• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Why so much hate for anything built after `71?

torredcuda

torredcuda

Well-Known Member
Local time
1:46 PM
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
1,100
Reaction score
2,182
Location
New Hampshire
Both on forums and Facebook it seems anytime I post a pic or something about a `72 and newer car some like it but many just throw nothing but hate at them. I completely get they lowered compression, HP, engine and other performance options but there were still many decent performing cars into the late `70`s and still performed better than anything pre-early `60`s. Also many car guys modified there rides and it is easy to remove smog stuff, bump compression, change cam etc. and equal the HP of earlier models. The `73 up cars also rode, handled and stopped better, the looks/style changed (ugly bumper guards) and they did get heavier but the manufacturers build what the buyers want and cars with bad brakes that rode rough with bad fuel economy was not selling.

75rr_1.jpg


Used-1973-Dodge-Charger.jpg


cs_77charger.jpg
 
Both easily fixed - how many still have stock smog engines and big bumper guards on them today yet they still get hate?
 
I was a teenager in the late 70s and lamented the fact all the “cool cars” were from a previous generation. Only new cars I liked then were 4x4 trucks and SUVs.
Thinking back, seems odd that previous generation ended only 7 or 8 years earlier, but that was half a lifetime to a teenager.
In recent times I’ve warmed up to cars I looked down on as a teenager when they were new. I bought a Magnum I really enjoy and even organized a malaise feature at the 2022 MCACN. My teen self wouldn’t have believed that would ever happen. My teen self would be comforted to know I still dislike disco though! :lol:

20211107_154019.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I like many of the 71 and up vehicles and have owned several. I still own one and with the 175 shot of spray, it can still run with some of the older more desirable vehicles.

20230527_111409.jpg
 
My Grandpa had a 78 Olds Ninety Eight with a 455 and one wheel peel. It was fast also. It would spin that one tire as long as you had it floored. When we flipped that air cleaner over as kids for that extra 50 horsepower (lol), she was a runner.
Some of my high school buddy's (2 brothers) bought it off of my Grandpa for the 455 for their race car and it is still in the race car to this day.
 
eldubb440 said:
the stigma of a muscle car rated at less that 300 HP is hard to overcome.......
Click to expand...
Again, I understand that when they were new but still now when they are almost all modified for more HP than ANY of them ever had? Also they were no longer pure muscle cars as they evolved in "personal luxury/performance cars" no different then some cars from the `50`s and early `60`s, it`s comparing apples to oranges.
 
torredcuda said:
Both on forums and Facebook i see people just throw nothing but hate at them.
Click to expand...

It is because the distance and anonymity of the internet emboldens trolls and weak minded people. What they would never say to your face becomes common when they are not at risk of an *** kicking.
Now, I don’t care as much for specific years or models but the only widely known Mopars that I hate are the early A bodies from 1960-64. The Toads are just friggin hideous to me. If a forum member were to post one with pride, I’d never insult him/her unless I didn’t like the person and their ugly car was just a convenient excuse to poke at them.
For many years, new cars were slow compared to the classics. Many people owned the old cars because new stuff could not be modified as easily or even legally. Nowadays, many new cars are damned quick! I saw a sort of shift from people buying a classic car almost entirely for their capability to… people buying them just to relive or enjoy a simpler car that reminds them of a simpler time. Speed was still important to some but many restored cars with almost no regard for performance. Dave Walden restored a black 4 door slant six Valiant for who knows how much, just to show his ability to recreate a classic as close to original as possible.
Embrace the classics, restore and drive what you want. The critics are mostly minivan owners with substandard genitalia.
 
Last edited:
Some of the Virgil Exner stuff is pretty ugly IMO, I`d take a `75 or `76-80 Volare road runner over a `62 any day.

1962.jpg
 
I would have bought a Volare if not for the emission laws here. No way I’m going to try to rock a 150 hp 318 in a 3500 lb car.
 
It is all personal taste. Nothing wrong with that. I have built a couple 71-74 Chargers and the ones that liked them commented and the ones that didn't did not. Does it bother me? No. I build what I like.

Working on a 66 Dart GT now. Nothing wrong with that but most A-Body guys snub them too. I Don't care cause I like them too.
 
Once the auto industry changed the horsepower ratings to net ratings,most people considered the muscle car era over. Other than lower compression ratings the engines are virtually the same. I have a 72 LS5 454 Corvette that is rated at 280 Horsepower,while the 71 LS5 Corvette is rated at 365 Horsepower. The 72 in reality is 350 Horsepower and runs better on pump gas. The 72 cars were still legitimate muscle cars,after that the horsepower tanked. The exception to the rule was my 78 Little Red Express truck. It was a pretty stout performer compared to anything else from that era!

20241208_135043.jpg


20241210_063630.jpg


20250929_154105.jpg


20240811_161254.jpg


20240721_120049.jpg


20240810_134957.jpg
 
Last edited:
It was also emmisions, insurance rates and the oil embargo that killed the HP outputs, and most buyers WANTED cars that rode better and were more fuel efficient so that is what the manufacturers built.
 
torredcuda said:
Some of the Virgil Exner stuff is pretty ugly IMO, I`d take a `75 or `76-80 Volare road runner over a `62 any day.

View attachment 2007738
Click to expand...
It definitely comes down to personal taste. I'd take that fourdoor 62 over (almost) any volare/aspen.
But I've been looking at (and liking) a 62 savoy on my driveway for 35 years.
 
T2R9 said:
It is all personal taste. Nothing wrong with that. I have built a couple 71-74 Chargers and the ones that liked them commented and the ones that didn't did not. Does it bother me? No. I build what I like.

Working on a 66 Dart GT now. Nothing wrong with that but most A-Body guys snub them too. I Don't care cause I like them too.
Click to expand...
I build/buy what I like and don`t really care what others think, I do get a little tired of the comments but I`m not losing any sleep over it. I have a big carb, steep gear 4 spd car as my hot rod and if I could buy a nice cruiser it would probably be a `75-80 road runner with a 318 or 360, maybe mild cam and highway gears so I could drive it longer distances in comfort.
 
The Brilliant designer car guys and performance crew lost control of the industry. Think 70 ‘Cuda vs 75 Charger. The fuel stank, and coins were bloated with copper. World kinda turned to ****. Music too. ALL with exception. I was there.
 
70/71 Challengers and Cudas are the perfect example, why the 72-74s were disrespected
71, big blocks of every stripe, hemis, Sixpacks,
high horsepower high compression 340s, beautiful styling.
72-74, ugly baby buggy rubber bumpers, regular fuel 340s, no big blocks, no multi carbs. Blah!
ALL of this is correctable... but if I look at a 73 and find a big block, I know it's not the way it was/should be.
If I see a stock 73, I know what it could have been..... but never was.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Paul_G
No more high compression street builds for me
2 3 4
Replies
65
Views
6K
autoxcuda
autoxcuda
Dave6T4
My Mopar Mentor Has Passed
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
0DegreeEngineer
0DegreeEngineer
MarPar
Record Setting 2007 Pete 379
Replies
17
Views
796
68-500
68-500
R
  • Locked
SOLD 71 Plymouth GTX matching numbers rare options - no fender tag no build sheet
Replies
6
Views
3K
roadrunner57
R
R
  • Locked
FOR SALE 71 Plymouth GTX matching numbers - no fender tag no build sheet
Replies
0
Views
3K
roadrunner57
R
Back
Top