Danville Street Sighting - 1978 Ford Pinto Runabout

I have a completely irrational love for the Ford Pinto. At best it's a perfectly ordinary compact car that's become cool in an ironic way. At worst it's regarded by others as a rolling punchline or a rolling bomb waiting to go off. Or if you're slightly crazy, it can be a starting point for a mad little autocross car, dirt track racer or drag car.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1979 AMC Concord D/L

Welcome back to Independents' Week, where we observe America's Independence Day with a look at old and interesting cars from independent American manufacturers. That means nothing from Ford, General Motors or Chrysler.

Danville Street Sighting - 1979 Ford Thunderbird Town Landau

In my previous feature we looked at a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, which debuted a few years after Elvis Presley got into the rock 'n roll scene. Now we look at a 1979 Thunderbird, a car that was built a couple of years after Elvis died. And much like Elvis, the Thunderbird was immensely popular from the start and they both got very fat around the same time. Unlike Elvis, though, the Thunderbird survived for another few decades thanks to a series of total reinventions.

Danville Street Sighting - 1979 Chrysler New Yorker

The R-platform cars are not often regarded as a high point in Chrysler's history. To some observers, it's a miracle that Chrysler has survived this long, what with a long succession of great cars, terrible cars, apathetic cars and a lot of strange decisions in design and marketing. In the latter half of the 1970s, Chrysler was in deep trouble. General Motors rolled out an all-new fullsize car platform for 1977 that was shared across all of its core passenger car brands. Chrysler management often used a wait-and-see approach for market trends -- if something worked for GM and Ford, Chrysler would usually follow. In 1978, Chrysler dumped their Dodge and Plymouth C-body fullsize lines, leaving only luxury-minded Chrysler to peddle big cars. In '79 the R-body appeared, a reworked midsize B-body with smaller engines, a three-inch stretch and over a quarter ton of weight loss. The platform was old, the engines were old, but the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and did their best with a small budget. This car would serve as Chrysler's big sedans for all three divisions through 1981.

Los Angeles Street Sighting - 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V

Okay, full disclosure. This car belongs to my friend, who purchased it in L.A. a few years ago for $600 to save it from being crushed. These photos were taken the first time I ever laid eyes on it. This is also perhaps the only street sighting to date which I've actually ridden in.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1976 AMC Pacer X

I adore early AMC Pacers. They're just so dorky, awkward and such a symbol of the 1970s that they've become sort of ironically cool. Between Wayne's World and Pixar's Cars 2, the Pacer is recognizable to all generations. It even made an appearance on Top Gear once, and Goofy drove a yellow one in Disney's A Goofy Movie. Unfortunately the Pacer is also remembered by many for being a "bad" car that failed at its intended purpose.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1979 Chrysler 300

September 11 is a bittersweet day for Americans. This is the day when we remember the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. We also remember Flight 93, which went down in rural Pennsylvania after a number of the passengers fought the hijackers aboard that plane to prevent it from hitting its target. One of those heroes on Flight 93, Thomas Burnett, lived in my town of San Ramon; there is a freeway overpass here dedicated in his memory. Some Americans also remember this day for the more recent 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. To many, September 11 is Patriot Day, when we remember how we all came together as a country thirteen years ago. Beyond that, this is a car blog, and I generally try not to get overly political here.
So today in honor of Patriot Day, we're looking at a 1979 Chrysler 300.

Oakland Street Sighting - 1979 Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon

For a long time I had a Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon on my list of cars I wanted to find and shoot. Really, any surviving Pinto is special to me, but I love the wagons and the silly disco-era Cruising Wagon is just cool in its own goofy way. Who wouldn't want a four-cylinder compact wagon with all the custom touches of a full-size panel van? Sure, you can't fit a queen-size bed in the back of a Pinto wagon, but it has the porthole bubble window, tape stripes and maybe a roll of shag carpeting. Finishing the package are slotted forged aluminum wheels and rear window slats, the latter for keeping the interior cool or perhaps affording privacy to intimate contortionists. Unsurprisingly the car was marketed to surfers and young people.

Pleasanton Street Sighting - 1977 Mercury Monarch Coupe

I've always kind of thought that blatant rebadge jobs were a bit silly, when a vehicle is sold under two different names in the same market with only minor differences between them. It works great if you're the manufacturer and your two models have simple bolt-on pieces to differentiate them; it's a cheap way to create a luxury variant. That's the formula Ford used for the Ford Granada and Mercury Monarch. The Lincoln Versailles was the ultimate form of the Granada, and had some of its own unique sheet metal. But the Monarch was a Granada with a slightly different front clip, slightly different taillights and a Mercury hood ornament and badging. Inside, the Monarch came with special parts like a center console taken from the Versailles, and ... um... Mercury badges. There was a fancier Grand Monarch Ghia from 1975-76, but I assume it didn't sell well enough to continue production beyond that. Engines and transmissions were the same as the Granada, two straight sixes and two V8s.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1978 Chevrolet Chevette

The economy cars of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the American ones, have a bit of a reputation. And it's not really a good one. Among the lowest of the bottom-feeders during this time period was the Chevrolet Chevette.

Oakland Street Sighting - 1973 Lincoln Continental

Lincoln is known for its traditional American approach to luxury. Lincolns typically are big, softly sprung cars with thick, overstuffed couch seats and convenience options that appeal to old people. The package may include a padded vinyl top, hood ornament, whitewall tires and full hubcaps. And in the 1970s, it seems Lincoln's running gimmick was hideaway headlamps. Virtually every Lincoln had the vacuum-operated headlight doors, as did many fullsize Ford LTDs and Mercury Marquis. It added a little uniqueness to an otherwise slab-sided car whose only curves were the wheel arches and the little kick up in the beltline at the C-pillar.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1977 Pontiac Sunbird Sport Coupe

If you think '1977 Pontiac', there's probably a 90% chance you think of the black Trans-Am Burt Reynolds drove in Smokey and the Bandit. Admit it, that's what you thought.

Pretty much everything else Pontiac made back then was less interesting. At the bottom of the food chain was this, the Sunbird. It was built on the GM H-platform shared with the Chevy Monza, Buick Skyhawk and Oldsmobile Starfire, all of which were based on the old Chevy Vega and Pontiac Astre. The Sunbird Sport Coupe evolved from the Monza Towne Coupe and in 1977 could be had with a 2.5 liter Iron Duke four only - except in California and high-altitude areas, which got the old Vega 2.3. A fastback-styled hatchback was new for 1977. Two more powerful V6 and V8 engines would be added for 1978. The old Astre wagon continued as a Sunbird Safari for a couple more years. These little cars were available with some interesting appearance and mild performance packages, including Trams-Am-inspired sport touches like 'snowflake' cast aluminum wheels, sport steering wheel and body striping. A Sunbird Formula was a pretty cool little package for what it was.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1974 Chevrolet Camaro Type LT

Until recently I had a strict rule for myself regarding pony cars, particularly Mustangs and GM F-Bodies. And that rule basically was that I wouldn't feature, let alone shoot, any of them unless they were sufficiently rare or awesome. Usually a Malaise-era, big-bumper Camaro evokes no emotional response from me whatsoever, but I really like this one.

Alameda Street Sighting - 1976 Ford Mustang II

You see before you, arguably, the lowest point in the history of the Ford Mustang. Well, maybe not, because at least in 1976 it was possible to buy a Mustang II with a V8. But the era of the Ford Mustang II was a dark, uncertain time for ponycars. Even the horse on the grille looked worried. In 1974 Ford killed off the big, thirsty 'Boxstangs' in favor of this little filly engineered from the Pinto.

Santa Cruz Street Sighting - 1977 Dodge Aspen Custom coupe

The Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare are two nearly identical cars with a certain reputation as ... well, absolute crap. They were intended to replace the popular and dependable Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant, and by all accounts they should have been perfect. They had the same trusty slant-six and V8 engines, and an options list a mile long with variants from a 4-door sedan to a coupe to a wagon, and various luxury or performance packages. They were designed for aerodynamic efficiency, better fuel economy and more luxury. For a short while the formula worked. They sold over half a million Volares and Aspens -- of which more than 66,000 were Aspen coupes -- in 1977 alone. So what went wrong? Where did they all go?

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV

One of my friends owns a 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V. That, to me, is just about the epitome of 1970s luxury. Gargantuan proportions, absurd levels of comfort, and a ride like the Queen Mary. Or at least that was the idea when it was new (his is a bit crusty). This is not a Mark V. It's a Mark IV, and I'm really starting to like these. In fact, this was one of my favorite shoots I've done so far. Whereas the IV's precessessor, the Mark III, was a bit bland for my taste, the IV pushes almost all the right buttons. It's ridiculously long, but at a glance the roofline appears lower and sleeker than the 1960s-era Mark III. The Continental design touches are all there: the tall, Rolls-Royce style grille with Lincoln hood ornament, the fake spare tire hump, and of course the luxurious padded vinyl roof - but with a twist! The IV now had an oval opera window available.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car

Not many people seem to care about Ford's Lincoln luxury division anymore, because it has nearly lapsed into irrelevance. Lincoln builds only a small range of models, most of which are thinly disguised Fords that are gradually being upstaged by the redesigned versions of the cars on which they were originally based. Ford is shedding luxury and near-luxury divisions like crazy. They sold off their stakes in Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin, and phased out the mid-range Mercury brand completely. Suddenly the "One Ford" policy (combining American and European product lines) is starting to sound like "Only Ford". Even today, some people have a hard time making a case for Lincoln's continued existence.
People have long lamented the decline of American luxury. Some bemoan the death of the large, rear-wheel-drive sedan with floaty suspension and couch-like seats. Others pin the blame on those same cars as being short-sighted, ill-handling, gas-guzzling barges, symbols of wretched excess that seemed to parody themselves and increase our dependence on foreign oil. Along with Cadillac, Lincoln carried the torch for the traditional American RWD luxury formula well into the 1990s. Both were popular with the aging population, but not many other buyers. Both brands dabbled in front-wheel-drive and smaller powerplants, but as Cadillac transitioned primarily to FWD, the last true American RWD luxury car was the Lincoln Town Car. Today the Town Car, much loved by octogenarians, limo and livery cab drivers everywhere, is dead. Chrysler fields a revitalized 300C, and Cadillac's CTS takes on BMW instead of Lincoln. To a degree, Chrysler and Cadillac have been embraced by the hip-hop scene, courting younger buyers. And of course, the luxury market is dominated by brands from Europe and Japan, many of which didn't exist when this car rolled off the assembly line.
Lincoln is trying so hard to market itself as a thinking man's car, the sort of car driven by slick ad executives with thin-rimmed glasses and trendy suits who, if the ads are to be believed, would actually buy an MKZ Hybrid or MKS instead of the latest Audi.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1977 Ford Granada coupe

Last year my good friend Colin Stacy and I spent a day driving around San Francisco. I showed him the sights, and we both kept a look out for old and interesting parked cars to photograph. As some of my readers know, Colin operates The Automotive Way, his own blog about cars he finds mostly in his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Owing to the general scarcity of rust-free old cars in Minnesota, he also features cars found in other places such as Kansas and Idaho, whereas I limit my focus to cars from my home state of California.
Since San Francisco is pretty much my back yard, you can figure I wanted to feature the cars we photographed, but Colin beat me to it. So enjoy our different takes on these vehicles. First up is a 1977 Ford Granada coupe.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1977 Mercury Grand Marquis

Continuing my "Spirit of ... '77" theme this week, I present to you this lovely 1977 Mercury Grand Marquis sedan. I found it somewhat by accident, the way I find many of the cars I feature, while walking in San Francisco. I frequently set off to find a particular vehicle I've previously researched and end up finding something completely different. In this case I ventured up Telegraph Hill and stumbled upon this exquisite Mercury.

San Jose Street Sighting - 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Landau

When choosing the 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass for my last feature, I noticed that my archives contain quite a few 1977-model cars. So, I have a new theme for this week: Spirit of ... '77.
Now, the late 1970s are referred to as the Malaise period for a reason. Big, bulky, slow cars with emissions-choked engines and the death of the muscle car. Sales of big personal luxury coupes were up, though, and this was one of the big players in that market segment. It's a 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo Landau.