MattyG

I missed the golden age of the muscle car era as a driver, but I did see it later on. What really interested me in the Gran Prix was its sleek beautiful shape. A gentleman's muscle car as the ads told you. But the interior was what really worked. The dash was pushed right up to the windshield and the cockpit gauges.

Then you had that beautiful hood. Always nice to see that as you rumbled down the highway. You could kick down that transmission and the front end would lift and suddenly the scenery was going by real fast. It also had these slim taillights that were so clean and beautiful.

My co-worker back in the day was looking at a car and one day at work he turned up in a 1969 SJ automatic 428HO. The rumble and power. I was sold right at that moment as we blasted up and down a side road. He had the Morrokide bucket seats, AC and all. Olive green, black vinyl roof, power everything.

Yep, mine was a 72, 400 big block beast and true real "duals" coming out the back. Getting up to speed was easy. Braking was ok as long as you didn't push it, lol. And power windows, AC and all. It was a Texas car that had great heat in Canada yet!

MattyG

Also the Chevy Laguna. Big sway bars and tight suspension on a two ton car that easily handled curves. 1976 red in my case with the 350 and it was the S-3. L-48 motor. Same as Corvette. What an interesting comfy car. My brother got hold of an earlier version with a 400 small block. These could cruise easily at 90 mph.



And then after that it was over to the Germans! One of the best handling cars at the time. And FWD to boot.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

My 1970 TransAm 4-speed Ram Air 400 blue interior 56,000 miles when I bought it in 1988 all original condition paid $ 5,500. Sold in 1993 for $8,500 to buy a house. Worth about $40,000 now in similar condition.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Didn't sell but lost to hurricane Sandy. Still miss my 2GS430.

Aron9000

The drivetrain on 4th gen fbodies were utter crap. Engine wise, they were solid, be it the V6, LT1 or LS1 V8. The automatic trans on the V8 just wasn't strong enough. Its the standard GM 4L60e that saw duty in your Tahoe, Suburban, Caprice, Roadmaster, Fleetwood, vans and pickup trucks. IMO its one of the best automatic transmissions I've ever driven in terms of throttle response, smoothness, and drivebility. Its just that they do not have a big enough trans cooler from the factory in any application and will start slipping if you drive with a heavy foot or try to tow something heavy in the vans/trucks/suvs. They just are not durable at all. I mean there is regular "grandma" use, they hold up to that fine. Doing burnouts, launches at the drag strip, more than stock horsepower, beating on it, what I call "typical f-body" use, they're utter crap. Mine flew apart at 90k miles, and I didn't drive it that hard IMO, rebuild was $2500.

Also the 10 bolt rear end is a piece of crap in that car. Its the exact same unit used on S10 pickup trucks with the V6, which has like maybe 200hp. Automatic cars tend to be pretty good on the rear ends until you start making serious power, manual trans cars are known to tear the rear end up at stock power levels if you put some sticky drag slicks on them and hit the strip.

Reason I sold my Camaro was boredom. That and I wanted something a little bit more refined on my 20 mile interstate commute, the loud exhaust and aftermarket suspension got old after a while.

As far as the interior, yeah it was cheap, but if you took care of it, it didn't fall apart. Sold my car with 120k on it, might have had one intermittent rattle in the whole car. Leather seats still looked great, it still felt pretty tight IMO. Plus I liked the driving position, *** on the ground, hugely raked windshield, great gauge cluster, shifter, pedals, steering wheel, everything was spot on in terms of the ergonomics. Felt like you were driving a Lamborghini with the way you sat so low, the huge windshield, legs/arms straight out in front.

mmarshall

Right off-hand, I don't have hard numbers on this to back it up, but the majority of F-Body owners, at the time, especially with the 5.7L V8, probably had manuals instead of the 4L60. The 5.7L, of course, had an iron reputation..that's why I remarked on the drivetrain-durability. When Ford went to the DOHC 4.6L around that time, it was responsive at higher RPMs, but simply couldn't match the 5.7L's low-RPM torque.



Yep.....backs and legs don't stay young forever LOL.

What do you think of the new Camaros? Outside of the peep-hole-sized windows, seems to be quite a nice product for a pony car. I did a review of an 6-speed SS a few years ago.

Johnhav430

Wow! Back then, the delta between German and Japanese was huge.....just try to picture it, say a 1984 Celica vs. a 1984 Scirocco.....night and day. I remember this kid altered his odometer on the VW....BUSTED HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA he was trying to trade it in for a 300ZX TT in Queens NYC. They told him to gtho of the dealership, really...ah the memories of being a kid....

mk416

My FC RX-7 Series 5. Now they're so overly expensive

MattyG

I had the 280ZX turbo and the 300ZX turbos. Both lousy handlers compared to my Volks Rabbits and the Scirocco. Basically suspension tuning, because the Z's were RWD platforms and yet the VW's were of course FWD. Way better steering feel on the VW's. But they were all quite reliable in a dead cold Canadian winter. Just depended on what your priorities were.

mmarshall

Thanks for mentioning the (Chevelle) Laguna. I grew up with the cars of the 60s and 70s, and have an almost photographic memory of most of them, but the Laguna is one of the very few that I had all but forgotten about. It was basically a Chevy version of the mid-sized Pontiac Grand Am.....and, somewhat more loosely, connected to the Buick Century/Regal and Olds Cutlass.

MattyG

^^^ Yeah, they were all the same platform. The Grand Am version was even racier. This particular car was NASCAR inspired obviously, but it had a really nice ride/handling compromise. Dare I say it, almost BMW-like. Horrors! The L-48 loved to rev. That was the magic card trick that often threw likely challengers off. It didn't give up easily. The torque down low should have been better, but mid-range and up, it was a giddy-up-and-go car.

mmarshall

With the possible exception of the Trans-Am and its 455 c.i. (7.3L) V8 (later dropped to the Olds-derived 403), virtually none of the American-designed engines of that period had any real power left, especially compared to earlier, 60s-vintage versions. De-smogging, spark-retardation, higher operating temperatures, leaner fuel mixtures, lower compression ratios, increasing vehicle gross-weights from Government-mandated equipment, and more-restrictive exhaust systems with the (then new ) catalytic converters all played a role in emasculating most of the cars of the period.

mallninja

I've owned many S2000's and I regret selling them every single time. I'd imagine I've had learned my lesson by now. Now the prices have hit stratospheric levels and I'm unsure about entering the market again.

Duck05

Maybe not in the spirit of this thread, but the vehicle I regret "selling" was our '92 SC300 to the son in 2004. He needed a car as the "hand me down" 1984 Cressida we gave him finally "died" so off it went.

In 2011, when he acquired a new car, it came back and this awful website named "Club Lexus" gave me all of these ideas and in 2013 (after building up the bank account) embarked on the path to where it is now. Not for sale and will keep it on the road as long as possible....

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

Is there anyone else on this forum who can say they are the original owner of a 1992 SC300? That's over 25 years in the family.

Very impressive and beautiful car.