Curbside Classic Outtake: Suddenly It's 1970

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer
curbside classic outtake suddenly it s 1970

Plenty of ’69 – ’69 Mustangs around, but the seventies’ B-Body Mopars are might scarce, except for the restored garage queen Chargers and the like. This Plymouth wagon particularly caught my eye, because it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to ’73 Coronet wagon that replaced my mother’s ’65 Coronet.

Her ’73 drove and handled quite a bit better than the ’65, which had particularly nasty steering and agricultural habits: plowing the front wheels through every turn taken in spirited driving. Both had the 318, but the newer LA version in ’73 ran much better than the old polyshphere, despite the smog controls. Of course, it was new, and the ’65 old, so maybe the comparison isn’t exactly fair and balanced.

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  • BigOldChryslers BigOldChryslers on Nov 01, 2010

    I know somebody that just bought a Satellite wagon exactly the same as that, except for the rims, as his new daily-driver. I think it's even the same green color. My mom's second car was a Dodge Coronet in metallic rootbeer brown with black interior. 318-2bbl engine. I forget the exact year, but it was the same bodystyle as that wagon, except it was the sedan version. My grandmother had been the first owner. My mom drove that Coronet until it rusted out and was replaced with a brand new 1986 Ford Aerostar. Now THAT was a real POS and the only car that my parents used as a trade-in on something else instead of driving into the ground.

  • MRF 95 T-Bird MRF 95 T-Bird on Nov 02, 2010

    I owned that same Stang coupe in a mustard gold color with what was called a Western vinyl roof pkg with the rococco embossed trim around the qtr and rear window which was different than the Grande roof. It had the 302 Auto W/ factory A/C, AM Radio, pwr steering and manual drum brakes. Back in 1978 I bought it from an elderly couple for $300 with a slight knock in the engine. Could not figure out the knock for months till I tore it down and found a broken piston skirt. I found another short block, rebuilt that and ran it till 1986 with 220K. Original transmission lasted too with normal maintenance.

  • GregLocock Two adjacent states in Australia have different attitudes to roadworthy inspections. In NSW they are annual. In Victoria they only occur at change of ownership. As you'd expect this leads to many people in Vic keeping their old car.So if the worrywarts are correct Victoria's roads would be full of beaten up cars and so have a high accident rate compared with NSW. Oh well, the stats don't agree.https://www.lhd.com.au/lhd-insights/australian-road-death-statistics/
  • Lorenzo In Massachusetts, they used to require an inspection every 6 months, checking your brake lights, turn signals, horn, and headlight alignment, for two bucks.Now I get an "inspection" every two years in California, and all they check is the smog. MAYBE they notice the tire tread, squeaky brakes, or steering when they drive it into the bay, but all they check is the smog equipment and tailpipe emissions.For all they would know, the headlights, horn, and turn signals might not work, and the car has a "speed wobble" at 45 mph. AFAIK, they don't even check EVs.
  • Not Tire shop mechanic tugging on my wheel after I complained of grinding noise didn’t catch that the ball joint was failing. Subsequently failed to prevent the catastrophic failure of the ball joint and separation of the steering knuckle from the car! I’ve never lived in a state that required annual inspection, but can’t say that having the requirement has any bearing on improving safety given my experience with mechanics…
  • Mike978 Wow 700 days even with the recent car shortages.
  • Lorenzo The other automakers are putting silly horsepower into the few RWD vehicles they have, just as Stellantis is about to kill off the most appropriate vehicles for that much horsepower. Somehow, I get the impression the OTHER Carlos, Tavares, not Ghosn, doesn't have a firm grasp of the American market.
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