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Five '70s Cars That Plain Suck

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 19, 2009 1:06 PM CDT

(Newser) – The 1970s was "a decade of excess mediocrity in so many quarters it's hard to catalog it all," Tony Borroz writes in Wired. But you can start with the cars. Here follow five total flops.

  • Ford Mustang Cobra II: "An over-glorified Pinto" that made a "mockery of the venerable Cobra name" and the car "that launched the pony car revolution."
  • Mercury Bobcat: Basically a Pinto, but "by porking up the platform by that much, Mercury succeeded at making a bad car even worse."

  • AMC Pacer: "The idea was people would buy a small car if it was as wide as a big car. And how did that idea fly? Just run down to your local AMC dealer and ask."
  • Chrysler Cordoba: Even Ricardo Montalban couldn't save the "personal luxury coupe" with "fine Corinthian leather" from being a "mediocre car," particularly with the addition of rectangular headlights.
  • Chevrolet Chevette: "If there is a God in heaven, the people responsible for this 'car,'" which appears to come from "behind the Iron Curtain," are "roasting on a spit in the hottest corner of hell."

A Chrysler Cordoba.
A Chrysler Cordoba.   (©Kradlum)
An AMC Pacer, courtesy Wayne's World.
An AMC Pacer, courtesy "Wayne's World."   (©alistairmcmillan)
A Chevrolet Chevette.
A Chevrolet Chevette.   (©dave_7)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
oldgoat
Apr 20, 2009 8:00 AM CDT
The Cosworth was fun, but a exception also. The Vega should have been on the list.
ezrider
Apr 20, 2009 1:29 AM CDT
The vega should have been first on the list
Mad
Apr 19, 2009 7:41 AM CDT
Man, too true.... Car styling in the 70's sucked all the greatness out of 60's road machines. They substituted muscle for class and all that was left was an inelegant gas guzzler, in the era just before gas broke a buck a gallon!

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