Following the theme of threads talking about cars people drove in the era of flares and perms I wondered for those with long enough memories what would your take be looking from a 1970s perspective on the current car industry and car trends?
What are the surprises in terms of makes, models, success stories, things that u did not expect to disappear?
To me (and this is someone who was a nipper in the 70s but car mad) the big things I noticed were:
1) Big change in the cars driven by the middle classes - the large peugeot 504 estates /volvos 240s/260s which were the staple of every public school car park then seem to have almost all been supplanted by German makes...large sensible French cars seem to have died out...same with the Granada/Opel Ricord types. People in the sensible middle classes seem to be shelling out alot more money on status cars now...not the car as sensible utility any more.
2) rise and rise of the Germans premium makes and there amazing ability to get people to part with their cash.
3) The fact that the major French makes are still in existence...even though they seem to have given quite alot of ground to other makes...
4) The lack of a wholesale shift to buying Japanese cars as some were predicting in the 80s.
5) Volvo and Saab relatively appearing to be losing ground compared to their strong position/identity in the 70s/80s.
6) The massive advances in diesel technology...remember my Dad's 504GLD which u could here from 200 m away....
Anyone else's perspective?
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I would add a 7th
7) no car really seems to be marketed on an obvious "comfort" proposition....nothing like the Renault s and Peugeots and even Maxi/Maestros of the day....
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I'll add an 8th.
8) The rise of higher vehicles - i.e. 4x4s and MPVs. A lot of people who would have been driving estates 30 years ago now drive these.
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The fact that safety now does sell cars. From my recollection is was only really in the very late 70s/early 80s that any manufacturers started tentatively mentioning safety in adverts & brochures.
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People in the sensible middle classes seem to be shelling out alot more money on status cars now.
In other words, the sensible middle classes have almost disappeared and been replaced by the not-so-sensible middle classes :-)
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Except for us Subaru drivers (excluding Imprezzas obviously).
I like to think I am middle class and sensible....(just waiting for someone to shoot me down in flames)
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9, lack of anything British......
quite a few people would still be willing to Buy British, but there's not a lot left
why else would anyone have bought an Allegro?
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The advent of the Koreans as a serious large manufacturing country.
The drop in prices of cars compared to how long it takes to earn the money to purchase them.
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The increasing fuel consumption of diesel cars as the Euro II , IV and V are implemented. I used to get 55mpg or so from my MkIII turbo Golf on long trips now I struggle to get 42 mpg on long trips. Talking steady cruising.
Little difference apparently between a petrol and diesel it seems for current models. 38mpg mentioned for the clean, advanced Honda diesels.
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Although relatively to the 1970s it still astonishes me that today that almost any modern turbo diesel from mid size and upwards can deliver fast cruising and amazing mid range pull and deliver over 40 to the gallon. My Dad's 1979 504 GLD 2304 cc would deliver 43 or so MPG but was slow....certainly in straight line acceleration - only had 70bhp even though it had one of the most up to date engines of its time. nowadays a 2.3 ltr turbo diesel of the same type of car would have about 150bhp and getting on for 3 times the torque output....and not run out of steam at 85mph...
As I did not actually own cars in that era what sort of performance was good for a petrol car of the same size? What sort of MPG did people get?
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In early 70's my 1965 Mk111 Ford Zodiac Auto Exec cost me all of £16 a month in fuel - I was out every night and it did 16-19 to a gallon and at 65mph I thought I was flying - now a Mk1 Fiesta passes me when I am doing 80 - I would never go back to - wind up windows -and none of the following - C/L - HRS- ABS - A/C - S/R - etc etc - only thing I now have in common almost is 22mpg.
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The fact that you can get in your car and drive anywhere from Cornwall to Scotland, and it never occurs to you that you might break down....
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One thing that's curiously unchanged: I popped into a Renault showroom last week to see if a Grand Scénic might be a viable family wagon. (It won't - driver's seat won't go back far enough.) But what struck me was that the car smelt exactly like the 5s, 17s and 18s in the showroom at the dealer my Renault-driving parents used 30 years ago. Not generic New Car smell but very specifically New Renault.
Brought back all kinds of memories - like the first joystick-operated door mirror I saw, on a silver 30 with a blue velour interior. My dad snorted that it was a pointless gimmick and would never catch on. I wonder what ubiquitous items of the 2030s I'm dismissing as nonsense now!
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in the 70"s ford and their ilk were still making cars that they knew the home mechanic would be wanting to repair
now up to date the manufacturers are making cars that their own builders cant repair (maybe we should look over the car designers shoulders a little more and say "ooow you dont wanna do it like that");-)
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IMO the KEY point the OP missed - and it is very important - is the huge range of kit that is now standard on all but the most basic models .. and which was not evne evifent on the luxury cars of the 1970s:
To take a few examples of things taken for granted today but unheard of in the 1970..from the ridiculous to the sublime.
storage bins
cup holders
colour coded mirrors
colour coded PLASTIC bumpers (chrome steel in the 1970s)
electric mirrors
central locking
air conditioning
3 speed wipers
rear wipers
rear seat belts
folding rear seats
alloy wheels and low profile tyres
power steering
air conditioning
locking fuel caps!
headlights that actually lit litsoemthingup!
sun roofs
standard fit radios and CD players
Satnav
rustproofing
to think of but a few.
When you recall what a Mark2 Cortina looked like inside.. or a Morris 1100 or a Vauxhall Viva - the standard of fabrics has also greatly improved let alone the patterns (those were the days of fluffy bri-nylon set material and stripes)...
Far more impact i suspect than efi , catalysts or automatic transmissions
madf
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i disagree ;-)
storage bins""""""""metal dustbins were big back then though
cup holders''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''we never drank as we drove then
colour coded mirrors""""""""we had real chrome back then
colour coded PLASTIC bumpers (chrome steel in the 1970s)"""""""we had girders back then
electric mirrors"""""""""""" you opened a quarter light and felt the things
central locking""""""""""i once had a piece of wire from my rear capri tailgate
air conditioning""""""""""quarter lights again
3 speed wipers""""""""no global moaning back then so 2 speed was sufficient
rear wipers"""""""""""we had stick on heater elements direct from nasa
rear seat belts"""""""""we had scatter cushions on the back shelf..use these
folding rear seats"""""""cars had boots as big as a cave so not needed
alloy wheels and low profile tyres""""" with 135x12 inch rims on lots of cars who needed profiles
power steering""""""""we were men back then
air conditioning"""""""""see above or move the carpet to reveal holes in floor
locking fuel caps!"""""""""i had a wasso locker
headlights that actually lit litsoemthingup!"""""""""i had cibbies
sun roofs""""""""""i fitted one,yes it leaked but i had one
standard fit radios and CD players"""""""""they use to flatten the battery
Satnav"""""""""""""we had meaningfull road signs
rustproofing"""""""ok you got me there
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But what struck me was that the car smelt exactly like the 5s 17s and 18s in the showroom at the dealer my Renault-driving parents used 30 years ago. Not generic New Car smell but very specifically New Renault.
Yes, I thought it was only me that recognised the Renault smell! My family owned a few Renaults in the early 80s and the interiors always did smell different to any other make. As a kid I could probably have sat blindfolded in a variety of different cars and said which were Renaults just from the smell!
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And 10 - a Skoda tops JD Power list.........
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When posting the original post I was thinking more along the lines of industry trends, who owns who...who did not get taken over/merged...which type of car people have on their drive, what makes they rate versus what they might have done 35 years ago, what designs of car became popular.
One of the things that slightly perplexes me is why it took so long for the MPV type shape to become popular. I remember seeing things like Nissan Prairies and Mitsubishi Space Wagons in the early 80s at motor shows. I remember my Dad being dead impressed by a Prairie as it had sliding doors and a totally flat v low floor with the seats mounted high and clear enough of the floor you could get a ladder under them without folding the seats. ...and nothing happened in Europe for 10 years before the Scenic at least to mid size cars. Yes there was the Espace but even then that almost nearly did not get built (Peugeot turned the idea down apparently when shown it in prototype) and was not built in a mainstream way ie in Steel.
In some ways I see some disappointment that all the innovation such as Hydropneumatic suspension, varipower steering, Hydragas, the big expectation of active ride systems (eg Lotus' still born effort) have if anything become less widespread and never reached much potential. More cars than ever are riding about on conventional springs with normal steering, normal brakes etc. The few cars u could get with rear engines or with air cooling or odd set ups like V4s or 5 cylinders ( I know there are still volvos with 5 cylinders but no Audi's any more I believe) were all supplanted by standardised water cooled front drive transverse engines.....
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Well,
Would you have believed that ?:-
There would be no BL/Rover Equivalent.
That Land Rover, Jaguar would be foreign owned. (I would believe that Aston had gone American)
That the Japanese would be assembling cars here.
That BMW would be making Minis
That the Rootes group and their various successors would have finally disappeared from these shores
That the Chinese (of all countries) were making cars in Birmingham.
That VW would have the huge diverstiy of models they make.
That (as mentioned above) that Skoda would be making decent, if rather mainstream, cars.
That Seat was making very imaginative cars in Belgium rather than re-heated Fiats and Renaults in Spain
Mmmm
At least BMW still make proper RWD cars and are independent.
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Mmmm At least BMW still make proper RWD cars and are independent.
and reasuringly expensive
another beer anyone?
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>That the Rootes group and their various successors would have finally disappeared from these shores
err - that was obvious even in the 70's - you could have laid money on it.
The thing not mentioned is the number of cars.
If I take my immediate family and those I know: in 1970
My family - My dad had 1 car ( an austin 1300 then I think )
Nicoles family - no cars.
Fast Forward to 2007
I have one, my mum has one, my son has one.
Nicolle has one, her sister has one and her brother has one.
so we have gone from 1 to 6 -
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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And as well as the sheer number of car owners these days - ie most working adults even if they have almost a minimum wage job or work part time you also notice
a) that really as a reflection of the relatively low cost of motoring relative to 35 years ago a much smaller proportion of people running bangers or cars that are being nursed along. Quite a few youngsters now go straight into owning a brand new car and never buy used and never go thru the old banger phase. Likewise u see alot of two car families near me who have 2 under 24 mth old cars on the drive or who swap them even more often than that. .
and
b) a much larger proportion of the population is not just driving a car but what they perceive as a premium make and never making do with something cheaper. People in their 20s buying BMWs etc...which again 35 years ago would have been much much rarer. Certainly I remember in the 70s the correlation of car to house size/value was fairly linear...now alot more people in more "ordinary areas" are driving £15-30k cars...somehow?
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