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Automotive News & Views Inside Line Article Comments Edmunds turns 40 - guess the most significant car from each year!
349 messages, Last post on Feb 27, 2007 at 5:26 AM
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Edmunds Most Significant Vehicles, 1966-2006
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Replying to: bumpy (Jul 20, 2006 1:53 pm)  james |
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1967: Pontiac Catalina convertible? 1968: Dodge Dart 270 hardtop? 1976: Pontiac Grand LeMans coupe? 1979: Chrysler New Yorker 5th Ave? Am I close? Anywhere near?
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jul 20, 2006 6:55 pm) I think it's a pretty safe bet that none of your other cars will make the "greatest hits" list. 
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1966 - Ford Galaxie 500 sedan 1968 - Buick Special Deluxe 6-passenger wagon 1969 - Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham 1975 - Cadillac Sedan DeVille 1979 - Buick Park Avenue 1985 - Chrysler Fifth Avenue 1988 - Buick Park Avenue 1989 - Cadillac Brougham 1994 - Cadillac Sedan DeVille 2001 - Chevrolet Impala 2002 - Cadillac Seville STS 2005 - Buick LaCrosse CXL |
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That was the year of my debut, though since I'm not a car, it's not so significant here. I do think it's strange that the Mustang won for that year--I mean, there were some muscular new versions (Mach 1, Boss), but it's thought of as kind of the beginning of the more, uh, porcine Mustangs, isn't it? Then again, I can't think of any really 'significant' new cars from 1969--I mean, everything was pretty much a hold-over from years past. The only 'all-new' car I can think of that debuted that year was the Maverick, but since it was a 1970 model, it doesn't qualify. |
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is the year I was conceived. There were a lot of great cars that year, but I don't know if I could pinpoint which one I'd consider most significant. The only car I can think of that was really new was the 1969 full-size Plymouth/Dodge/Chrysler/Imperial line. The Maverick came out in April 1969, but as you said Ghulet, it was a 1970 model. GM did a heavy restyle of their full-sized cars for 1969, but it could still be traced back to the 1965 design. Instead of making an all-new design every three years, it seems like GM made that design run for 6 years, just with very heavy restyles after two years (1967 and 1969, respectively) It was one of the last glory years for truly high-performance cars, where you could get muscle in just about anything. 1970 was still a great year for performance, but I think some things got toned down just a bit. For example, Chevy's 427, which had up to 425 gross hp, was replaced by the slightly more smogged 454, which had up to 390. As for Mustangs and porking up, my car only lists base weights, where they took the average of the 6-cyl/smallblock weights and listed that number. A 289/302 doesn't weigh much more than a 6-cyl, but I'm sure a big-block car was much heavier, especially since they would've had to beef everything else up, too. Anyway, my book lists a base '68 hardtop at 2635 lb, compared to 2798 lb for the '69. So that's a jump of about 160 pounds, or maybe 6%. As for power, the 429 in '69 looks like it put out 360/375 hp, compared to 335 for the 428. There was a 427 offered in late '68 that had 390 hp, though. I think if I were to have my pick of any 1969 car it would probably be an intermediate Mopar musclecar, like a Coronet R/T, Charger, Superbee, GTX, etc. Or maybe an Imperial or Caddy. I really wouldn't consider any of them to be truly significant, when it comes to advancing the evolution of the automobile, though, or being really stand-out for that year. And I do like the '69 Dodge Dart. However, after having had a '69 and a '68, and having driven about 110,000 miles between them, I'm kinda Darted out.
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it always bothers me when they try to claim that the Toyota Corolla is the best selling car in history. WRONG. It might be the best selling NAMEPLATE in history, but the car itself completely changes every 3-5 years. You just can't compare it to the Model-T or the Beetle, which made those huge sales records with just one basic design that changed very little over their respective lifespans. Now if they still built something that strongly resembled a 1968 Corolla today, then yeah, I'd say it would qualify. But as far as I'm concerned it took itself out of the running with the first redesign. Otherwise, it's kind of like taking total sales for the Chevy II, Nova, Citation, Corsica/Beretta, '97-03 Malibu, and '04+ Malibu, and touting whatever number you come up with. Now I'm not saying the 1968 Corolla might not be a significant car. But don't try to compare the sales of 6 or 7 or however many different designs of car sold for close to 40 years to something that was the same basic car for its lifespan. |
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I think for 1968 I'll pick the Mercedes 300SEL 6.3 - the first real super-sedan. A description from another site: Produced between December 1967 and September 1972, this car served a few purposes for Mercedes. First, it re-established the company as the ultimate builder of autobahn cruisers, provided an undisputed image boost and most importantly, showed the world that sports-car performance comes in more flavours than just two doors. Using a 6332cc fuel-injected V8 engine, the 6.3 produces 300 horsepower (that's gross, mind you)  4100 rpm and 434 lb-ft of torque 3000rpm. Not huge numbers, prob ably quite a bit conservative actually, taking into account the era, technology and weight of the car. Unimportant, really, considering that the 3800lb sedan goes like stink, reaching 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, the 1/4 mile mark in about 14.5 and going on to a top speed of 143 mph (230 km/h). While those numbers are impressive, there are a few things to keep in mind. Not only can the 6.3 thoroughly waste any Porsche 911 of the time and a large portion of '60s Detroit muscle at the dragstrip, but it rides effortlessly with minimal noise at high speeds upwards of 130 mph and provides a level of comfort and seating capacity that other similarly performing cars can only dream of. And the exterior design is so inconspicuous, only the keenest eyes at the racetrack would be able to predict beforehand the beating they were about to receive. Removing the badges eliminated that possibility as well.
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Looks like Edmunds is going to pick mostly from the muscle/performance side of the market, going by their first 4 choices (Corolla being the sole exception). My picks will take a broader outlook. 1971: Toyota Celica. Japanese Mustang, light, peppy, rear-wheel drive. The perfect answer to the porked up '71 Mustang. 1973: Honda Civic. Who knew when the car came out that pandemonium would erupt later when the oil faucet was turned off? The right car at the right time. 1975: VW Rabbit. Like the Civic, but bigger AND available as a 5-door. Rear seat suitable for 2 adults. Could have been the replacement for the Beetle, but alas, build quality and reliability didn't live up to the brilliant design. 1977: Chevy Impala/Caprice: While Ford and Chrysler ridiculed the idea, GM went ahead and did it: a dramatic downsizing that preserved the interior room of the old model. Good-looking as well. Lasted essentially unchanged through the 1990 model year, then controversially restyled for 1991. One last hurrah as the '94-'96 Impala SS. 1978: Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupe. GM did it again. Downsized "intermediate" car, with "formal" styling. Hugely successful; spawned the Buick Grand National/GNX and Chevy Monte Carlo SS nearly a decade later. 1979: Buick Riviera. One more successful downsizing for GM. Took the frumpy B-body '77-'78 Riviera and turned it into a looker. Available as T-Type with turbocharged V6. 1980: Ford F-series. Completely redesigned, with more creature comforts than ever. Took over the number one sales position in 1982 and remains on top today. This design lasted until 1996. 1981: Mercedes S class (W126). The big one, overengineered and absolutely right for the times. Diesel engine availability. 1982: Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. Salvaged from the X-body fiasco, the Ciera and its A-body brethren went on to become huge and long lasting sellers for GM, again. Olds and Buick versions lasted through the 1996 model year. 1984: Plymouth Voyager/Dodge Caravan. The start of a new vehicle class - the front-drive, "garageable" minivan. 1986: Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable. The cars that saved Ford in the 80s. Talk about "way forward." GM was caught a day late and a dollar short with its W-bodies, not released until 2-4 years later. I'll continue this later, with my first priority figuring out the "most significant" for 1972, 74, 76, 83, and 85. |
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I thought the most obvious choice would be the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado - the first FWD American car since the 1937 Cord 812. I, personally, would have chose the ultra-beautiful Cadillac Eldorado for 1967. For 1968, I'd select the almost perfect GM A-bodies. 1969 is tough because there were so many awesome cars available that year. |
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