. I did go through a lot of cars because I didn't want to keep them past a certain mileage, for fear of more breakdowns. Although I think most of them were pretty trouble free, most of them used cars. It just seemed, and still does, that a 2 door is more fun and more frivolous. 4 doors and wagons or SUV's are more practical.