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Wow, I was little back then, I forgot how much cleaner and prettier things were back then. Enjoy your blast from the past.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/11/documerica-images-of-america-in-crisis-in-the-1970s/100190/

Kirk

Thanks (people sure have short memories)

some very interesting pics indeed

Today you can see for miles from a tall hill around this area. When I was growing up in the 1960's 1970's and into the mid 1980's there was a always a haze over the city from the steel mills. Once they started shutting down in the early 1980's the air and rivers quickly started to recover.

My mother use to tell me how in the late 1940's her nurses uniform was white walking into Mercy hospital and by the end of her shift it was a dull dark grey from just the smog in the air.

Imagine the state of your lungs back then, plus all the smoking on top of that.

Try to spot the pickups and SUVs.

I see one pickup with a camper top, several microbus, and a few full size vans. Lots of station wagons too. Of course the majority of the vehicles didn't get any better mpg than a truck or SUV. There may be no 4wd vehicles in that lot and now no one can do without it. :rolleyes:

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/documerica111611/s_d32_A-556722.jpg

Try to spot the pickups and SUVs.

I see one pickup with a camper top, several microbus, and a few full size vans. Lots of station wagons too. Of course the majority of the vehicles didn't get any better mpg than a truck or SUV. There may be no 4wd vehicles in that lot and now no one can do without it. :rolleyes:



Of course people need 4WD. SUVs and pick-ups without 4WD have much higher death stats. ;)

I also note from that picture that red was a very popular color for Beetles.

Of course people need 4WD. SUVs and pick-ups without 4WD have much higher death stats. ;)

I also note from that picture that red was a very popular color for Beetles.

Red seems to be a popular small car color, not just bugs.

Worthywads
I tried to count the cars in the lower right 1/3.
I count 70 vehicles- I don't think ANY are trucks-some of the SWs look a little like Suburbans but pretty sure they are just SWs- nice high full roofline making them very functional(and 8 passengers in most cases-the 3rd row was usually facing backwards and suitable for kids)
I'm guessing about 500 vehicles in this lot-less than 1% are 1/2 ton type trucks-probably zero 4x4 or awd.
This is exactly what I remember from the 50's 60's 70's. Folks used ash, chains, sand extra weight in trunk and studs for snow ice.
I did count 4 out of 20 pickups in the Denver 1972 picture-this accords with my memory of Denver-parents lived there-1969-2001. There is plenty of farming ranching on both sides of the mtns-and LOTS of folks were/are big on mountain winter recreation-ski resorts etc-lotta old mining roads etc.
but the pickups are probably because of all the rural agriculture folks on either side of the mtns.
4/20 does seem a bit high from memory- but who knows.
Charlie

4/20 does seem a bit high from memory- but who knows.

Are you flashing back to the '70's?

Sorry, couldn't help myself,
Kirk

Hey man-that's not RIGHTEOUS!!
Implying I'm having a Rocky Mountain High Flashback!!
Guess I walked right into that one!!

BIG ASIDE-the Japanese had a lot to do with making pickups "second cars."
Nissan and Toyota started importing and selling LOTS of INEXPENSIVE ,small ,FE,reliable pickups.This was in the mid 70's I think-don't see many in those pictures
They were cheap-my new 4 cyl 4 speed MT Toyota pickup was about $4200 OTD in 1978! They wee excellent very functional second cars-could fit a motorcycle in the bed etc.
A Chevette would have been about $5000 then-and it matched the FE of the Chevette

Yes the Japanese introduced us to buying pickups as second cars because they were so cheap and reliable with good FE (2700 LBS).It was a small step to enclosing them-4 Runners- and when fuel got cheap in 1985 Ford flooded the market with high profit Explorers and the SUV 1/2 ton craze was on until 2008.
Not blaming the Japanese but they showed us that pickups could be second "cars"
The good economy low oil prices and advertising moved us to 1/2 tons.
The price of oil and gasoline is the most important thing of course.
Cheap gasoline=big "cars"
Charlie

i sooo miss my parents Ford SW. you could sit in the back and see the world from a different perspective. and make faces at the folks behind you. LOL

Yeah kids LOVED that rear seat!!
Unfortunately we rarely used it so it was usually folded down-made for very versatile vehicle.

I'm trying to see just how SW differ from midsized SUVs.Why they would get better FE
1) Smaller narrower usually shorter wheels
2) More ground clearance
3) Taller higher roofline- but I think most of this is just the ground clearance and tall wheels.
4)What am I missing?? Do we actually have SWs?What do those differences cost in mpg?
Other than ground clearance and wheels midsized and small SUVs are SW-like the little Chevy SUV-Equinox ?-that gets 22/32
Charlie

I only remember it starting to get trendy to have a truck when one of the rich girls went from a Corvette to a K5 Blazer my Senior year of High School. In the late eighties early nineties you just had to have a full size pick up to be cool. One of my 40 something employees that got married two years ago, the only reason she went out with her husband was because he was driving a Suburban at the time. I'm not kidding you, if he had been driving an Impala or Malibu she wouldn't have looked at him twice. It also didn't matter that he was still making payments on a 10 year old truck. :confused:

A 2000 Suburban-probably 150,000 miles- was a chick magnet ??? Not even paid for?
Guess my 98 Suburban is a draw also- but my wife really hates to drive it-greatly prefers the Prius.
Is your employee a large person-the front seat is huge-maybe she liked that?
Never figured a creaky old Suburban would have any attraction for the opposite sex.
Oh well
Charlie

Sounds like my brother in law. Really screwed up buying his Toyota Highlander. He leased it initially because he wanted the tax write off. At the end of the lease he intended to purchase it. Even though he was buying it, they still hit him with the over mileage fees. He had to refinance it. 8 years and over 200,000 miles later he's still making payments on it.

The whole deal with trucks becoming popular is partly due to the federal Gov't. Trucks, SUV's and minivans were exempt from a lot of the passenger vehicle safety, emissions, and fuel economy standards. This made the vehicles cheaper to produce, so the manufacturers appealed to our desire to go anywhere, do anything attitude with their marketing. We took the bait, and they dropped the wagons. Because of the relaxed standards SUV's had a higher profit margin. If trucks were required to meet the same safety, emissions, and economy standards as wagons, you would see wagons becoming more popular again as wagons ride and drive better than SUV's.

I learned to drive on a 1980 Pontiac Bonneville Safari wagon, and I loved it. Wish I still had that car.

My 1st car-family car since I was just 14- was a 1965 Plymouth Fury 3 SW with the third row-and a V-8 318.
It was a really reliable car- both my brother and I drove the wheels off it
We also had a MG 1100-tiny FWD MG-fun but not reliable.
I didn't realise that 1/2 tons got the dodge safety and emission standards-I knew they were a way of dodging CAFE regs, and I knew they were high margin vehicles.
Heck that 1998 Suburban I paid $2950 actually for sold for $30,000 in 1997(have POs sales contract) a 1998 Malibu would have been maybe $12000-Impala probably not $14000-yeah GM might have made $8000 per Suburban back then.
Charlie

My dad bought a 2-3 year old wagon around every 3 years all 9 passenger except the 1964.

1964 Dodge 440

1967 Dodge Polara

1971 Plymouth Fury

1977 Dodge Monaco

Those were pictures of the low-hanging soot - Asia still has some of this. We still have ozone-alert days.

A 2000 Suburban-probably 150,000 miles- was a chick magnet ??? Not even paid for?

It was a 1999, he is 5'6" or 5'7" maybe 150 lbs and she is 5"5" 115 lbs. She tells me he has problems fitting in anything smaller. :rolleyes: She thought he had money since he was driving a Suburban?
BTW after close to two years of marriage she still in denial. He is now driving a 2006 Yukon with a four year payment book included.

I had a girl working for me back in 93-94 that was dating a guy that she went on and on about how he paid $35K for his Chevrolet Pickup. She ended up marrying him.

It was a 1999 Suburban, he is 5'6" or 5'7" maybe 150 lbs and she is 5"5" 115 lbs. She tells me he has problems fitting in anything smaller. :rolleyes:

:biglol:












I'm 6'2" and I drive a Civic.

Should we rename the Napoleon complex the Suburban complex? :D

Call the vehicle a GMC Napoleon.

^ but it does not have good traction in Russian winters (http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/50532/1378976-bona5.jpg). :D

Used Suburbans- if you need one- are dirt cheap because they are such gas hogs. 96-99 go for maybe $2500-


Pay $35000 in 1994 for a PICKUP??? You could have bought a loaded Corvette for $35000 in 1994!

I know I was laughing my butt off when she was telling us how much his truck cost. I know I made a comment related to PT Barnum. A fool and his money will so be parted.

My dad bought a 2-3 year old wagon around every 3 years all 9 passenger except the 1964.

1964 Dodge 440

1967 Dodge Polara

1971 Plymouth Fury

1977 Dodge Monaco

my kind of Dad! MOPAR!!

my kind of Dad! MOPAR!!

I'd post a picture of my 70 Challenger convertible but I'm afraid I'll get banned for blatant disregard for the earth. ;)

I know I was laughing my butt off when she was telling us how much his truck cost. I know I made a comment related to PT Barnum. A fool and his money will so be parted.

and you know they will reproduce..