GM printed two different multi-marque magazine advertisements in 1974, and one of them was this advertisement plugging their wide range of “personal cars” — not just personal luxury coupes — for 1974.
It’s not just the cars that are interesting about this ad, its also the people and their glorious 1970s fashions. Take a look at that young Agnes Moorehead lookalike with her Toronado and ornate dress. Or the perky blonde who has matched her ensemble to her Chevelle. The Eldorado driver looks a bit young for her ride, while the Grand Am driver isn’t quite who I’d be expecting to drive Pontiac’s Euro-inspired intermediate. The gorgeous girl draping herself over the Riviera looks like she would be more at home with something a bit more youthful, while the Corvette driver looks like what I imagine a 1974 Corvette driver would look like.
GM’s 1974 personal cars ran the gamut from sporty (Corvette, Chevelle Laguna Type S-3, Century Gran Sport), European-inspired sport-luxury (Cutlass Salon, Grand Am), to traditional luxury (Monte Carlo, Riviera, Toronado, Eldorado, Grand Prix). This wasn’t even the full extent of their “personal” range as you could also purchase the new, personal luxury Buick Century Regal and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, as well as relatively plush editions of the Chevrolet Camaro (Type LT) and Pontiac Firebird (Esprit). Then there were your traditional luxury two-doors like the Cadillac Coupe de Ville, and also up-level editions of intermediates such as the Chevrolet Malibu Classic and Pontiac Luxury Le Mans.
But let’s keep it simple here. Which of the pictured cars would you choose? Frankly, the two most expensive when new — the Cadillac and the Corvette — are the least appealing to me. I’d take the Grand Am first, of course, but the Century Gran Sport would be a close runner-up. You can also count me as a fan of the widely-disliked 1974 Riviera.
Unfortunately, 1974 was not a very good year:
– the second year of the big bumpers
– struggles with emission controls like my Dad’s ’74 Comet
– the only year of the infamous “interlock” system
– horrid quality control and assembly
Most anything from ’70 to ’72 would be fine and ’77 thru ’80 is better. But 74 thru 76 was a bad vintage for GM and Detroit in general.
Totally agree with your assessment – 1974 was not a good year for cars in general and GM in particular. 1973, or 1975, I could come up with several choices. 1974… only one, and that would be the Pontiac Trans Am SD.
Definitely the corvette but only if it came with those pants. I had the 74 Monte Carlo in medium blue. 350 dual exhaust. That was the high performance 350. I could not imagine any other engine choice having any less power.
I feel extremely blessed that we do not have to live through this again.
The Riviera. I’ve always thought the ’74-76 were underappreciated. Nice clean design with rock solid, proven mechanicals.
Because only the Riv/Eldo/Toro group started offering optional front airbag passive restraints that year (and only for 3 years), I’d get one of those – probably the Toro, because you could still have it hardtop-style with no opera windows. What abysmal mileage it would get, with the pre-catalyst pollution controls, I can only imagine.
Eldo, without question. Second, the Toro.
I would’ve gone for either the 1974 Chevy Monte Carlo or the 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix with the sport mirrors and swivel bucket seats, I’m not really big on vehicles built in that time frame
If I couldn’t have gotten a Chevelle Malibu, I’d have taken the Laguna. The Malibu would have to have had the 350 in it, it also came with a 250 CID 6. Second choice would be the Cutlass if not the Cutlass Supreme. My buddy had a 73 Supreme, nice car. Third, a Le Mans, passing on the Grand Am. I had a Le Mans to drive at work at it held the road nicely.Finally a Monte Carlo. My friend’s dad had one of those and I got to drive it a couple of times, very enjoyable ride.
Corvette. With a manual.
Almost complete disinterest in any other others. If forced to pick a second I’d go Pontiac Grand Am or Chevrolet Laguna.
Pontiac Trans Am, please. 455/4spd. Bonus points if I could score a rare Super Duty version. They made 943 SD’s that year.
This was one car that escaped the Malaise era. Brutally fast, great looking, and decent-handling for ’74. An instant collectible.
A #1 example sold at Barrett Jackson last year for $111,000.
Grand Am. Black with a red interior and a 400/4 speed.
2nd choice would be an Olds 442
I have liked Corvettes since sometime in the mid 1970s, from about the time I was old enough to pronounce “Corvette.” And, oddly, I like the mid-1970’s rubber bumper cars. So a ’74 ‘Vette is an easy choice in this list. Manual transmission…gotta be a manual. And, while thirsty, I may have to go for the 454 in its swan song year.
If I had to pick something other than the Corvette I would choose the Buick Century Gran Sport. The idea of a sporty Buick appeals to me, maybe simply for the juxtaposition of a Buick being sporty.
Chevelle S-3 Laguna w/350, just enough engine and handling without sacrificing sofa-like comfort. Also arguably one of the prettiest colonnades with the 1973 Regal.
If I didn’t have to stick to the ones shown ( I can’t see anything but the Eldo either) I would pick the Firebird Espirit since I am a huge Rockford Files fan. However, I like to play by the rules. Since I once owned and loved a ’75 El Camino ( and wish I still had it or the ’73 Ranchero I had before that) I will have to pick the Chevelle Laguna. It would have to be black with red trim and interior with a 454 and 4 speed. I don’t know if the F41 suspension was available, but I would like that too.
I still have the mustache I had back then, so all I need is a mullet haircut and wide lapels and I am ready to go!
74 Cutlass Salon. Round 2 of the same car I owned for two years of college.
Wow, Tough one. At the time, these cars would not be on my shopping list at all. They were so big and cumbersome. If forced, I would go for the Cutlass’ nose; those twin waterfall grilles were always attractive to me. But the rest of the car can’t decide whether it wants to be curvy or straight. Back then, I found the Grand Prix the most different of them, and wanted to like it until a friend who had one and named it the Iron Flounder.
I was 22 years of age in 1974 and I bought my first new car. I never even considered a GM car at the time, if I’d bought American, it would’ve been a Dodge van with one of those seedy painted graphics on the side, lol. As it was, in June of ’74, I sold my ’68 Nova (307, 4 speed, bench seat) to one of my buddies and used that cash as a down payment on a new Fiat X1/9. Once I saw one of them, I knew I had to have one. Many good memories and much fun!
I agree William. You didn’t claim this to be a vintage year, just what – given the opportunity or the need – would we choose if we were faced with the prospect of buying one of these models in 1974. That’s what makes these questions thought provoking.
Exactly. And I also wanted to share with Curbsiders what I believe to be a very intriguing and visually interesting print advertisement.
That being said, as a kooky Curbsider I would sooner buy a used Colonnade than a ’68-72 A-Body. I make no apologies for that. If I was a new car buyer in 1974, though, I’m not sure what I would have bought…
1974 was just about the low point for American auto performance, but a 500 cubic inch Eldo sounds intriguing.
Pontiac Grand Prix. I just like its looks the best.
BTDT. My first car (look up the COAL) was a ’74 Malibu Classic coupe. Too much weight, with neither enough chassis nor power.
If you’re forcing me, I’ll take the Corvette.
Power Windows (A31)
Air Conditioning (C60)
Gymkhana suspension (FE7)
Power Brakes (J50)
350CI engine (L82)
4-speed manual transmission (M21)
Power Steering (N41)
Paint it bright orange.
First choice-Grand-Am-My heart chooses this one
Second choice-Cutlass Salon-My head chooses this one
(popularity equals resale value)
Third choice-Grand Prix-If the salesperson gives me a
screaming deal, and there’s no Grand Ams
in stock.
Pontiac Grand-Am 4 door.
Always loved the shape of these
Grand-Am or Laguna – the others were totally uglified with those 5MPH bumpers.
Grand Am.
Buick Grand Sport, Cutlass Salon and the Laguna S3 if I’m allowed alternates.
I just like that the guy with the Buick is wearing a Michigan sweatshirt – perhaps as an homage to U of M’s Flint campus, which was also where Buick was HQ’d back then.
I owned both ’73 and ’76 Cutlasses, and thought both represented the best detailing of the ’73-’77 era Colonnade Cutlasses – and I was a predictable demographic for the Cutlass coupes. Like others have mentioned, the details on many ’74 cars were not very good – the early evolution of Federalized bumpers was tough on a lot of cars. Maybe I’d pick a Grand Prix for ’74.
I suppose if I could go back and pick any car now, I’d go with an Eldorado convertible – just because it is so over the top. I rather like the fender skirts on the early versions of this generation Eldorado. If there was ever a factory parade float, these Eldorado convertibles were it.
You missed it by just one year – 1973 was the Indy Pace Car, and there were lots and lots of these used in parades. 🙂
They all look great to me, compared to what we are being served as new cars. Not a fan of many of the new things. Too many angles and creases and boomerang shapes. Look like science fiction or transformers or robots. But of the picks given, in no particular order – The Grand Am, Grand Prix, Eldo, or Century GS. The others are about even for bottom rated for me. I had a 73 Grand Prix as my first car in 83. $300. And yes, I would like to have another one. I think that’s a given, considering how much time I spend on CC each day and that I am posting up here.
Make mine a Cutlass Salon coupe or a Grand Am or Grand Prix SJ with Snowflake alloys in that order.
To me, most of these are over-weight, under-powered, bean-counter quality icons of the malaise-era!
But if I had to choose – the Chevy Laguna.
Happy Motoring, Mark
I’d buy a Grand Prix, given the choice. Just plain old nostalgia…
Those quad headlamps must have been really expensive. They’re only on the three priciest models.
Only the Eldorado shows up, and no visible link to the rest. After riding in my neighbors mid 70s Eldo all I can say is none of the above. I was sneaking out and driving my dads SAAB in 75 and just could never understand why anyone would choose to drive the domestic barges on offer.
Maybe it’s me, but as far as looks go, something seems to have happened happened to GMs styling after the mid/late 60s. From some real eye candy they morphed to bloated blocks of ugh in the 70s.
I’d have to narrow my choices between the following:
1974 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna S-3 with a 454
1974 Buick Century Gran Sport with 455 Stage 1
1974 Corvette LS4 454 or maybe a L82 350, but MUST have a 4-speed.
None of these is even remotely my kind of car. I’d rather take the bus.
This was the lowest point of GM styling, the Vette was too impractical and I had tired of the body style by then, so it would be the Chevy Chevelle, but only because it just wasn’t as ugly as the rest of them. I thought the Colonade cars, regardless of how well they sold, were just awful looking. My sister was forced to hand me down her 2 year old ’71 Cutlass in 1973 and get a new ’73 Cutlass. As always with her, her color choice, bronze, was awful, and that car would go down as the worst car she ever had. It won that honor by a nose over her next, and last Cutlass, a shit brown over lighter shit brown ’79. She’s been on a Nissan kick lately, even though her last Sentra was a POS, she got another one. I don’t know what color it is, but I would bet $100 it’s bad. Not boring, like silver/grey, but bad, like green or some odd pink or something. She had a Mazda years ago that I saw when I visited her and I cracked up laughing when I saw it, and said, “I knew it was going to be some awful damn color!”. Sometimes I think she’s color blind.
Can I have my 1974 GM personal coupe with four doors? If so, make mine a ’74 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham Talisman…….still only seats four passengers!
Hell, Yeah, If you’re going big….Go BIG!
Would make it a CC with record breaking entry to the back seat. 🙂
I was born in 1958 (supposedly a bad year for cars, recession year) and got my license in 1974 (16 years later…another bad year for cars..and the first full year of the gas crisis)…I guess the years in between and the ones after made up for it, as I somehow stuck it out as a car guy (though not so enamoured with modern cars).
I was taking driver’s ed around this time, and the cars donated to our high school were the typical behemoths shown here, mostly GM (Chevrolet Monte Carlos which were hard to see out of when backing up, Impalas, etc).
I ended up with a 1974 Datsun 710 sedan (not a very common car even in its day). Disabled the seatbelt interlock after several times the car didn’t start and you’d have to lift the hood a press a reset button. But it got good gas mileage and got me through 4 years of college up in Vermont, always parked outside, no block heater or other heat (though I did have to get a ride from my Father during the Blizzard of ’78 for about a week when the car refused to start). In a way, my current car (2000 Golf) isn’t all that different, sizewise, it even has the 2 litre engine, but of course FWD has dominated since that time, and it is a hatchback (the 710 was the last/only sedan I’ve owned).
One of my co-workers at the time had a Malibu, though I wasn’t a fan of the post-73 GM midsize cars, it was probably the one I objected to least…didn’t care for the Ford Torino, nor Elite, Mopar was “OK” but I preferred earlier models.
We had a gas shortage 3 weeks ago when Harvey came through, it is over in my area now, but prices went up about 50 cents (25% increase) in a day or so…one local news show touting consumer protection was doing a story on motels and rental cars agencies which were taking advantage of the shortages, but no mention of increased fuel prices (which persist)…some of the refinery capacity was affected, but still it seems like a convenient way to increase prices due to “Mother Nature”.
FYI: this month’s Hemmings Classic Car has a 2-page spread of vintage-1974 Pontiac advertising.