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  • Vega

    McSquatch did a bit on the Vega of the 70s. In my comment to his article, I said (without researching it) that he'd find 10 Vegas before he'd find one Honda of similar vintage because everything (my assertion) built in the 70s was crap.

    So I did an unofficial search on Craigslist. We don't have salt here, so even the Hondas should survive.
    In 100 posts, there are 96 American cars, 4 imports, 3 of them are FJ40s. The other, McSquatch's favorite (hehe) a Fiat 124.

    My grand point is this - despite the news about how crappy American cars are, it's really just another one of those fake-news-things. Sure Vegas ate motors, Pintos went poof - funny thing, though, those all got fixed and those cars are still on the road. What about those other cars? are they still around? yeah.... exactly.
    Doing it all wrong since 1966

  • #2
    Don't know how to rate this tasty treat



    yes, that's a 67 Mustang front end on a Celica.
    Doing it all wrong since 1966

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    • #3
      V8 Vegas and Pintos I always thought were cool. People that say '70's stuff was crap don't remember the '70's. I'm diggin' that Celica!
      Just groovin' to my own tune.

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      • #4
        many who lived in the 70s don't remember the 70s ;)
        Doing it all wrong since 1966

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        • #5
          Drug free , I remember the 70s . I liked the 80s. Miss my V8 Monza.
          Previously HoosierL98GTA

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          • #6
            I was pretty partial to my turbo V6 Skyhawk....
            Doing it all wrong since 1966

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            • #7
              He lost me when he put a bellybutton bowtie in it....
              Act your age, not your shoe size. - Prince

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              • #8
                my first impression was the 70s.
                I remember going for a ride in a 426 hemi, bone stock, owner hated it..
                suspension and noises, lack of timing.
                by chance in early 80s, some rich italian guy took his 12 carb lambo to a mechanic my mom was dating.

                I revolved my first chores around what I saw...as a kid.

                Every car vivid memory.
                I have never lost since.

                the only innocent thing that got away, was the beetle.. and some went ape and got away with that too.

                the vega, it is an example a subaru could use. First car I thought of, aside the monza spyder, when thinking of a V8 into a subaru..
                Previously boxer3main
                the death rate and fairy tales cannot kill the nature left behind.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by studemax View Post
                  He lost me when he put a bellybutton bowtie in it....

                  is that like those dangly things strippers wear on their navels?
                  Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                  • #10
                    Oddly, I'd expect a better survival rate for some imports...Celicas, Datsun B-210s, and pretty much any truck. The domestics have the issue of letting people down after being loyal for so long...cars like the Vega did damage, it's why I had to listen to morons in high school who championed a Civic over the Cutlass or the Caprice I was putting together at the time.
                    Editor-at-Large at...well, here, of course!

                    "Remy-Z, you've outdone yourself again, I thought a Mirada was the icing on the cake of rodding, but this Imperial is the spread of little 99-cent candy letters spelling out "EAT ME" on top of that cake."

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                    • #11
                      Had you asked me when I was a freshman in college - I'd have roundly ridiculed the notion of a post-72 domestic. I had a CVCC and raced Rabbits, but it's because of my intimate knowledge of both sides of the pond that I stick by what I said. FJ40s stayed because they're loved, but if you are looking commuter, throw away car from the 70s - there's precious few imports left because they didn't survive their first motor (which could be awhile, but once done they were tossed). Sure, Celicas, Rabbits, Fiats all have their fanboys so there are more - but the rest? find an Accord or Camry from the 70s or 80s. Domestics always had this over the imports, we can't get the "reuse" out of our blood so even our crapcan cars are robust enough to be around long after they should have been returned to dust.

                      Consumer Reports did damage, my argument is they were no better or worse then any of the other cars out there - just had different faults. And let's pound that point in with a question - what would you rather do, fix rust or replace a motor?

                      Then finally, I stated my opinion with a basis that can be tested... so prove me wrong. Go through the first 2500 posts on Craigslist and count the number of cars built before 1980 that exist... I say there will be a 10:1 (Domestic/Import) ratio - and my count said it was far worse for the imports, more like 4 in 100 (import/domestic).
                      Last edited by SuperBuickGuy; March 15, 2017, 09:30 PM.
                      Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                      • #12
                        So I did a search 1970-1980 - Seattle, land of no salt.... of the first 100, 17 were imports. So remind me again how awesome imports were? Granted, in 1980 30% of the cars sold in the US were imports, but if they're so good - why is there such a better survival rate of domestics? you suggest, they were crap and worse then imports - explain the difference....
                        Last edited by SuperBuickGuy; March 15, 2017, 09:35 PM.
                        Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                        • #13
                          Very few of the normal imports (not exoticars or Supercars here) got my attention. I liked the Supra and Celica and we all know how the 240Z turned out, but other than that, I'm struggling to remember many others. Oh, not including luxury cars like Rolls, Bentley, Beemers or Merc's either, they are all nice.

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                          • #14
                            my deal isn't so much trash on imports but stop trashing on American cars.
                            Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                            • #15
                              Seemed to me at the time that most of the early adopters for imports (other than sports cars) were in it more for the social phenomena than the machines, then whatever sentiment for the car they had built up through the ownership wasn't enough to get in the way of sending it to the scrap yard when it was beat. They did get beat, too...at about 125K the entire thing fell apart at once, while the Vegas with 30-60K with bodies/interiors in excellent condition got pushed to the back yard or sold for $200 to some dreamer hooked into the V8-swap thing. Still they were lined up in the junkyards but there were so many of them. Pintos, Mustang II's are as hard to find now as old imports...maybe that V8 thing is a big part of what saved all the Vegas, the less-swap-able Fords went to the smelter just like the Datsuns.

                              Searching Mustang II and including all "nearby" areas gets me a total of two, neither are fastbacks like you'd think would get saved. There are no less than four Honda 600s...twice as many. In my town I found myself parked next to an approx. 1980 Corolla at the market last week, and there is a '79 Luv 4x4 in excellent condition that gets driven to the county yard every day...some did get hung onto and taken care of but yeah in those years, the exception.

                              Not arguing, just adding thoughts. I think that, like buying a Corona in the early seventies, trashing on American cars was and is also more of a social thing (piss and moan about the establishment) than about the machines.

                              Me, I took full advantage of that Vegas-in-good-condition-around-everywhere-cheap thing, I'm guessing I had six total between '77 and '84. Periodically I check through the Vega ads again with a wisp of nostalgia, yep still plenty out there, saved and sitting.

                              Hey, look at this: '74 Mazda rotory, ten grand. https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ws...038805761.html Click image for larger version

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                              Last edited by Loren; March 16, 2017, 06:16 AM.
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