(first posted 10/6/2015) Now entering 1979 and straight into April, as that’s the next available R&T in these series of posts.
Starting off with the Supra- this was two pages inner-folding-cover Ad:
Note the map light and the Tan-on-Brown-on-Tan color scheme. Yammie.
Those big bumpers…
Remember the “Imported from Japan” Chrysler Group Ads from the previous post? Now they reveal all: it’s Mitsubishi!
The best option here might be the rear stabilizer bar- not sure how much difference it made to the Starfire’s handling…
You all remember, right? “Handbuilt by Robots”. An oxymoron if ever there was one.
And of course, the famous “and driven by idiots”.
We’ve had the Civic, the Accord and now you can compere the Prelude to its modern-day equivalent.
I actually think this is not a bad looking car (compared with the Celica and the Prelude above), just needs some styling adjustments.
I meen really, why waste your money on a supercar?
Sorry, no classifieds this time- I promise they shall return. Bye for now.
Some comments, in the style of Larry King, ca 1979:
Supra! A Celica with more of everything. Classy!
The Mazda 626! Also classy. Especially the 5 door.
Spitfire! A smaller turning radius on an open RWD roadster might just be the thing to change a potential Rabbit customer’s mind!
Colt! Two shifters. Too complicated!
Strada! Love the big round eyes and shirt button wheels. FIAT will be on the American scene for good!
LeCar. A family that votes as a bloc. Don’t trust the individual. Dangerous!
If the man with the five Volvos was a “glutton for happiness,” I’m guessing that members of the Larson family, with their four Renault LeCars, were gluttons for punishment. (It’s perhaps best to ignore Volvo Man’s unfortunate taste in sport coats.)
One wonders if any of the Larsons traded their LeCar for the Renault Alliance, which was the Next Big Thing from Renault in the early 1980s, or moved on to a Toyota or a Honda.
The “everyone in the family drives a ___” type of ad is something you don’t see much anymore. Those ads could illustrate either a collective appreciation for good value in a vehicle (as in the Volvo ad) or a collective lack of judgement (the LeCar ad). 😉
If Dr. Phil had been on television then, I’m guessing that simultaneous ownership of four LeCars would have made the Larson family prime candidates for multiple sessions.
“Now whut made yew think…that owning four Lay Carrs…was a good ah-dea?”
Regarding a lack of judgement with Le Car; they were towing snowmobiles with them? A snowmobile on a light trailer has to weigh at least 1000 lbs, so how did Le Car handle then? Add that they were driving winter roads in Idaho…I could see things not working out well for them. Pretty funny.
Ha, I didn’t catch that the first time through. Towing snowmobiles through 6 inches of snow with a LeCar. Sounds like a great idea.
Had to have been the plastic kind with a tow rope, for kids. Like a boat pulling an innertube across a lake.
Still not a great idea, but it makes a lot more sense. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything other than a 4×4 truck pulling a snowmobile trailer here in Maine.
Ford ran some ads in the late ’70s showing “real” multi-Pinto families (the cars were from several model years); too bad they didn’t put one in the April ’79 R&T to make the trifecta.
While that jacket was surely gone by 1981, There is a reasonable chance that 3/5 of those Volvos are still around, somewhere!
Middle aged guys wore some wild sport jackets in those days. My Dad had a memorable blue, red and white sport coat that looked like an abstract grouping of cigarette packs. He wore them with his white shoes and belt.
And fluorescent green suits. At least mine was a conservative purple.
Love the 626 as always. No hatchback till 1983.
Also love the Supra but haven’t seen an unmolested one is years even here in California. However, have found a yellow 78 Celica 4spd hatchback with low miles in good condition for under $1K for me. Turns out it belongs to someone I know who is more interested in building his plane.
The Colt twin stick was easy for anyone who drove a truck with a splitter or a two speed rear axle and was actually fun; my boss had a Cordia turbo with that g/box which I drove a lot and it made sense to me.
Sincere appreciation to you for spelling bloc correctly!
Mario Andretti was a serious celebrity when I was a kid; anyone interested in racing at all had heard of him. His bio states that as young as two years old (to the consternation of his immigrant parents), he & his brother were obsessed by racing. Amazing career; the Italian gov’t awarded him something like a knighthood, along with Enzo Ferrari. He certainly deserved it.
Can you still fit Recaros to most street cars? For folks having back problems, these could be useful.
You can here in Austria but if you want to stay legal the cost is astronomical, thanks to Big Government.
Give me the Bonneville with the seldom ordered gauge package so I can monitor all the engine functions. That would be a fun late 70s ride wrapped up in respectable packaging.
My dad had a 1978 Bonneville Brougham (no vinyl top though, thank you) with the gauge package. It even had a vacuum gauge directly in the center of all the gauges. I guess the latter was to prove just how much the 400 cu. in. Pontiac engine (last year for the big Poncho in the GM B bodies) with its 2.41 rear axle was loafing along at 70mph. Even with that tall rear end it could lay a little rubber from take-off and chirp the tires going into second gear.
Dad special ordered that one (one reason was to avoid the vinyl roof – he hates those). He also knew which boxes to check including the F41 suspension package with the thicker stabilizers. For gobbling up the interstate the Bonneville compared very nicely with his 1967 Cadillac which ‘sported’ Monroe-matics and B. F. Goodrich radials.
X2. With some modifications it would still make a worthy continental grand tourer.
UK take on ‘handbuilt by robots’
https://youtu.be/FU-tuY0Z7nQ
No, it’s “Handbuilt by Roberts” !!!! And it’s hilarious and shows how messed up the British car industry was.
I get it that they’re selling parts for the big 3, but it is still weird seeing a Pontiac LeMans Enforcer in a Ford Motorcraft advertisement.
I’d love to see the full article on automatic sports cars.
I was reading thru the comments to see if that huge Pontiac photo in what was a FOMOCO ad caught anyone elses eye. ( theres a Ford is in small photo.) I guess they were pointing out that “Hey, our parts are SO good, They even make the competition run better!” But still these ads always looked odd to me.
I was thinking the same thing. Odd that they didn’t use a picture of a Ford cop car.
Ford may have wanted to emphasize that Motorcraft parts could also be used on non-Ford vehicles.
Ads make little impression on me, but that one, featuring Ford Motorcraft parts but showing a Pontiac LeMans, I do remember (that was during my police years). It was probably a matter of recognition as a police car. Perhaps the public recognized the midsize Pontiac as a police car at the time. The Los Angeles County Sheriff had some Volvos and a few departments had Plymouth Valiants, but those would hardly stir the public’s imagination as a rock-em, sock-em patrol car.
The Pontiac LeMans Collonade 4-door was a frequently-seen police car, and its being featured in the movie, “Smokey and the Bandit” no doubt increased its public awareness. On the other hand, Ford’s own full-sized police car had dropped in popularity with fuel economy becoming a selection factor; and the Ford Torino police car was relatively rare (it was too small inside, too big outside, had sloppy handling and a steering feel that felt like you were spinning a propeller in a bucket of water). The Pontiac LeMans won quite a few bids for a couple of years before the Chrysler dominance took hold again…I’m not sure but actually Pontiac probably fought with Ford for whatever was left over after Chrysler took most police car sales, and Chevrolet some more.
Having worked in an ad agency and composed magazine ads, I can see where a non-car person might have found a “generic cop car” photo for use in the ad. Not realizing that Pontiac is a GM product and that Motorcraft was owned by Ford, they have no idea of what they’ve unleashed. Then, it gets approved by a non-car person for use in media, who commits the same mistake.
Then, fast forward 37 or so years and a bunch of folks are trying to figure out how the Hell a Pontiac was used in a Ford service parts ad…
That sort of ignorance also explains why I often see photos of self-propelled howitzers or armored-personnel carriers labeled as “tanks.” They don’t realize that not every tracked vehicle with a gun pointing out of its turret is a tank.
It’s now a year later, and I still like the Scirocco, but with this issue, I’m also finding the Strada, 924, and the Starfire attractive. So much to choose from for me unlike with today’s market.
What is that laying across the handbrake on the Supra?
That’s the cord for the map light. Check the ad copy. Didn’t know those cars had the feature.
Interesting, I’ve never seen a map light like that before.
I like the Bonneville best.
Love the Bonneville. Totally shows the blend of luxury and sportiness that Pontiac was striving for its customers to appreciate.
I loved my 1980 Prelude. One of the best cars I have ever driven and owned. It rode and handled well, was sporty, got great gas mileage and was overall just a great package. Miss that car.
Gorgeous Bonneville. I’ve always loved those first-gen 626 coupes too, though. Very nicely balanced styling. Haven’t seen one in years, unfortunately… If a shell in good shape could be found (or a complete car with a less-than perfect condition engine) it might be lots of fun to drop a turbo rotary in one and finesse the suspension. Sort of an 80’s take on the RX-3.
I’ll take the Scirocco and the Recaro seats!
I haven’t seen a Scirocco on the road in years! Such a clean design.
What strikes me here (unless yohai71 was being purposefully selective) is the amount of choice in cars deemed ‘sporty’. You don’t see that nowdays.
I don’t know, seems like today every car is trying to be “sporty” with fairly aggressive suspension tuning, ground effects, wheels, etc.
I don’t understand the Mitsubishi ad. Why is Mitsubishi paying to advertise their engines here? All the vehicles that they are in are Chrysler products (made by Mitsubishi). Why isn’t this a Chrysler ad?
They are all Mitsubishi products marketed by Chrysler.
I think he was referring to the seperate Mitsu (MCA-JET System) ad, rather than the Plymouth/Dodge import lineup ad. In the case of the separate Mitsubishi ad, It sorta does have the same “vibe” to me as the Motor Craft / Pontiac ad. Event through I lived thru it, It’s easy to forget how odd the ’70s car scene was!
In this era, Mitsubishi wasn’t selling their own cars in the U.S. yet, so Chrysler was their only U.S. outlet. That may in part account for the Chrysler ad focused specifically on Mitsubishi products, and prominently mentioning Mitsubishi by name.
At the same time, at this point Mitsubishi may have had an eye towards starting up its own U.S. sales operation in a few years. That may account for the separate Mitsubishi ad focusing on the engines used in the cars they built for Chrysler. Mitsubishi may have already been looking to start establishing their brand with American consumers, independent of Chrysler.
True, looking back on it, in the 1970’s my only knowledge of Mitsubishi was in aircraft (The infamous Zero of the Pearl Harbor attacks.)
That’s a good theory. Mitsubishi was trying to build brand association because they were planning to start selling their cars in their own name.
I have been trying to think of another example. The only one I could think of is Cummins diesel engines in Ram pickups. I’ve seen separate Cummins magazine ad touting their industrial engines, but not specifically their automotive (5.9/6.7) engines with fine print that reads, “Available in Ram pickups”. Cummins doesn’t pay to advertise that, Chrysler does.
> They are all Mitsubishi products marketed by Chrysler.
I specifically wrote, “Chrysler products (made by Mitsubishi)”, to prevent such rudimentary response. If they are marketed by Chrysler, why are they also being marketed by Mitsubishi here?
they were all Mitsubishis elsewhere though.
I absolutely loved the way these tires looked. I bought an NOS set off a friend for my Chevelle back around 1990. The GR60s had a slightly different profile than more modern Radials at the time. They looked “right”.
This is a mother lode of CC here, the original Supra and Prelude, the last days of the Spitfire, the famous Mitsu Twin Stick and the Scirocco on the upward trend. I also have a fond memories of Recaro seats, Porsche ads from when they only made sports cars and the BF Goodrich Comp T/A.
I never knew a Dodge Colt coupe, sedan and wagon were built during the 1979 model year, I’ve thought they became extinct after the 1978 model year, I sure learn something new on this site, I haven’t seen a Mitsubishi built Challenger/Sapporo in years, I always liked those cars a lot.
The wagon lasted through 1980. Apparently it was a slow seller because it cost as much as an Aspen/Volare wagon.
This article has a bit of a “scorecard” as to which Colt models were sold in which year in the late ’70s and early ’80s:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/cc-colt-chronicles-part-3-1978-dodge-colt-mitsubishi-lancer-the-little-colt/
If I follow correctly:
The last year there was a full lineup of RWD Colts based on the Japanese-market Galant was 1976 (which is what the Colt had always been up to that point), but the hardtop and wagon continued through 1977.
The RWD coupe and sedan based on the Japanese-market Lancer were sold from 1977 to 1979.
The RWD wagon based on the Japanese-market Galant Sigma was sold from 1978 to 1981.
The FWD hatchback based on the Japanese-market Mirage was introduced for 1979. There was originally only a 2-door, but a 4-door version was added a few years later.
I’m guessing the 4 LeCar family had 4 of them to ensure that at least one would start…
The Fiat Strada looks really modern, and not in a good way. In fact it looks as contemporary as the 500C and 500L Pope limo.
Those Recaro seats are still awesome, and the Mazda 626 was indeed a very refined car.
Oh and I had that Yammy XS400, and it was indeed quicker than a Honda 450 Nighthawk and Suzi 500 Titan 2cyl I used to run with. It was equal to my other buds XS650 in gitty up only with alot less vibes (and torque).
I think my GMC Sierra could go around those cones with more composure than that Triumph!
Oh so many memories… That Bonneville sticks out the most in my mind. I have a narrow definition of Brougham, but that Bonneville hits all the high notes of Brougham in my mind. Now, if I could get the Recaros in the Bonneville, that would be cool.
I haven’t seen a lot of these cars in the metal in about 35 or so years. A buddy of mine had a first gen Scirocco, the car was great fun when it ran. It had been neglected by previous owners and it showed. That Strada ad is a real gem; but those cars got buried by Fiat’s bad reputation at the time and the dominance of the VW Rabbit (Golf) in the two box segment. Even now, the Strada looks modern, where you can definitely recognize most other cars of that era as cars of that era.
That Supra looks melted to me, I was more a fan of the generation that succeeded this one (in 1981? 82?) This one just looked tired. I have a soft spot of sorts in my head for the LeCar as I spent an extended test drive with my brother back in one in 1978 when he was buying his first new car. He didn’t buy the LeCar, but we had a lot of fun zipping around in that car for a weekend.
The Mitsubishi and the Imported for Dodge ads seem a little odd. I can’t imagine a domestic car maker today boasting about how much of their lineup is made up of rebadged cars from another manufacturer. One thing I find odd in retrospect, is that Mitsubishi never made a bid for Chrysler even after their long sales and marketing relationship. I could have imagined Mitsubishi buying Chrysler before Daimler bought them. And, I thought it might have been a possibility that Mitsu would have bought them in 2009. But, I guess they had their reasons.
Lastly that Olds ad. As much of a fan of Oldsmobile as I am, the H body was something of a mismatch for them. I always got the feeling that the Starfire was a business necessity and that they really wanted to sell more Cutlasses instead. My choice for a H-body would have been the Monza Spyder or the Sunfire Formula models. The saving grace for the Starfire was the V8 Firenza, but how many of those were made?
FWIU Chrysler didn’t need a buyer in the ’90s, the Daimler deal was to flash a coat of platinum on the golden parachutes of the cohort of Chrysler execs who all retired at about that time.
Memories… it really is amazing how much the technology has progressed. Starfire! The answer to the question no one had asked…
I can probably find this magazine at my college’s library. I could sneak in there tomorrow for a little research, because I must read that automatically successful article. I bet an automatic RX-7 or 924 is awful to drive in traffic, but still okay on the road. An automatic 280zx or Corvette is still fun to drive in traffic because of the torque, but had gotten lousy on the road.
On a semi-related note: has anyone else ever noticed that the Black Gold special edition zx is basically a John Player Special without the licensing with a tobacco brand? Discuss.
My third grade teacher had a brand new black Bonneville coupe just like that….rear wheel fender extensions, factory alloy wheels, glass sunroof, black with tan interior (leather, as I recall), factory CB radio too. Wow, what a gorgeous car that was. I never saw another one like it. Her husband was a doctor and that car just screamed “rich” to me. From being a sporty/luxury oriented car for a doctor’s wife to not existing at all. Times have sure changed…..
There are many interesting points in the Scirocco ad. First of all it’s a US ad showing a Euro car with the smaller bumpers. I think that goes to my point that in ’78 the US bumpers looked better than the ones for Europe, otherwise why would they rub that in our face?
While there are no outright lies there are a few lines that show being misleading isn’t a new hobby at VW. Take for example…
0-50MPH in 7.5 seconds. Why not just show the 0-60 time or were you hoping we’d mistake the 7.5 for that?
Front disc brakes like Maserati and Lamborghini. Well yes but I could say the same about the Pinto in ’79.
Seats four passengers. Ever been in the back seat of a Scirocco?
60mph was illegal nationwide in 1978. Manufacturers didn’t want to be seen as promoting anything illegal
Yes, the backseat of the Scirocco was small …but I think most people buying a sporty coupe would assume that to be true…I had a ’78, and it didn’t stop me from being in a carpool with 2 other adults (we would rotate driving different weeks, but they also had 2 door small cars, a ’78 Ford Fiesta and a ’79 Datsun 310 coupe).
I think you had to compare this ad to other ones at this time (the late 70’s)…even “small” features were trumpeted in ads for small cars…AM radio (back then radios were usually optional)…rear defroster…remote fuel door release lever, etc. Now days you would probably laugh about someone including that in an ad, but remember stuff like power steering, air conditioning, power locks (don’t think you could get them in an A1 Scirocco) which are pretty much standard on all cars now but weren’t back then. Albeit the Scirocco wasn’t an inexpensive car, but it didn’t come stripped for its day (but I think a radio was still optional).
Those euro bumpers look worse to me than the US spec ones on my ’78 (which have the similar end caps)..particularly don’t like the bumper overriders, though they are admittedly functional, to me they ruin the look of a particularly sleek car (I still think the A1 Scirocco is one of the best looking small cars around).
I think they were trying to indicate how “european” the car was..with the obvious european license plate, etc..maybe help justify the higher cost of this car, I think you could have bought other coupes for less money back then)
(I think the Scirocco was pushing $10k back then)
The ad looks great with that shot of the car, clean font and simple concept. It drew me in more than the rest but the copy is really weak. I could see defending it as being a bit tongue-in-cheek but in reading it again, it’s just bad. It’s how it feels to own one of their products — looks good (used to anyway), drives great and falls apart — so I give them points for consistency.
On the weak copy here is an example… “Giugiaro who’s designed such bodies as the Maserati and the Lamborghini-built E26, also designed the Scirocco.” That’s all fine and dandy by why be so general with “Maserati” and get all technical with the Lambo? What the hell is an E26? We’re supposed to know that but not that all cars have front disc brakes?
I assume they were going after an enthusiast crowd with the supercar references and by showing a correct Euro-spec Scirocco, but why then describe the handling with this line: “Its shocks and springs don’t make a pothole seem like the Grand Canyon?” Maybe they were trying to be funny?
As for the rear seat room I had a Fiesta after the Scirocco and could see using that in a carpool. But the Scirocco? I think that was OK because you were always in the driver’s seat 😉
Yes, I always was in the front seat during carpools when my Scirocco was in rotation…but I don’t think it was as bad in comparison as you think…I know the other 2 cars weren’t sporty coupes, it’s been 35 years now but the Fiesta in particular didn’t that roomy in the rear seat either (mostly had more headroom, but was narrower than the Scirocco)…put it this way, I didn’t think I was masochistic at the time asking one of them to sit in the rear seat..plus we were all young at the time, so it didn’t seem to matter as much (2 door compact cars were MUCH more common then compared to now).
I’m not an advertising guy (far from it)…likely VW changed ad companies from the air-cooled days when they had the famous ads like the “lemon” one (that showed a beetle that looked normal but apparently had some small defect you couldn’t see was there).
As for:
“Giugiaro who’s designed such bodies as the Maserati and the Lamborghini-built E26, also designed the Scirocco.” That’s all fine and dandy by why be so general with “Maserati” and get all technical with the Lambo? What the hell is an E26”
My first thought was they didn’t want to upset Giugiario by insinuating that design firm designed tractors as well as sporty coupes and supercars
(not that there is anything wrong with tractors, but I don’t think they are likely “styled” like cars)
As for:
“looks good (used to anyway), drives great and falls apart — so I give them points for consistency.”
Guess I’ve had different experience…I know lots of people have had problems with VWs, I guess I’ve been lucky…having owned nothing but VWs for 35 years (so far)…though I’ll admit I’m hardly unbiased..but as they say, your mileage may vary.
A new agency not familiar with VW (or automotive for that matter) would explain this line: “Even Scirocco’s front-wheel drive is highly developed in that it’s never sluggish into a turn.”
Have no idea what that means, understeer maybe? I do know that the Scirocco was one of the best handling cars in America and the ad sells it short by talking about potholes and lack of sluggishness going into a turn.
I guess my point is they weren’t trying very hard which has some parallels with how they’ve treated quality and emissions over the years. We’ve had eight of their products in the immediate family since 1974 and it’s been a very mixed bag.
I grew up in a town where FIATs actually sold well (relatively speaking), so the Strada was a pretty common sight for me in my grade school years. Our local AMC dealer sold them. They thus had the market cornered in funny-looking cars.
Were those wheels actually available on the Supra, or was that a pre-production shot? I don’t remember ever seeing those wheels on a real-life Supra.
Wow, hard to remember a time when an American could buy a Spitfire, a Strada and a LeCar. And I knew people who had all of them.
This also reminded me how much fun it was working the twin stick in my Colt. As for that ad playing up the Mitsu heritage, we must remember how bad Chrysler’s reputation was in 1979 and that anything Japanese was believed to be automotive perfection itself.
Having graduated from high school in 1986, those cars (with the exception of the Strada and LeCar, most of which were probably already dead by then) are the vehicles i fondly remember my friends and i tooling around in during our youth. My younger brother had a Colt with the dual stick, which he hated. I on the other hand thought it was a blast to push to its limits on rural North Jersey back roads. But then I’ve always found it quite fun to drive a slow car fast.
My father’s first Japanese car was one of those 1st gen Supra’s. By 1980 the upholstery looked much more conservative, along with the wheel treatment. It was also the first car he kept for over 100,000 miles, actually about 140,000 with no major repairs.
A friend had a Celica like in the first photo. He drove it to and from work, about a 55 mile drive each way, every day, for years. I recall him telling me he had 500,000 miles on it. Amazing.
A colonnade police car eh? A Pontiac at that as well. There’s a first for me.
The four Le Car guy? He was on a first name basis with his service garage, making weekly visits.
Great ads, thanks.
There was this brief period around then that the car mags encouraged us to rip out the uncomfortable stock seats and replace them with Recaros or Scheels. Then car seats became too complicated for that or something. Recaro is still very much around, making everything from baby seats to airliner sleeper cabins, but the market for aftermarket driver’s seats seems to have fizzled. Also, remember when Recaros were factory options in Thunderbirds?