Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: Trvlr500
Originally Posted By: lovcom
Guys, lots of idealization and romantization going on about the big Land Yachts (LY).
We are better forgetting this era in American car manufacturing because during that time the US made the absolute worse cars ever. And it was during that same time that the Japanese leapfrogged us in quality big time.
Lets leave that past in the past, because it is our shame and it shows just how terrible we made cars.
All those models were junk, and it is a reminder of what happens when we Americans get fat, lazy, arrogant, and stupid.
Actually, for the technology that was available in the late 60's and early 70's American cars were the best by far. They turned to junk because of many reasons but the biggest was the EPA and a government telling them how they need to build cars when they knew/know nothing about the industry. The 80's is when they really turned to junk and the Japs took over because of government. Not the automotive manufacturers. The late 60's and early 70's were the pinnacle of the automotive industry in this country when you take the technology of that time into account.
I cannot find one iota of truth to your post. It's all wishful rewritten history...sorry.
In fact, the 1970's were a time when the big three domestics made the absolute worse cars in their entire history. As a consequence to this, the Japanese used this time to leapfrog the big three in quality and reliability. Remember the Vaga, the Pinto? All junk!
The fact is, the Japanese made the best cars in the 70's, and 80's. And 90's, and up to 2012.
I think maybe the Japanese were better at meeting the EPA rules.
There wasn't really anything special about the materials they were using in the block, head, pistons, crank,...etc... and the designs? Nissan was using a design inspired by an older Mercedes Benz engine (L-series) and a British Austin engine design (A-series) K and T series Toyotas still had their camshaft in the block. The T-series resembles half a Chrysler Hemi somewhat. The K-series resembles 2/3rds of a Chrysler slant 6 at 1/2 scale. Mazda's rotary looked like anybody else's on the outside.
To bolster my argument about the Japanese meeting the EPA rules better, Honda not only met the upcoming emissions changes, but did it with a Chevrolet Impala 350. I would love to have been present when GM testified that NOBODY could meet the upcoming requirements for 1975 and this silly little motorcycle company rolls in with a full-size Chevrolet that does.
To further my argument, Mazda made a Wankel rotary that met emissions standards. Nobody else could even get their rotary to work for any length of time and Mazda meets the emissions standard. (IIRC Mercedes Benz built about 6 before giving up. Audi gave up, GM gave up and as a consequence the AMC Pacer did not get the GM built rotary it was designed for)
The Americans created a lot that no one else thought of. Catalytic converters. Chryslers had electronic ignitions in '73. GM had airbags (that would deploy for no reason but they still had them way ahead of everyone else). GM pared off 800lbs off of their large cars in 1977 and managed to have as much interior volume and trunk space as well as being as safe as it had been. The engines themselves were still largely the same as they had been in the decade prior, they were just strangled by A.I.R. equipment, Thermactor equipment, hot air intake grids, low octane compression ratios, lazy cam timing, "Lean Burn" systems....and a lot of other junk that conspired to make '70s American cars weak and unreliable.
...and they did eventually fix all the problems with the Vega. Just for 1976 though. It was dead the following year.
