The Curbside Classic Cohort is one of the most respectful and friendly communities on the entire internet. I can think of no other website where I actually read the comments. You guys and girls help make this my favourite website, and I can’t read an article on here without reading the lively discussions and conversations that flow from it. So, I have a Challenge of the Day for the Cohort. I will present to you a series of vehicles. Unlike your favourite FM radio station, this is not a collection of the greatest hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s and Now. This will be a collection of misfires, failed starts, deadly sins and just in general, cars that don’t get much love. Your challenge? Say one nice thing.
AMC sure put out a lot of, umm, distinctively-styled cars in the 1970s.
The Gremlin was a cheap and dirty way to rival the from-scratch Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega. Simply a Hornet with the back lopped off, the Gremlin was cramped and hardly fuel-efficient. Later models offered a VW-sourced four that struggled under the weight of the car, although you could get a V8 in some years. But, in its favor, the Gremlin was fairly reliable – especially compared with the disastrous Vega – and it was easy to repair. Also, can you think of many economy cars with such a distinctive silhouette?
Speaking of unique visages, how about the Pacer? Again, conceived as an economy car but failing at its intended purpose, the Pacer did have excellent visibility in its favor and eccentric styling. Plans for a rotary engine fell through but that was probably for the best: the AMC I6 and V8 engines used may have been heavy and thirsty, but at least they were proven. The wagon variant was acceptably practical, too, and you could get luxuriously appointed D/L and Limited editions.
The Matador coupe was supposed to be a personal luxury coupe but AMC designers really misread the market when penning the curvaceous lines. But was it really that much worse than a Torino to drive?
Over at Ma Mopar’s in the 1970s, you could purchase the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré, much anticipated replacements for the venerable Valiant and Dart. These cars got off to a horrible start, with abysmal quality control and rampant mechanical failures. Neither as luxurious inside as a Granada nor as dynamic as a Nova or reliable as a Hornet, these F-bodies seem like a waste of space but when optioned with the 360 in Aspen R/T or Volaré Roadrunner variants, these were some of the fastest domestic cars of their time and they handled decently. The wagon version was quite neat as well, especially in Volaré Sport Wagon trim. Ford and GM had abandoned the compact wagon segment, so Chrysler only did battle with more expensive imports and the older AMC Hornet.
The 1980s were a very different decade for Chrysler, with the range completely overhauled and dominated by FWD, K-Car-derived models. The most expensive, ambitious and disappointing was the TC by Maserati, which was notable in being so delayed, it arrived after the much, much cheaper and similar-looking second-generation LeBaron convertible. Not to mention, despite the purported Maserati involvement, the mechanicals were very similar to more humble Chryslers. However, there was a degree of exclusivity – few people were inclined to buy one new, after all – and the leather seats were nice.
Chrysler certainly knew how to get the most out of its new FWD architecture. The ’82 New Yorker is often derided on here for being such an awkward interloper to such proud lineage, given its small dimensions and four-cylinder powertrains. However, it offered all the luxury of bigger Broughams in a compact, more fuel-efficient package, while being more visually distinguished from its K-Car platform donors than the Cadillac Cimarron and Lincoln Versailles were from their respective relatives.
Several boom and bust cycles later in 2007, Chrysler launched its second-generation Sebring sedan. Replacing a predecessor that was initially promising but was left to stagnate, the new Sebring sedan (and third-generation convertible) featured brash new styling and nifty interior features like heated/cooled cupholders and an available MyGIG hard drive-based infotainment system. Unfortunately, the Sebring was dull to drive, had a trashy four-cylinder engine, unimpressive performance figures, an interior rife with chintzy materials and an ungainly exterior. My “one nice thing” about the Sebring would be that in overseas markets like Australia, it was certainly a unique offering and was keenly priced and well-equipped.
I’ve tried to see the bright side of each of these cars, and now I pose the challenge to you: say one nice thing below in the comments. If you’re feeling particularly generous, say a few nice things!
The Chrysler TC by Maserati is really a pretty good-looking car for its time. I think the hardtop portholes are OTT and inevitably the whole thing is hard to separate from the contemporary Sebring, but the Sebring wasn’t bad-looking itself. Being diluted by cheaper iterations/imitations being ugly.
The Lebaron coupe and convertible came out with very similar detailing and that’s what made the TC look ordinary, although they were very good looking cars in their own right.
Agreed. I’m not disputing that the LeBaron really undermined the TC’s impact, but if you consider the TC in isolation, it really is a nice-looking car. It’s sort of like seeing the fancier concept car or styling prototype version of a decent-looking mass market car (e.g., Silver Arrow vs. Riviera).
Every car mentioned was available in a wide selection of pretty paint colors. (Nice enough?)
Pet theory: Both the Gremlin and Matador might have done better had they been introduced for 1968. The Hornet platform of which the Gremlin was the short-pants version was mechanically superior in some respects to the platform it replaced, but against the utilitarian Falcon, Dart, and Valiant, the Gremlin’s funky looks might have served it better and buyer expectations for compact-car fuel economy wouldn’t have been quite as high.
I love this thread..I hope the”say one nice thing” series continues.
Throw a 340 in that wagon and you might have a winner
The ‘dirty’ 360/4 they used in police cars and the 1978 L’il Red Express Truck were up to the job too.
The Aspen and Volare were good looking cars in a time when many were not. My neighbor pulled a scam with some friends at the police depot that netted him a fresh Volare squad car with a 360/4 barrel for $400. Thanks taxpayers! The police version was not addled with emissions controls, and he had one of the fastest cars on the street. He flipped the air cleaner cover for maximum induction noise and refitted a spot light to the A-pillar. The result was a car that could terrify anyone. For some reason, a friend and I were mooning cars one night when the Volare came into sight. We didn’t know what it was, just seeming to be a generic sedan at a distance. Almost instantly, that spotlight was on us and the car closed the distance in seconds, blowing us off the shoulder as it roared past. We were about ten years old at the time, and hadn’t seemed to consider that the most likely people to drive down our dead end street were either neighbors that were friends with our parents, our parents, or the driver of the meanest car on the street. Dumb times.
A neighbor of my grandparents bought a new F-body and got two cars for the price of one! As it went down the production line, the exquisite practitioners of assemble trimmed it out as an Aspen on one side and a Volare on the other!
I have a soft spot for some of these models. I always liked the Matador coupe, particularly when it could be found in non-brougham trim. The K-car Chrysler New Yorker was (is) a family favorite. Mom bought hers from a cousin when he replaced it with an Olds Silhouette minivan (why he did, I don’t know). Mom really liked that car. Ice blue metallic. Luxurious and plenty of room. Grandma still has her gold 1985 model, even though she doesn’t drive anymore (She is 92 now, decided to play it safe and give up her license).
Dad even liked the Pacer because of it’s oversize passenger door and huge windows, but he decided not to buy one. I did. It was the orange HotWheels model with the huge engine mounted in the tail.
Gremlin: Cool cars. Id like a V8 Levis model please.
Pacer: Our neighbor had one when I was a kid and I remember thinking how comfortable the seats were; I guess it was a DL model. The wagons looked cool and again, make mine a V8.
Matador: not the prettiest car ever but certainly not the ugliest.
Volare/Aspen: Love these. I just bought a ’79 Volare 318 wagon that’s been in constant service since it was new and not a spot of rust on it anywhere so obviously they weren’t all bad. Great looking cars, they handle and drive as well as any late model sedan and make decent power with a 318, plus the upgrades are endless. If they had just waited until 1977 to introduce these cars and spent an extra year on R&D, Chrysler’s position in the late 1970s may have been entirely different.
K-cars: I have no kind words I can say about anything K-car-based so I will just say I am thankful they provided the cash necessary to bring us Vipers, T-300 pickups, and the LX cars.
Sebring: Why all the bad press around these cars? They are not bad cars and no better or worse looking than any other late model box.
A friends mother had one of these 80s Chrysler, I’m pretty sure it was an ’85 Dodge 600, it was a convertible. Neat car. We would go joy riding in it when she wasn’t home. The car talked, it was real cool back then. Pretty sure it was a turbo.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIpfUuRg1VE
This is easy.
American Motors: In my mind, the Matador Coupe (The styling pictured) is one of the most gorgeous cars of the era.
Chrysler: I own a 1986 Dodge D250 (3/4 ton) pickup. It is the easiest truck that I’ve ever serviced. For being a D250, it also rides down the highway more smoothly than my 1995 F150. I’m also a fan of the 360- what an engine!
————-
I’ll have to bite my tongue on the “K-Car New Yorker” for the transmission. But that car was one of the most comfortable cars that we’ve ever owned.
*perk*…did someone say K-car?
Best piece of market research done in decades was when Iacocca had a custom shop hack the roof off a LeBaron coupe, then he drove it to work and looked at the reactions it got.
not bad, considering where the platform started
Two of them. No waiting
Is it just me, or are car interiors really drab today?
I had this Marc Cross interior in a Light/Dark Steel blue leather . Best 500$ car I ever loved.ever inch of it .even the crystal star hood ornament. the whir of the tiny turbo. silver,digidash trip computer
I think the Pacer was a decent car with bad timing.
It was designed to be a small car, not an economy car. It reminds me a lot of the original 1950 Rambler concept.
Unfortunately it hit the market after the gas crunch, not before.
One nice thing for each car, starting from the top:
Volare wagon and coupe – the wagon has a cool front air dam that makes it look substantial and solid, plus the mags are eye catching; the coupe with the mags looks good too. I’m trying to figure out the relationship with the friends avoiding the rain with their coats and these two cars… okay this is where it gets negative….the marketing gurus having nothing nice to say about the cars, so instead they make the cars appealing because they’re a dry refuge?
Next!!
Gremlin – AMC did something Chrysler didn’t with their F bodies; points scored for originality for chopping off the rear of the car. Imagine that black and gold Volare coupe up top with the back window continuing down to the ground, kammback style. With that kind of creative thinking inspired by the Gremlin, it helps ward of Alzheimer’s disease as I exercise the brain imagining so — that’s a good thing too!
Pacer – Wayne’s World wouldn’t be the same without the Pacer. The World in general wouldn’t be the same without the same Wayne’s World. That could be a good or bad thing, but I err on the side of good…so, that’s one nice thing to say about the Pacer if I do say so my lonely self.
Matador – kind of reminds me of the exotic Avanti car. I always liked the look of the Avanti even if some people think it has a forlorn look about it. I don’t know… Also, the Matador just has that funky kitsch look about it, kind of like the modern day Nissan Juke that you and a bunch of friends would bomb around in, carefree. Personally, I’d call the car Madeline.
Chrysler TC – I really think this is a pretty car. I just love the headlight treatment and always thought it was kind of neat how the Maserati symbol fit within the Pentastar outline. I’d actually drive this car with pride and enjoyment to this day as long as someone else foot the inevitable repair bills — whoops got a little negative there… apologies.
K Yorker – Back in the 80s and 90s, I loved the throaty whistle those potent turbo 2.2s made as they drove around the neighbourhood. Also, look at those seats! Mmm, comfortable! Also the talking dashboard was tubular. Gimmicks oops I mean features like that is what sells cars, I’m tellin’ ya!!!
Sebring – I’m sure it was a nice car. I’m guessing that perhaps, sometimes, maybe it’s the professional reviewers that are the problems as they likely travel in packs to the sheep farm and back with their always individual and original critiques. BAhhaahaa! I drove a courtesy car Dodge Caliber once and I found it comfortable and pleasant — even with the hectic CVT and motor droning away madly. Anyway it certainly beat walking! I’m sure the Sebring drives similar as they are of the same Daimler-Chrysler-Cerberus era and without the CVT I presume.
Even though to most eyes they were strangely styled, the AMC’s were very cool cars in their own right. Maybe back then they didn’t quite fit in, but 40 years later they are still conjur up a lot of different feelings, emotions and look cool.
A certain sarcastic, biting, “Bitter Queen” person needs to switch from decaf to the real stuff.
It just dawned on me that the author of this thread actually likes all the cars he “trashed” and just wanted us to defend his favorite cars.
Gremlin – retro kitch now, but at the time a daring attempt to do something different with a low budget, and more reliable than the Vega
Pacer – Neat styling that predicted the 80s in many ways (aircraft style doors wrapped into the roof etc) and large interior. Make mine a later wagon model with woodgraining
Matador Coupe – Curvy styling, looks great in the dark red colour with slotted wheels, AMC handled the 5mph bumper issue well on these
Aspen/Volare – some of the best looking compacts of the 70s
TC – the porthole is very round
New Yorker – sumptuous interior, comfy seats, better gas mileage than their predecessors
Sebring – the winged logo is nice
That’s easy. I owned a 79 Volare Wagon in yellow. Slant six, torqueflite. By then the sins of the first year were fixed. Bought new and kept for 8 yrs. Perfect car for a young family pre minivan. No major problems Last new car I owned with a carburetor. Yes I rebuilt that, plus put a starter on it. Slant six, change the starter without crawling under the car, love it. Never let me down. When I sold it thru an ad in the paper, a guy showed up the next morning with cash. Never saw it again.
One nice thing? I can think of several:
1. You can actually SEE very well out of all of them.
2. We owned a 1976 Gremlin, bought used, and had a ball driving it.
3. AMC had big dreams, but a too-small pocketbook to adequately carry them out.
4. Chrysler: same thing, but had a bit larger wallet, but it’s customers did the beta testing all too often – not that Ford & GM are 100% innocent in that regard!
5. I loved the Chrysler/Maserati TC LeBaron.
Great article and a fun read on a Saturday afternoon.
I was always intrigued by the fact that AMC V8s are the same external size and weight regardless of the displacement, so that bolting in big cubes was as easy as falling of a log, and no weight penalty over the front.
Yup. And there were plenty of people who had that idea.
As soon as AMC reworked the Pacer to accommodate the 304, someone dropped a 401 into it. I think it was Motor Trend that did a report on the car, and dubbed it “the flying fishbowl”
More Gremlin goodness from Mr Teague. The Voyager, which was quickly nicknamed the “Grembin”
Another Gremlin proposal. Imagine this coming out in 74, tagged as a Javelin, against the Mustang II
Looks like they even dipped into the Javelin parts bin for the taillights.
That would have worked. If only they had moved quicker…
That would have worked. If only they had moved quicker…
The vast majority of their R&D resources were being sucked up by the Pacer and Matador coupe programs right then. They were trying to think outside of the box to find a space where the big three would not hammer them.
If management had not been able to find the money to fund the Pacer and Matador coupe, maybe they would have funded low cost line extensions like this hatchback and the “GT” wagon I posted earlier. Ironic, eh?
Anyone else see Spirit hatchback when they look at this picture?
Of course. Too bad this rear window and hatch design didn’t come out in 1970.
IMO, it would have been far more marketable (and practical) than the Gremlin roof line they went with.
iirc, the hatchback thing didn’t get traction until about 73, when suddenly all the GM X bodies and the Hornet, sprouted hatches.
The Vega started out with a hatch, but the Pinto started out with a trunk and grew a hatch in, iirc, 72
Don’t know if I would call the Gremlin a hatchback as only the window opened, rather than a larger panel as in a true hatchback.
The more square rear of the Gremlin was more practical as it offered better headroom in the back seat and space for taller loads, so it was the better grocery getter. And, most importantly for a company that doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising, people noticed a Gremlin when it went by, Some may point and laff, but they noticed.
Anyone else see Spirit hatchback when they look at this picture?
Sure. And the Spirit was offered in AMX trim. The primary differences are the 74 has Javelin taillights, the 74 has extra bulgy rear fenders that beg for big rubber, and the 74 was 5 years ahead of the Spirit, when AMC was stronger and could have cashed in on it better as it would be going up against the old school Camaro, and Ford’s latest Mustang science, that didn’t even offer a V8 in 74.
I like the 1967-1970 AMC Javelin, with the “divided” grille.
-I really like the Matador’s styling too…it was different and in a good way.
-Pacer. It was a brave attempt.
-Gremlin. Glad they served their owners well, and I can enjoy them ironically, but too clumsy to want.
-TC Lots of good things. They looked great, drove great, and were one of the most enjoyable cars I’ve driven (one of my bosses bought a three year old one, and I drove us around a lot in it. As of last year he still had it.) The deadly sin was the ridiculous Maserati pretense/price. They were very nice cars judged purely on their merits.
-The Aspen/Aspen Wagon…here’s the challenge for me. Something good…their styling was inoffensive for the time? That’s about the best I can do.
These two cars, bought as a pair (cursed be their toolings) were the single reason my family never bought another Chrysler product after 30 years of zealous Mopar loyalty. My dad was furious, and called in favors and pulled strings until he got a buyback. Ford got the benefit until the first Toyota, and that was it for American cars to this day.
-New Yorker These made no impression on me, but they had nice leather seats.
-Sebring I only had to drive one once, and I got to give it back to Enterprise Rent-A-Car after only 2 days.
Owned a Grim-One that’s what I called it. The AMC still ran when I sold it to the Junk Yard, couldn’t afford it, school a duplex and the Cutlass. The Aspen/Volare’ I thought looked great especially with all the trim (vinyl roof included) And I aspired for the little New Yorker with Turbo but wisely settled for a Toronado instead.
AMC just had such an unconventional approach to everything in this period, as if all major decisions were done on a whim without any thought or recognition to sales projections, customer surveys or even the given fads of a time. Most people are baffled and even appalled by that notion in such a judgmental and bottom line driven society, but that nonconformist presentation of their products is definitely an appealing trait for those who embrace the underdogs, and for the underdogs themselves to have any chance of hitting their stride.
The Matador, the Gremlin, the Pacer were all such great examples of this approach, and even the AMX – a car much more widely acclaimed by your average person, was just as ridiculous and unconventional (A two seater ponycar/Rambler American underpinned Corvette fighter???). Whether or not these cars laid the seeds of AMC’s demise(if it wasn’t inevitable anyway), they certainly have lovable character now, and really when it comes to curbside classics I cannot think of anything better to be say in their favor.
I’m struggling with the Chryslers though, especially the Sebring, but the Volare wagons were pretty damn nice looking, second best looking wagon to the Hornet sportabout in my eyes
.Easy assignment.I had a series of AMCs-my first new car was a 5K$ 1981 AMC Spirit (I6 and 4 speed).amazingly reliable decent MPG etc.should have bought another while the company existed.also had a new 1992 Dodge shadow America 2.5L 5 speed.Two daughters and friends learning manual transmission and it still could be driven to the scrapyard when repair costs exceeded replacement value.Both excellent vehicles and great -the respective company problems were more complex than just poor design on product
Well, I’ll focus on the AMC products and the Volare/Aspen twins – the 6 cylinder engines in both these makes each deservedly gets my vote for most reliable and durable domestic six cylinders of the 60/70s. The only one to add to make a Top 3 would be Ford’s big 300 truck 6.
Not a challenge at all – AMC (in conjunction with Renault) built what was the best car in its class in the US at the time, the Eagle Premier. The cars were both technologically-advanced and dynamically-excellent by the standards of the time, though they were ultimately dogged by long-term reliability being something of an issue. However, given that its DNA survived into the LH cars (thus saving Chrysler’s bacon in the ’90s), it and Jeep were arguably the best things to happen to Chrysler in the last quarter-century.
Note that I selected the Premier in preference to the venerable Jeep XJ Cherokee, itself a brilliant (and Renault-assisted) design, and one which did absolutely nothing but boost Chrysler’s fortunes in the ’90s. The latterly-introduced 4.0-litre straight-six that powered the great majority of them (and other Jeeps) it is also one of America’s finest engines – but I felt that as an ’80s underdog the Premier deserved the spotlight that it never really got to rightfully occupy.
Never paid much attention, if any, to the Eagle Premier, but maybe I should have. I like it! Should have been a Camry killer.
Volare wagon: You could roll down the rear windows, unlike its GM competitors from ’78 onward
Gremlin: Turned out to be better than the Vega, Pinto, or various Italian or British competitors. Late in the decade AMC turned this into the Spirit with an attractive fastback roofline – I don’t know why they didn’t build it that way from the beginning.
Pacer: It inspired the Porsche 928, so says its designer.
TC: Lovely T-Birdesque porthole windows. Also the wrinkled-look leather seats, the clock, and the red dash lighting at night. And a much more reliable daily driver than a Biturbo, and less expensive to maintain due to all those K-car parts.
Can’t muster much love for the Matador coupe, a tragic, misshapen missed opportunity to craft a player in the red-hot personal-luxury segment, or the K-car New Yorker which in photos looks like a worthy mini-Brougham but in the flesh is betrayed by chintzy switchgear, door latches, and other hardware that lacks the substantial feeling of either the older C- or R-bodied NYers or the revamped late-’80s car that replaced these.
The Sebring wasn’t an awful car in the Chevy Vega sense, but rather just uncompetitive by dint of being a bit worse in every aspect of performance than its competitors. Other cars had better fuel economy, less noise, more legroom, you name it.
I remember around 1978 or 1979 a neighbor bought a 1974 Gremlin for $ 75.00. She drove it until 1983 when she replaced it with a new Pontiac J2000. She bragged that it was the best car she ever had and did not put any money into it other than oil changes and new tires. She said getting rid of it was the biggest mistake she ever made, the dealer gave her $ 300.00 for a trade and she went from a reliable car that she owned outright to a piece of shit that she had to make payments on. Imagine that a car the appreciates in value with age, a Gremlin no less. hahaha As a kid I thought the Gremlin was cool.
In 1976, my parents bought a Volare Premier Wagon which had the wood grained side trim. It was an attractive car and it drove quite well. My parents really liked that car when they bought it, but that was diminished with the rusting fenders and carburetor issues. It’s standing was further lowered by the need to replace the grindy mopar starter three times in as many years. To it’s credit, though, it’s front bucket seats were extremely comfortable, which made driving it a real pleasure.
It was replaced in 1981 by a Mercury Zephyr with a 4 speed, no less. Dad absolutely loved that car, but had a difficult time keeping it under 70 miles per hour, even on rural state highways.
While I was growing up, we had family friends who owned a summer house across the brook. When Mr. S retired from an extremely successful career, he and Mrs. S stopped by at my folks house driving an early nineties era Chrysler New Yorker. On retiring, he had a choice of several gifts, two of them being a Rolex watch and the New Yorker. Obviously, he chose the New Yorker, saying to my parents, ” I don’t need another watch”. It was the first car that he had ever owned. Until then, he’d always had company cars, I believe, mostly Buicks. He drove the New Yorker for several years, and drove Chryslers from then on. Having the means to buy practically any car he desired, it would appear that Chryslers suited him well.
My girlfriend had a Volare, and she was thrilled that it had cruise control.
I had a canary yellow 86 New Yorker sedan, and I loved driving that car. It really did float down the road. Great suspension.
My aunt had a 1977 Dodge Aspen SE coupe. It was an awesome car. Very reliable. I didn’t think to look under the hood to see what kind of engine it was powered by, whether it was a 225 Slant six engine, or a V8 engine. I would’ve bought it had she not sold it when she did.