It sure is yellow! And appropriately so, since this is a Pontiac Firebird “Yellowbird,” a one-year-only special model for 1980, obtained by checking off RPO W73. By this time the 2nd-gen Firebird was ten years…
Posts tagged 1970s
1978 Oldsmobile 98 LF9: Distressed Diesel
By 1977 it had plenty of hsitory. Oldsmobile’s flagship Ninety Eight dated back to 1941 (spawned to replace the 1940 series 90) and had ridden GM’s big C-body with Cadillacs and primo Buicks ever since….
Volvo 242 GT: Adding Spice
You never hear about it now, but the mid-to-late 1970s were a really rough time for Volvo, both in Europe and North America. One response to trying to improve things was the short-lived but flamboyant…
Mini Down Under: Leyland Mini Clubman Van
Eagle-eyed British Leyland fans will also notice that this is not a Mini Clubman estate – although you can be forgiven for the assumption. In fact, it’s not an estate (er, wagon) at all but…
Too Little, Too Late: Austin Marina
Like so many vehicles created in changing or troubled times for their manufacturer, the Morris Marina was intended as a stopgap model. It was meant to last only four, maybe five, years and was aimed…
The Malaise Mazda: Cosmo AP/RX-5
It was planned when Mazda was riding high on Rotary success in the early 1970s. That decade was the golden age of “personal coupes,” be they Toyota Celicas or Lincoln MkIVs, so it made perfect…
The First 3-Series: BMW E21
It has beautiful, classic BMW lines by Paul Bracq. It has excellent handling, loads of room, and it’s fun to drive like a proper BMW. It’s even historic – the first car to wear the…
The First Peugeot-born Citroën: LN/LNA
No doubt President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, having eked out an election win over labor favorite Francois Mitterrand only months earlier, breathed a sigh of relief on December 4, 1974. Ailing Citroën, for months in very…
Disco Nights: 1979 Coupe DeVille D’Marchand
“Regional” and “Seasonal” special models were once a Detroit staple, particularly from the 1950s into the 1970s with models as obscure as the fifties Dodge Coronet “Texan” (Texas only) to AMC’s Rebel “Mariner” (Pacific Northwest),…
Twists and Turns: Volvo 1800ES
The Volvo 1800 spent most of its life as the attractive coupe made famous by “The Saint,” but in a twist that could characterize only this car, 11 years into its life it got a…
Triumph Stag: The Complicated Web
What became the troubled Triumph Stag started off as a simple request from Giovanni Michelotti to Triumph design chief Harry Webster. Michelotti had strong links to Triumph and wanted a donor car for use in…
Lotus’ New Looks: 1976 Lotus Eclat
In early 1973, the Lotus lineup was familiar – Elan, Elan +2, Europa, Seven. By the time of the Paris Motor Show in October, 1975, it was unrecognizable. For some months, Lotus’ only production car…