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Love those late 70 "Theme" Cars?


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I love the late 70s - not because they were great - because they gave us so much cheese. The themed cars of the time are, well, awesome - now.

I spotted this Plymouth Fire Arrow in Colville, WA, yesterday. Actually, they are kind of cool little cars - made by Mitsubishi - four banger, rear wheel drive...enjoy the eye candy...

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Wow! I haven't seen one of those for a loooong time! I was getting out of high school back when those were new, and I had a teacher that had one. She loved it!

I do miss the small, compact rear wheel drive car..........I rue the day when everything went front drive. More expensive to work on, and a lot more troublesome to fix. :(

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Wow! I haven't seen one of those for a loooong time! I was getting out of high school back when those were new, and I had a teacher that had one. She loved it!

I do miss the small, compact rear wheel drive car..........I rue the day when everything went front drive. More expensive to work on, and a lot more troublesome to fix. :(

Yeah, not many around. It was a two year model and don't think owners cared too much about maintaining economy cars...

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OK, call me weird-----but I always thought these were kinda cool.........

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A 1977-78 Datsun 200 SX. Genuine hardtop styling, rear wheel drive, easy to work on, what's not to like? ;)

For some reason, it reminds me of a Citroen- probably the taillights and sail-panels.

Neat car- I wouldn't mind one of those myself simply for the looks.

Charlie Larkin

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I had one of these little jobs in the family ~ by marriage ~ as a second car back in the day.

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This example is fitted with European bumpers, but it's a Fiat 128.

I didn't like being seen in it (much preferred stylin' in my Z/28) but it sure was a kick to drive . . . hard.

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tomcar4-vi.jpg

Back in 1981 we saw one of these sitting in the middle of the indoor mall. Instantly we thought it was very cool, in that era it looked like a 4 door sports fastback. We had to have one! So we bought a Nissan Stanza with a 5 speed, air and sun roof as our first family car. It had all kinds of little nice things that American cars didn't have at the time. Even bucket seats were rare back then. Paid $8000 cash for it and kept it a dozen trouble free years. Trading in an American made 1979 Capri that was always in the shop, that was a blessing. After about 12 years we sold it for $2000.

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From the ravages of smogged-out gutless poop , arose a champion : 1976 Dart Sport 360 !

Here's what Car & Driver had to say about this underdog :

"From the Mopar camp, we invited a Dart Sport 360, identical to its twin-sister Duster 360 and the fastest car Chrysler Corporation builds today. It was a strong dark horse with all but one other entry in our contest covered for horsepower. This advantage came from the fact that the Dart was the only car on the scene with an exhaust unchoked by catalysts."

That's right ; no catalytic converters ! Real dual exhaust , unfettered by garbage . A 220 hp (great for the time !) 360 V8 ... and dirt cheap to buy !

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There was also an "A38" Police Car Conversion available to police agencies [ LL41L6B ]. Top engine was the same 220hp 360 . I've seen exactly one of them ; its equipment included :

- Certified Calibration 120 MPH speedometer

- 3.21 gear with Sure Grip

- Air Foam Cushion bench seat

- Black rubber floor mats

- Front and rear sway bars

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Don't have a picture but had a 71 Vega GT. 1976 in Slater, Iowa. It was white with black striping like a camaro. We thought it was our little camaro. WRONG! It had an aluminum block that made oil disappear before your very eyes. We had a station that had the old glass bottle of reused oil that you would hand crank from a large barrel for tractors that we filled it with (every other day). It was only 20 cents a bottle. Fun to drive though. Richard

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These were a real hit when I was in the Navy on Okinawa in the early '70's B)UHOvU.jpg

That's probably a 75-77. My parents had a '72. Great little car.

There was a Special Star Wars 1977 Celica given away as a contest prize. Its whereabouts/fate are unknown.

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Edited by Zarana-X
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