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?
Many good suggestions, and although it wouldn’t be my first choice, I think that the 1970 Buick Riviera deserves an honorable mention.
As a general rule, I’m just not a ‘luxury’ kinda guy. Out of the box, I see everything after about ’74 as a SEVERE downgrade from the muscle cars that came before. That said, sticking strictly to the ‘rules’ as it were, Im guessing a ’75 small Fury in RoadRunner trim isn’t in the vein of this whole thing? So a round eye Cordoba wouldn’t be a bad ride. I couldn’t do with all the ghastly gingerbread of the brougham era…Id require my ‘Doba to be a slick top model with as much motor as I could get, buckets, T tops, and period aftermarket mags wrapped in RWLs. A little work under the hood to remove the smog garbage, tuning up for performance and uncorking the exhaust would make it livable. The badgemate Charger…NOPE. I can handle this bodystyle as a Chrysler and even as a Dodge but definitely NOT as a Charger.
Now, if I can fudge the rules by just one year and get something I would REALLY like to own….
http://www.autoquid.com/car-detail/other/Dodge-Other-CMX-1980-dodge-mirada-440-v-8-727_252210263242.html
This is done up right! A nice solid color with no vinyl roof, swapped to the Cordoba LS’ nosecone (best of the J cars) and the stance is just about perfect. Cragars or Keystones would have been my first choice but those sweet Centerlines are staggered perfectly and the RWLs seal the deal. Apparently the car has been upgraded to a warm 440, hence those traction bars. Yup, this is something I could put in my collection with NO regrets.
You have to wonder if Chrysler hadn’t been in such a precarious financial situation at the end of the decade, if the second generation Cordoba/Mirada might have sold much better. They really were the last of the old school, big, RWD personal luxury cars. The downsized 1980 Thunderbird and Cougar were just awful, and GM’s downsized, intermediate personal luxury cars were still nothing to write home about, either.
But with a lot of consumers thinking Chrysler was a dead company walking, plus the quality horror stories, as well as some miserable engine management systems, pretty much meant no one was going to give the 2G Cordoba and Mirada much of a look. Too bad, because, in hindsight, they really weren’t all that bad for the class.
I think youre halfway onto something there. No doubt, Ma Mopar was getting the side eye from wary buyers. These also dropped right at the same time as a major recession hit. Gas prices spiked some too in 1980 as I remember. The Omnirizon and the truck line was doing pretty well in these years, and we all know the K car success story. The M body is closely related to these, and the knee jerk abandonment of rwd cars was premature. These were plenty competitive with the GM G bodies and if ChryCo would have just stayed the course with them, they may not have been sales leaders but would have maintained a presence. In those days if you wanted a fast Mopar, 4 cyls and fwd were about it.
In order to get the loan guarantees, Iacocca probably didn’t have much choice. From what I recall, he got static for the Imperial fiasco, claiming, “It was too far along for me to stop it”. Between the M-body (which had been cleaned up enough from the Aspen/Volaré days and was still selling okay) and the issues with the J-body, it was a no-brainer for Iacocca to cut the J-body loose.
FWIW, it’s worth noting that the final, eighties RWD personal luxury coupes from GM and Ford were either killed off or went in a decidedly European trajectory from their traditional brougham-tastic beginnings. It’s hard to imagine what direction Chrysler would have taken if they’d have stuck with the J-body past 1983.
Chrysler’s RWD cars were not going to sell to anyone but government fleets and people who were still mad about Richard Petty switching to GM. The Volare chassis wasn’t competitive with GM or Ford RWD cars for the general public, and Chrysler didn’t have the resources to build a new RWD chassis for a small slice of the market.
I think I’d have to do the BMW 635CSi and if it just had to be American, then there can be no other correct choice besides a boat-tail Riviera.
Anything from Fomoco is off the list – this was the peak era of those Ford seats with negative lumbar support, that my back hurts just thinking about.
Cutlass, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix…sorry, I can’t picture myself ever buying a Colonnade and not going for a four-door sedan. It’s one of my all-time favorite rooflines.
So, Cordoba almost by default. No Corinthian leather – Castilian cloth in green, or maybe Boca Raton in baby blue or light tan.
Actually, no, scratch that – a gen 1 Accord is personally luxurious enough. Make mine blue-on-blue with manual.
Great comments from all of you! You are bringing back memories. Ohwoneston mentions a Chrysler 360 Lean Burn for 1977. As I recall from my days working at Chrysler, the Lean Burn was a featured 400 2-barrel engine with electronic ignition that purportedly offered power and thrift on fuel. Not that thrifty, I might add. To celebrate this mid-year “wonder,” the Distribution Manager in the New York Zone Office ordered decalcomania a/k/a “decals” in red and metallic silver using a scroll font that said “Lean Burn.” They were made available to the dealers to add to the rear fenders of Lean Burn equipped models to add some panache for the prospective buyers. A real pants wetter if I may be sarcastic. Again, I love all of your comments.
Only two pieces of flair?
There’s only one choice for personal luxury coupes during the 1970s.
The 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V Collector’s Series…
Had one just like the photo, loved the looks but I like driving my cars. Only experienced one Mark V That qualified . I owned the blue one when I ran across a car from Alaska, the engine had more power suspension cornered like a good cop car and it was special code triple black with chrome wires. I wanted to buy it but it was being sent back to Alaska as an illegal vehicle in California. The cars that had ultimate comfort, still had power (130 mph, good mpg, beautiful looks, and with a bad back be able to drive 1100 miles in a day and still move and walk at the end of the day and be assured the headlights turned off as I entered the house as the hidden headlight doors thunked closed.) it was my ’77 triple Spinnaker white New Yorker coupe. Did 12 years and 210,000 miles with 440 interceptor lean burn. Had a friend bet he could easily beat it to Reno up winding highway 70 in Feather River Canyon in the sierra’s, His car n Eagle Talon TSI Turbo AWD, supposedly good cornering. My New Yorker quietly and swiftly, cornering without lean, blew the Talons doors off, waiting for him for over 30 minutes in Reno. I should have kept it forever but decided to concentrate on my earlier cars; a ’56 DeSoto Adventurer, ’57 Fury coupe, ’63 Electra Limited convertible (it’s as quiet as a coupe with the top up, still perfect with 458,000 miles), ’64 Riviera, and 5 ’64-65-66 Imperial Crown convertible, coupe and 4 doors. Still miss the ’77.
I’m an Olds-Buick guy, but in the personal luxury coupe category, I really am drawn to the first gen Monte Carlo. Make mine loaded, non-SS (but with the F40 “special suspension”), with a 454 under the six-foot long hood. Mmmm-hmmm!
Matador coupe with the Barcelona package. Love a goofy-looking car with opera windows!
’72 BMW 3.0 CSI. Oh what the hell, ’72 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona.
BMW 6 series. I know it’s not from detroit, but it’s personal, it’s luxurious, and it’s a coupe.
I previously would have chosen a ’79 Eldo or a Mark V. But now I’m kind of leaning towards the ’70 T Bird Sportsback. But without the vinyl top.
Put me down for a Magnum XE or a 73-74 Buick Gran Sport. Drop back a decade and I’ll take a 67 Grand Prix.
this one….
My choice too! My wife’s godfather has a blue/white Bill Blass Mark VI in less-than-great condition. I told him if it was a Mark V, I’d buy it from him!
1970 Grand Prix SJ, if it could be delivered with a four-speed. Otherwise, 1970 Monte Carlo SS.
I’d go for a Riviera of a different sort — the often-overlooked 1977-78 B-body Riv. Despite being a stopgap model born out of necessity, I like the design. I know I’m one of the few who like this car, but to my eyes it’s a clean and classy design, not overly garish like mid-70s coupes, and not fully downsized like the models that replaced it. Just right, in size and design, and that’s what matters most in the world of 1970s personal luxury coupes.
The specific model I’d choose would be the black & silver 1978 75th anniversary model:
I like those
A friend had one as pictured. Parked next to my ’64, Buick did a nice job of bringing back some lines of the ’60’s. Only reason I didn’t buy one, I couldn’t find one, nice cars.
My picks:
1971/72 Cadillac Eldorado convertible coupe
1971/72 Buick Riviera GS
1971/72 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS (454)
1977/80 Mercedes SLC 450 5.0 (homologation special)
1977/78 Lincoln MK V Cartier (460) w/moonroof
When I was in my late 30s I was able to indulge in my passion for old cars, America cars at that time. My first purchase was a 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham in triple black for $200. That 429 was a smooth runner unfortunately the twin turbine hydromatic didn’t have long to live and I couldn’t afford to have it rebuilt. The HOA was giving me a lot of grief so I donated it to the Salvation Army. The Caddy was quickly followed by a 1972 Imperial Lebaron hardtop sedan. That one was also $200. I could not get it to run properly so I stored it in some guys storage lot. The guy sold the property and absconded with the Imperial. Next up was probably my most reliable car at the time, a 1975 Buick Electra 225 Limited 4 door hardtop with the 455. This became my daily driver for a few years never left me stranded, everything worked. The funny thing about this car was despite its outside dimensions it “shrank around you” as you drove it. Loved it! One day someone offered me 5x what I paid for it and I sold it. The Electra was soon followed by a 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz 3x yellow. What a boat! This became my daily driver for a number of years but stranded me a couple of times with fuel problems. I had the car for 10 years and sold it for the same amount that I had paid for it. My wife insisted that I should get a newer car because the Eldorado was giving me problems so I stored the Eldorado and purchased a 1984 BMW 745i (E23). Some years later I bough a 1977 Mk V from a charity auction in Phoenix. The Mk was an Emilio Pucci edition. Charcoal grey metallic paint, crocodile print Vinyl roof in white. And white leather interior. At first my intention was to flip it. I listed it on eBay and it didn’t do well. By this point I started to really like the car so I started to address some of the deferred maintenance and that made a great difference. This had been a one owner car with all the documentation to verify it’s relatively low mileage. My son liked the car so much that he borrowed it the day of his wedding. Unfortunately when time came to pay the property tax I was short on cash and relisted the Mk on eBay. This time it sold quickly but I lost $250 on the deal.
My picks for the 1971/72 cars is that they performed much better. I had a chance to drive a 1972 Eldorado back to back with my 1978 and it was like night and day. The Mk V is a great car and people who say it is too big don’t realize that the Mk V was downsized from the Mk IV. It was 700 lbs lighter.
What I really want is a 1980-81 Toronado, but if it has to be from the ’70s either a ’74-’76 Toronado or a boat-tailed Riviera.
There are many I love, but if I had to choose one, it may be the ’75 or ’76 Olds Toronado. Can you say “ahead of its time”? Way back in 1975 you could buy a new Toro with front wheel drive (with a flat floor, front and rear), driver and passenger airbags, antilock brakes (in back anyway), and high-mount brake lights up near the rear window. I’ll take a top-line Brougham model with what appears to be the same front seats as the 98 Regency, as well as its dashboard and similar door panel trim.
Other contenders include the smaller, more tasteful ’79 Toronado and its Eldorado and Riviera sisters. The Riv has the best exterior styling, but the Toro has the best interior. The Eldo is in-between on both, IMO. Interesting how all three of these had styling cues drawn more from their original mid-’60s versions than the ’78s they replaced. Any of these would be an easier daily driver than the mid-’70s versions. I love the over-the-topness of the Lincoln Mark IV and V. Not technically a PLC, but the ’78 Buick Park Avenue coupe is peak Brougham for me.
What ’70s imports could be considered PLCs? The Citroen SM has already been mentioned, and it would be a blast to drive or even ride in with that magic carpet ride pneumatic suspension. All the brilliance of the DS, plus a hatchback and a Maserati V6 the DS never got. That’s probably my first choice. My second would be a ’79 Toyota Celica Supra – not strictly a PLC, it too is a hatchback and was a variant of a smaller sport coupe – but there were several comparisons in the buff books at the time comparing the first Supra to the likes of V6 Regals and Monte Carlos, and it was certainly plush enough to compete with them. The Volvo 262C was supposedly influenced by the Lincoln Mark; I remember how hard I found it to believe that sensible, stodgy Volvo would even build a car that seemed to flout its own values. Could the rotary-engined ’76-’78 Mazda Cosmo (pics below) be considered a mini-PLC? Sure – it had opera windows, a big waterfall grille, velour, plenty of woodgrain, even a vinyl roof on the notchback models (were those exported to the US? I barely remember Cosmos of any type during the three years they were sold here). The fastbacks got opera windows as well in an arrangement not unlike late-’70s Thunderbirds and LTDs.
I don’t think we got those Cosmo coupes here in the States but hell yea, it definitely qualifies! Look at that roofline, it looks like a baby Cordoba 😀 !
The opera windows in the Mazda Cosmo roll down, unlike the 70’s PLCs from Detroit.
I mentioned it earlier in a reply. Mine was Charcoal gray with full power, leather interior, fell in love with it it was fast too,over 140 on the speedo (5 speed), fell in love with it, Bought a silver blue one as a parts car, but buffed it and drove it too.
Oleg
Cassini
Matador
Tempting…
I want one of these Stutz coupes. These things are so excessively 70’s that they even taste like the one of Elvis’ jump suits. You want presence? You’ve got presence! You want comfort? You got comfort! You want to single-handedly wage war on gasoline, one tank at a time? You got a 500 cubic inch Caddy V8!
I guess what I’m saying is that this the perfect car for this question.
Good call!
HQ LS Monaro 350/350 in orange hold the vinyl top thanks.
Yes, with GTS wheels naturally, which were Pontiac items anyway.
I’ll have mine in Orchid, a gorgeous pink metallic.
You didn’t say they had to be American, so I’d go with a 3.5 liter W111 or a two door Bentley T1.
1970 Pontiac Grand Prix. The 1970 held true to the radically redesigned 1969, while 1971 dumbed-down the grill and went to silly-looking single headlights, so I’m being specific about the year.
Without question I would get the Mark V at the very top. Biggest engine for that generation too.
How original, I know.
I’ve always understood PLC’s to be mid-sized US cars; although other countries and sizes could apply. To wit: A 1975 Chevy Monza Town Coupe or a 1976 BMW 635CSi could be PLCs.
If this would qualify (and I think it would):1977 Pontiac (Grand Am) Can Am
If the above doesn’t, than one of these:
1974-76 Mercury Cougar XR-7
1975-79 Chrysler Cordoba
1974-1977 Pontiac Grand Prix
The Lincoln Mark V and the ’79-’85 Eldorado are favorites, but for me it’d have to be a car with a connection to my own childhood and family. In our driveway there was a succession of ’70’s personal luxury coupes, starting early with a ’73 Satellite Sebring Plus, followed by a ’75 Corodba, then a ’77 Monte Carlo, but the car I’d love to own today was the one that cemented my love for the Brougham era. In 1980 my father brought home a Toronado XSC in black, with black vinyl half top and deep maroon leather bucket seat interior. It was an absolutely stunning car, and the one that I recall many family road trips in during my early teens. If I could find that car today I’d have to find a way to purchase it, regardless of cost. Which is why I never look for one.
I haven’t seen them mentioned yet so I’ll throw a vote to the 1977 and 78 Chrysler Lebaron coupe and it’s Dodge Diplomat twin. One of the better down sized styling efforts IMO.
Always have a soft spot for Oldsmobiles
75 Chrysler Cordoba. 78 Monte Carlo.
But likely would have purchased a loaded 78 AMC Concord 2 door with all the Brougham features of a personal luxury car but without the bulk
Like this:
I once had a ’78 like that in triple black… with the 2.0L VW 4 cylinder and a slushbox. What a slug…
A lot of good possible choices, 74-76 Riviera, 75-78 Eldorado, 77-78 Riviera, 71-73 Riviera, 79 -> E-body, but I think the ultimate personal luxury car would be the 1978 Lincoln Mark V Diamond Jubilee. Gold or blue. To bad FoMoCo didn’t have the “power pull down trunk”. 🙂
Didn’t need it, the Mk V trunk closes almost as easily as the Caddy. s power pull down.
In high school, I most admired the clean lines of the 1976-77 Buick Regal, in black, no vinyl top, with a red bucket seat and console interior, Buick’s rally wheels, all power accessories and the biggest engine available. So equipped, a real captain of the lacrosse team sort of car – a great athlete, who is also a good student and a gentleman.
I’m biased by the comments … before I looked at them, I would have said BMW CS or 635. If it had to be American, I was leaning to Grand Prix, but after seeing the Can Am, a car I had forgotten about for a few decades, it hit all the right buttons for me. And finally to stretch the PLC definition a bit, how about an El Camino?
1st gen Monte Carlo. Period. Can you say “pillarless hardtop”? Thank you.
Thinking outside the broughamy box here, but I’d dig a Peugeot 504 coupe.
None. I don’t like 2-doors, and all these bloatmobiles were just as dumb with 4 doors.
IMHO, two doors of mainline sedans don’t count as PLC’s, such as DeVille, 98, Can Am, etc. The whole point was a unique styled coupe.
From 3 generations of GM PLC’s 70 Monte Carlo SS454, 73 Monte Carlo S, and 1979 Hurst/Olds Cutlass [based on Supreme].
The 77-79 CDV had a unique roifline, much different than the sedan de Ville.
Well, it would depend which one of the following crossed my path first:
1. ’72 Thunderbird, maroon or red metallic with red bucket seat interior
2. ’77-’79 Thunderbird, dark color, well optioned
3. ’77-’79 Cougar XR-7, dark color and well optioned, particularly the ’78 Midnight/Chamois edition with bucket seats
There would be a few Lincoln Marks on this list as well, but I live in CA and have suffered enough of their smog-related travails.
It might be easier to list the cars that got zero votes:
’73-76 Thunderbird
’74-76 (Torino) Elite
’74-’79 Cougar
’78-’79 Monte Carlo
’78-’79 Grand Prix
’71-’74 Satellite Sebring Plus
’70-’74 Charger SE
I’d happily take a 72 Sebring (440, please!), but didn’t really think it was a PLC.
I think the Sebring Plus kind of straddles the edge of PLC-dom.
My Dad owned a ’73, equipped with buckets, console, and full complement of power equipment. It was most certainly marketed as a toned down version (or maybe the adult’s version, or “thinking man’s” version) of the Road Runner. It was the same car, essentially, but with vinyl roof treatments, interior trimmings and common options, I’d probably consider it a PLC. Ours was replaced by a Cordoba, which was sort of the next logical step on Mopar mid-sized ladder in the mid ’70’s, which is another reason I see it that way.
I thought the mention of the ’71-74 Mopar B-body coupes in a seventies personal luxury car QOTD would get some users thinking. Really, it was a previous CC on the Satellite Sebring Plus that got me thinking about it.
In hindsight, Chrysler had really blown it by dumping big-bucks into the E-body, when they should have been developing a competitor to the Pontiac Grand Prix with unique sheetmetal (you know, like they did in 1975 with the hit Cordoba). Instead, they came up with the idea of giving the new, 1971 B-body distinct sheetmetal just between the generic 2-door coupe and the other 4-door and station wagon models. The hope was the swoopy styling of the coupes, combined with lathering on lots of PLC-type options, might get some PLC cross-shoppers.
Needless to say, it didn’t work so well. The problem was the B-bodies were still perceived as musclecars, not to mention that it was still possible to buy a bargain-basement Satellite or Charger coupe. The wild graphics and stripes on the musclecar versions didn’t help matters any, either.
I’d go for the original Road Runner: base Sebring coupe…no options except AC, 440, 4 speed, HD suspension, fast-ratio manual steering, 15″ wheels, and disc brakes. Taxicab interior, no carpet, bench seat, crank windows.
Oh, rudiger, you reminded me of an odd car I saw on eBay a few months ago: a ’74 Gran Torino Elite with the 351 CJ engine. I knew that the CJ was offered in the ’74 (only) Cougar XR-7, but didn’t know it was available in the Gran Torino Elite as well. The listing showed a Marti Report, so it was the real deal.
It was a nice clean, well optioned car, so I’d have to add such a unique car to my list.
I would have thought that the 351CJ was gone after the Mustang was downsized for 1974 and never would have guessed it was still available for 1974 in a few other Fords.
A Torino Elite with that engine would certainly make it an unorthodox (and probably the most desirable) find.
I could be mistaken but I recall reading that the CJ could be ordered with the 4-speed in the Torino for the last time in 74, not sure about the offshoots of it. I’ve never seen a 74 Torino with one, so if that’s true those may be some of the all time rarest powertrain combos.
I almost owned a 74 Cougar, so a CJ equipped one was high on my list
Charger SE didn’t occur to me, that’s a very tantalizing choice, especially the 70. In the more broughamy spirit of the PLC I’d pick the 72 with the SE specific and one year only roofline
1979 Riviera with the Olds 350 V-8. Charcoal gray with oyster leather interior and Astroroof!
Any of the following will do nicely, in this order:
’70 Eldorado, dark silver gray, red leather interior, sunroof, no vinyl top
’70-’71 Continental Mark III, dark blue, matching leather interior, sunroof, no vinyl top.
’70 Toronado GT, solid dark color other than green, tan interior, sunroof, no vinyl top.
’71-’72 Grand Prix, same as above.
’70-’72 Monte Carlo, same as above loaded, 454,
’70 T-Bird Landau, same as above
’70 Riviera, same as above, front clip swapped for ’66-’67 units.
Not crazy about subsequent ’70’s personal luxury coupes, except maybe ’79 E-body models,
My two choices would be >>>
a 72\72 Pontiac GP
Or a 74 Mercury Cougar
1970 Olds 98 coupe
Wow… all the replies already.
I had a ’76 Cordoba I loved. Daily drove it through the mid ’90’s. Another one of those, please. Or any of its Charger/Magnum variations. Love to find one with the funkadelic native print looking seats. My ’76 had the awesome maroon velveteen looking seats. So comfy at 85 mph during my phase of driving a county south on weekends to a friends place to go hang out at a heavy metal bar.
But… I do like Fords. A basket-handle ‘Bird would be quite fine.
It’s a shame Chrysler could never get their quality act together. When you got a good one, they were great. But it was just way too easy to get a bad one, and those are the memories that really stick with a person after they’ve laid out a big amount of cash for a vehicle.
Lean burn could be a problem, but when I drove them daily it worked.
And if not, it is easily replaced.
I did own a 1971 Riviera and then a 1976 Riviera with the S/R interior package. Both were used cars when I bought them. The 76 used a quart of oil every 700 miles which the service department did not think was a problem. Then it started to use coolant and I traded it for an Olds diesel.
Frying pan, fire, etc. etc.
Actually the diesel was fairly reliable while I owned it. It had 25000 miles on it when I bought it and I traded it off at 75000.
If I could do over my first cars I would not have started with a 69 GTO, but would have gotten something with an automatic and A/C. Then the 71 Riviera would not have been. My guess would be that I might have gone for a downsized 77, possibly a fuel injected DeVille, but more likely a Buick.
Bendix had a working electronic fuel injection system that Bosch bought the right to build as the D-jetronic in the mid 60’s. I find it disappointing that domestic makes did not offer EFI by the mid 70’s or sooner.
Another vote for an AMC Matador Coupe – 1st or 2nd generation.
More fun, more exclusive, and less pretentious.
https://www.bmt216a.dk/Images/L/BMT216A721.jpg
I have been thinking about some of the cars posed as “Personal Luxury Coupes”. I think this a distinctly American niche of luxury coupes from luxury brands, Cadillac, Lincoln, and Imperial. Anything else doesn’t qualify. Most european luxury coupes fall under the category of Grand Tourers. Japanese cars such as Lexus SC300/400 have more in common with the GT class.