Love those late 70 "Theme" Cars?

[Erik Smith]

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...

[Rob McKee]

That is a cool little car. It's in great shape as well.

[MrObsessive]

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.

[Erik Smith]

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...

[MrObsessive]

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

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

[Greg Myers]

Put me down for some of these late '70's gems

[charlie8575]

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

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

[cobraman]

Put me down for some of these late '70's gems

I liked the one I had. Bought it brand new off the delivery truck in 1978.

[Greg Myers]

Even with the detuned (under powered) V-8 those cars had to be fun to drive.

[Greg Myers]

These were a real hit when I was in the Navy on Okinawa in the early '70's

[Greg Myers]

Gotta be something good in here

[Greg Myers]

Worst? Not by a long shot. Wouldn't you love to have any one of these? http://chrisoncars.com/2012/08/worst-cars-from-the-1970s/

[Danno]

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

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.

[Lunajammer]

When I think of 70's theme cars, the bicentennial cars, to me, are the most memorable.

[62rebel]

yeah, the bicentennial offerings came from every corner except Cadillac, Chrysler, and Lincoln... everybody else had SOMETHING "76" related...... some of them came off pretty well in red, white, and blue...

[Tom Geiger]

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.

[Ford guy]

These were a real hit when I was in the Navy on Okinawa in the early '70's

I always thought these looked like Japanese Mustangs! Check out that roof line with the built in rear spoiler, and the front bumper.

[1972coronet]

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 !

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

[ChrisBcritter]

I remember the Plymouth Fire Arrow - this one's on display at the Aadlen Bros. U-Pick junkyard in Sun Valley, CA:

It ended up there after it, uh... caught on fire.

(photo from clunkbucket.com)

[Joe Handley]

Kinda digging that Gremlin in front of it

[bbowser]

Those Mustang II's are much maligned, but great little cars. Even with a smogged V6 the power/weight ratio was lots of fun! My roommate in the service had one of those Celicas, it was a blast to drive!

[oldcars]

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

[Zarana-X]

These were a real hit when I was in the Navy on Okinawa in the early '70's

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.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Zarana-X

[unclescott58]

Oh... Volkswagen Thing! Never understood why this vehicle has never been offer as kit?

Scott Aho

[Mike_G]

If Starsky and Hutch drove a '78 Ford Fiesta