My piece on the Oldsmobile Toronado XS yesterday revealed a high level of appreciation for personal luxury coupes from Curbivores – a lot of us are Brougham fans here, after all – but elicited a rather lukewarm response to the Toronado itself. So, tell me: what personal luxury coupe from the 1970s would you want instead?
The Lincoln Mark V is perhaps the most dramatic and stunning personal luxury coupe but, well, it’s a bit big. I realize that’s like saying, “I liked the horror movie but it was a bit too scary, don’t you reckon?” Nevertheless, I’d prefer something a little bit more sensibly-sized, like the downsized ’79 Cadillac Eldorado.
It may surprise you to learn that I’m not much of a fan of pre-downsizing era Cadillacs. Those Coupe de Villes and Eldorados from earlier in the 1970s are just too gargantuan and gauche for my tastes, but the ’79 has an undeniable presence and yet a cleanness of line. The detailing is on point and the interior is warm and inviting.
If we want to stretch the QOTD to include coupes that weren’t separate line models like the Eldorado, then a ’77-79 Coupe de Ville is my other favourite classic Cadillac. The cherry on the parfait is the availability of Cadillac-exclusive V8s: the 425 in the ’77-79 Coupe de Ville and the 368 in the first few years of the downsized Eldorado.
If we’re talking mainstream brands, a 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix is at the top of the list. There’s not a bad line on these and I like the ’77 headlights. Make mine a loaded LJ with two-tone paint and snowflake wheels and any of the available engines will do, just not the 301.
I’ve spoken before about my morbid fascination with the ’75-77 Dodge Charger and so I wouldn’t mind one of these…
…or the more attractive Dodge Magnum…
…or Ricardo Montalbán’s car of choice, the Chrysler Cordoba. With soft Corinthian leather, of course.
Finally, one other car I’d consider is the ’74-76 Buick Riviera. What can I say, I like underdogs. These are either reviled or forgotten and, while they don’t have the visual drama of the ’71-73 boat-tails, I think they’re quite handsome. I’ll take a ’76 S/R with the bucket/console set-up.
So, what are your choices?
I like the 1973 Mark IV Lincoln best. Dark brown metallic, on brown leather interior with thick pile brown carpet. 460 cid baby!
Can’t go wrong there. The Mark III and V are close behind. Iconic cars that define the personal luxury car era.
1970 Imperial Lebaron Coupe
(Or is that not strictly speaking a personal luxury coupe? Although if you are going to allow Coupe De Ville…
Wow, almost 19 feet of fuselage beauty. Great call!
Make mine a 300 convertible.
After that, any pre-1978 Grand Prix with the biggest available engine, although I wouldn’t kick a ’73-’74 454 Monte Carlo out of the garage.
If you’re going to go for an Imperial, why not get the ’73. At 235 inches long (in either 2-door hardtop coupe or 4-door hardtop sedan body-styles) the ’73 Imperial (with its 5 mph front bumpers) was the longest standard production automobile ever sold.
The problem with the ’72-’73 Imperials are those big, opera-lamp front turn-signals. They seem to be a love-it or hate-it proposition. Put me in the latter category.
I had ’70, 72, and 78 Marks, ’73, 76 Eldos, 70 , ’77 Monte’s, ’70 Gran Prix, ’70 Toro, 78 Magnum, 76 Cordoba, ’73 ’75 Imperials,76, ’77, ’78, New Yorker Broughms ’78 T-bird Heritage, even an Ambassador, those were all enjoyable in their ways with the 70 Toro and ’76 Cordoba standing out, but the best to me were my 72 Riviera GS and ’75 Imperial coupe and 77 New Yorker with every accessory and later automatic overdrive TorqueFlite was more comfortable, did everything well and got high 20’s mpg at speeds up to 100 mph on Cruise for 210,000 miles.
Yep if the CdV is a PLC than any 2Dr Imperial counts!?
For a 2-door personal luxury coupe from the ’70s I’d select a 1972 Ford Thunderbird. I like the looks of the front and back of the car. It’s just one long, red taillight across the back and I fancy that.
I’m not a ‘performance guy’; I just want to own a car that looks good to my eye. I already have an Owner’s Manual for the ’72 T-Bird + a Ford showroom catalog. All I’d need is the car.
I like the Mark IV tail light treatment better than the Mark V.
I do like the 1977 Grand Prix – make mine a loaded SJ with the 400 engine and moonroof. However, since we’re talking about the entire decade, I could still get a Continental Mark III for 1971. That will do nicely.
Those Mark IIIs have a great beltless power steering pump–mounted on the front of the massive crankshaft. Best setup I have ever seen! Never squeels!
Only the ’69’s IIRC. While an interesting idea it seems they’re bit finicky in that they like to leak a lot. As in really a lot.
Also of note is that the cars so equipped will also have hydraulic windshield wipers. Infinitely variable speeds within their range but you can imagine trying to keep them working today.
Yes, this green 1971 MK III, a Hemmings drive report car from Palm Springs. I dream about heading up CA Route 1 to Lucia and Big Sur with my main squeeze by my side in this Continental.
The Riviera is no underdog- This is an underdog!
Get me the Barcelona model, or preferably the Oleg Cassini one in black and copper. That is the ne plus ultra of underdogs….
Make mine a 401 4-speed, done up as Bobby Allison’s Coca Cola NASCAR racer. =)
I’d go with a ’76 or ’77 Cutlass Supreme Brougham with the Cutlass Salon’s suspension package. The exterior styling is simple and tasteful, and I love the decadence of those loose-pillow seats Oldsmobile invented for the ’72 Ninety Eight Regency.
The ’72 Imperial also had loose-pillow seats in the 4 door hardtop.
Grandma’s last car was the ’77 Regal version in this same color scheme…very sharp looking.
I would quite happily take any one of them. They’re rare enough around here that any one in nice shape with a motivated seller would be welcome.
I own and enjoy a MkV, but one’s enough. Years ago, a buddy had an early downsized Toronado with an Olds 350. It was an excellent car, for the type, roadable, decent handling in a manageable size, so another one would be most welcome.
The T-birds up to ’72 were nice driving machines with exceptional looks, and are rare. Likely I’d be the only one around with a Bunkie-beak Bird. I regard the move to the MkIV platform to be a step backwards for the T-Bird, in terms of function and appearance.
I would love an Imperial or a New Yorker, too. Elegant looks with a 440!
My latest project is a ’77 Mercury Marquis. Perhaps its not quite “personal luxury” but I’m looking forward to completing it as a cool cruiser.
Here’s a wildcard, 1971 Cougar XR7 with the 429 CJ/4-speed. Some may argue 71-73s were still ponycars, but they seem pretty PLC to me!
https://bangshift.com/general-news/car-features/ford-car-features/money-no-object-1971-mercury-cougar-xr7-429-ram-air-good-gold/
I think most would agree that the ’71-’73 Cougar had crossed over into personal luxury territory in all but name. Frankly, the Cougar had been flirting with the category all along. HFII had always wanted it to be a mini-Thunderbird.
You wouldn’t think so if you’d ever spent a moment in the rear seat of a 1971-73 Cougar – an undistinguished, cramped (although not as much as the related Mustang), pit of molded plastic. Not befitting of a “personal luxury” car by any standard, and the front seat environment wasn’t much better. Pretty much all of the other cars mentioned here had nicely trimmed rear seating areas, even if they ended up being used rarely.
Has there been a CC on the ’71-’73 Cougar? Seems like the proposition that it was leaning towards (if not already there) a PLC would an excellent topic for discussion.
Lawrence Jones did a 73 convertible but it seems like the discussion mostly occurred in comments for topics like this. The Dodge Charger is the other car, in my opinion, that bordered on PLC like the Couga, even in the hot muscle car years.
Well played!
Well, I guess my first choice would be a Cadet Blue ’77 Dodge Charger SE with the matching blue velour interior. Maybe with a 318 to avoid the troublesome Lean Burn on the 360.
I’d also really like a ’71 Pontiac Grand Prix. It’s tough to choose between these two for me.
So many choices. 71-73 Riviera. Any 70’s Mark. Any 70’s T-Bird. 79 Riv or Eldo. 76/76 Cordoba 73 Cutlass Supreme 78 Grand Prix or Regal. 78/79 Concord D/L (not sure if Concords count)
First, as much as I love them, I think your question’s phrasing eliminates the “big coupes” that were 2 door versions of “big sedans”. Therefore, the Continental Town Coupe or the New Yorker St. Regis coupe or any Coupe DeVille are disqualified. Which is too bad, because one of those first two might be my pick.
On to Personal Luxury Coupes in a proper sense. It would be one of two: A Continental Mark III or a Continental Mark V. The Mark IV just doesn’t do it for me, though I might be able to settle for a 72. The III is simply beautiful and makes good power out of that premium gas pre-malaise 460. The Mark V is a stunning design in its own right, and a car with undeniable presence.
Smaller cars like the Grand Prix, Cordoba, etc are OK, but they do not make the rarified grade we are discussing here.
I might expand my options to a 70-71 Thunderbird, now that I think of it. Just for the sheer audaciousness of that front end.
I’m not sure that would make even my top 10 choice for this question, but there is something oddly cool about the bunkie beak. The fastback bodystyle was audacious too, there were a lot of chopped top fastback concept cars rolled out by Ford in the late 60s, – Mercury El Gato, Ford Super Cobra, and Thunderbird Saturn I & II – but the Thunderbird was the only model to actually have a true chopped top option resembling them
But JPC, wouldn’t your own definition of personal-luxury coupes not being a coupe version of a 4-door sedan disqualify the ’70-’71 ‘Birds?
Of course, this is one instance where everybody thinks of the 4 door as a sedan version of a coupe rather than the reverse, given every other generation of T-Birds had exactly two doors.
Something like the ’76-’77 Cutlass Supreme Brougham could go either way. The Cutlass was available as a sedan too and even a wagon, but the coupes had a shorter wheelbase and overall length as well as distinct sheetmetal mostly not shared with the sedans, making it seem almost like a separate entity. In ’76, only the coupe got the loose-cushion, button-tufted Brougham treatment.
I would call those a 4 door version of a coupe if anything, not the other way around. Besides, there were three bodystyles in 70-71, one a formal coupe with a massive rear pillar, the suicide door 4-door based on it, and the chopped top fastback coupe.
The formal coupe without rear quarter windows was offered in 1971 but not 1970. (The alternative coupe was offered the final year of three successive Thunderbird “generations”: 1966, ’69, and ’71.)
Near the end of 1974 when I was a teenager, I test-drove a ’71 formal coupe but was warned against buying it because of problems with the printed-circuit wiring behind the dashboard.
Ah, I’ve never been privy to this generation so the rooflines were a bit of a mystery to me.
What was wrong with the printed circuit boards? Most Fords of the late 60s(and going into the late 90s) used the same basic circuit board construction on the backs of the clusters
I see lots of comments about two very different coupe segments – personal luxury and specialty coupes. The former consists of Eldorado, Toronado, Riviera, Mark, and Thunderbird (61-76). The latter consists of Córdoba, Grand Prix (69-ish and newer), Monte Carlo, Cougar XR7 (74+), Thunderbird (77+), et.al.
I interpret the author’s subject to be the former. My choices from the 70s include the 79 Toro, the 72 Riv, and the 70 Bird.
In terms of mid specialty coupes, the 1970s might have been their apex, but emissions-choked engines, 5 MPH bumpers, and poor quality conspired against their legacy. Forced choices are the 71 Grand Prix and any vintage Córdoba. In a state of deviant behavior, I can also appreciate the Oleg Cassini Matador.
Put me down for a ’79 Eldorado as well. Either that beautiful black with red pinstripe in the article or red with a classy white vinyl roof would do nicely. Although I certainly wouldn’t turn down a Mark V either, should one show up in my driveway.
My choice is a 1970 Monte Carlo. My father-in-law bought a dark green MC with dark green vinal roof new in June of 1970. His daughter was a real cutie but the Monte Carlo was drop dead beautiful!
You might be sleeping on the couch tonight…..
’70 Grand Prix. Not even close to being a contest.
Spotted this beautiful example in my neighborhood a few weeks back. White interior in immaculate condition. What a great color combination – nothing you’d see on a choice list today…
Absolutely amazing traction on this car…
Ok, can we finally drop references to Corinthian leather.
LOL. +1
Ted, every comment you leave involves taking our writers to task for word choice. If we make a mistake, we appreciate being corrected. If you’re just being sour grapes, you’re not contributing to the discussion.
Corinthian leather is as tied to the Córdoba as “wide track” is to Pontiac, or “ultimate driving machine” is to BMW. If you see a negative connotation to the mere mention of it, that’s on you.
Sure, Corinthian leather’s a cliche. But those Cordoba commercials always bring me back to lazy summer Sunday afternoons watching golf on TV with my dad. I ‘ll gladly put up with a cliche or two in exchange for some fond memories.
I love the Cordobas (70 and 80), the Marks III, IV, and VII, Citroen’s SM, and the 1969 and 1970 Grand Prix and Monte Carlo. Along with the Mercedes SL’s and the BMW 635 Csi coupe too. It’s a personal coupe smorgasbord! and I can’t wait to indulge with my ’73 “Eco-modded” Mark IV, Y’see, you can have a Mk IV and have a green side too!
You made it easy with the first picture: Continental Mark V! Can’t beat its razor sharp lines and imposing long hood/short deck proportions!
That’s an easy one to answer William. A 78 or 79 Chrysler Cordoba. I had 3 and loved them all. And 2 of them were identically matched to what I would want today. Charcoal grey body, silver top and leather seats with a 400 4b as power.
As an aside, I had a “pre” CC effect happen early this week. for the first time in years I saw a red Dodge Magnum of that vintage on the highway. Unfortunately traveling at highway speed the opposite way does not make for good picture taking. It had crossed my mind to write in about it anyhow, then we end up talking about personal luxury coupes anyhow.
CC in action!
Olds Cutlass Supreme!
I’m as hard core a Ford guy as there is but I’d buy a ’73 Monte Carlo with a 454. As luck would have it a friend has one that’s just sitting in his barn and I’ve been beating him down to sell it to me but I haven’t broken him yet 🙁 …
1970-72 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
1976-77 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (must be a 350 or bigger V8)
1973 Pontiac Grand Prix
1972 Ford Thunderbird
JP,
I’m with you, here’s my MK III and MK V.
Top of the food chain in ’70 and ’79
Nice, Glenn!
I already bought and got rid of one. Back in 2004 I bought a 1979 Ford thunderbird.
It was dark jade metallic with a matching interior and a white top.
It was a beater but I loved it
I really like the downsized 1979 GM E-body personal luxury coupes, no matter if it’s a Buick Riviera, Cadillac ElDorado or Oldsmobile Toronado.. I’d take either one of these three, especially if they have the Oldsmobile gas 350.
350 and three speed auto based on the excellent and durable TurboHydromatic 350.
Excellent choice and right before GM ruined them with sub 350 cubic inch engines, although I’d take the Eldorado with the 368 big block.
I’d have to agree.
The odd thing about this type of car, they were all very impractical compared to their equivalent sedans, no rear seat room (the Mark V is 19 feet long, only my wife can get into the rear seat!), but…everyone loves them! It was the triumph of style over practicality, virtually no current domestic manufacturer seems to get this today, the current sedans have the tight quarters and access issues of the coupes, but the style of, well, a sedan.
True, Glenn. It’s one of the reasons sedans have fallen out of favor. The manufacturers have done it to themselves.
That’s easy.
77-78 Lincoln Mark V in triple black with a 460 under the hood.
Absolutely predictable answer but, hey, that’s the car I want to have in my garage one day.
Of course, maybe I could go for a 76 Cutlass Supreme, a 70 Monte Carlo, 71 Buick Riviera, or a 78 Eldorado if I were completely desperate. But all those listed would be backup options if I can’t get the Lincoln.
’78 Chrysler Cordoba- had one in high school.
Spinnaker white, with light blue landau top, matching leather upholstery, console shift automatic, 400-4Bbl. Manual windows and locks, A/C and AM-FM 8 Track.
Mine was a real beater, but if I could have it new…..
A lot of good choices, particularly the Grand Prix, but I’d have to go with a Mark V. Long, low, razor-edged, and with the presence of ten lesser cars. Make mine a ’78 Diamond Jubilee with the 460.
Lincoln Mk V all the way! Classic straight edge lines and the last of the true full size American car. Make mine a Cartier ’77-’78 7.5L 460. The ’79 tu-tone white and blue Bill Blass IMO is the nicest Mk V, although in ’79 the 6.6L 400m was the sole motor. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8e/1b/00/8e1b00421cf7a9d801e16a2caea464e8.jpg
The thing that I like of Seventies cars over 60’s is the chassis capabilities, and brakes, electronics are better. Yes the sixites had high compression engines and better looking bumpers. The Mark V is my favorite American luxury car of all time.
A 1971 Mark III in either maroon poly, dark blue poly, or light pewter poly.
Mark 3 lincoln triple black.
Red top of the line 77-79 tbird.
May have to settle for something other than black as my color chip sheets don’t list black as a choice.
Any of the B-body Mopars…400 V8 (or a 440 if I can talk a dealer into it), AC, AM/FM, HD suspension, and little else.
Where to start, and where would it end? Either way, Syke is going to suffer a relapse!
I’ll stick with my Monte Carlo
Yes, I can detect a subtle inference that the choice should be one of US origin, but here goes:
Mercedes Benz 280 SE 3.5 coupe with 4 speed and sunroof in cypress green metallic with the cream interior. and fitted luggage.
If this is disallowed then I’d gladly have a waterfall grille Imperial coupe and see if they’d option it with the vent windows. Also in green with leather. Thank you!
Friends of ours had a downsized Olds Toronado on which they had a lot of restoration work. It was a beautiful car, elegantly styled, comfortable, quiet, roomy (the back seat was comfortable for two 6-foot-tall men). Any of the GM cars on that chassis would appeal to me, except for diesels or known problematic Cadillac engines.
The ’73-’77 Grand Prix or Monte Carlo have their appeal, too, because of their styling. Maybe even a Buick Regal from the same period. Cutlass Supremes? They were thick on the ground, and didn’t quite click with me.
None of the Ford products really grab me, mostly because they were so extremely overdone, and had enough overhang that they looked ridiculous even in their own time. None of the pre-1977 GM full-sized coupes do it for me either, because they looked so terribly bloated.
Chrysler products? I just never have been able to warm up to them, especially after driving a ’62 Valiant and then a ’61 Dodge Lancer while I was in college. The build quality of Chrysler products, and their fit and finish, always seemed just a bit “off.”
First choice – Mark III, despite that scary power steering pump.
Second choice – first-gen Monte Carlo.
Either car in whatever years still offered high-compression engines – ’70, ’71?
Happy Motoring, Mark
I’ll take that Boeing 727 in the third picture. What? That’s not one of the choices? Totally deserves a Rampside Classic entry, though.
Brilliant! I love the 727, too.
Kind of between things for me. I’d want either a ’73 Buick Electra 225 or a ’72 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron. I tend to like the more understated styling of the early ’70s compared to the Neo-baroque styling that started in 1974 for almost all the big coupes. I’m leaning more towards the ’72 Chrysler though.
My Dad bought a new Mark V Cartier in the summer of 78 – a beautiful car. My personal favorite was the Mark III and I never tire of watching it in action in The French Connection.
a 71-72 Eldorado or Riviera in a Firemist color.
If the Coupe de Ville is allowed, then I choose the 1972 Lincoln Continental coupe, with Twin Comfort dual power front seats, black leather upholstery (standard type, not Town Car-style), and extra-cost Copper Moondust Metallic paint.
1972 Citroen SM s’il vous plaît.
C’mon everybody the SM was Motor Trend Car of the Year in ’72! It was brought to the US to compete with Eldorado, Mark IV and Thunderbird.
Needs more velour! 😀
Ha! For seventies America I’m afraid you’re right. The coolest prof at my engineering school drove an SM. He had an HP-35 on his belt too.
Thought this was American cars, my choices there are prior to this post. Of foreign makes the SM I drove never broke and was superb. Had M-B, BMW, Audi, Bentley, all very nice, also drove a friends Ferrari 365 GT 2+2, and a sleeper Mazda Cosmo 5 passenger coupe with gorgeous styling and wonderful feel. It was love with the SM, 365 GT 2+2 and Mazda. Also loved my Citroen DS 23 Pallas even more than the SM but alas it was a sedan.
Can I say 1970 Mercury Marauder? Otherwise Dodge Magnum.
1979 Oldsmobile 98 Regency Coupe. One year only laminated wood trim interior. My parents had one when I was a kid. This was peak Oldsmobile. Sadly, 1977-1979 B & C’s were also peak GM in my opinion. When they were downsized yet again in 1980 they just never had the presence that this car had. Oldsmobile tried up-sizing again in the 1990’s with the Aurora and the last 98. The 98 was a shell of itself without all the chrome and RWD V8 goodness. They Aurora was never truly affordable in the way the 1979 98’s were. And 10 years later when you finally could get a deal on an Aurora you did not want one because of the threat of an engine that could grenade at any moment. RIP Oldsmobile, under different management you could have been so much more.
The ’80 98 wasn’t downsized; it was just facelifted. The interior remained much the same. The downsizing and conversion to transverse V6/FWD/unibody occured in 1985.
My parents owned both generations. The length may have been the same but the track was narrower and you could notice the size (width) difference. Also, by 1981 (year my parents owned) you could no longer get either the 350 or the 403. Top gasoline-engine was the 307. Again, you could notice the difference. This to me is down-sizing. My parents 1979 had the Olds 350 gas-engine installed.
My parents also had the 1986 Fleetwood Brougham D’Elegance again with the 307 and despite the significantly higher price of the 86 Caddy vs. the 79 Olds, I would still have taken the Olds with 100K on it than the Caddy with 0 miles.
Maybe I just wasn’t a fan of the 307, but to me the only worthwhile “Brougham” car GM built in the 1980’s that could even come close to up-staging the 1979 Olds 98 Coupe was the Turbo & Intercooled 1987 Buick Grand National. Or the ultra-rare (exists in theory according to Buick Internet Blogs) 1987 Buick Regal Limited Coupe with the special order Turbocharged 3.8 Liter engine.
It exists…I have seen two. One looked basically like a Grand National in white-buckets, console, alloys, etc. The other looked like it was Grannys car: gold, with a velour bench seat, column shift, hood ornament, and even door moldings.
I saw it in Bristol, TN on the power tour…his plates were ROYAL T.
Thanks for the confirmation John, Very cool. I have only seen pics of one on the internet. You should consider yourself lucky to have seen two in real life. Happy motoring.
77 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ black with a red interior T Tops 400/TH400
runner up:
78 Dodge Magnum GT black and silver 2 tone with a red interior T Tops 400/727
My father bought a new Eldorado in 1980 and it was without a doubt the worst car he ever owned, in spite of its good looks. It may have been sized right but it sure wasn’t built right. It was the final straw that moved him to imports, in spite of the fact that one of his closest childhood friends owned a GM dealership.
While it came out in ’69, the best of the decade’s personal luxury coupes, in my opinion, is the 1970 Grand Prix SJ, before they started to mess up the styling. Nothing like that enormous hood but the proportions are brilliant.
1970 Thunderbird, though in reality it’s a car more rooted in Sixties in terms of styling. Ironicsince its platform-mate the Mark III predicted what personal luxury would be in the Seventies.
Since we are talking ’70’s I would have to say a 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ. A friend from years ago had the 1969 version, which is really the same car, and it left an indelible impression on me. Why?, still svelte, with guts under the hood and no disco-duck era opera windows, landau top or stand up hood ornament.
Cordoba with a 360 engine
1973 Monte Carlo. Primrose yellow with slotted Corvette style rims and white swivel bucket seats.
What, a 1971 Super Beetle with the standard “L” (Luxus) package is just too ostentatious? ?
Friend of mine’s got a ’73 in white with a black full vinyl top, moonroof, swivel buckets with full console & floor shifter, and best of all a 454. I so want it…