Your 3 Favourite Cars From The 70s

I was recently asked what my 3 favourite cars from the 70s would be. It took me awhile to come up with three favourites from the era that gave us the Chevette, the Pacer, and the Granada but I did come up with my top 3.

Number 3 on my list was the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am made famous by Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit. At a time when lackluster 4 and 6 cylinder cars were common place, the T/A came with a 400 ci V8 and was reasonably priced. I think the 77-79 T/As were the first "me too" cars (as in they were as common as belly buttons - it seemed like everyone had one).

Number 2 on my list was the 1970 Chevelle SS 454. This is one of the few cars from the 70s that looks as good today as it did the day it rolled off the assembly line. The smooth, flowing lines were done to perfection and the 454 Chevelle SS was still true to its muscle car heritage.

My number 1 pick was an odd one. It was a customized cargo van. In the 70s, vans were king and everyone was airbrushing the outside and carpeting the inside. A bed in the back and mirror on the ceiling meant that you were part of the van culture. Of all of the vans of the 70s, there is one that stands out from the rest in my mind and that was the 1976 Ford Econoline customized by Coca-Cola and Hot Rod magazine as the grand prize in a contest that summer. 25 Denimachines were produced by Van Goodies and handed out to lucky winners in Canada and the United States. The flamed red, white, and blue exterior came complete with side pipes, a body kit, window louvers, and 70s denim-styled gold stitched pockets painted on the back looked sharp in its day. Inside was a finished interior, that included a Coca-cola fridge, tv, wood paneling, and lots of denim and carpeting. If you were in to vans, and who in the 70s wasn't, the Denimachine was the van to have for cruising downtown on Friday and Saturday nights.

Read more about the Denimachine here: www.denimachine.com

So those were my 3 picks as favourite vehicles from the 70s. What would your picks be and why?

SUV vs Tow Truck

Here's the situation: you've double parked your vehicle and have returned to find that a tow truck has latched on to it. Chances are, you are going to be upset and try to talk the tow truck driver in to releasing your vehicle. The driver refuses, so what do you do? I wouldn't recommend trying this, but I do recommend watching it. It's quite funny.

Some things in this video are obvious; the vehicle that got nabbed is a front wheel drive and the tow truck is in neutral without the parking brake on. Some things aren't so obvious, like what will happen when she hits the brakes? Will the added weight just push her forward or will it cause her truck to jacknife? Regardless, there are two things to take away from this: (1) it's hilarious and (2) don't try this at home.

Rick Mercer Comments On Winter Tires

Economic Downturn Hits Automakers Hard

The economic downturn that has been pounding the U.S. lately, along with tightening of the credit industry, has hit automakers hard. In this last month, every automaker took a beating. Sales across the board dropped 27% over the same time last year and the casualties are piling up:

• Chrysler has put the Viper brand up for sale
• GM put a For Sale sign on Hummer
• Ford is dropping Jaguar
• GM's oldest American dealership, Bell Motors, founded in 1923, has closed its doors.
• GM's largest dealership, Bill Heard Enterprises, which at its peak, had revenues of $2.5 billion, has filed for bankruptcy and has closed it remaining 13 stores.
  
• Dan Towbin's Hummer dealership in Las Vegas (one of the largest Hummer dealers in the U.S.), is the 8th Hummer dealer to close. Don't despair though, Dan is reopening - selling Smart cars and Vespa scooters.
• Volvo, Ford, and GM are closing plants that make low selling vehicles.
• PPG has closed plants.
• Dura Automotive has filed for bankruptcy.
• Holley has filed for bankruptcy protection.
• ASC, Delphi, and others have also filed for bankruptcy protection.
• GM reported a $15.5 billion second quarter loss; Ford lost $8.7 billion.
  

Unfortunately, the forecast is looking pretty gloomy. It is estimated that as many as 400-500 U.S. car dealers could close their doors within the next few months. Auto sales are expected to remain flat or drop even lower, until at least 2010 as consumers struggle with tight credit, high gas prices, and the troubled housing market. While September posted huge losses for just about every manufacturer, the North American Three have seen sales down between 16 and 24% for the first eight months of '08 as well.

What does the future hold? While the news media have been following the $700 billion bailout of the U.S. banking industry, the $25 billion package for American automotive manufacturers seemed to pass by almost unnoticed. The bailout, signed by President Bush yesterday, allows automakers to borrow much-needed funds at half the market rate with no repayment schedule for 5 years.

All I can say is "hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

Small Pickups Fail IIHS Side Impact Testing

Thinking about safety? Don't think about a small pickup if that's the case. If you've got a Chevy Colorado/Canyon, you might want to consider upping your life insurance policy.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently performed their first side impact tests on five of the most popular small pickups and for all but one, the results were nothing to brag about. In this day and age, most manufacturers should hide their heads in shame.

Point Number 1: The IIHS only has three grades for its tests; Good, Marginal, and Poor.
Point Number 2: The five trucks tested were the Dakota, Ranger, Frontier, Colorado/Canyon, and Tacoma.
Point Number 3: The Ranger, which has been around since the K car, did better than the Colorado.
Point Number 4: According to the IIHS, small pickups have the highest driver death rate of any vehicle on the road. Let me repeat that; small pickups have the highest driver death rate of any vehicle on the road.

Okay, so here's the scenario: it's a side impact test where the truck is stationary and a moving barrier with a deformable front end (representing the front of a pickup or SUV) strikes the pickup on the driver's side at a 90 degree angle at 50 kph (31 mph). Two important matters to bring to your attention (especially if you own, or are considering owning, a Colorado), the height of the barrier is below the heads of the dummies and the tests do not assess the risks of head injury from side impacts for SUVs and pickups. Now stop and reread this paragraph; that last sentence is really important, especially if you look back at Point Number 4.

So that basically is the test. One thing to add to this and that is that if side airbags are an option, the IIHS will, as a rule, test a vehicle without them unless the automaker wants to rerun the test with them and is willing to pay the cost of the vehicle to be crashed. The Ranger doesn't offer side airbags (it's the only one that doesn't), the Tacoma has them as standard equipment, but surprisingly, none of the other three automakers requested a test with airbags.

So let's take a look at how they performed. They only truck to get a Good rating was the Toyota Tacoma; the only one with side airbags offered as standard equipment. The Dakota, Ranger, and Frontier all squeaked by with a Marginal rating. The Colorado was the only one to get a Poor rating. Why? Well, remember when I mentioned about the height of the barrier and that they don't assess head injuries? This is where it all ties together. The dummy's head in the Colorado actually came in contact with the moving barrier during the crash. The barrier was lower and outside the vehicle and the dummy's head came in contact with it. Take a minute and work on that visual image for awhile. Think about the forces on the dummy's neck but don't think about it too long if you own one of these vehicles.

So what can we learn from this? Well, here's my summary of today's class:
Lesson 1: Don't buy a small pickup if you're concerned about safety.
Lesson 2: If you are concerned about safety, cough up the bucks for the side airbags. Feel free to berate the dealer for not having them as standard equipment ... that is, unless you're at the Toyota dealership.
Lesson 3: Don't buy a Colorado unless you're Chuck Norris.

In their press release, issued today, July 24, the IIHS stated that the crash worthiness for all but the Tacoma was "dismal" and that "most small pickups aren't good choices for people looking for safe transportation."

In case you're wondering about your chances of having a side impact crash, they are the second most common type of fatal crash, killing close to 9,000 people in the U.S. in 2006.