Does anyone recall the recent TV series Life On Mars? The premise was that a modern day New York Detective suddenly wakes up to find himself living in the summer of 1973. He is quite confused. And yes, I know that there was a British version of the show first. So anyway, what does this have to due with Curbside Classic?
Last week, I had my own Life on Mars day. I was out and about and as I was leaving my last stop to return to the office, I got a glimpse of something that I had not seen in quite awhile. A 1973 Ford. And not the LTD that was everywhere back then, but the Galaxie 500 that was becoming uncommon even then. As a two door hardtop, no less. I knew from the other scenery that I was still in 2012, but this Galaxie was certainly not the giveaway. How old must those semi-wide whitewall tires be? Weren’t those briefly popular in the early 1980s?
Commentator Zackman surely likes his rear quarter windows to roll down, but was there ever a more useless quarter window than in these 1973-74 big Fords? I tried to follow this one for a bit, but I did not have time to go the distance (but don’t ask if I could have found the time had it been a Studebaker) so had to settle for a couple of cellphone shots. And before the comments start, I think maybe this Ford is a 1974. But we have such a nice theme going, let’s just ignore this. Besides, there would have been some ’74 models trickling out in the summer of 1973. C’mon – go with me on this.
A single car-sighting, however, does not make for a Life On Mars day. What does? When not five minutes after spotting the Galaxie, I was greeted by the Galaxie’s 1973 arch enemy, the Impala Custom coupe. These were once as common as sticky spots on a movie theater floor, but like so many other once-common cars, have all but vanished. The survivors all seem to be green sedans. All of the sharply dressed young executives who drove these coupes traded them in for Monte Carlos within a few years, and most of these wound up in the junkyard in one of the many fuel price spikes starting around 1979.
After these cars being absent from the landscape for so many years, they invite a fresh look. So, what’ll it be? Ford or Chevy? Which one sucks and which one rules? I think we all know Paul Niedermeyer’s vote, do we not? Back in the day, the Ford seemed more structurally substantial, but the Chevy is undeniably better looking. I always liked the Chevy coupe’s concave rear glass, and consider the ’73 to be the best looking of the big Chev’s entire 1971-76 run. In truth, the 73-74 Ford was a big disappointment to me. After the beautiful 71 LTD, the ’73 version looked pudgy and bloated. And like all Fords of that era, it handled that way too. Neither one of these has ever really called my name, and this would be a tough choice for me for these two cars were they in similar condition.
If only I had stayed out on the road just a bit longer, I am quite sure that I would have found that ’73 Fury III coupe. Then the choice would have been easy. But as it is, not so much.
And now I’m left wondering which engine each had. They are fairly basic models but of course given the ordering abilities of those days you could pick just about whatever you wanted out of the order book.
I remember seeing my late father driving his ’73 T-Bird from a doctor’s appointment while I was on my way to work a few months before he died in 2009. That car looked out of place.
The worst part of the Ford is the goofy tiered, pyramid wheel covers. I think Devo used them in their video for “Whip It.”
We watched the pilot episode and one or two after. The premise got old quick. “French Connection”, “Badge 373” et al…should have just been a movie of the week.
Yeah, all those Chryslers are long gone, too, along with the Chevys and Fords. That Ford is rather sweet-looking, the Chevy? Tired. I’ll take the Chevelle, please?
1973 was a less-than-stellar year in my life, and I don’t think about it.
The British show is a lot more interesting than the American retread. What passed for ‘police procedure’ would have given a civil libertarian apoplexy. And the ‘plain old dull’ British cars are at least interesting to American eyes. Definitely rent the Brit version. It’s well worth your time.
For me, ’73 is when life really took off. I miss those days badly. Even if it did take me nearly a hour to get my makeup right on a Friday night.
Syke, when you write your memoirs, put me down for a copy.
“Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show”
I would like to see a CC on the original Life on Mars. Rover 3500, Cortina GT, et al.
Your 1973 sounds about like I remember 1976. Before I Knew it I’m leaving the house in Black Clogs and Dad Asks; “where the H-ll do you think you’re going?”
I wonder if I was in a jump suit, heading out in my Firebird. Disco, that’s where all the Happy people go…
Yes, that was a pretty good show. Of course I mostly watched it to gawk at the cars. What did the main character drive? I think it was a Chevelle SS.
I watched a couple of episodes, but it never stuck.
I had a “Life of Mars” 1980 or so episode last week, I rounded a corner in a neighborhood and there was a house with a perfect 1978-1979 ElCamino and equally perfect 1977-1979 Thunderbird in the driveway next to each other. Got to get some photos.
Amazing coincidence! Glad you were able to capture these for us. Here’s how I’d rank them: (1) 71 Impala Custom Coupe (2) 72 Impala Custom Coupe (3) 71 LTD (4) 72 LTD. The crude 5-mph bumpers of both the 73 Chevy and 73 Ford ruined the looks of both these cars for me. With possible exception of 73-77 Monte Carlo/Cutlass coupes, GM’s full-size ’71s were arguably the last “styled” cars from the legendary Mitchell era. Chevy interiors were unquestionably cheapened by overuse of plastic trim, but Cadillac-like style more than made up for it. ’73 Chevrolet was last car to sell over one million units in one year. After ’73, the full-size car fell out of reach of the American middle class.
I never even heard of “Life On Mars” until I read this piece. Sounds like an interesting premise. Anyhoo, I’ll take the Galaxie, just like the one pictured. I prefer its crisp styling over its Chevrolet and Plymouth competitors.
The British version is a great series and well worth hunting down – as is the follow-on series Ashes To Ashes, which moves the premise to the early 80s.
I think they’re both mind-numbingly ugly, and you couldn’t give me either. If I’m picking a car from 1973, I’ll have an RX2, thanks. And if it has to be a domestic, make it a Capri.
Concave backlights are easy to love… until you need to clean them. Go ahead, let’s see you squeegee that.
The ’73 Capri was imported from Germany. The RX2 is an excellent choice!
I’m stretching the definition of “domestic”. Because I couldn’t think of a single truly “domestic” car from that era that I’d want.
My 71 Plymouth Scamp gave me lots of practice.
I drove a Dart GT of the same era for a while. I don’t remember the details, because it wasn’t mine. A friend left it with me while she went on an extended European tour. I got to have a car, and she got to have it waiting when she came home.
Domestic? I dig old Capris, but they’re as domestic as a Jagdwurst.
Go with the Trans Am Super Duty! Or a Z-28. Or a Mustang, Challenger, a Javelin. Really, it was the last good year for Ponycars. You could get them all. And that was just the Ponycars…
Blegh.
I don’t like ponycars, especially the bloated ones from the early 70s. I like light weight. Not really an option from any early-70s domestic.
My last favorite large car has always been the 1972 Impala Sport Coupe. For such a huge heap, the proportions were just right.
I’ve been saying this on several threads lately, but I miss my 1972 Nova, which I referenced this morning over on TTAC!
Count me as weird, but the 1973 model car I liked best? The AMC Hornet hatchback! Why? I don’t know – it looked economical, as this was the beginning of gas issues. Make mine either yellow, burnt orange or brown, please…
The back windows flipped open, too!
The color scheme of the one pictured is exactly the same as the one used on the spinning ramp jump stunt in the James Bond movie, “Man With the Golden Gun”
A purple Javelin would be a keeper. I remember seeing one in a movie, called SAVE ME a while back. Perhaps TV movie IIRC. maybe there still an AMX.
Looks just like my ’73 Galaxie 500! I see the chrome trim from the vinyl top is still on the roof, so this puppy has been repainted, but I’d betcha that top was that Ford brown. Makes me miss my old car
Speaking of nostalgic flashbacks, Ford should have gone the nostalgia route whole hog and named my 07 Five Hundred SEL,a Galaxie 500, the SE could have been a Custom 500 and the Limited, well I’m sure you can figure that one out. I’m not sure where that would have left the CV, but Ford could have stayed with that. The Fusion could have been a Maverick and the Focus would have been left with Pinto.
Actually, I think that Galaxie has a white vinyl top. In the second photo, it looks like it has a seam along the top edge.
When I sold Fords briefly in 2011, I drove a Taurus Limited in black with beige leather. It was a really nice car, but I thought “This should be an LTD.”
Ford should have Introduced The 500 as The GALAXIE 500 in 2005 … Just maybe the public would have connected to the new car better. Then A Galaxie 500 LTD would have easily been a Top of the line Model. I really think it would be selling in US at an annual sales rate Well Over what the Taurus has been moving, perhaps well into six figures. It looks more like a Galaxie 500 than a Taurus IMO.
Agree that in ’73, the Galaxie 500 sales dropped and faded away. But the Impala was strong as ever.
Caprice gradually started stealing Impala sales from 74-76. Once the Impala Custom coupe was dropped, then the ’77+ line was Caprices all over the place.
My uncle had a ’74 Galaxie, which was a nice looking car, inside and out. But the thing literally rotted off the frame in 4 years, and was traded for a new ’78 Cordoba. My grandparents (who lived next door) had a ’72 Impala. It was well into the 80’s and that car was both solid (by NY standards) and still running when they sold it. Both cars had a 400 CI V-8 under the hood, yet the Chevy was 10 times the better driving car. The Ford had big car feel, nice quiet ride, and ironically a few less rattles but the Chevy just drove better, felt lighter on it’s feet yet rode decently, and was certainly quicker off the line.
My nod would go to the Impala. (And I agree with the earlier poster, the ’71 Impala was the best looking of the 70’s crop) But if I were a buying man back then, I’d wait til 74 and go for the new Monaco. I’m a little crazy like that. lol
“For me, ’73 is when life really took off. I miss those days badly. Even if it did take me nearly a hour to get my makeup right on a Friday night.”
Syke does the Time Warp, again? 🙂
Just be thankful, for what you got:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDTXljIqxRE
Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin’ the scene with a gangster lean…
“Syke does the time warp again?”
Except that the The Rocky Horror Picture Show didn’t come out until 1975 so it had to be something else, like the very early years of Disco.
He saw the stage show in London, summer ’73 🙂
The white Ford is definitely a ’74 Galaxie 500. The rear bumper projects further out than the ’73 and the ’74 has body colored polyurethane filler; the ’73 Ford bumpers were “closer in” with a rubber black colored filler.
Being Illinois (?) these cars may or may not have had the base engines for their day; a 351 2V probably on the Ford; a 350 2-bbl on the Chevy. As a adolescent, I remember these cars when new, but in Northern California, for the Ford, the engine would’ve been a 400-2V and the Impala a 350-4bbl as the base engines (because of Cal. emissions).
Construction wise, the Ford would’ve been the better car and with a quieter, smoother ride (Ford’s full size selling points in their day). The Chevy would’ve been a better driving car. Yes, the Impalas would’ve had the black steering wheel and column.
Coincidentally, I saw a straight, fairly clean ’73 Fury III Sedan at the (Honolulu) Airport a few days ago. Full size Plymouths were pretty much an also-ran by 1973 . . . except for Police use . . .
Perhaps it is just the angle of the Chev photos, but that concave window makes it appear there is almost zero rear seat room.
I actually Liked the American Life on Mars, but felt that the ending of the series was a bit of a cop-out. Another thing that bugged me as a car spotter was that there was no Colonnade A bodies anywhere. I thought they were pretty common in 1973.
“How old must those semi-wide whitewall tires be? Weren’t those briefly popular in the early 1980s?”
JPC, those look like pretty standard 1″ WWs from here. The “wider white” era was started by the ’76 Caddies, I think – picture one of those “last evah collectible!!!” Eldo convertibles.
Stripes up to about 1.5″ were trendy-ish until the GM downsizing/FWDing of big cars for ’86.
For reference, see this Lincoln that Tom found:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1978-lincoln-continental-town-coupe-cafe-is-coming/
Those are some wider whites. And recent shine notwithstanding, they should be replaced as they’re probably at least 15 years old.
“’73 Chevrolet was last car to sell over one million units in one year. After ’73, the full-size car fell out of reach of the American middle class.”
I’m not sure that the first part of that is literally true. According to my copy of the Standard Catalog of American Cars, ’73 model year production of full-size Chevys was about 941K, while ’73 calendar year production was about 866K. The latter was undoubtedly pulled down by the energy crisis, though that would have impacted cars being built for the ’74 model year in the later part of 1973 much more so than the ’73 model year.
One caveat is that, in addition to model year vs. calendar year, these numbers can come out differently depending on whether you mean sales vs. production, built in U.S. vs. built for U.S. market, etc. (the Standard Catalog even has a disclaimer noting that it this era it was becoming more common for cars intended for sale on one side of the U.S.-Canada border to be built on the other). But I doubt they come out over a million no matter how you slice it, unless maybe you add all cars built or sold in the U.S. and Canada together.
The Standard Catalog shows calendar year production in both 1971 and 1972 in the 940Ks-950Ks range. The last year they show it over a million is 1969. 1970 was much lower due to a strike.
It is true, though, that no single passenger car line ever again approached the ’73 Chevy full-size’s total. In terms of model year production, I think the full-size Chevy’s late ’70s high water market was in the 600Ks. The Chevy Citation was also in the 600Ks for the 1980 model year (not counting early 1980 models sold during the 1979 model year). I’m not sure if any single passenger car model has reached even 500K since then. After 1973, the era when full-size cars held a dominant position in the market — well beyond the extent to which any class of car “dominates” today — was over.
The full size car more or less went out of style, versus being “out of reach”. The young adult type that would buy a 1966 Impala SS would buy a Monte Carlo or Cutlass in 1976.
Quite a few people simply wanted less gigantic cars, since the 70’s big cars were way bigger than ‘standard size’ cars of 40s, 50s, and early 60s. That and mpg for big cars went from managable 16ish to 10-12 mpg on smog era V8’s.
Most of the US said “Now that’s more like it!” when the ’77 GM big cars came out. Sales went up not down as some “purists” predicted.
For me, it’d be the ’71 Impala 2 door coupe. Friends for a bunch of years in the 70’s had a ’71 Impala 4 door sedan in that dark forest green paint and matching interior.
My Dad had a used ’71 Ford Custom 4 door sedan that he bought at a GSA auction in the late 70’s so I’ve always liked the ’71 Ford full size the best as well, though I’d have had the LTD 2 door tho with its full taillight treatment. I can’t remember if the 71 Galaxie 2 door models had the middle taillight segment or not either.
The Galaxie lacked the center section taillight. Only the LTD got that one.