1980 quality cars?

[9zero1790]

i think gm still owes every tax payer money back! they owe me a sierra truck thats not steaming pile...

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[Hounddog409]

The last time that inflation was this high, was a 1980. I remember the cars of the early 80s were really really crappy. I’m wondering if we may have a repeat of that because of the information. Is it possible we go through a period of poor quality vehicles because of cost cutting?

Cars were crappy from 74 to 83. Nothing special about 1980 cars.

Dark ages of Detroit.

 

[JimG_AZ]

The GN GNX was quick enough, but not fast, being limited to 120MPH top end.
OH! And the high inflation was through 1980, then we got adult leadership and brought it under control.
Right now... its DEJA VU all over again!
Hope for the adults to return soon!

Your right! I forgot about the GN being limited to 120MPH. That would make the 1989 20th Anniversary edition Trans Am the fastest.

 

[Floyd]

Cars were crappy from 74 to 83. Nothing special about 1980 cars.

Dark ages of Detroit.

That's why I drove Pintos and Econolines at the time...
The best car of the era and certainly the best van in the world(300CID I-6}

 

[DakotaGuy]

Yeah that makes it even worse cause it shows they could have built a great car but chose to deceive everyone for a short term gain instead. I've read about "the line" where production could not stop so a mistake meant cars would get finished in the yard on OT, mismatched front ends and most of the workforce getting drunk and stoned all day. Starts at the top and s*** flows downhill.

When you attempt to pump out a million first model year cars over about an 18 month period in a brand new factory (Oklahoma City) with lots of brand new employees things don’t go well. They go even worse when that model is half baked with serious cost cutting. The thing is the same exact thing happened 10 years earlier with the Vega in Lordstown, Ohio. GM never learned and it’s why they are only a skeleton of their former self today. They were once the largest corporation in the world holding a stunning 50% of US automobile market share. When Ford was just about bankrupt in the early 80’s before the Taurus, Chrysler had to take a govt. bailout, and AMC sold half itself to Renault, GM was flying high. They killed themselves.

 

[Langwilliams]

Your right! I forgot about the GN being limited to 120MPH. That would make the 1989 20th Anniversary edition Trans Am the fastest.

I thought the GN's were limited to 106 MPH because GM didn't want to shell out for V rated tires. The GNX probably had better stock tires. I'm guessing this because I remember an article where a guy didn't like the way it shut off fuel at 106 MPH. He learned it read the speedometer for MPH input so he calibrated the speedo to use KPH to actually be the correct MPH an it raised the limit to 156 mph. I filed that info away for some reason. 106 is the max for R rated tires

 

[Blmpkn]

I drove a Pinto for a while. Looked like this one.

Ford didn't learn from that whole thing either, had the same problem with panther platform cars for awhile.

 

[Metal Geezer]

Ah yes I remember them well! Throw in the Pacer to go with these ?

Check out Richard Pryor digging’ the Pinto ESS!

 

[Langwilliams]

My brother had a (1980?) pinto with the all glass rear hatch. He spun out hitting standing water at about 45 MPH. 45 in a 35 with rain wasn't smart an it spun the car around an he hit a telephone pole square in the middle of the bumper. The U shape extended about 12 inches into the hatch area. No BOOM. I don't think the gas even leaked. I don't know when the design changed but luckily his didn't explode.

 

[Progeny2021]

My first car was a 1980 Chevette handed down to me from my parents. What a horrible piece of garbage. At only 36k miles the timing belt broke, AC stopped working and the carb had to be rebuilt. Vinyl seats were ripping and various interior parts were breaking.

Say what you will about the Chevette. Few knew of the special COPO program for the Chevette. If one knew the right people....order code was OI812....

 

[Floyd]

I drove a Pinto for a while. Looked like this one.

Yep that's the false narrative and the fantasy of every Pinto hater out there!

Fact is... nowadays junk like the early Chevelle are considered desirable, guess they just love the blue smoke and the fact that it handled like a ruptured duck.
Still.... fantasies and rumors often win out over facts and value.

 

[briwill70]

Say what you will about the Chevette. Few knew of the special COPO program for the Chevette. If one knew the right people....order code was OI812....

HA! When I met my friend Don I told him I had a big block Chevette. He was very disappointed when he saw it.

 

[Floyd]

Ford didn't learn from that whole thing either, had the same problem with panther platform cars for awhile.

Great point! Everyone knows for a fact that the " panther" platform cars were among the best fullsized cars in the world ( nearly every police car and taxi in North America)
The claim was that the car was at fault for being rear ended more than normal, it was not a question of build integrity.
Well, As a result of their service.....way too many squad cars get rear ended during traffic stops (even with their lights blaring) by morons playing with their.....Phones?
Taxis as well from picking up passengers curbside!
None of that was fault of the car.

 

[Sharky]

late 70`s & the 80`s was the start of electronic controls. the electronics were crude compared
to todays equipment.
I had a 78 Jeep pickup, the ECM died twice in a year & a half. both times to far from home
& needed to be towed to the dealer and a cab ride home.......

 

[Progeny2021]

Great point! Everyone knows for a fact that the " panther" platform cars were among the best fullsized cars in the world ( nearly every police car and taxi in North America)
The claim was that the car was at fault for being rear ended more than normal, it was not a question of build integrity.
Well, As a result of their service.....way too many squad cars get rear ended during traffic stops (even with their lights blaring) by morons playing with their.....Phones?
Taxis as well from picking up passengers curbside!
None of that was fault of the car.

My previous 2004 Mercury Marauder. A very good car for the time period. Competed with the 1994-1996 Impala SS in many ways. Only one serious issue that affected these cars were within the 4.6L DOHC motors: insufficient cooling in the cylinder head for the #7 and #8 cylinder (rear driver's side). A poor design to begin with and most failures occurred after cars so equipped were out of warranty.

Fortunately, a number of people were aware of this and devised a clever remedy: crossover plumbing at the rear of the cylinder heads next to the firewall. Yep, the intake manifold has to come off - a bit of work involved but it did solve this most glaring issue with these motors. My motor had this mod installed.

Unfortunately, parts are increasingly getting harder to get, while the Charger RT 5.7 and the Chrysler 300s 5.7 are much more modern alternatives and readily available. Sadly, 2022 has been announced to be the last model year for the 300. Perhaps one more year for the Charger? My previous 2004 Marauder and my current 2020 300s 'Alloy Edition':

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