Crazy to think that a guy in the Netherlands knows so much history about American cars. More so than most Americans. But i respect it so much. Love watching your videos Ed!
I have been to the Netherlands a couple times in the early to mid-90s, and I recall quite a few American cars prowling the streets, including most of the cabs in Amsterdam being American sedans like Caprices. My parents emigrated to Chicago from England in 1968, and my dad was always into American cars growing up in England, although there are seemingly far fewer American cars in UK than in Holland.
A correction: The Buick Regal never raced in any series with the Turbo V6 Engine. A Buick Turbo V6 was modified to race in the IndyCar open wheel series.
The Buick turbo V6 was almost always on the pole in IMSA GTP racing in the 1980's. John Paul Jr. would always lead the first part of the race until something inevitably broke. They had awful luck after qualifying, but that engine was super fast.
When I was a kid, I remember watching Robocop, and thinking how futuristic the cop cars looked. As an adult, this video made me look back and realize, those were Taurus's :)
I was going to write a similar comment. I remember the first Taurus I saw on the road, and flipping out because it looked like it came from the future.
@@danweyant707 It wouldn't really be 'product placement' unless there was something to identify it very specifically as a Ford. Calling it a '6000 SUX' really kind of does the opposite, yeah?
Please keep these Automotive History videos going Ed. I don't care if they've been done before, the way you present, narrate whatever you wanna call it, feels so refreshing, no bullshit just straight up well researched facts and plenty of jokes.
My Mom gave me her 1996 Taurus. At that time I lived on the west coast, and flew with a friend to central Canada. I remember we drove back along the Trans Canada Highway, at way over the speed limit, air conditioner on, and getting something like 38 miles to the gallon. Once I got it back home, I realized that driving around town, like from home to work, wasn't it's forte. It took a lot of gas to get from a stop to the next stop. It was perfect for the highway, though.
Fascinating! I’ve had that similar experience driving American cars too. My Saturn LS200 sedan was very economical for driving highways, but consumed a lot of gas driving on local roadways.
@@johnsutcliffe3209 And guess what, they actually like it, buyers like their full size trucks, you know why, it has power, interior space, and none of the problem a sedan has, Americans always love big
@@palco22 Cars looking extremely similar to one another in this footage as well. This isn't new. Cars have always looked mostly the same. Most people are buying a car like they are buying an appliance and car makers are aware of this, designing these vehicles to be as bland as possible. This was the case throughout most of automotive history.
@@damilolaakanni By the end of its production, after being reconfigured into the "Magnum 5.2" the old 318 was putting out 220 h.p. But by that time, it was only available in Jeeps and trucks.
@@royale7620 the big 3, have all but left making cars, as they can only make money from suvs, mark my words when EVs become mainstream Ford and GM are going under.
@@mistermood4164 they left because they dont sell, the market advances and changes much faster in North America compared to Europe lmao, we still value station wagons and they dont since 1996, they dont make money only from suvs and they will not go under when EVs become mainstream and they never will, look how many ppl gave up on the electric car recently, it's just a hassle more than anything else, thats just simply ur speculations fantasies, asian car makers have always been distasteful producing the ugliest and boring and most bland designs ever, it's like a car made by the robot for the robot human that only drives his Honda EV from the office and back home. Old school Ford fan 4 ever, #BodyOnFrame , #Big46V8
The gist I'm getting is that the malaise era started to end when US automakers did what the population had done 15 years before and started buying/making foreign cars. Which says quite a lot about the (in)flexibility of large US companies.
Foreign car companies did not need to reach the regulations of US auto manufactures. It had nothing to do with US manufactures being behind foreign cars.
I dropped a 454 I to an 80 regal back in the early 90s. Everybody always asked if it was a grand national. Lol. I was like nope junkyard special, biggest engine I could stuff into a smallish car. I payed 50 bucks for the car, 300 for the engine from a junkyard, built the transmission myself a 700r4 and boy would that thing fly. The good old days.
Sweet! I messed about with Mopar engines and transmissions stuffed into Jeep CJ7s back in the '90's. First with a 318 and a cut-down A-904 AT, then I went insane and dropped a stroker 340 with an A-833 4 speed manual in the next one. "Go fast on dirt!" Even with a full roll cage and racing harnesses, I'm surprised my lead foot and I made it past the millennium...
The challenge nowadays is just to find a 1980 Regal, period. My family had a 1979, and asking people if they even remember them is like trying to ID the third girl from the left in the Robert Palmer "Simply Irresistable" video.
The one thing not mentioned about malaise is the ease to simply work on the cars back then. Crappy 70s cars could be kept on the road indefinitely by turning a wrench. People got lazy and now we have a whole generation of soy boys who can't change their own oil. Now, in their defense, modern cars are difficult to work on.
I think we're in a new malaise era, where car companies no longer take any risks. All the interesting cars are dying off. All the 3-door hatchbacks and coupes are dying off because it's cheaper to just design the 5-door or sedan version. Cars like the Golf are just facelifted and we're told it's an all-new model. And then all those hatchbacks are lazily rehashed as crossover SUVs and unceremoniously shat out into showrooms for us morons to scoop up. In a world where we're supposed to be more environmentally concerned than ever, we're consistently buying unnecessarily oversized shitheaps that we don't need. There's not one single thing a Ford Kuga does that a Focus doesn't do equally well. There's nothing a Tiguan does that a Golf doesn't. There's no reason to buy a Volvo XC60 when a V60 does all the same things. A crossover is simply a hatchback with some black plastic stuck on, some extra ride height, and other than that it's heavier, slower, worse on fuel and worse for the environment. I have no interest in new cars anymore, and honestly believe all the best combustion engine cars have already been made.
@ThePatUltra Even normal cars sit higher than ever though. Your garden variety shitbox Suzuki Swift or Corsa sits like a monster truck when you're inside it compared to older models. I'm not denying a crossover is easier to get in and out of, but if every single crossover was replaced with its hatchback counterpart there's no getting around the difference it would make. Think of all the extra resources that go into an SUV, the 10-20% worse fuel economy because of the weight, and the impact on emissions, all for a higher seating position. Besides it's not just mothers doing school runs that buy these things. It's literally everybody. I know plenty of people who drive either themselves or their partners and never have people in the back seats and they still have a massive SUV. One of my customers has a Nissan X Trail and literally never had a back seat passenger, or a full boot. If he needs a high seat to get in and out of he could just as easily live with a Suzuki Ignis. But it's not about what we need - it's image and status. It's like an iPhone. Everyone seems to need the latest fad.
Great video; the pizza menu (which I paused the vid to read) was hilarious! I think the Isuzu Gemini was originally sold here in the States as a Buick "Opel" model, ca. 1976-77. The Chevette did eventually get an Isuzu 1.8 liter diesel as an option, though, and was more closely related to the Vauxhall Chevette, IIRC...
Correct you are. The Chevette platform was also used by Isuzu to make, drumroll please: The Impulse. I ask, when is the last time you saw a Chevette or a first Gen Impulse?
@@DS-wo8wr Right. They're just truck companies now. Their crossovers get mediocre reviews. Lord help them if people stop buying trucks. And the larger foreign manufacturers are not going all in on electrics. What do they know that we don't know?
No mechanics were confused when they found small block Chevys under the hood of cars and trucks produced by other GM divisions. we were thrilled to see a small block Chevy which was one of the best engines ever produced
jup… Just thought of a VW Passat B3, which is the first of these "no grill designs" I remember from my childhood. But nop, that was only two years later. In 1986 a car with curved design was a sensation.
kinda, but we can still feel repercusions to this day. in another note: I think that we're entering another "powerhouse on wheels" era, now guided not by big displacement engines, but by big ass turbos, and superchargers, which might be a sign automakers are feeling confident they've mastered these techniques.
@@simpleinverso8628 yeah... Big turbos and superchargers when everyone is phasing out internal combustion engines...that is a stop gap solution, a short term fix, just that.
There is little I want from america... But the car culture, the way they nurture and allow stuff to be done... We can only dream here... I hope I wont die without the possibility to drive an american V8 automobile... GM, Ford, MoPar, doesn't matter... Life is too short to drive boring cars... I'm stuck with a 99 Opel Astra 1.4i 16V ... Cry for me please... I can cry no more...
Very true. Sold almost the same car from 1983 to 2016 with minimal changes. At least Mercedes TRIED to update the W463 G-Wagen with new interiors over the years!
What's REALLY funny is that an American car is mocked for having used a design for 15 years, When Volkswagen ads in the 60s mocked US cars that kept changing every two years while Volkswagen stuck with the tried and true (1930s!!!) design. Make up your mind Europe!
I've only owned 2 Ford Taurus'....my first and my last. What a miserable piece of junk. You would think after building cars for 100 years, Ford could build a car that didn't leak every fluid known to Man.
Ed's Auto Reviews are the very best motor vehicle episodes on TH-cam. Brief, to the point, factual, entertaining humor enhanced further by Ed's Dutch-accented delivery. FIVE STARS.
My dad worked at an Olds dealer when they switched to a “GM Corporate engine”, which was the dressed up way of saying “Chevy engines for all!”. He vividly recalls instances where people who bought new cars from them recently showed up absolutely livid that their Oldsmobile has a “F#%&ing Chevy engine!”. Funny thing was the Chevy engine was better, but because they saw Chevy as the entry brand, the engine must be worse. Dad has always been a fan of large vehicles, which rubbed off onto his children. But he did have a gray 1984 Dodge Omni, and he & I loved that thing. I really wish it had been a GLH, but nonetheless it was a great little car.
@@muznick regardless, GM was sued over it. Which lead GM to label engines for a time “GM Corporate-(Brand) Leader”. “Brand” being the make of car the engine was being installed
I don’t agree that the Chevy engine was better. It was a favorite amongst hot-rodders, but the engine almost all of those folks were fussing about was the Chevy 305, which was an economy-engine. I preferred the Pontiac and Olds V-8’s over the 305 Chevy (I worked on the things). Of course, GM then started mixing and matching in almost their entire lineup.
@@sking2173 the brilliance of the SBC is its cheaper to work on and has an entire industry of aftermarket support standing behind it. Im a big fan of the 305. Yea, it was their go-to econo box engine, buy it was a nearly square design that still responded well to modification even if the smaller cylinders precluded it from getting the most from large valve heads. I’ll argue that the real gutless wonder was the 307. It used a 283 block and 327 crank, which are two great engines in and of themselves. But together they didn’t accomplish anything, even with better heads and cam installed.
@@redram5150 - Though what you say is arguably true, for the consumer that would simply drive his car, the Chevy wasn’t the most durable engine. From my experience, the best of the sedan-grade V-8’s from GM in the 70’s was the Oldsmobile, and a Cutlass owner that unexpectedly found a Chevy V-8 hiding under their hood had a reason to be angry. As for that 305, there were two iterations of that engine. The first, from the late 70’s, was strictly an economy engine, and then when GM decided the 305 would take on a more performance-oriented guise, it was upgraded. I had two of those late 70’s 305’s, and they performed well. One did wipe a cam at about 100k miles, but was otherwise dependable. Neither of them had any power. If I had wanted to make SB power back then, I would have junked the 305 and dropped a fresh 350 or 400 under the hood. Same thing with the big block. If you need to scrape your 402, nobody with any sense puts another 402 in it. For the same weight, you can have a much more capable 454 !!
In my opinion, the Ford Taurus was the first American car to move out of the malaise era. Perhaps the Chrysler minivans as well. The Dodge Omni was definitely still malaisey, just smaller, but still way worse than its japanese competitors. GM was the last American brand to move past the malaise era.
You nailed what most GenXers were thinking in 1992 while listening to Pearl Jam and wearing flannel shirts. Why was GM and Ford producing so many grandpa cars? Only the Japanese were designing their cars for a younger generation. In the early 90s everyone my age was driving Civics and Corollas. American car manufacturers became the old man’s car.
You gotta mention Ford's "MN12" platform that debuted in 1989 as the Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar. Thunderbird SC had independent rear suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS, automatic adjustable suspension, sporty interior with 5 speed transmission, goodies like automatic climate control, a supercharged V6, and so on! A real euro-inspired leap forward at the time.
Aaaah! The Mercury Sable! My Grandmother had one.....she had always bought for the most part some type of Ford. Sadly, that would be her last car and then my Aunts and Uncles fought over it after she passed. 😟
The Malaise in my opinion was from the early 70's to the late 80's. And it was because of EPA regulations. Modern fuel injection fixed most of it. After they got the EFI sorted out (thanks Bosch...Germans had a boner for real EFI back in the '60's and became the best at it) big horsepower followed. Even the Japanese were producing L Jettronic Bosch under license for Nippondenso. Game changer
I agree. From the mid 80's and on; especially, when GM got better with the TBI. For me the start of the end of this Malaise era (I'm afraid that I've never heard of this era,) was when I stopped seeing those air pumps and less vacuum tubes.
@@jimmcl8338 - Yep. In ‘85, GM introduced their TPI (tuned port injection), which WOKE the Chevy small-block V-8. Fuel injection did indeed save the day. It’s a shame Detroit took so long to adopt it.
Consider this No K car or Minivan there would be no Lamborghini. Remember Lamborghini was in trouble Mimram decided to sell to Chrysler. Chrysler wanted the casting abilities Lamborghini had for V10 etc. Pretty amazing what Chrysler did in the 80s. Also late 80s early 92s economic crash would have been a nail in the Lambo coffin. Until VW bought the brand. But also consider VW was not the power house in 87. Chrysler did gooooood 😊
Nice to know that Ed is Omniscient, he knows about the Dodge Omni. I had once test drove an early 80s 024, the sporty coupe version and the 024 based Rampage ute. They were nice cars for the time.
Throughout my lifetime US made cars have become increasingly unreliable and overpriced. Frankly I don't think "malaise" ever ended for the auto industry because their problems aren't rooted in the Malaise of the '70s. US auto makers have a business model which is entirely based on manipulating stock price and not delivering a product. This started in the '60s and it was the changing nature of the industry in the '70s that revealed the problems inherent in not caring about the product you are selling.
I hoebstly dont understand how the European cars never had a malaise era. They are just bad cars in terms of reliability and reputation yet somehow they get bought. I'll never understand it.
@suspicionofdeceit Pft. I hear good things about Porsche. But they re expensive and probablely expensive to maintain. But Audi? Nah. You can look up and find tons of organizations that place Audi and other European brands at the bottom. Now let's be honest when it comes to reliability there is a lot of "well my car did this" and "my car broke down at this mileage" But just the absolute lack of old European cars compared to old Asian and American cars and all the videos and stories online of European brands and perosnal experience is enough for me to never ever decide to get a Euroepan car ever again. And all the folks at the local BMW plant who tell me not to buy them help enforce my opinion. But lots of people I talk to have problems with their Euro cars. Espoeclaly BMW. So many folks with constant issues. My friend on his story always shows his 3 Series with the dash light up with alarms. Maybe they can be reliable but why risk it when I know Toyota or Honda will beat them.
@suspicionofdeceit Idk. I hear a lot of BMWs have a problem with the over use of plastics in the engine and important areas that obviously break down over time
Ironically it the oppsite, the average age of a used car have been going up since they started to record this in the 1960s, and price wise, inflation is a thing, taking inflation into account they cost about the same give or take
I think it ended when Ford made the 1985 Ford Taurus which was more aerodynamic. My dad used to have a 1980's Chevy Caprice Classic 2-Door and he loved it. Unfortunately other people loved his radio in his car that they kept breaking into it and stealing it. He kept buying more and same thing. Next morning, broken window and stolen radio
Actually, the 350 TPI maxed out at 220hp in the IROCZ and about 230hp in the Vette. They gained 5-10hp for 87. I had an 87 GN and could easily womp all those cars and the mustangs back then.
@@3canctheayr my uncle modified it brian..he raced here at Tucson Raceway Park he & his pit guys ..raised my 220hp to 350hp..it's amazing what can be done with Techs that know what they're doing 👍
@@3canctheayr did you read that my IROC was modified?. my uncle who raced & was a gearhead here at Tucson Raceway Park.. added high performance parts & machined the block ..all I can tell you is I was blessed 🙏to have him do that for me..👍P.S. GM Performance was his main sponsor 👍
My 86 mustang svo is my fav of all the cool cars I have owned. I still have it all original incl window sticker but I drive it a bit. The SHO Taurus was great too.
I had a 2005 Deville, it became the DTS (Deville Touring Sedan) the next year. Msrp was 46k to 52k. I bought it for 1k in 2012. Got 5 years of use before selling it for 800. For only $1,000 it was a great car! Could pass anything on the highway except gas stations
Why is it so "bad" that the Cadillac Brougham (1980-1992, Based on a reskin of the 1977) was in production for that long? Europeans used to mock US cars for changing every two years. Volkswagen had an entire ad campaign based on it! VOLKSWAGEN, the European maker of the Type 1 "Beetle" that was sold on the European market from 1945 until 1985. 40 years of sales of a car that was a nearly decade old design when NEW! (It was developed in the 1930s!). At the other end of the spectrum the first generation Rolls-Royce Corniche lasted from 1971 until 1995. (24 years) That's OK and even "noble". But an American car that is based on a 15 year old design is "wrong" somehow?!? 🤔🤷♂️
There's no doubt that the Malaise Era continued well into the 90s. The Cadillac Brougham wasn't the only car of that type to continue into the 90s - the Chevrolet Caprice , Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, and Ford Crown Victoria also retained 70s styling until 1990, 1990, and 1991, respectively. Of course, styling isn't the only factor for these cars. There's also technological innovativeness. Or in this case, the lack thereof. All three of these cars were missing something huge that had become commonplace by the time they were discontinued. The Brougham, Caprice, and Custom Cruiser if I'm not mistaken were missing airbags, instead opting to use side-mounted shoulder belts, while the Crown Victoria STILL didn't have fuel injection. Well, the Crown Victoria's situation is a bit complex. There were two engine options for it; one was a 5.0L (not related to the Mustang's 5.0) that made 140 hp, while the other was a 5.8L. The 5.0 engine option became fuel injected starting around 1984, but the 5.8 never did. Right up until 1991, it was still carbureted; the very last American car to have one. I would say that, when this car was finally killed off for the 1992 model year, that's when the Malaise Era definitively ended. However, there is also a case to be made about the GM A-Platform, although these are not nearly as strong as evidence when compared to the above three, because they aren't a true 70s design; they are more of a early 80s design. They are the Pontiac 6000, the Chevrolet Celebrity, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and the Buick Century. The Pontiac 6000 and Chevy Celebrity were killed off by 1990. The Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera and Buick Century, however, lasted all the way until 1996! A mind-bogglingly late date for such outdated designs. Personally I don't consider these to be true Malaise Era cars since they're ever so slightly too new though.
Kinda. Although lauded now, Buick turbos weren't really popular in their time (total Buick turboed cars produced in 1984- 5,204. Hardly a revolution). It's a case of revisionist history, with the public still trying to wrap their heads around all this new-fangled technology, which could have just as easily failed in the market.
@@traveleraz8269 Given how ubiquitous turbos are now, can definitely say Buick were ahead of their time, pointing the way to the future. But as far as marking when US cars could successfully compete with imports, the blue oval has the sales numbers to back up their claim.
I’m 42 and I just finally bought my first ever forced induction car in January 2022. It’s a 14 Cadillac ATS2.0t rwd performance trim. It’s been modified and makes around 320wheel hp on e50. Once I swap the fuel pump for zl1 pump it should be around 340/350 on full e85.
My first car was a 1988 Dodge Omni my mom gave me when I started driving in 1993. I had it for 3 years and it crapped out at 70k miles. Cars weren’t built to last 100k miles like they are today. In the 90s you could get an astounding 150k to 200k out of a Honda or Toyota. I would get a Toyota Echo in 2005 that was comparable to my Dodge Omni except I had the Echo for 11 years and put 162k miles without any mechanical issues. I sold that car with 197k miles on it (it had 35k miles on it, I bought it used and I still saw it on the road 5 years after I sold it.
In Europe, in 80s, we saw american cars in films, the typical taxi or police cars, and these cars liked box with wheels, they were not comparable with Mercedes, Audi, Peugeot, Renault, I did not understand american cars... but, Corvettes (Tempeltom Peck A-Team), Trans-Am (Michael Knigth), Camaros, looked very very beautyfull, not all were bad
That Buick 3.8L V6 was one of the best overall engines made. Almost Bullet proof it was one of the most reliable engines ever. The standard normally aspirated versions had good power, pretty good fuel mileage and again reliable. With some performance upgrades it could become a real tire burner while still retaining good reliability and fair mileage. I'm still Pissed off that they decided for whatever reason to stop producing it. GM would shoot off it's own foot to spite a toe hangnail.
Squinty narrow headlights...short side windows with high beltlines...LED everything...every vehicle today is a rolling clique of personality-free transport boxes. I can't look at anything out there without thinking "malaise". Oh, and it's not Lazy Chair, my friend. It's Lazy Boy.
Say what you will about the Cadillac Brougham D elegance. The 90-92 models are commanding huge dollars right now. In the last few months one sold for $70,000 on BAT and one on Ebay for $44,000. 1990-92 with the 5.7L V8s are the holy Grail for those cars.
Rule no.1. Never let bean counters, lawyers, safety gurus, environmentalists, car hating people,or bureaucrats dictate how automobiles are designed. Only take advice from car loving people.
I'm sorry but the US Ford Granada look way better than the European version. The Euro Car looked like it's a matchbox toy and reminds me of an Audi Fox. I used to kind of like the Box until I wrote in one one day it belong to the Senior Chief in our naval squadron. It was plain inside, very unimaginative designs and uncomfortable seats. And it was noisy as hell as far as the engine. That very day I didn't about face on what I believed as far as many of the European brands. Euro was nothing but a hyped up bunch of hogwash brainwashing everyone into thinking and it's their cars were great, the power of advertising until you actually experience the product. Then you want to puke.
The horizon was not high quality. The darts were very good overall. My parents had both. My dad loved the horizon for it's economy but it kept killing water pumps. Every three months he would replace it. My mom's 1967 dodge dart only had rust problems. Lasted into the late 1980s before it was sold to a local guy my mom bought it new in 1967. Base model four door. Really good cars.
We had a Talbot Horizon (european version) since 1983 to 1994, what a car! Here in Spain, Police had these cars in GT model with 90 hp, taxi drivers had models with near 1 million kms... Some times I see one diesel model (GTD) running in the Jarama Circuit...
The Malaise lasted a little longer. Paint on GM cars was awful. They had quality issues. The K Platform was around too long and too cheap inside ( I know my family had two of them and a Horizon at one point) No, Ford for out the best but really, the headlight and bumper requirements and the lack of electronic technology in engines really handicapped things and by the time the Big 3 started making good cars again, they had lost their market share . GM is the to me the most shameful loser considering they had half the market in 1975. And Ford has evolved to a top quality product the most
The regal was a bullet proof car. An elegant monster on the road with the turbo 6. One of my neighbors had one he built up to 1100 HP. Really was a beautiful car. Blows away so many other cars. I had a 1979 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme coupe. I wish I never sold it. Comfortable, beautiful and got 28 mpg on the highway with the small 260 V8. Really sweet car. Taurus was so nice as well. Comfortable and powerful. They came out with a SVT model that was really fast and kinda odd but a fun car to drive. The really crappy cars only came out in the last 10 years or so. They dropped quality in favor of high volume sales. Automakers know they can't outdo the cars they made decades ago so they reduce parts availability and now all cars built have only an 8 year supply of parts. Eventually nobody will own their own car. I'm in the process of amassing as much money as I can to buy up my favorite classics and also build a small company that will create replacement parts for older cars. At some point, the big three will have to realize that there's money to be made from royalties of aftermarket parts sales. I prefer old cars over new due to the style and easy maintenance
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter gave a speech about the challenges our country faced and what he termed a "crisis of confidence". Though he never used the word, it was called "the malaise speech". The president was telling the nation we needed to step up to the challenge and fix the things which weren't working correctly. Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan twisted Carter's words to use the speech against him. Instead of recognizing the nation's real problems, Reagan blamed Carter for even raising the issues and claimed "government is the problem". Meanwhile, the U.S. auto industry was doing the same thing - failing to recognize and address their real problems, while doing stupid things which only made it worse.
K cars might have saved Chrysler but they were junk. Brand new '85 Dodge 600 couldn't keep head gaskets in it. Got rid of it after just a couple of years.
The malaise years also saw really horrible build quality. Ever see GM plastics in 7 different shades of the same color after a few years? Trim panels that end short of door gaps? Weird squeaking noises? Sad when a V8 can't pull its own weight.
The 1992 Brougham was the last Bill Mitchell designed car and remained in production long after his death and even longer after his retirement. And in my opinion the last stylish Cadillac. What followed was uglier than the ‘80s 🤮
It's about time you started giving American brands some credit or I was going to badmouth your French brothers on Renault , Citron and Peugeot all junk by any standards .
Automobile Leo DiCaprio strikes again!
Good one😁
Leonardo DiCabriolet
Yeah I thought so too.
Love your channel!
@@Ashfielder haha man
Crazy to think that a guy in the Netherlands knows so much history about American cars. More so than most Americans. But i respect it so much. Love watching your videos Ed!
Yes it's almost as if his Google fu is Asian level
I have been to the Netherlands a couple times in the early to mid-90s, and I recall quite a few American cars prowling the streets, including most of the cabs in Amsterdam being American sedans like Caprices. My parents emigrated to Chicago from England in 1968, and my dad was always into American cars growing up in England, although there are seemingly far fewer American cars in UK than in Holland.
This is one of the biggest compliments as I can get. Thank you!
Could’ve sworn he was dutch, idk
@@javathehut7285 you know it’s the same thing?
A correction: The Buick Regal never raced in any series with the Turbo V6 Engine. A Buick Turbo V6 was modified to race in the IndyCar open wheel series.
Also was used on some prototypes of the IMSA series
in the Busch grand national series, they would have used a V6 (rules back then) but not turbo.. Winston cup used V8
@@laureanosanchez5265 I had forgotten about IMSA
Buddy Ingersoll drove a twin turbo V6 Regal pro stock car in drag racing.
The Buick turbo V6 was almost always on the pole in IMSA GTP racing in the 1980's. John Paul Jr. would always lead the first part of the race until something inevitably broke. They had awful luck after qualifying, but that engine was super fast.
When I was a kid, I remember watching Robocop, and thinking how futuristic the cop cars looked. As an adult, this video made me look back and realize, those were Taurus's :)
"6000 SUX", lol. "Something with reclining leather seats, that goes really fast, and gets really shitty gas mileage."
I was going to write a similar comment. I remember the first Taurus I saw on the road, and flipping out because it looked like it came from the future.
An early product placement? They DID say that they chose them for filming because the Taurus looked so different
@@danweyant707 It wouldn't really be 'product placement' unless there was something to identify it very specifically as a Ford. Calling it a '6000 SUX' really kind of does the opposite, yeah?
@@xaenon Dad always said, "Never try to explain a joke."
I see a new vid, I like first then watch. It’s just going to be great isn’t it?
Did the Same ...
I do that with every video I watch. It became a reflex at this point.
@@HeortirtheWoodwarden lotta crap on TH-cam, may I suggest MAKE.ART.NOW. watch Anamorpia then Annamorphia 2
Link isn't working, but that is the name
Teasing us with Part IV, so much like the dreaded To Be Continued...
I’m the other way. I went into this one thing it was the end of a cool series to discover there is going to be another one. Yay!
The Ford Taurus had "almost no grille". It looked good. Take that, modern day Lexus and BMW.
Eh.... Im not the biggest fan of the giant grills but the Taurus didnt pull off the no grill right for me.
Please keep these Automotive History videos going Ed.
I don't care if they've been done before, the way you present, narrate whatever you wanna call it, feels so refreshing, no bullshit just straight up well researched facts and plenty of jokes.
My Mom gave me her 1996 Taurus. At that time I lived on the west coast, and flew with a friend to central Canada. I remember we drove back along the Trans Canada Highway, at way over the speed limit, air conditioner on, and getting something like 38 miles to the gallon.
Once I got it back home, I realized that driving around town, like from home to work, wasn't it's forte. It took a lot of gas to get from a stop to the next stop. It was perfect for the highway, though.
Fascinating! I’ve had that similar experience driving American cars too.
My Saturn LS200 sedan was very economical for driving highways, but consumed a lot of gas driving on local roadways.
I am 55 years old. I bought my first car in 1985. I have no doubt it continued well into the 1990s.
My dad had a Ford Granada and my mom a pinto.😆I’m 56 and drove a spitfire.😁
@@ramongonzalez2112 did you notice hispanic people bought cars that sounded Spanish? did you ever notice this? My Spanish father bought a Granada too.
@@freedomlandcanada230 I’m sure that was an influence too. Ours had comfy red velour seats👍
I’d say it continued until 2010
Part 4.When Ford couldn't be bothered making cars comply with regs anymore so convinced the buying public the f series was what they really wanted.
People buy what they want to buy.
@@manthony225 yep the advertising industry takes care of that
I will surely talk about this!
@@johnsutcliffe3209 And guess what, they actually like it, buyers like their full size trucks, you know why, it has power, interior space, and none of the problem a sedan has, Americans always love big
Part IV.........how to remove character from a car and make every car look the same ! No wonder pickup trucks began to outsell cars ! Great videos !
They all look the same indeed !
Watch this video again and pay attention when car traffic from the '70s and '80s is being shown. Notice anything?
@@no1DdC What are you referring to ?
@@palco22 Cars looking extremely similar to one another in this footage as well. This isn't new. Cars have always looked mostly the same. Most people are buying a car like they are buying an appliance and car makers are aware of this, designing these vehicles to be as bland as possible. This was the case throughout most of automotive history.
@@no1DdC Hemianopsia is a nasty thing !
145 h.p. from a 5 liter? Chrysler said "hold my beer" and offered 115 h.p. from a 5.2.
and in 2014 we got Fiat-Chrysler producing 105hp 875cc 2-cylinder engines lol. how the times have changed!
And my 2002 VW golf makes that same amount of HP as that Chrysler...from a 2.0 4 cylinder engine. Times have really changed.
@@damilolaakanni By the end of its production, after being reconfigured into the "Magnum 5.2" the old 318 was putting out 220 h.p. But by that time, it was only available in Jeeps and trucks.
The biggest reason for that low HP was the low low low compression those engines ran.
It blows my mind you can get so little power from a big(ish) V8. You almost have to try to accomplish that. It's kind of impressive in a way.
The big 3 never recovered from the malaise era
I don't think AMC recovered either tbf
The moment foreign cars could come into the US without being subjected to the same regulations as US cars was the end of the industry.
They did lmao, what makes u think they didnt?
@@royale7620 the big 3, have all but left making cars, as they can only make money from suvs, mark my words when EVs become mainstream Ford and GM are going under.
@@mistermood4164 they left because they dont sell, the market advances and changes much faster in North America compared to Europe lmao, we still value station wagons and they dont since 1996, they dont make money only from suvs and they will not go under when EVs become mainstream and they never will, look how many ppl gave up on the electric car recently, it's just a hassle more than anything else, thats just simply ur speculations fantasies, asian car makers have always been distasteful producing the ugliest and boring and most bland designs ever, it's like a car made by the robot for the robot human that only drives his Honda EV from the office and back home.
Old school Ford fan 4 ever, #BodyOnFrame , #Big46V8
The gist I'm getting is that the malaise era started to end when US automakers did what the population had done 15 years before and started buying/making foreign cars. Which says quite a lot about the (in)flexibility of large US companies.
Maybe all the smart people started working in the IT industry, an area that the US would dominate for a few more decades
Foreign car companies did not need to reach the regulations of US auto manufactures. It had nothing to do with US manufactures being behind foreign cars.
I dropped a 454 I to an 80 regal back in the early 90s. Everybody always asked if it was a grand national. Lol. I was like nope junkyard special, biggest engine I could stuff into a smallish car. I payed 50 bucks for the car, 300 for the engine from a junkyard, built the transmission myself a 700r4 and boy would that thing fly. The good old days.
Sweet! I messed about with Mopar engines and transmissions stuffed into Jeep CJ7s back in the '90's. First with a 318 and a cut-down A-904 AT, then I went insane and dropped a stroker 340 with an A-833 4 speed manual in the next one. "Go fast on dirt!" Even with a full roll cage and racing harnesses, I'm surprised my lead foot and I made it past the millennium...
The challenge nowadays is just to find a 1980 Regal, period. My family had a 1979, and asking people if they even remember them is like trying to ID the third girl from the left in the Robert Palmer "Simply Irresistable" video.
The one thing not mentioned about malaise is the ease to simply work on the cars back then. Crappy 70s cars could be kept on the road indefinitely by turning a wrench. People got lazy and now we have a whole generation of soy boys who can't change their own oil. Now, in their defense, modern cars are difficult to work on.
Are you this guy? Hahaha! th-cam.com/video/5kMTHwjy6Z8/w-d-xo.html
@@EdsAutoReviews I have been - with mixed results! 🤣
I swear, this channel is so underrated. I can't wait for new videos!
I'm curious - what is this channel's rating? You say it's underrated, but I can't find any ratings for it at all.
@@fuktiktok8611 like/dislike ratio is a rating. subscriber count isn't.
I think we're in a new malaise era, where car companies no longer take any risks. All the interesting cars are dying off. All the 3-door hatchbacks and coupes are dying off because it's cheaper to just design the 5-door or sedan version. Cars like the Golf are just facelifted and we're told it's an all-new model. And then all those hatchbacks are lazily rehashed as crossover SUVs and unceremoniously shat out into showrooms for us morons to scoop up. In a world where we're supposed to be more environmentally concerned than ever, we're consistently buying unnecessarily oversized shitheaps that we don't need. There's not one single thing a Ford Kuga does that a Focus doesn't do equally well. There's nothing a Tiguan does that a Golf doesn't. There's no reason to buy a Volvo XC60 when a V60 does all the same things. A crossover is simply a hatchback with some black plastic stuck on, some extra ride height, and other than that it's heavier, slower, worse on fuel and worse for the environment. I have no interest in new cars anymore, and honestly believe all the best combustion engine cars have already been made.
@ThePatUltra Even normal cars sit higher than ever though. Your garden variety shitbox Suzuki Swift or Corsa sits like a monster truck when you're inside it compared to older models. I'm not denying a crossover is easier to get in and out of, but if every single crossover was replaced with its hatchback counterpart there's no getting around the difference it would make. Think of all the extra resources that go into an SUV, the 10-20% worse fuel economy because of the weight, and the impact on emissions, all for a higher seating position. Besides it's not just mothers doing school runs that buy these things. It's literally everybody. I know plenty of people who drive either themselves or their partners and never have people in the back seats and they still have a massive SUV. One of my customers has a Nissan X Trail and literally never had a back seat passenger, or a full boot. If he needs a high seat to get in and out of he could just as easily live with a Suzuki Ignis. But it's not about what we need - it's image and status. It's like an iPhone. Everyone seems to need the latest fad.
Great video; the pizza menu (which I paused the vid to read) was hilarious! I think the Isuzu Gemini was originally sold here in the States as a Buick "Opel" model, ca. 1976-77. The Chevette did eventually get an Isuzu 1.8 liter diesel as an option, though, and was more closely related to the Vauxhall Chevette, IIRC...
Correct you are. The Chevette platform was also used by Isuzu to make, drumroll please: The Impulse.
I ask, when is the last time you saw a Chevette or a first Gen Impulse?
@@douglasb.1203 also the Gemini
I was there, back in the 80s, when the Grand National and GNX were new and trust me, anyone who saw one was immediately struck with awe.
I’d say the Malaise Era truly ended when GM went bankrupt in 2009.
Yeah that was really when the "old way" of running a car company died for good.
@@colindragan9352 Because the “new” GM is so much better?
@@DS-wo8wr not better, it just operates differently. Most notably drastically reducing the number of divisions and basically abandoning making sedans
@@DS-wo8wr Right. They're just truck companies now. Their crossovers get mediocre reviews. Lord help them if people stop buying trucks. And the larger foreign manufacturers are not going all in on electrics. What do they know that we don't know?
id say 83 but soviet gopnik is right about how car companies are run changed after 2009
It's morning in America again. Time to rev up those engines and hit the roads.
Jack.
No mechanics were confused when they found small block Chevys under the hood of cars and trucks produced by other GM divisions. we were thrilled to see a small block Chevy which was one of the best engines ever produced
I think of the first gen Taurus as a generic 90s car released in 1985
jup… Just thought of a VW Passat B3, which is the first of these "no grill designs" I remember from my childhood. But nop, that was only two years later. In 1986 a car with curved design was a sensation.
If I had to pick the moment it ended, I'd probably go with the introduction of the Ford Taurus in 1985 (as a 1986 MY)
kinda, but we can still feel repercusions to this day.
in another note:
I think that we're entering another "powerhouse on wheels" era, now guided not by big displacement engines, but by big ass turbos, and superchargers, which might be a sign automakers are feeling confident they've mastered these techniques.
@@simpleinverso8628 yeah... Big turbos and superchargers when everyone is phasing out internal combustion engines...that is a stop gap solution, a short term fix, just that.
They were garbage...biodegradable transmissions, amongst other things.
Yes. Curvy, rounder. Mercury cougar too. As a kid I hated those boxy cars of the 70s and early 80s.✌️
@ThePatUltra yeah... Right. Whatever.
There is little I want from america... But the car culture, the way they nurture and allow stuff to be done... We can only dream here... I hope I wont die without the possibility to drive an american V8 automobile... GM, Ford, MoPar, doesn't matter... Life is too short to drive boring cars... I'm stuck with a 99 Opel Astra 1.4i 16V ... Cry for me please... I can cry no more...
Has Chrysler EVER been NOT on the brink of death ?
Right before their disastrous merger with Daimler/Mercedes in 1998 or so, Chrysler was the most cash-rich automaker in the world
@@chrisfreemesser5707 Mercedes legit scammed and robbed them lol.
@@royale7620 They're also the reason you can't import cars younger than 25 in America
2:09 "this is a car with a fifteen year old design" Land Rover Defender- look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power
Very true. Sold almost the same car from 1983 to 2016 with minimal changes. At least Mercedes TRIED to update the W463 G-Wagen with new interiors over the years!
Old design are great in some cases: Jeep XJ Cherokees would sell like hotcakes if they started making them again.
@@muznick They sure would! I'd take a bare bones version in a heartbeat! Gimme a manual and even (gasp!) crank windows!
inspired by the success of Volvo 240 series.
What's REALLY funny is that an American car is mocked for having used a design for 15 years, When Volkswagen ads in the 60s mocked US cars that kept changing every two years while Volkswagen stuck with the tried and true (1930s!!!) design. Make up your mind Europe!
Taurus was a ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE...
until.....1996 (3rd generation). They made it smaller, rounded it off even more- including the rear window. It looked ridiculous.
@@bossfan49 Ridiculous Indeed... If any other indication was needed that the malaise era didn't ended yet, that was one.
The early ones had a lot of mechanical problems.
I've only owned 2 Ford Taurus'....my first and my last. What a miserable piece of junk. You would think after building cars for 100 years, Ford could build a car that didn't leak every fluid known to Man.
@@bossfan49 absolutely right ! I was thinking of the ORIGINAL design, a timeless work.
Ed's Auto Reviews are the very best motor vehicle episodes on TH-cam. Brief, to the point, factual, entertaining humor enhanced further by Ed's Dutch-accented delivery. FIVE STARS.
I've been following this series, it's cool to be early for this one 😎
My dad worked at an Olds dealer when they switched to a “GM Corporate engine”, which was the dressed up way of saying “Chevy engines for all!”. He vividly recalls instances where people who bought new cars from them recently showed up absolutely livid that their Oldsmobile has a “F#%&ing Chevy engine!”. Funny thing was the Chevy engine was better, but because they saw Chevy as the entry brand, the engine must be worse.
Dad has always been a fan of large vehicles, which rubbed off onto his children. But he did have a gray 1984 Dodge Omni, and he & I loved that thing. I really wish it had been a GLH, but nonetheless it was a great little car.
I think it was more brand loyalty than viewing Chevy engines as inferior.
@@muznick regardless, GM was sued over it. Which lead GM to label engines for a time “GM Corporate-(Brand) Leader”. “Brand” being the make of car the engine was being installed
I don’t agree that the Chevy engine was better. It was a favorite amongst hot-rodders, but the engine almost all of those folks were fussing about was the Chevy 305, which was an economy-engine. I preferred the Pontiac and Olds V-8’s over the 305 Chevy (I worked on the things).
Of course, GM then started mixing and matching in almost their entire lineup.
@@sking2173 the brilliance of the SBC is its cheaper to work on and has an entire industry of aftermarket support standing behind it.
Im a big fan of the 305. Yea, it was their go-to econo box engine, buy it was a nearly square design that still responded well to modification even if the smaller cylinders precluded it from getting the most from large valve heads. I’ll argue that the real gutless wonder was the 307. It used a 283 block and 327 crank, which are two great engines in and of themselves. But together they didn’t accomplish anything, even with better heads and cam installed.
@@redram5150 - Though what you say is arguably true, for the consumer that would simply drive his car, the Chevy wasn’t the most durable engine. From my experience, the best of the sedan-grade V-8’s from GM in the 70’s was the Oldsmobile, and a Cutlass owner that unexpectedly found a Chevy V-8 hiding under their hood had a reason to be angry.
As for that 305, there were two iterations of that engine. The first, from the late 70’s, was strictly an economy engine, and then when GM decided the 305 would take on a more performance-oriented guise, it was upgraded.
I had two of those late 70’s 305’s, and they performed well. One did wipe a cam at about 100k miles, but was otherwise dependable. Neither of them had any power. If I had wanted to make SB power back then, I would have junked the 305 and dropped a fresh 350 or 400 under the hood.
Same thing with the big block. If you need to scrape your 402, nobody with any sense puts another 402 in it. For the same weight, you can have a much more capable 454 !!
You should make an episode on studebaker and also edsel
Edsel most definitely! Studebaker I have to look into...
@@EdsAutoReviews thanks for considering this comment
In my opinion, the Ford Taurus was the first American car to move out of the malaise era. Perhaps the Chrysler minivans as well.
The Dodge Omni was definitely still malaisey, just smaller, but still way worse than its japanese competitors.
GM was the last American brand to move past the malaise era.
You nailed what most GenXers were thinking in 1992 while listening to Pearl Jam and wearing flannel shirts. Why was GM and Ford producing so many grandpa cars? Only the Japanese were designing their cars for a younger generation. In the early 90s everyone my age was driving Civics and Corollas. American car manufacturers became the old man’s car.
"This is a car with a 15 year old design, inside, outside, and under the hood!"
Nissan 370Z: Yeah? And what of it?
A part 4?
Ed you're too generous to us.
The K-cars!😆👏
You gotta mention Ford's "MN12" platform that debuted in 1989 as the Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar. Thunderbird SC had independent rear suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS, automatic adjustable suspension, sporty interior with 5 speed transmission, goodies like automatic climate control, a supercharged V6, and so on! A real euro-inspired leap forward at the time.
My favourite styling oddity from that era was the full width headlight to headlight illuminated strip on the Mercury's.
Aaaah! The Mercury Sable! My Grandmother had one.....she had always bought for the most part some type of Ford.
Sadly, that would be her last car and then my Aunts and Uncles fought over it after she passed. 😟
@ Tabubil. That "oddity" was unintentional as the Mercury Division designers were just learning the new version of AutoCAD.
@@plastiksurgeon9129 What did your grandmother pass: another car, a truck, or gas?
A thing that can look much better with current technology.
The Malaise in my opinion was from the early 70's to the late 80's. And it was because of EPA regulations. Modern fuel injection fixed most of it. After they got the EFI sorted out (thanks Bosch...Germans had a boner for real EFI back in the '60's and became the best at it) big horsepower followed. Even the Japanese were producing L Jettronic Bosch under license for Nippondenso. Game changer
I agree. From the mid 80's and on; especially, when GM got better with the TBI. For me the start of the end of this Malaise era (I'm afraid that I've never heard of this era,) was when I stopped seeing those air pumps and less vacuum tubes.
@@jimmcl8338 - Yep. In ‘85, GM introduced their TPI (tuned port injection), which WOKE the Chevy small-block V-8.
Fuel injection did indeed save the day. It’s a shame Detroit took so long to adopt it.
I love the 92 Brougham though 😅
Consider this No K car or Minivan there would be no Lamborghini. Remember Lamborghini was in trouble Mimram decided to sell to Chrysler. Chrysler wanted the casting abilities Lamborghini had for V10 etc. Pretty amazing what Chrysler did in the 80s. Also late 80s early 92s economic crash would have been a nail in the Lambo coffin. Until VW bought the brand. But also consider VW was not the power house in 87. Chrysler did gooooood 😊
REALLY enjoying this series. Raised in the 60’s, I watched all of this unfold, and it’s cool to see it all on the screen.
PLEASE! make more of these wonderful videos!! Geweldige content! Can't wait for part IV
Nice to know that Ed is Omniscient, he knows about the Dodge Omni. I had once test drove an early 80s 024, the sporty coupe version and the 024 based Rampage ute. They were nice cars for the time.
Throughout my lifetime US made cars have become increasingly unreliable and overpriced. Frankly I don't think "malaise" ever ended for the auto industry because their problems aren't rooted in the Malaise of the '70s. US auto makers have a business model which is entirely based on manipulating stock price and not delivering a product. This started in the '60s and it was the changing nature of the industry in the '70s that revealed the problems inherent in not caring about the product you are selling.
I hoebstly dont understand how the European cars never had a malaise era. They are just bad cars in terms of reliability and reputation yet somehow they get bought. I'll never understand it.
@suspicionofdeceit Pft. I hear good things about Porsche. But they re expensive and probablely expensive to maintain. But Audi? Nah.
You can look up and find tons of organizations that place Audi and other European brands at the bottom.
Now let's be honest when it comes to reliability there is a lot of "well my car did this" and "my car broke down at this mileage"
But just the absolute lack of old European cars compared to old Asian and American cars and all the videos and stories online of European brands and perosnal experience is enough for me to never ever decide to get a Euroepan car ever again. And all the folks at the local BMW plant who tell me not to buy them help enforce my opinion.
But lots of people I talk to have problems with their Euro cars. Espoeclaly BMW. So many folks with constant issues. My friend on his story always shows his 3 Series with the dash light up with alarms.
Maybe they can be reliable but why risk it when I know Toyota or Honda will beat them.
@suspicionofdeceit Idk. I hear a lot of BMWs have a problem with the over use of plastics in the engine and important areas that obviously break down over time
Ironically it the oppsite, the average age of a used car have been going up since they started to record this in the 1960s, and price wise, inflation is a thing, taking inflation into account they cost about the same give or take
I’ve been waiting like 2 weeks for this. In this day and age of instant gratification I’ve aged 20 years since the last release. Well done EAR!
If the Malaise era would symbolize something today, its crossovers, hatchbacks, and suv’s
Part 4, good. Maybe the Daytona iroc r/t will get a mention. 225 hp from a 2.2
I think it ended when Ford made the 1985 Ford Taurus which was more aerodynamic. My dad used to have a 1980's Chevy Caprice Classic 2-Door and he loved it. Unfortunately other people loved his radio in his car that they kept breaking into it and stealing it. He kept buying more and same thing. Next morning, broken window and stolen radio
He's still so underrated, wtf TH-cam algorithm xD
Yep, bought a new 79 Horizon to help bail out MoPar. Good car actually.
Love your vids, Keep them coming!
I wish I still had my 1986 IROCZ 350 V8 TPI 5 speed manuel putting out 350 HP..that was decent HP back then
Actually, the 350 TPI maxed out at 220hp in the IROCZ and about 230hp in the Vette. They gained 5-10hp for 87.
I had an 87 GN and could easily womp all those cars and the mustangs back then.
@@3canctheayr my uncle modified it brian..he raced here at Tucson Raceway Park he & his pit guys ..raised my 220hp to 350hp..it's amazing what can be done with Techs that know what they're doing 👍
@@3canctheayr did you read that my IROC was modified?. my uncle who raced & was a gearhead here at Tucson Raceway Park.. added high performance parts & machined the block ..all I can tell you is I was blessed 🙏to have him do that for me..👍P.S. GM Performance was his main sponsor 👍
@@stevedeleon8775 Suggestion; The word 'modified' might have been helpful in your first post...... ;)
My 86 mustang svo is my fav of all the cool cars I have owned. I still have it all original incl window sticker but I drive it a bit. The SHO Taurus was great too.
I had a 2005 Deville, it became the DTS (Deville Touring Sedan) the next year. Msrp was 46k to 52k. I bought it for 1k in 2012. Got 5 years of use before selling it for 800. For only $1,000 it was a great car! Could pass anything on the highway except gas stations
Granted 5 years out of any 1k car is great
Damn I love the land yachts. Now, when nothing looks malaise, that brougham looks like a proper king
Another great video! Looking forward to the next installment. Keep up the great work.
Omg omg omg omg omg! I don’t know why but loving the channel and your odd sense of funny haha! Thanks. Just subscribed!
Welcome to the Club.
instantly clicked when I saw the regal thumbnail
Another birthday surprise! My friends may have forgotten my birthday, but Ed hasn't forgotten how to make amazing videos.
Happy birthday!
@@makwa Aw thank you :)
Pity noone wants sedans anymore, America and Australia made some great ones
I like Ed's channel. These videos and his delivery is perfect! 👍 👍 👍
Why is it so "bad" that the Cadillac Brougham (1980-1992, Based on a reskin of the 1977) was in production for that long? Europeans used to mock US cars for changing every two years. Volkswagen had an entire ad campaign based on it! VOLKSWAGEN, the European maker of the Type 1 "Beetle" that was sold on the European market from 1945 until 1985. 40 years of sales of a car that was a nearly decade old design when NEW! (It was developed in the 1930s!). At the other end of the spectrum the first generation Rolls-Royce Corniche lasted from 1971 until 1995. (24 years) That's OK and even "noble". But an American car that is based on a 15 year old design is "wrong" somehow?!? 🤔🤷♂️
The conclusion of the epic trilogy.
EDIT: Amazing work! Can't wait for part 4!
There's no doubt that the Malaise Era continued well into the 90s. The Cadillac Brougham wasn't the only car of that type to continue into the 90s - the Chevrolet Caprice
, Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, and Ford Crown Victoria also retained 70s styling until 1990, 1990, and 1991, respectively.
Of course, styling isn't the only factor for these cars. There's also technological innovativeness. Or in this case, the lack thereof. All three of these cars were missing something huge that had become commonplace by the time they were discontinued. The Brougham, Caprice, and Custom Cruiser if I'm not mistaken were missing airbags, instead opting to use side-mounted shoulder belts, while the Crown Victoria STILL didn't have fuel injection. Well, the Crown Victoria's situation is a bit complex.
There were two engine options for it; one was a 5.0L (not related to the Mustang's 5.0) that made 140 hp, while the other was a 5.8L. The 5.0 engine option became fuel injected starting around 1984, but the 5.8 never did. Right up until 1991, it was still carbureted; the very last American car to have one. I would say that, when this car was finally killed off for the 1992 model year, that's when the Malaise Era definitively ended.
However, there is also a case to be made about the GM A-Platform, although these are not nearly as strong as evidence when compared to the above three, because they aren't a true 70s design; they are more of a early 80s design. They are the Pontiac 6000, the Chevrolet Celebrity, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and the Buick Century. The Pontiac 6000 and Chevy Celebrity were killed off by 1990. The Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
and Buick Century, however, lasted all the way until 1996! A mind-bogglingly late date for such outdated designs. Personally I don't consider these to be true Malaise Era cars since they're ever so slightly too new though.
It ended in 1984 with the Buick Grand National
Kinda.
Although lauded now, Buick turbos weren't really popular in their time (total Buick turboed cars produced in 1984- 5,204. Hardly a revolution).
It's a case of revisionist history, with the public still trying to wrap their heads around all this new-fangled technology, which could have just as easily failed in the market.
@@quintessenceSL I can understand and respect your opinion. I would say that the car set an example of what could be.
@@traveleraz8269 Given how ubiquitous turbos are now, can definitely say Buick were ahead of their time, pointing the way to the future.
But as far as marking when US cars could successfully compete with imports, the blue oval has the sales numbers to back up their claim.
@@quintessenceSL And remember a majority of those turbo Buicks back then were not Grand Nationals, they were probably more T-type Regals or Rivierias
I’m 42 and I just finally bought my first ever forced induction car in January 2022. It’s a 14 Cadillac ATS2.0t rwd performance trim. It’s been modified and makes around 320wheel hp on e50. Once I swap the fuel pump for zl1 pump it should be around 340/350 on full e85.
I appreciate the flexibility of deciding to ditch the trilogy plan to add a 4th chapter. Love your videos!
The 1984 Ford Tempo also looked quite good. It was also not boxy, but not quite as aero as the Taurus.
I bought one in 84 really liked the car and design I thought the interior was nice to it was a good car for the price
Very happy to hear there's gonna be a part 4! Keep up the great work Ed!
My first car was a 1988 Dodge Omni my mom gave me when I started driving in 1993. I had it for 3 years and it crapped out at 70k miles. Cars weren’t built to last 100k miles like they are today. In the 90s you could get an astounding 150k to 200k out of a Honda or Toyota. I would get a Toyota Echo in 2005 that was comparable to my Dodge Omni except I had the Echo for 11 years and put 162k miles without any mechanical issues. I sold that car with 197k miles on it (it had 35k miles on it, I bought it used and I still saw it on the road 5 years after I sold it.
Lets hope TH-cam doesn't take this one down as well
In Europe, in 80s, we saw american cars in films, the typical taxi or police cars, and these cars liked box with wheels, they were not comparable with Mercedes, Audi, Peugeot, Renault, I did not understand american cars... but, Corvettes (Tempeltom Peck A-Team), Trans-Am (Michael Knigth), Camaros, looked very very beautyfull, not all were bad
And next, part 34 of this 3 part episode.. Edvyou are a legend.
That Buick 3.8L V6 was one of the best overall engines made. Almost Bullet proof it was one of the most reliable engines ever. The standard normally aspirated versions had good power, pretty good fuel mileage and again reliable. With some performance upgrades it could become a real tire burner while still retaining good reliability and fair mileage. I'm still Pissed off that they decided for whatever reason to stop producing it. GM would shoot off it's own foot to spite a toe hangnail.
I have a 77 Buick skylark with a 3.8 liter :)
This is my new favorite channel
Squinty narrow headlights...short side windows with high beltlines...LED everything...every vehicle today is a rolling clique of personality-free transport boxes. I can't look at anything out there without thinking "malaise".
Oh, and it's not Lazy Chair, my friend. It's Lazy Boy.
Ah, the cliffhanger.
Say what you will about the Cadillac Brougham D elegance. The 90-92 models are commanding huge dollars right now. In the last few months one sold for $70,000 on BAT and one on Ebay for $44,000. 1990-92 with the 5.7L V8s are the holy Grail for those cars.
The Taurus could even be sold today and it still would look futuristic
Rule no.1.
Never let bean counters, lawyers, safety gurus, environmentalists, car hating people,or bureaucrats dictate how automobiles are designed.
Only take advice from car loving people.
Loved the pizza menu Easter egg! Funny, snarky, and informative, as usual. Another home run for your excellent channel!
But Ed is NOT a failed TH-camr! This channel is growing, and it seems to have very loyal fans. And I'm one of them!
I'm sorry but the US Ford Granada look way better than the European version. The Euro Car looked like it's a matchbox toy and reminds me of an Audi Fox. I used to kind of like the Box until I wrote in one one day it belong to the Senior Chief in our naval squadron. It was plain inside, very unimaginative designs and uncomfortable seats. And it was noisy as hell as far as the engine. That very day I didn't about face on what I believed as far as many of the European brands. Euro was nothing but a hyped up bunch of hogwash brainwashing everyone into thinking and it's their cars were great, the power of advertising until you actually experience the product. Then you want to puke.
Waiting for part IV!
As always good job! Well done
The horizon was not high quality. The darts were very good overall. My parents had both. My dad loved the horizon for it's economy but it kept killing water pumps. Every three months he would replace it. My mom's 1967 dodge dart only had rust problems. Lasted into the late 1980s before it was sold to a local guy my mom bought it new in 1967. Base model four door. Really good cars.
Nice design. I've always been a Dodge Omni man.
I'll see myself out.
We had a Talbot Horizon (european version) since 1983 to 1994, what a car! Here in Spain, Police had these cars in GT model with 90 hp, taxi drivers had models with near 1 million kms... Some times I see one diesel model (GTD) running in the Jarama Circuit...
The Malaise lasted a little longer. Paint on GM cars was awful. They had quality issues. The K Platform was around too long and too cheap inside ( I know my family had two of them and a Horizon at one point)
No, Ford for out the best but really, the headlight and bumper requirements and the lack of electronic technology in engines really handicapped things and by the time the Big 3 started making good cars again, they had lost their market share . GM is the to me the most shameful loser considering they had half the market in 1975. And Ford has evolved to a top quality product the most
Can’t wait for the next one, keep up the great work!
The regal was a bullet proof car. An elegant monster on the road with the turbo 6. One of my neighbors had one he built up to 1100 HP. Really was a beautiful car. Blows away so many other cars. I had a 1979 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme coupe. I wish I never sold it. Comfortable, beautiful and got 28 mpg on the highway with the small 260 V8. Really sweet car. Taurus was so nice as well. Comfortable and powerful. They came out with a SVT model that was really fast and kinda odd but a fun car to drive. The really crappy cars only came out in the last 10 years or so. They dropped quality in favor of high volume sales. Automakers know they can't outdo the cars they made decades ago so they reduce parts availability and now all cars built have only an 8 year supply of parts. Eventually nobody will own their own car. I'm in the process of amassing as much money as I can to buy up my favorite classics and also build a small company that will create replacement parts for older cars. At some point, the big three will have to realize that there's money to be made from royalties of aftermarket parts sales. I prefer old cars over new due to the style and easy maintenance
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter gave a speech about the challenges our country faced and what he termed a "crisis of confidence". Though he never used the word, it was called "the malaise speech". The president was telling the nation we needed to step up to the challenge and fix the things which weren't working correctly. Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan twisted Carter's words to use the speech against him. Instead of recognizing the nation's real problems, Reagan blamed Carter for even raising the issues and claimed "government is the problem".
Meanwhile, the U.S. auto industry was doing the same thing - failing to recognize and address their real problems, while doing stupid things which only made it worse.
K cars might have saved Chrysler but they were junk. Brand new '85 Dodge 600 couldn't keep head gaskets in it. Got rid of it after just a couple of years.
This is a great series on the Malaise Era, I can't wait for the next video!!! 👍👍🙂
Putting on these stripes and spoilers! That'll make it go faster fer shurr!
The malaise years also saw really horrible build quality. Ever see GM plastics in 7 different shades of the same color after a few years? Trim panels that end short of door gaps? Weird squeaking noises? Sad when a V8 can't pull its own weight.
Great video like always! Keep going!!
The 1992 Brougham was the last Bill Mitchell designed car and remained in production long after his death and even longer after his retirement.
And in my opinion the last stylish Cadillac.
What followed was uglier than the ‘80s 🤮
Geweldig leuk om te kijken!!
90s to present
Is like the second stage of the malaise era...
Now they're just boring and all look the same... and cost way too much!
Love those 1980's cars!
It's about time you started giving American brands some credit or I was going to badmouth your French brothers on Renault , Citron and Peugeot all junk by any standards .