American Car Enthusiasts

[Firstgear]

For those of you (probably just mostly us Canadians & Americans) that have fond memories of the old muscle cars, or any other american cars, you may find this site interesting. It contains images of many of the original factory brochures. It's nicely organized by make - year - model. A friend sent me the link and I enjoyed poking thru it - looking at all the cars I had in the past - so I thought I'd pass it along.

www.lov2xlr8.no/broch1.html

[EuroTroll]

Excellent brochures.

My dad used to have a Chrysler Vision. Lovely comfortable car with lots of power. Really crap to drive though; the steering was all over the place. I have fond memories of it, though.

[schmenke]

Not quite a muscle car, but growing up, one of our more memorable family rides was a 1977 Ford LTD station wagon, with faux wood trim along the sides. It was a beast of a vehicle that could seat 8 comfortably (10 if two of the passengers were small and didn’t mind riding without seatbelts )

It cruised the highways powered by a V-8 429 cu. in. lump. I think at the time the only Ford engine with a larger displacement was the 449 cu. in. which powered the LTD’s sister boat, the Mercury Marquis.

The LTD wagon was the vehicle featured as the Griswald’s car in the film National Lampoon’s Vacation .

[Gregor-y]

I grew up in the back seat of Honda Accords, though my mother did have a Beetle until I was six. Do you know how many five year old kids you could fit in one of those things?

My Grandfather, on the other hand, bought a brand new Chevy Citation in 1980. It spent more time at the mechanic than at his house until about 1982 when it was finally working properly.

Muscle cars are nostalgia for old men who couldn't afford them in the 60s and now have massive amounts of cash in their retirement to pretend they're teenagers again. It's either one of these or a new Corvette.

[edv]

Thanks for the Link.
Looked at several of my old cars.
Seeing the 426 Street Hemi as an option on the 1968 Charger R/T got me a little misty-eyed.

[airshifter]

Not quite a muscle car, but growing up, one of our more memorable family rides was a 1977 Ford LTD station wagon, with faux wood trim along the sides. It was a beast of a vehicle that could seat 8 comfortably (10 if two of the passengers were small and didn’t mind riding without seatbelts )

It cruised the highways powered by a V-8 429 cu. in. lump. I think at the time the only Ford engine with a larger displacement was the 449 cu. in. which powered the LTD’s sister boat, the Mercury Marquis.

The LTD wagon was the vehicle featured as the Griswald’s car in the film National Lampoon’s Vacation .

My first car was a 429 powered Thunderbird, and I think that was the first car to get the 429 engine. As far as I've always known the sister Mercury cars used the same engines with minor changes.... I've never heard of a 449 Ford engine. I know the Thunderbirds and I think a couple of others (Lincolns, possibly some LTDs) could be had with the 460 engines, but I'm not sure of the last dates those larger engines were sold. The 460 lived in the full sized trucks into the 90's.



As for the link, great stuff. I've got an old book that is reprints of muscle cars mostly from the late 60's to mid 70's. If I knew then what I know now, I would have been figuring out how to buy a good piece of my high school parking lot. Super Duty 455's, W30 442's, plenty of small block Mopars, and the occasional Hemi. Good days.

[schmenke]

My first car was a 429 powered Thunderbird, and I think that was the first car to get the 429 engine. As far as I've always known the sister Mercury cars used the same engines with minor changes.... I've never heard of a 449 Ford engine....

I could be wrong airshifter. I seem to recall the Marquis, although an identical body and platform to the LTD, had a larger engine.

[airshifter]

I could be wrong airshifter. I seem to recall the Marquis, although an identical body and platform to the LTD, had a larger engine.

I'm not 100% certain either, just saying I don't remember a 449 engine. I think a few times here and there some brands did have engines used only in that brand of car, I just don't know if Mercury had any. It could be they had a 449. Some of those old engines were torque beasts.

[Tazio]

Not quite a muscle car, but growing up, one of our more memorable family rides was a 1977 Ford LTD station wagon, with faux wood trim along the sides. It was a beast of a vehicle that could seat 8 comfortably (10 if two of the passengers were small and didn’t mind riding without seatbelts )

It cruised the highways powered by a V-8 429 cu. in. lump. I think at the time the only Ford engine with a larger displacement was the 449 cu. in. which powered the LTD’s sister boat, the Mercury Marquis.

The LTD wagon was the vehicle featured as the Griswald’s car in the film National Lampoon’s Vacation .

My father also had a Ford LTD Station Wagon. I don't recall it being a real brute though. I learned to drive in a Pontiac Bonneville that was a bit of a monster. Then there was his Buick Electra with the 455 I scared the crap out of my friends with that thing. I scared myself as well.
The guy across the street was a navy Top Gun Pilot at NAS Miramar. He had a Pontiac GTO with three deuces. It was really cool the way those carb’s kicked in. My first car that I bought with my own money was a 1965 Corvair Monza I used to drift that thing long before drifting had a name.

[Tazio]

Muscle cars are nostalgia for old men who couldn't afford them in the 60s and now have massive amounts of cash in their retirement to pretend they're teenagers again. It's either one of these or a new Corvette.

Really? I knew lots of guys that had muscle cars growing up in the 60's and 70's. All you needed was a steady job and a little savings, or you could get them used for a song, they just weren’t that expensive. And if you were a wrench, you could build them for them for drag racing. You my friend are laboring under a misconception. Then again I can’t really blame you. You kind of had to be there