Time to Roll Back to 1966?

[EBottema]

OBD-II, ASC, ABS(soft brakes), SRS, GPS, OnStar(another big brother tracking device), Intermittent Wipers, Power Heated Seats and Mirrors, In-car DVD, CV Transaxles, Front Wheel Drive, All-Wheel Drive, ad nauseum... The average 2006 car contains more parts, systems, subsystems and gadgetry than the average 1970 private jet, with a price tag that also approaches that standard.



Are we really better off? Are the purported benefits of all this technology worth the extra cost and DIY unfriendliness? Would the world be a terrible place if all automobile companies used the 1966 Chevrolet Caprice sedan as their content and technological benchmark? Would you eschew purchase of a loaded $17,000 Ford Focus if you could get a low-tech $13,000. 00 six-passenger, 283 ci V8 sedan with a huge trunk that could be repaired with one screwdriver, one adjustable wrench and a hammer; that got 19 mpg on the highway on regular leaded gasoline? 0-60 in ten seconds and 110 mph top speed. Hell, I'll even throw lap belts in the package, but you have to endure door panels adorned with window cranks.

 

[Kissfan113]

mainly why my truck has power nothing, lol, manual windows, locks, no tilt wheel, no power seats, no power mirrors, nothing to break due to electronic failure.

 

[EMD Diesel Power]

'66 baby! Hustle Muscle (SD-45) EMD V-20 locomotives and good ole muscle cars too.



the locomotives and cars even shared some same paint colors.

 

[RT66DOC]

1966 would get my vote.



'66 Series I E-Type Jaguar, OTS or FHC, comes to mind. 0-60: 6. 1 sec, tops 150 mph out of the box, new. I-6, DOHC, hemi aluminum head, 7 bearing forged crank, 4-wheel discs. Power assisted nothing, 3 position toggles on the dash (dim, flicker, off). Also, IMHO, they got the sheetmetal right on that one.



How much more could one lust for?

 

[Boomer II]

I graduated from high school in 66, I remember all the cool muscle cars I didn't have.

 

[RT66DOC]

I graduated from high school in 66, I remember all the cool muscle cars I didn't have.

Old g/f had a '65 Pontiac GTO convert. What a car. What a girl.

 

[Sled Puller]

I'd be happy with a '68 Road Runner, 383 4speed.



However, I did own a 1965 Olds 98, land yacht. It had power everything, including the wing windows and an automatic headlight dimmer. So maybe the 60s are too new?

 

[Rman]

Maybe that old dwell meter will come in handy once again afterall!

 

[Kissfan113]

68 Hemi Charger, couldn't beat it with a stick, love that car, prices make me wanna cry now though. a 69 Hemi Daytona wouldn't be bad either, price is even worse than the 68 though :{

 

[BigEasy]

While you're lovingly looking at 1966, don't forget:



VietNam,

John Lennon thinking he's bigger than Jesus,

Castro,

Richard Speck murders eight student nurses in their dormitory in Chicago,

Sniper Charles Whitman kills 13 from the University of Texas at Austin Main Building,

Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton found Black Panther Party,



Yeah, lets go back...

 

[Dl5treez]

My '62 Cadillac coupe has power windows, power seats, automatic trunk opener, automatic headlight dimming, and signal-seeking radio with a power antenna... ... . 43 years later, it all still works, too.



I personally don't find newer, modern cars all that difficult to work on. (Maybe that's because I know how to work on them. )



For the 5% of the populous who hates newer cars, there's the other 95% that loves all the features & doesn't care if they can't find the dipstick handle or radiator cap, as long as the 18-way climate control and navigation systems work correctly.



I say let those people buy the newer stuff and sell me their "crappy old" Caprice for $500 so I can make it a low 13 second, 23mpg, sweet daily-driven cruiser for less than a year's worth of payments on a Camry.

 

[KBennett]

EB, I think it's time you go to the local community college and take a course in basic electronics.

I personally don't find newer, modern cars all that difficult to work on. (Maybe that's because I know how to work on them. )

Maybe it's because I'm an electrical engineer but the new cars don't scare me either. There are millions of cars on the road with "evil" computers that start every day, get better mileage, and are extremely reliable.

Computers have no moving parts and don't wear out. I do agree that there are a lot of unneeded gadgets in vehicles but the majority of the population wants that in their vehicles and you can still buy "stripped" down vehicles.



I agree that my 68 GTO is a lot easier to work on but not as reliable and gets half the mileage of the truck. Points, carburetors with chokes that won't stay in adjustment, seals that leak because of old technology, and the handling and brakes are mediocre.



Nope, I'll stay in 2005 and won't look back.

 

[Sled Puller]

Better mileage?????

A Corvair or slant 6 Duster would get the same mileage your DOC, multi port injection, computer controlled timing etc will get.



With all the over complicating they love to do, we should average 45 MPG.



Take our Dodge Cummins for instance.



Which Generation got the best mileage? 1st GEN

2best? 12 valve 2 second Gen.



3rd and 4th? prolly a toss up now, but all the promises they made on the electronic 24 valves came up short and lost reliabilty.

 

[Dl5treez]

Hell most of the U. S. population wouldn't be able to drive half the "new" cars built for Europe, mostly because over there you actually most prove talent & ability to get a driver's license.



I say take all the cars built pre-1970, musclecars, pickups, luxo-barges, what have ya, and let every American licensed driver have a go down the Valley Freeway at 6am in a rainstorm, using that old Montana "safe & prudent" speed limit. :-laf



After 90% of them are dead, and 90% of the cars are destroyed, my junk will be worth more, the roads will be safe again, and Detroit can get back to building the cars they actually wanted to build all along, not the cars our government and insurance companies forced them to start building, due to the rapid stupifying of the common American.



Rant off... ...

 

[catoiler]

I'd be happy with a '68 Road Runner, 383 4speed.





Heck I got one in my driveway for sale right now!

 

[Sled Puller]

I buy it, but I don't want one with California emissions!!!! :-laf





You feeling allright Dan? A little road rage building up perhaps?

 

[Dl5treez]

You feeling allright Dan? A little road rage building up perhaps?

A little, yea... .

 

[KBennett]

Better mileage?????

A Corvair or slant 6 Duster would get the same mileage your DOC, multi port injection, computer controlled timing etc will get.

Maybe, but a "DOC, multi port injection, computer controlled timing" vehicle would eat a Corvair or Duster when it came to performance.

 

[dhill]

I 1966 I had a '60 Ford Falcon and a '49 Studabaker P. U. with no rings in two cylinders. It used two gals of re-refined oil a week



I made $2. 85 an hour.



Do I want to roll back? Not me!!!!!



Dave

 

[NIsaacs]

In 1969 I ordered and bought a 1970 F-100 4x2 w/390 and 4-spd sport custom. Shortly after, one of my first mods was a 1962 Mercury vacuum brake booster, cuz I almost ran over a big ol' Cadilac running 95 mph down them Montana no speed limit freeways. The motor lasted a hole' 50,000 miles, Jeeze what junk, however I still have it, only now it has a 427 side oiler





"NICK"