Dude, u showcased not only my first car ('71 Olds Ninety Eight) but also the limo i drove part time one summer in the early '80s ('76 Cadillac stretch with divider window and full bar)! I got to drive a Lincoln stretch (late 70s) once but the Cad I liked better! Grand pa bought the Olds 98 new out in Odessa,TX for my grandma to go to the Piggly Wiggly in Big Springs! Metallic blue with a white vinyl top, that car would go onto my mom until I turned 15 with a learners permit and she got a rad '80 Mazda RX7 when she got a better paying job (whence I learned to drive a stick also). Thanks for the memories once again and yeah, Buick was on the higher pecking order back then. Olds was always at their heals with good looking, slightly more powerful "Rocket 8" engines I believe were used well into the late 70s but all the divisions designed their own engines.Buick was the doctor's car before he went all out on a Caddy! Those were the days but the Olds was truly a boulevard cruiser and I got tons of respect in that car cuz I kept her clean and talked my way out of more than one speeding tickets with the fuzz😅
@@GreenHawkDrive Wow, awesome, although notoriety from u is the best! You put together gr8 videos! I bet u wish u could've lived back then but it wasn't so dif from the '90s!
My mother's husband let me drive his mid-seventies Cadillac. I'll never forget what it dream it was to drive. It was so effortless it seemed smaller than it was. No modern Cadillac can compare. Thanks, Matt.
Yes...My Grandparents purchased a White 1968 Cadillac Coup DeVille ...it was the First year Cadillac went to the huge 472 V8 and the Switch Pitch Torque converter on the Caddys special Turbo 400 transmission.....what a car.
My mom had a 1976 Olds 98. It had a 455 Olds V-8 under the hood. Plenty of power and it glided down the highway as smooth as silk. You could drive over almost any crap on the road and you’d never feel it. Lol! We took a road trip from Texas to Colorado in it in the summer of 1976 and it was a joy. You just set the cruise control - popped in an 8-track tape of easy listening music - and chilled out as the miles rolled by. The damn thing was almost as comfortable to sit in as laying in your bed at home. Such plush seats. There will never be cars like that again. What an era!
My Dad's '69 Ninety-eight: get in it on a three day weekend Friday afternoon, drive 270+ miles to Vegas and get there more rested and relaxed than when you got in. A two door with doors that weighed more than my MG Midget.
When I was 16, in 1972, my dad bought a 1972 Imperial LeBaron 4 door hardtop in chestnut brown metalic with a brown vinyl roof. It had almost all the option boxes checked including separate rear seat heating system, power vent wing windows, all leather, stereo with cassette that could also record. It didn’t have sunroof or surestop 4 wheel antilock brakes (the only 4 wheel antilock system in the industry at the time, the other guys were only 2 wheel). It was a beast and he let me drive it. It really had presence. On the highway, the comfort was unbeatable especially in 1972. You could have a family of 4 live in the trunk. I always loved old Chryslers. I bought a 1960 Chrysler 300F in 1980, restored it, showed it then sold it in 1985. I always missed the car until I was offered it back 3 years ago. The collector owner stored it in a warehouse for 36 years! She came home to me🤗. Now in my senior years, I enjoy taking her out to local car events. Thank you for this, very informative!
@kevinw1554 : Grew up with Chryslers. Had a 59 Windsor ( Canadian version of the Newport), a '62 Newport, a 65 New Yorker, a 66 Imperial LeBaron, a 72 Imperial, then a 66 Imperial again. The original 66 Imperial was a WAY better car than the 72,( it has the 440 with twin 4 bbls, dual AC, dual heat, 6-way power front bucket seats, real wood trim and a host of other rare features) which is why my Dad bough the second 66 when it became available (it didn't have all the extras, though).. Lastly was a smaller 76 Imperial ( it was OK, but not great). All of these cars were fantastic, and way better quality that anything that GM and Ford produced ( except for some of the Lincolns). Wish I could afford another 66 Lebaron!
@@richardpare3538 both my in laws and I have houses built in the 50s and the garage doors are so so narrow they barely fit modern compact cars, let along the land yachts from the 50s. I frequently have to deal w competitive street parking in Manhattan. I usually drive my compact car vs my bigger car into the city bc of the tight parking space. So I don’t know how ppl were able to do it in the past w the land yachts. But I also guess the streets weren’t congested back then.
Hahah...True. My parents had a 1969 225 Electra 4 door. I remember that car, as a kid - it was HUGE; so big in fact, it would not fit in (the very big/deep) garage. True LAND YACHT
We owned a 79 Lincoln Continental Mark V Cartier Series. It was by far the smoothest riding car I've ever driven. Plush seats and every amenity you could think of. The hood was about as long as the Toyota I drive now. Great memories of that Lincoln. Thanks for posting this video.
Haha we had a diamond Julie edition mark 5 loves that car and the xr7 cougar same year midnight whammy edition. A ways now that I'm older perhaps the Lincoln mark 4 might be better?? Bigger?
Took my drivers license test in my Mom’s 67 Olds 98 in 1971. A year later she had a 1972 Buick Electra 225, later a 75 Ford LTD Brougham then a 78 Mercury Marquis Brougham. I drove all those cars at one time or another. The Marquis was my favorite, plush comfort. It was like driving a cloud.
In 79, my father working for Boeing in Wichta Kansas, decided to take us on a family road trip before heading back to UK. He bought a 72 Le Baron Imperial..Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Ilinois, Missouri..Kansas..5000+miles..staying Holiday Inns, Howard Johnsons, taking in every major landmark on the way..never broke down,, maybe a fan belt..6-8mpg..the car was perfect.. and even then... everybody wanted to talk to my father about it..
I had a friend in high school whose parents owned a '63 Imperial. On one occasion I saw them put a lawn mower and two bicycles in the trunk -- and close the lid!
i also put 7 girls in the back of my Buik lesabre and inside on the seats put more 8 ,when the city i live become a big university campus, normally at 4.30 in the morning to travel to a 200 meters up road to the main market café´s that opened at 5 in the morning, to drink more and eat, to wake up or coke or genebra if not gin a express cofee a slice of the lemon´s peel yellow ,cinamon and sugar lot´s of it,then mix it well , try it it´s perfect to end a night of drinking
Watching this video from acros the sea in the Netherlands. Seemingly ordinary cars for you Americans but almost every American car is special over here. Especially the ones from this period, not only a means of transportation but each and everyone a beautiful piece of art. Very nice videos, these kinds of lists👍
When I started driving around 1969, gas was around 35 cents per gallon (3.7854 liters), so it didn't matter if these guzzled gas. But surprisingly, the Cadillac De Ville could get 19 MPG with a 472 cubic inch engine (later bumped up to ~502 cubic inches), with conservative highway driving, as could the large Ford/Mercury cars with the more economical 390 cu in. engine.. They were fun to drive, but not exactly sporty, like the early BMWs I used to drive. The intermediate size muscle cars were my favorite - handling was pretty good, and the power was kick ass. The brakes were their biggest shortcoming, as they continued using drum brakes for WAY too long. Race modified 1963 427 Ford Galaxie th-cam.com/video/p-dl1_V8yds/w-d-xo.html funny as hell to see a land yacht racing with imports and doing well. (There's nothing like cubic inches to make up for a shortfall in braking and nimble handling :)
Ahh, the memories. I learned to drive in my father's 1968 Dodge Monaco, only 213" long and 80" wide. I really believe that learning to drive in those bigger cars made us boomers better drivers, as we had to learn to maintain our lanes and park with much less room for error. People who learned later, in smaller cars (due to gas prices) had less need to learn to thread a long, wide car through narrow passages. Now, these people have moved up to big SUVs and many can't drive or park for squat.
Had a '66 Monaco, 383 factory 4 spd manual. Burgundy with probably one of the most beautiful interiors I've ever seen in my 72 years and estimated 50+ cars I've owned. Only thing close was a '69 Caprice Classic, 350, 300 horse factory 4 spd that had a greenish color that's indescribable.
We Boomers HAD to be good drivers. I can still parallel park with the best of them. Why not? I grew up putting a 20-foot car in its space with ease. These 70s cars were once familiar-looking, but I do have to laugh at them now. Wish all people could experience those velvet rides, though.
When I was young and being from the U.K I only ever saw these cars on TV shows like kojak, starsky and hutch etc and I just thought they were fabulous !! The size of those station wagons are unbelievable.! You could live in one ! LoL 😆
Untill you have sat on one of these couches with the center armrest down and your right arm resting there, the air on the cruise control set and the stereo playing your favorite song, you have not lived. So common in those days, who would have thought that one day they would be gone. Ash trays and cigarette lighters in the back seat. Headlights that switched from low beam to high beam on their own. They make a big deal out of it now. We had that in our 1956 Olds and our 1961 Cadillac.
I drive a 2003 5 passenger Envoy. I also did test driving for Ford and Stella. The only thing that came close? The 4 door Dodge police model. But none of them rode as good and were as quiet as the 205 7 passenger Dual A/C Trailblazer. The last quiet road car was the Ford Panther.
Yes... but about 10 feet taller and hideous! I would love nothing more than to take a crusher to the Chevy Subdivision, Yukon, the GMC whatevers and the Escalade. And, it's usually a small woman who can barely see over the dash driving these ghastly behemoths.
@@roxburyranger I know. My 5'3" spousal unit loves her Trax. She hated my Ranger because it was a stick shift. Hated my Crown Vic. But she did not mind leaving the seat all the way forward. Because it took me too long to fill the tank in her Regal. Well removing and replacing the gas cap might break a nail. You can't just set it in there to make it easy. Then a check engine light comes on. Took a while 4 en gin ear ring to figure out how to make a trap door that could satisfy CARB's demands. Still does not matter. I fill. She drives. Trax still does the twisty clicky thingy.
My dad bought a used 1973 Imperial LeBaron in 1975. In 1976 I had to parallel park that thing for my driver's license. No backup cameras or parking sensors on those things.
@@richardpare3538 Oldsmobile was slightly below Buick. You can look back at the options available and trim levels, usually Oldsmobile's highest trim level was about equivalent to Buicks second highest tier.
Amazing to actually hear someone mention the Dodge Polara. I grew up with a 1973 Polara that my great grandmother owned but almost never drove, that ended up with my parents. Even in the 70s and 80s they seemed rare.
My maternal grandddad's next to last car was a 73 Polara. It remains one of only three Chrysler made products that I would ever own. His was an ugly light green color but rode very smoothly. The rear differential was going to need to be rebuilt and he decided the car was not worth the expense. He bought a two year old 1983 Chevrolet Malibu and the Dodge sat in the yard with a For Sale sign in the windshield for a brief time until it sold. I remember many early summer morning trips to the lake in that old Dodge to spend as much of the day fishing as we could until the south west Georgia heat just became unbearable.
LOL I used to own one of the biggest. I had a 1969 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron. It had a 440 cubic inch engine that could pass anything on the road but a gas station. I think it got 10 miles a gallon coasting downhill.
This is like a ride down memory lane for me. My Father had a 75 Electra Limited. It was the ultimate highway cruiser. Our neighbor across the street bought a 76 Olds 98. Our other neighbor across the street and two houses up bought a 74 Cadillac Fleetwood. My Fathers Best friend was going to trade his 67 Coupe De Ville in for a 77 Coupe De Ville, but he didn’t like how they cut them down, so he bought a leftover 76. We also knew people who had Chrysler New Yorkers and Lincoln Continentals. I had a chance to ride in all of these huge land yachts. They look ridiculously big now, but back in the 70’s they were so common, they looked normal.
That green New Yorker is so freakin' GORGEOUS!!! Bury me in that interior. I was blessed to be born in 1969, so I grew up with amazing cars and awesome music! I have owned a 4-door 75' Impala and a 1979 Delta and a 66' Galaxie 500. We used to refer to them as "road yachts". BTW, when I started driving in 1986, gas was around 45 cents per gallon. Insane.
Great video, thank you for bringing back so many memories for me. My friend growing up purchased a 1973 Chrysler Newport in the late 1970's which was a little shorter than the Imperial but still a beast. I am 6 feet tall and with the front seat in the mid position, I could not reach out and touch the dashboard. When the car finally needed to be junked, we took it out for a last ride and beat the shit out of it. Took out small trees out near his parents cabin in the country, banged it along guardrails on the interstate going 60 mph, but couldn't kill it. Drove the car to the junkyard and got $50 for it. What a machine.
I had a cherry 1973 Marquis with a 429. What a beautiful tank that was. The 70’s aircraft carriers are so under appreciated, but they are some of my favorite cars ever. When I was a kid my old man had a ‘77 Eldo and a ‘75 Olds 88 2 door and I can still remember riding in them. They seemed so enormous.
I remember helping my cat dealer friend move some cars frrom one dealer to another. I was the luckiest guy in the group as I got to drive a '76 Fleeteood Brougham 2 door with the 501 V8. To this day I have never driven a car that was so silky smoth aand quiet inside. Gettinging on the accelerator the car picked up effortlessly, yet barely a sound was heard from the revving engine from the inside. Such an impressive car. IMO the mid-70's was the golden age of the American automobile. The big Fords, Mercury's, Lincoln's and GM cars were all built well and safe to ride in. I enjoyed your unbiased approach in the video which is refreshing given that many video's I have watched on this subject show disdain for these awesome land yachts.
I owned a 1969 Buick 225 Electra which was an awesome ride in comfort, quiet, and fast (125 MHP). No wind noise which I found amazing at high speed. Think of it as sitting on a cushy couch floating over the highway.
In 1989 I met a chap in Switzerland who owned and loved one of these beasts since needless to say, it was the only land yacht there for miles around. I forget the engine capacity he mentioned but it dwarfed that of my 5.0 GT Mustang back in L.A. by a heap. An older friend in the U.S. described the need to physically climb into the trunk to remove the spare when he sprang a flat, so ridiculously huge was his luggage space. These massive "Yank Tanks" as we call them in Australia are still popular at car shows but there's really nowhere else that built sedans and coupes that big, and no other era in history either. Whether Peak Prosperity or just Conspicuous Consumption, it was an unforgettable marker of the times, which makes them all the more collectible for it now.
The Olds Ninety Eight and Buick Electra were NOT the same mechanically. Each GM division had its own unique proprietary V8 engine. The Electra had a unique Buick big block V8 and the Ninety Eight had its very own unique Olds big block V8.
Good point here, the platform and basic designs though were basically identical. Worth noting is the fact that later on GM pulled the plug on just what you mentioned with their badge swapping program in an effort to improve profits and competitiveness. It angered customers who discovered for example their Buick had an engine that was shared with Pontiac, Chevrolet and Oldsmodile.
I was just telling a friend about my 1970 LTD. Absolute beast. Loved it. Got like 8 miles to the gallon and had a 400 big block in it. Gold on gold, bench seats, and 8 track. Bought it from a farmer in Altus, OK in 88 with 23k miles on it. All original and in perfect shape. I paid 500.
Don't put your self down, your a very smart,what i would call "a new person". Im 62 years old and i LOVE this video. Memories for me, thank you very much. I had 1975 Coupe De ville , it was 7000 pounds. 2.1/2 tons . 500 CU engine Wish i still had it.
I remember, years ago, seeing a Chrysler New Yorker parked next to a Renault LeCar from a window of a second-story stairwell. Talk about size comparisons. My mom used to own a 76 Chevy Caprise when I was in college. Now, that was a land yacht. My coworkers at the time called it " Battlestar Galactica. "
I had personally, 74 Grand Marquis, 74 Olds Regency, 76 Caprice classic, 80 Caddy Eldorado, Man they were all great cars rode good no problems. Later went back and had 88 Grand Marquis. Man were those the Days.
So I watching this, and seeing more big rears than a Sir Mix a Lot video..and then you get to the final car. I agree with you 100%, that Imperial was stylish! Great vid Hawk!
@GreenHawkDrive You are quite welcome! I recall seeing many of what you showed as a kid in the 80s...Mainly parked where Seniors frequent. Didn't really see those Imperials though.
The '72 Cadillac Eldorado's back seat - with no hump in the floor - was bigger than my bedroom back then. The drummer in our band had one and he was everybody's best friend...
In the late 80's, I was stationed with a guy who had one of these. Easily fit 7 people in this with room to spare. Since it was front wheel drive, it actually was great in the snow.
Mr. B. Here ! 🍩☕️👀😎👍. Am 72 worked for Oldsmobile, I serviced 98 & 88 & the full size wagons ! Most folks today have no clue what it was to drive these vehicles and had class ! Road trip wow So comfortable ! 👀😎👍🍸🍸
I owned a Continental MK4, a MK5 and a Mercury Grand Marquis (not all at the same time!). They all had the 460 mated to a C6 transmission. They weren't powerful by modern standards, but the TORQUE! Beautiful land yachts and I miss them! The Grand Marquis had dual exhausts and on cruise on the Trans Canada got an amazing 21mpg.
@@styldsteel1 You ever heard of just abbreviating without a mandate from an OEM? You are reading way too much into this. Go relax and get off other peoples backs for an insignificant comment on TH-cam.
@@styldsteel1 Dude it's not laziness, just admit that your overhyping this shit. I think I know why to. You just trolling and you think it's funny when actually it makes you look like a huge AH! Stop your BS and relax!
Fresh out of the army in 1981 Bought a 66 Pontiac bonneville Spent my severance pay to rebuild it 4door hardtop 421 big block 3 2barrel carbs Turbo 400 and positraction and rear fender skirts.. Beat many muscle cars of the day in the quarter mile Totally underrated .... Best car I ever had. And faaaast😊
Great video! In response to your question about the hierarchy of Olds 98 vs. Buick Electra, many considered Buick to be the more prestigious. Buick's slogan decades ago was to call them "The Doctor's Car." Thanks for the enjoyable video.
My dad bought a ‘72 Electra 225 for my mom because she needed “a lot of metal around her.” My first car was a 1970 Chrysler Imperial Lebaron. It had a 440, hidden headlights, power vents, rear window defogger (not defroster) and a button on the floor the that you pressed with your foot to change the radio station. Color: aqua. I was 17 and barely drove it because I could not afford the gas.
Looks are subjective. I think they look ridiculous. I have been in and driven some of these yachts. The legroom is poor for something so big, and they ride like a waterbed in an earthquake. As for the handling, well it's laughable.
'76 and '77 I worked for a place that reconditioned used cars for car dealerships. Our biggest customer was a Buick dealership, 4 a day he'd bring us. Didn't have the cleaning formulas or equipment we have today, just elbow grease. 8 man hours per car, I've seen most of these cars inside and out. Thanks for the memories.
My 5 foot tall mother drove a big Oldsmobile. One day she accellerated onto the freeway and said "Well, there goes three gallons of gas." I bought my wife an old Plymouth with a V8 and a 2-stage carberator. We had a winding uphill road to our house. I would keep the speed at 20 mph but at one particular turn, the 2nd stage would kick in and it was like we had jet-assist. Lots of fun and it rode like a cloud. It had a big butt (rear end) so we called it Bertha.
My mom was also 5 feet tall. Whenever she drove the family '76 Olds Nighty Eight she put a few pillows in the driver seat to elevate her enough to see over that long hood.
My former father-in-law LOVED those Chrysler Imperials. He owned several of them. They were nice to ride in and they rode over the road smoothly. Beautiful cars for the time.
The Buick Electra and Olds 98 reached the same type of customer as far as wealth or opulence.They rode slightly different and handling was slightly different but styling really was the biggest factor.
Love them land yachts. My father owned a 1970 Dodge Polara that was later replaced by a 1971 Ford Ltd. station wagon. Loved riding in them, especially in the middle of the front bench seat. This kind of experience is no longer available today.
i was also a american car fan and in 78 me and a dutch friend started to buy cars in L.A. where we have a friend and at start we were afraid of not selling any but a day before returning to europe a friend who did the office work told us if we could get more because the ones bought and listed were all sold and we bought more and stayed there two weeks more, mainly at the time all wanted camaro´s or firebirds like in smokey and the bandit or similar name with burt reynolds and sara field(not surer of her name)also the three dukes car the dodge charger ,i remenberb having a 7.0L or around it in black that kept it two years before selling and was a nice car with manual gears ,the main problem when buying cars was the dificultie of finding them with manual gears but the only problem were the turns ,also kept a white camaro ,split bumpers all in white with blue windows and the rearview mirrors on the doors were sporty and also white as the body and it´s almost the same as the firebird or trans am from the same year , one that i still own is a mercury cougar manual from 1969 with a 7.0L engine ,not sure but i think it was a RX 7 all black with inside in dark red suede or similar material seats ,the shape by the sides made remenber the coupé of the 65 mustang but bigger, the one i bought to myself ,still have 3 coupés from 67 pontiacs ,the lemans ,the grandprix convertible(with automatic gears), and the boneville ,who have a lot of similar parts and i think the same chassi , the Le mans is golden brown with white vinil top, the grandprix is white with black top and the boneville blue(sea blue, not sure what is called in english) with black vinil top,from Buik i have a lesabre 71 with black hardtop in vinil ,manual and the colour is a dry shade of green metalic Paint not sure what is called in english or maybe soft green and gold metalized paint, most of the cars i have are from 59 to 74 this U.S. cars i have a lot others mainly mercedes, bmw´s ,alfa-romeus , lancias and porshes(who were in late 80´s hated ,don´t know why ,have 7 that costed me in mint condition around what today is 500€ except a 911 turbo from 83 that cost me in 91 what today is 2.500€ also have some fords but european models till 91, this was cars that i paid almost next to nothing or what today is almost 100€ ,the cars were given to me or sold by families friends of my family as their sons didn´t want old cars and they didn´t had a place to store them, also have some separates that are one from it´s brand like the inocenti detomaso or the fiat 131 coupé or the peugeot 504 coupé from 1972 ,also a citroen DS21 with 2.273 cc´s(or close) engine like in the DS 19 GT model, also have a more modern 3.0L V6 of the citroen XM ,early 90´s, this last car was one of those everybody should try it, it lights up at night like a christmas tree and it starts to lift of but doesn´t fly only extremelly confortable, and off road capable as it as several heights positions (it as the same hidraulic system as the DS),my main hobby either than hi-fi components and music, some colect stamps and coins ,i have them also but were from my father and they sure are big
We had a ‘73 Lincoln Town Car. What a fabulous boat that was! I drove it to school most of my high school senior year! Fond memories! Thanks for posting!
I was child in the 70's but i still remember the Ford LTD being a beast of an automobile. You did a great job on this vid! Great research and VO commentary. Keep it up! 💯
My very first car was a 1973 Chrysler Newport. That car was huge. This video brought back some good memories of that car. It was every bit as big as the cars on this list. I was actually surprised it wasn't mentioned even though it was very similar to the Chryslers that did make the list. Chrysler made some huge boats all throughout the 1970's.
Some uninformed people used the term ‘land yacht’ as an insult.to make fun of these vehicles.But unless you’ve owned one,you wouldn’t understand.I imported a ‘75 Cadillac Coupe DeVille to Australia 5yrs ago,and love it.All other cars are ignored when I’m on the road.The 500ci/8.2lt motor will go forever…
Out of high school in 1972 to commence my auto mechanics apprenticeship in a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership ! I was riding HIGH.... I loved those boats !
I wish they had continued to this day, then we wouldn't be driving cars capped with plastic at both ends that shatters at the slightest impact... I saw a rerun of Rockford the other night, and a mid-70s LTD smacked into a dumpster hard enough to push it back 10 ft, and the front end had no apparent damage.
@@marko7843 One nice thing about the old chrome bumpers, especially with the rubber bumperettes, was that you could push a stalled vehicle out of the road. Nowadays nobody will risk cracking/scratching their plastic bumper.
@@AFTER_MIDNITE My oldest sister t-boned a cop cruiser who slid thru an intersection in the middle of a snow storm. Totaled the cop car, but only tweaked sideways one of the bumperetts, which I straightened out easily by hand.
My family had a 74 Ford LTD, green and white. What a monster car. A friend of mine got his grandmother's Cadillac El Dorado when she stopped driving and we were in high school. It had a 500 cubic inch engine, AC, front wheel drive and got roughly 8 or 9 gallons per mile!!! It had a fold down arm rest in the back seat in the center of the back seat. We fiber glassed the trunk, put in a drain plug, cut through the metal between the back seat and the trunk, added rubber weather stripping for safety, and used that trunk as a beer cooler. We would drive over to the ice house, use the chute to fill the trunk with ice on top of the beer. It was our road trip vehicle. We would drive from West Texas to San Antonio or Austin for concerts. You could easily fit 6 high school boys in that beast. You could do a smooth 80 out on those lonely roads and it felt like you were floating along. The 70s were a different time in America. It was a time of transition into constant decline.
My first really good car was a 74 Lincoln Continental Mark IV. 395 BHP high compression engine with a switchable positrac rear end. Every luxury option except for a swivel seat. It was a dragster disguised as a land yacht.
I was born in 1977. I grew up in the 1980s. The family car was a 1976 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency. It was black on black and looked absolutely amazing. My siblings and I thought it was a limo because 1970s land yacht cars looked even bigger through the eyes of little kids. I remember how roomy that beast was. No problem seating mom, dad, me and my 3 siblings comfortably. Was nice seeing the '74 and 75 models included on this list. The Nighty Eight brings back my childhood memories. I miss that big car so much.
As a Brit I'm amazed by these beautiful cars. I remember watching American TV shows from the 70's and 80's, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak and The Dukes of Harzard and many more and loving your cars. We never had anything that could come close. Such great designs. I look forward to finding out more now I've discovered this channel. 😁🇬🇧👍🇺🇸
Lincolns NOT $100,000 in late' 70s; $12,000 to 14,000 range. *Careful research please* - and state if you're factoring for inflation. Buick was seen as a step below Cadillac, the banker's luxury car.
I think you would be clear that it meant in today's money but you're right he probably should state "in today's money" that would be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
One day back in 1975, Dad flew over to Atlanta from Charleston and drove back with a used silver Cartier edition Mark IV. It had a red interior and was loaded. I remember him telling me it had about 3000 miles on it, and he wrote a check for $15,500.00. He even ordered two small metal plates that were about an inch and a half square with his initials embossed in ceramic that we stuck on the doors. I was a goofy teen, and I put them on too quickly and one side was about an inch lower than the other side. He was excited to have the car and told me he didn’t care about the misplacement. I thought the initials were tacky, but he liked them. He had a Mark III before this car and also had about 4 or 5 Mercedes. The Lincoln was his road car while the Mercedes were better around town with their balanced handling. Across the street, my schoolmate’s dad had a New Yorker. I rode in the back and enjoyed the stereophonic sound. Another classmate had a Continental. Later on, mom had several Volvos. Carwise, we were spoiled.
I'm 6'5" and 345 lbs, i remember the sheer road comfort that these Beautiful Cars provided. I am downright hateful of todays crap cars, save for maybe a nice Suburban or Navigator, but who has 80 grand? I think every car you featured was magnificent, large and in charge!
My godmother owned the 1975 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency. I watched this video knowing you would have to feature this amazing land yacht. For the mid-70's, it was the epitome of luxury and smoothness. The interior/exterior pictures displayed in this video bring back memories of cruising in this magnificent car...My dad had the same year Mercedes 280S, a beautiful car but it did not compare at all in pure luxury. Thank you for the memories I have of the great 1970's...
I think you did a good job on the video. Pricing of course is off. W GM the pecking order was Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet. Keep your American vcar videos coming!
Loved watching this video AND reading a plethora of the comments! Long has been and likely will be the discussion about which of these land yachts were most comfortable.
I'm not from the states, but wasn't caddy pure luxury, Buick kind of a performance luxury brand, Pontiac more sporty and performance orientated than Buick and chevy a blue collar marque? Buick was more of a Mercedes and Pontiac more like BMW, although those brands have drifted away from their old images.
I had a 1971 Chrysler New Yorker, 4 door hard-top, with the 440ci engine (7.2 liter) 224" about 19' long. One of the coolest, most comfortable cars I ever had. I kick myself at least once a month for ever selling it. Live and learn. Bring back the land yacht!
My parents inherited what I believe was a 68 Chrysler New Yorker in the early 80s. Completely cherry. Could have played ping pong in the back seat. I was so embarrassed to go anywhere in it. When we sold it we got a Toyota Tercel. Quite the difference. lol.
This video was awesome! Brought back so much nostalgia! My very first car in 1995 was a 4 door 1971 Buick LeSabre. It had a 350 motor with a quadrajet carb and duel exhausts with glass packs on it. That beast was a hot rod! I LOVED MY CAR! Sadly, my car had some age related issues. The defrost stopped working and I couldn’t see driving to school in the mornings. So I parked it at my stepdad’s mechanic shop and asked him to fix the defroster on it. That was all that was wrong with the car! He sold the car! I was devastated! And the jerk he sold it to tore it up and put it in the salvage yard in less than a year. My stepdad tried to make amends by buying me a 4 door 1981 Buick LeSabre as a replacement. It just didn’t come close to being on the same level as that ‘71. I loved my land yacht! I wish I could have rescued my first car before it went to the scrapper.
At 1:48 in the video the Chrysler was in serious need of a complete tune up lol...but driving the big luxury liners was always a pleasure until it came to parking places ....but a magic carpet ride on the open road ....smooth ...fully optioned ...full power .
The '73 Imperial was easily the most modern looking of all of these cars. This was Chief Designer Elwood Engel's last hurrah before he retired in 1974.
You sound like me, I also like all cars being a member of the Antique Automobile Club Of America, and a member of the Hershey Region AACA. Really enjoy going to car shows. This was very interesting to see the longest cars, some of them I drove at one time they were very comfortable and great for long trips, and they were fun to drive, most would really get-up-and-go !😃
And if by chance you actually read all the comments, another friends grandmother had the same red 74 Chrysler, I grew up in El Paso Texas, not a big ford town. But land yachts were awesome, my particular 76 all I had to do to get over 300 horses was put an Edelbrock torquer 2 and dual exhaust now with that you ain't gonna win a quarter mile but with 308$ I could get 110 when most people in 93 were lucky to hit 85
@@GreenHawkDrivesurely u jest! The U. S. version has hidden headlamps, bloated body with rear "skirts" and a baroque applique in between the taillights! I much preferred the other makes to Ford back then as their style was too formal. I mean, have u seen the Mustang II?😅
In 1970 my dad bought a 1970 Olds Delta 88 … incredible land yacht !!! In 1972 my mom decided to get back into the workforce … so dad bought her a 1972 Plymouth Fury 3 !!! another land yacht !!!!! I turned 16 in 1972 !!! How I miss driving those land yachts !!!!!!!
Enjoyed this vid on these Land Yachts ... As to your prices of these large cars being $100,000 or more, no American cars in that time period were in that category. Even the high end European cars had not ascended to that level yet ... Were they expen$ive for their time = Y E $
My understanding was that was Buick was one notch higher than Oldsmobile. But kind of on a par? So it went: Chevrolet. Pontiac. Oldsmobile. Buick. Cadillac. Certainly that's how my family viewed it anyway. When I was a kid in the late 60s/70s, we were a GM family. We owned cars from every line except Cadillac (my mom viewed them as "showy")
I was born in the middle 1960s in Brooklyn, NY. So I grew up during this era of these land yachts. And a lot of Brooklynites enjoyed driving these cars! I love American luxury sedans! I love the look, smooth ride, durability, V8 power, style, confidence, and luxury. I used to own a 1997 Lincoln Town Car and loved every minute of it!
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Dude, u showcased not only my first car ('71 Olds Ninety Eight) but also the limo i drove part time one summer in the early '80s ('76 Cadillac stretch with divider window and full bar)! I got to drive a Lincoln stretch (late 70s) once but the Cad I liked better!
Grand pa bought the Olds 98 new out in Odessa,TX for my grandma to go to the Piggly Wiggly in Big Springs! Metallic blue with a white vinyl top, that car would go onto my mom until I turned 15 with a learners permit and she got a rad '80 Mazda RX7 when she got a better paying job (whence I learned to drive a stick also).
Thanks for the memories once again and yeah, Buick was on the higher pecking order back then. Olds was always at their heals with good looking, slightly more powerful "Rocket 8" engines I believe were used well into the late 70s but all the divisions designed their own engines.Buick was the doctor's car before he went all out on a Caddy!
Those were the days but the Olds was truly a boulevard cruiser and I got tons of respect in that car cuz I kept her clean and talked my way out of more than one speeding tickets with the fuzz😅
Thank you for this comment man. I hope more people read it.
@@GreenHawkDrive Wow, awesome, although notoriety from u is the best! You put together gr8 videos! I bet u wish u could've lived back then but it wasn't so dif from the '90s!
Wait a min, Odessa is also a city/town in Texas?
@@Average_Car_Lover Yes just down a spell from Midland. Big Springs a ways a little further NE
"...the fuzz." Ain't heard THAT word in awhile.😁😁
My mother's husband let me drive his mid-seventies Cadillac. I'll never forget what it dream it was to drive. It was so effortless it seemed smaller than it was. No modern Cadillac can compare. Thanks, Matt.
Love them my parents had 72 Cadillac couple de ville 72 eldorado 1958 continental
Yes...My Grandparents purchased a White 1968 Cadillac Coup DeVille ...it was the First year Cadillac went to the huge 472 V8 and the Switch Pitch Torque converter on the Caddys special Turbo 400 transmission.....what a car.
472 v8 in a Cadillac coupe.. those were the days.
Was your mother’s husband not your father or stepfather?
@@hesseldijkstra5327 lol!
My mom had a 1976 Olds 98. It had a 455 Olds V-8 under the hood. Plenty of power and it glided down the highway as smooth as silk. You could drive over almost any crap on the road and you’d never feel it. Lol! We took a road trip from Texas to Colorado in it in the summer of 1976 and it was a joy. You just set the cruise control - popped in an 8-track tape of easy listening music - and chilled out as the miles rolled by. The damn thing was almost as comfortable to sit in as laying in your bed at home. Such plush seats. There will never be cars like that again. What an era!
My Dad's '69 Ninety-eight: get in it on a three day weekend Friday afternoon, drive 270+ miles to Vegas and get there more rested and relaxed than when you got in. A two door with doors that weighed more than my MG Midget.
Does that include dead bodies? 😅
Ya, i remember the big cars that i slept in while the family was driving somewhere. It was as confie as my bed!
@@blueduck9409 We are wet 😄
@@timmartin7664topgear reference?
When I was 16, in 1972, my dad bought a 1972 Imperial LeBaron 4 door hardtop in chestnut brown metalic with a brown vinyl roof. It had almost all the option boxes checked including separate rear seat heating system, power vent wing windows, all leather, stereo with cassette that could also record. It didn’t have sunroof or surestop 4 wheel antilock brakes (the only 4 wheel antilock system in the industry at the time, the other guys were only 2 wheel). It was a beast and he let me drive it. It really had presence. On the highway, the comfort was unbeatable especially in 1972. You could have a family of 4 live in the trunk. I always loved old Chryslers. I bought a 1960 Chrysler 300F in 1980, restored it, showed it then sold it in 1985. I always missed the car until I was offered it back 3 years ago. The collector owner stored it in a warehouse for 36 years! She came home to me🤗. Now in my senior years, I enjoy taking her out to local car events.
Thank you for this, very informative!
How did ppl park these cars in the garage? Or street parking?
@@Wasabi9111 Pretty easy - you park it just like any other car - assuming the garage is wide enough and long enough!
@kevinw1554 : Grew up with Chryslers. Had a 59 Windsor ( Canadian version of the Newport), a '62 Newport, a 65 New Yorker, a 66 Imperial LeBaron, a 72 Imperial, then a 66 Imperial again. The original 66 Imperial was a WAY better car than the 72,( it has the 440 with twin 4 bbls, dual AC, dual heat, 6-way power front bucket seats, real wood trim and a host of other rare features) which is why my Dad bough the second 66 when it became available (it didn't have all the extras, though).. Lastly was a smaller 76 Imperial ( it was OK, but not great). All of these cars were fantastic, and way better quality that anything that GM and Ford produced ( except for some of the Lincolns). Wish I could afford another 66 Lebaron!
@@richardpare3538 both my in laws and I have houses built in the 50s and the garage doors are so so narrow they barely fit modern compact cars, let along the land yachts from the 50s.
I frequently have to deal w competitive street parking in Manhattan. I usually drive my compact car vs my bigger car into the city bc of the tight parking space. So I don’t know how ppl were able to do it in the past w the land yachts. But I also guess the streets weren’t congested back then.
Swweeeettt Story! 😃
Todays youth will never know just how smooth these cars drove. And the sounds, sights and feel of them. I miss it
My 69 Fury was so smooth. As my brother said the first time he drove it. 'It's like gliding down the highway on a sofa'
That the Christine year ?
@@jadeddragon4254 Christine was a 1958 Fury.
Drove ,turned and stopped like a wallowing sow
Everything just worked. Roll the windows down out in the countryside. No buffering.
I remember climbing in the backseat of my friends 1969 Buick Electra 225 4 door and I wouldn't have been surprised to see a fireplace.
Right?!? Pull the front seat of my 75' Impala 4-door all the way forward and the back seat became a small living room!
Hahah...True. My parents had a 1969 225 Electra 4 door. I remember that car, as a kid - it was HUGE; so big in fact, it would not fit in (the very big/deep) garage. True LAND YACHT
Hahaha Hahaha yeah right ✅️ 🤣 big bad Buick love em .OUT OF THE WAY EVERYBODY HERE'S COMES THE BUICK
You must have been hot 😊
I had a 1971 Electra 225
We owned a 79 Lincoln Continental Mark V Cartier Series. It was by far the smoothest riding car I've ever driven. Plush seats and every amenity you could think of. The hood was about as long as the Toyota I drive now. Great memories of that Lincoln. Thanks for posting this video.
Haha we had a diamond Julie edition mark 5 loves that car and the xr7 cougar same year midnight whammy edition. A ways now that I'm older perhaps the Lincoln mark 4 might be better?? Bigger?
Took my drivers license test in my Mom’s 67 Olds 98 in 1971. A year later she had a 1972 Buick Electra 225, later a 75 Ford LTD Brougham then a 78 Mercury Marquis Brougham. I drove all those cars at one time or another. The Marquis was my favorite, plush comfort. It was like driving a cloud.
The famous "Deuce and a Quarter" Electra 225.
Buik was my family prefered brand all had Buiks, i love the coupés
@@RUfromthe40s c
I had a '72 Marquis. One of my favorites. 429-4V and if you floored it when stopped it just stood there burning up the tires. LOL
How gorgeous were the interior of these land barges. The seats in these things were nicer than my sofa!
My Dad (born in '56) thanks you for this video.
Wow, that means a lot. Thank you both for watching.
@@GreenHawkDrive Memory lane is always a nice drive.
In 79, my father working for Boeing in Wichta Kansas, decided to take us on a family road trip before heading back to UK. He bought a 72 Le Baron Imperial..Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Ilinois, Missouri..Kansas..5000+miles..staying Holiday Inns, Howard Johnsons, taking in every major landmark on the way..never broke down,, maybe a fan belt..6-8mpg..the car was perfect.. and even then... everybody wanted to talk to my father about it..
Quality trip...thanks for sharing
I had a friend in high school whose parents owned a '63 Imperial. On one occasion I saw them put a lawn mower and two bicycles in the trunk -- and close the lid!
😂
i also put 7 girls in the back of my Buik lesabre and inside on the seats put more 8 ,when the city i live become a big university campus, normally at 4.30 in the morning to travel to a 200 meters up road to the main market café´s that opened at 5 in the morning, to drink more and eat, to wake up or coke or genebra if not gin a express cofee a slice of the lemon´s peel yellow ,cinamon and sugar lot´s of it,then mix it well , try it it´s perfect to end a night of drinking
That is so insane I love it.
Had 20 people in my 65 New Yorker once (talk bout everyone being squished!), by thankfully never tried that with the bigger 66 LeBaron!
@@richardpare3538 I got me a Chrysler. It's as big as a whale and it's about to set sail. It seats about 20. So hurry up and bring your jukebox money.
Watching this video from acros the sea in the Netherlands. Seemingly ordinary cars for you Americans but almost every American car is special over here. Especially the ones from this period, not only a means of transportation but each and everyone a beautiful piece of art. Very nice videos, these kinds of lists👍
When I started driving around 1969, gas was around 35 cents per gallon (3.7854 liters), so it didn't matter if these guzzled gas. But surprisingly, the Cadillac De Ville could get 19 MPG with a 472 cubic inch engine (later bumped up to ~502 cubic inches), with conservative highway driving, as could the large Ford/Mercury cars with the more economical 390 cu in. engine.. They were fun to drive, but not exactly sporty, like the early BMWs I used to drive. The intermediate size muscle cars were my favorite - handling was pretty good, and the power was kick ass. The brakes were their biggest shortcoming, as they continued using drum brakes for WAY too long.
Race modified 1963 427 Ford Galaxie th-cam.com/video/p-dl1_V8yds/w-d-xo.html funny as hell to see a land yacht racing with imports and doing well.
(There's nothing like cubic inches to make up for a shortfall in braking and nimble handling :)
I own a 1965 Imperial Crown Coupe. Couldn't agree more!
Ahh, the memories. I learned to drive in my father's 1968 Dodge Monaco, only 213" long and 80" wide. I really believe that learning to drive in those bigger cars made us boomers better drivers, as we had to learn to maintain our lanes and park with much less room for error. People who learned later, in smaller cars (due to gas prices) had less need to learn to thread a long, wide car through narrow passages. Now, these people have moved up to big SUVs and many can't drive or park for squat.
Had a '66 Monaco, 383 factory 4 spd manual. Burgundy with probably one of the most beautiful interiors I've ever seen in my 72 years and estimated 50+ cars I've owned. Only thing close was a '69 Caprice Classic, 350, 300 horse factory 4 spd that had a greenish color that's indescribable.
My first car was 1969 Chrysler Newport. It was a huge but well built car. 😊😅
We Boomers HAD to be good drivers. I can still parallel park with the best of them. Why not? I grew up putting a 20-foot car in its space with ease. These 70s cars were once familiar-looking, but I do have to laugh at them now. Wish all people could experience those velvet rides, though.
When I was young and being from the U.K I only ever saw these cars on TV shows like kojak, starsky and hutch etc and I just thought they were fabulous !! The size of those station wagons are unbelievable.! You could live in one ! LoL 😆
One of the reasons I like to watch the 70s Cop shows. So many cool cars.
Untill you have sat on one of these couches with the center armrest down and your right arm resting there, the air on the cruise control set and the stereo playing your favorite song, you have not lived. So common in those days, who would have thought that one day they would be gone. Ash trays and cigarette lighters in the back seat. Headlights that switched from low beam to high beam on their own. They make a big deal out of it now. We had that in our 1956 Olds and our 1961 Cadillac.
The longest production SUV in 2024 is the Cadillac Escalade ESV at 227"...yet still shorter than every car on this list!
I drive a 2003 5 passenger Envoy. I also did test driving for Ford and Stella. The only thing that came close? The 4 door Dodge police model.
But none of them rode as good and were as quiet as the 205 7 passenger Dual A/C Trailblazer.
The last quiet road car was the Ford Panther.
Yes... but about 10 feet taller and hideous! I would love nothing more than to take a crusher to the Chevy Subdivision, Yukon, the GMC whatevers and the Escalade. And, it's usually a small woman who can barely see over the dash driving these ghastly behemoths.
@@roxburyranger I know. My 5'3" spousal unit loves her Trax.
She hated my Ranger because it was a stick shift.
Hated my Crown Vic.
But she did not mind leaving the seat all the way forward.
Because it took me too long to fill the tank in her Regal.
Well removing and replacing the gas cap might break a nail. You can't just set it in there to make it easy.
Then a check engine light comes on.
Took a while 4 en gin ear ring to figure out how to make a trap door that could satisfy CARB's demands.
Still does not matter. I fill. She drives.
Trax still does the twisty clicky thingy.
My dad bought a used 1973 Imperial LeBaron in 1975. In 1976 I had to parallel park that thing for my driver's license. No backup cameras or parking sensors on those things.
The order of hierarchy for luxury GM cars back then was Cadillac> Buick> Oldsmobile> Pontiac> Chevrolet
I figured, thank you
And Oldsmobile and Pontiac are gone. I can only imagine what their cars would have looked like today.
I always thought the the Olds were a better quality car than the Buicks.
@@richardpare3538 Oldsmobile was slightly below Buick. You can look back at the options available and trim levels, usually Oldsmobile's highest trim level was about equivalent to Buicks second highest tier.
Yep! I said the same thing.
Lots of room , super comfortable ride and real Chrome, will FOREVER admire these old cars ❤
I feel blessed to remember those cars.
❤
Amazing to actually hear someone mention the Dodge Polara. I grew up with a 1973 Polara that my great grandmother owned but almost never drove, that ended up with my parents. Even in the 70s and 80s they seemed rare.
My maternal grandddad's next to last car was a 73 Polara. It remains one of only three Chrysler made products that I would ever own. His was an ugly light green color but rode very smoothly. The rear differential was going to need to be rebuilt and he decided the car was not worth the expense. He bought a two year old 1983 Chevrolet Malibu and the Dodge sat in the yard with a For Sale sign in the windshield for a brief time until it sold. I remember many early summer morning trips to the lake in that old Dodge to spend as much of the day fishing as we could until the south west Georgia heat just became unbearable.
LOL I used to own one of the biggest. I had a 1969 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron. It had a 440 cubic inch engine that could pass anything on the road but a gas station. I think it got 10 miles a gallon coasting downhill.
Yes, my '68 Chrysler got exactly 10 MPG.
On a good day. Don't forget they had those extra large gas tanks too!
When I was a kid we had a 76 Oldsmobile 98 Regency Brougham. Beautiful hardtop in blue with opera windows and vinyl top. Great Car!
My late dad used to have a 77 Lincoln Continental. What a great ride!
This is like a ride down memory lane for me. My Father had a 75 Electra Limited. It was the ultimate highway cruiser. Our neighbor across the street bought a 76 Olds 98. Our other neighbor across the street and two houses up bought a 74 Cadillac Fleetwood. My Fathers Best friend was going to trade his 67 Coupe De Ville in for a 77 Coupe De Ville, but he didn’t like how they cut them down, so he bought a leftover 76. We also knew people who had Chrysler New Yorkers and Lincoln Continentals. I had a chance to ride in all of these huge land yachts. They look ridiculously big now, but back in the 70’s they were so common, they looked normal.
That green New Yorker is so freakin' GORGEOUS!!! Bury me in that interior. I was blessed to be born in 1969, so I grew up with amazing cars and awesome music! I have owned a 4-door 75' Impala and a 1979 Delta and a 66' Galaxie 500. We used to refer to them as "road yachts".
BTW, when I started driving in 1986, gas was around 45 cents per gallon. Insane.
I had a '74 Impala with fender skirts! A fat ride in the day...those skirts sucked in the winter time
I love these huge cars from the 60's and 70's, the good old days.
@@afarangi4839 You liked big things 😎
1955-1975... the golden twenties... today's world is so dull and boring (I'm in my late 60's).
@@jfrancobelge wel cheap oil allowed that,,,
unless you were drafted to vietnam of being in the golan heights?
Great video, thank you for bringing back so many memories for me. My friend growing up purchased a 1973 Chrysler Newport in the late 1970's which was a little shorter than the Imperial but still a beast. I am 6 feet tall and with the front seat in the mid position, I could not reach out and touch the dashboard. When the car finally needed to be junked, we took it out for a last ride and beat the shit out of it. Took out small trees out near his parents cabin in the country, banged it along guardrails on the interstate going 60 mph, but couldn't kill it. Drove the car to the junkyard and got $50 for it. What a machine.
I had a cherry 1973 Marquis with a 429. What a beautiful tank that was. The 70’s aircraft carriers are so under appreciated, but they are some of my favorite cars ever. When I was a kid my old man had a ‘77 Eldo and a ‘75 Olds 88 2 door and I can still remember riding in them. They seemed so enormous.
I remember helping my cat dealer friend move some cars frrom one dealer to another. I was the luckiest guy in the group as I got to drive a '76 Fleeteood Brougham 2 door with the 501 V8. To this day I have never driven a car that was so silky smoth aand quiet inside. Gettinging on the accelerator the car picked up effortlessly, yet barely a sound was heard from the revving engine from the inside. Such an impressive car. IMO the mid-70's was the golden age of the American automobile. The big Fords, Mercury's, Lincoln's and GM cars were all built well and safe to ride in. I enjoyed your unbiased approach in the video which is refreshing given that many video's I have watched on this subject show disdain for these awesome land yachts.
There were no 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood 2 doors, the Fleetwood coupe didn't come out until 1980 - 84.
I owned a 1969 Buick 225 Electra which was an awesome ride in comfort, quiet, and fast (125 MHP). No wind noise which I found amazing at high speed. Think of it as sitting on a cushy couch floating over the highway.
In 1989 I met a chap in Switzerland who owned and loved one of these beasts since needless to say, it was the only land yacht there for miles around. I forget the engine capacity he mentioned but it dwarfed that of my 5.0 GT Mustang back in L.A. by a heap. An older friend in the U.S. described the need to physically climb into the trunk to remove the spare when he sprang a flat, so ridiculously huge was his luggage space. These massive "Yank Tanks" as we call them in Australia are still popular at car shows but there's really nowhere else that built sedans and coupes that big, and no other era in history either. Whether Peak Prosperity or just Conspicuous Consumption, it was an unforgettable marker of the times, which makes them all the more collectible for it now.
The Olds Ninety Eight and Buick Electra were NOT the same mechanically. Each GM division had its own unique proprietary V8 engine. The Electra had a unique Buick big block V8 and the Ninety Eight had its very own unique Olds big block V8.
I appreciate your bringing this to my attention
@@GreenHawkDrive Pontiac also had its own unique 455 🤓
The V8 engines may have been different but the platform was the same.
@@GreenHawkDrive
And Cadillac had a 500 ci. Engine.
[ that’s basically an 8.2 Liter.😮
Good point here, the platform and basic designs though were basically identical. Worth noting is the fact that later on GM pulled the plug on just what you mentioned with their badge swapping program in an effort to improve profits and competitiveness. It angered customers who discovered for example their Buick had an engine that was shared with Pontiac, Chevrolet and Oldsmodile.
I was just telling a friend about my 1970 LTD. Absolute beast. Loved it. Got like 8 miles to the gallon and had a 400 big block in it. Gold on gold, bench seats, and 8 track. Bought it from a farmer in Altus, OK in 88 with 23k miles on it. All original and in perfect shape. I paid 500.
As a teenager, I had a 77 78 and 79 Continental God those are beautiful cars
Don't put your self down, your a very smart,what i would call "a new person". Im 62 years old and i LOVE this video. Memories for me, thank you very much. I had 1975 Coupe De ville , it was 7000 pounds. 2.1/2 tons . 500 CU engine Wish i still had it.
I remember, years ago, seeing a Chrysler New Yorker parked next to a Renault LeCar from a window of a second-story stairwell. Talk about size comparisons. My mom used to own a 76 Chevy Caprise when I was in college. Now, that was a land yacht. My coworkers at the time called it " Battlestar Galactica. "
I had personally, 74 Grand Marquis, 74 Olds Regency, 76 Caprice classic, 80 Caddy Eldorado, Man they were all great cars rode good no problems. Later went back and had 88 Grand Marquis. Man were those the Days.
So I watching this, and seeing more big rears than a Sir Mix a Lot video..and then you get to the final car. I agree with you 100%, that Imperial was stylish! Great vid Hawk!
That’s hilarious😂😂😂 Thank you as always man:)
@GreenHawkDrive You are quite welcome! I recall seeing many of what you showed as a kid in the 80s...Mainly parked where Seniors frequent. Didn't really see those Imperials though.
The Imperials were fantastic cars, but their quality really went down when they went to the "fuselage" shaping in 69.
The '72 Cadillac Eldorado's back seat - with no hump in the floor - was bigger than my bedroom back then. The drummer in our band had one and he was everybody's best friend...
In the late 80's, I was stationed with a guy who had one of these. Easily fit 7 people in this with room to spare. Since it was front wheel drive, it actually was great in the snow.
Great video. These "land yachts" (particularly the station-wagons) were the SUV of its day!
Vw bus was the original minivan
Those big station wagons were fantastic for hauling just about everything you owned! No one makes real wagons anymore, unfortunately.
Remember we picked up our new couch with our 1961 Chrysler New Yorker wagon.
... were the SUVs* of their* day.
Mr. B. Here ! 🍩☕️👀😎👍. Am 72 worked for Oldsmobile, I serviced 98 & 88 & the full size wagons ! Most folks today have no clue what it was to drive these vehicles and had class ! Road trip wow So comfortable ! 👀😎👍🍸🍸
I owned a Continental MK4, a MK5 and a Mercury Grand Marquis (not all at the same time!). They all had the 460 mated to a C6 transmission. They weren't powerful by modern standards, but the TORQUE! Beautiful land yachts and I miss them! The Grand Marquis had dual exhausts and on cruise on the Trans Canada got an amazing 21mpg.
There is no American made car with the designation of MK anything prior to 2007. Lincoln started using that MK designation until 2007.
@@styldsteel1 I believe they used "MK" as an abbreviation for "Mark" as in Mark 5.
@@styldsteel1 You ever heard of just abbreviating without a mandate from an OEM? You are reading way too much into this. Go relax and get off other peoples backs for an insignificant comment on TH-cam.
@@styldsteel1 Dude it's not laziness, just admit that your overhyping this shit. I think I know why to. You just trolling and you think it's funny when actually it makes you look like a huge AH! Stop your BS and relax!
Hopefully we can go back to cars like these. When American cars were actually fun to drive.
Give trump.a few years and we'll be cruisin
Don't apologize or second guess yourself, your doing an awesome job my friend! 👌✌
Thank you as always man
Fresh out of the army in 1981
Bought a 66 Pontiac bonneville
Spent my severance pay to rebuild it
4door hardtop 421 big block 3 2barrel carbs
Turbo 400 and positraction and rear fender skirts..
Beat many muscle cars of the day in the quarter mile
Totally underrated ....
Best car I ever had.
And faaaast😊
Those 421 powerd Pontiacs were no joke for big cars.
Great video! In response to your question about the hierarchy of Olds 98 vs. Buick Electra, many considered Buick to be the more prestigious. Buick's slogan decades ago was to call them "The Doctor's Car." Thanks for the enjoyable video.
Thank you man. What an interesting slogan, at least from my age, it’s so fascinating learning about yalls past
Im 65 years old. My uncle was an old car daddy, long deceased...but he owned many buick lasabres.
One of their slogans also used to be "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick"
My dad bought a ‘72 Electra 225 for my mom because she needed “a lot of metal around her.” My first car was a 1970 Chrysler Imperial Lebaron. It had a 440, hidden headlights, power vents, rear window defogger (not defroster) and a button on the floor the that you pressed with your foot to change the radio station. Color: aqua. I was 17 and barely drove it because I could not afford the gas.
Those Imperial cars were stunningly beautiful. 👍
Looks are subjective. I think they look ridiculous. I have been in and driven some of these yachts. The legroom is poor for something so big, and they ride like a waterbed in an earthquake. As for the handling, well it's laughable.
@@rasichap LOL. Which Imperials did you drive and what year?
@@1966-Charger never drove one but still awesome
@@petestaint8312 I have been in a '73 an happily own a '65. Great cars!
'76 and '77 I worked for a place that reconditioned used cars for car dealerships. Our biggest customer was a Buick dealership, 4 a day he'd bring us. Didn't have the cleaning formulas or equipment we have today, just elbow grease. 8 man hours per car, I've seen most of these cars inside and out. Thanks for the memories.
My 5 foot tall mother drove a big Oldsmobile. One day she accellerated onto the freeway and said "Well, there goes three gallons of gas." I bought my wife an old Plymouth with a V8 and a 2-stage carberator. We had a winding uphill road to our house. I would keep the speed at 20 mph but at one particular turn, the 2nd stage would kick in and it was like we had jet-assist. Lots of fun and it rode like a cloud. It had a big butt (rear end) so we called it Bertha.
Yeah, "Bertha Butt--she was one of the Butt sisters." Love it. We lived in great times.
My mom was also 5 feet tall. Whenever she drove the family '76 Olds Nighty Eight she put a few pillows in the driver seat to elevate her enough to see over that long hood.
2-stage carburator*
My former father-in-law LOVED those Chrysler Imperials. He owned several of them. They were nice to ride in and they rode over the road smoothly. Beautiful cars for the time.
The Buick Electra and Olds 98 reached the same type of customer as far as wealth or opulence.They rode slightly different and handling was slightly different but styling really was the biggest factor.
Love them land yachts. My father owned a 1970 Dodge Polara that was later replaced by a 1971 Ford Ltd. station wagon. Loved riding in them, especially in the middle of the front bench seat. This kind of experience is no longer available today.
When I was a little boy in the 1960's I used to dream of one day owning one of these beautiful cars. There was nothing to compare here in the UK.
i was also a american car fan and in 78 me and a dutch friend started to buy cars in L.A. where we have a friend and at start we were afraid of not selling any but a day before returning to europe a friend who did the office work told us if we could get more because the ones bought and listed were all sold and we bought more and stayed there two weeks more, mainly at the time all wanted camaro´s or firebirds like in smokey and the bandit or similar name with burt reynolds and sara field(not surer of her name)also the three dukes car the dodge charger ,i remenberb having a 7.0L or around it in black that kept it two years before selling and was a nice car with manual gears ,the main problem when buying cars was the dificultie of finding them with manual gears but the only problem were the turns ,also kept a white camaro ,split bumpers all in white with blue windows and the rearview mirrors on the doors were sporty and also white as the body and it´s almost the same as the firebird or trans am from the same year , one that i still own is a mercury cougar manual from 1969 with a 7.0L engine ,not sure but i think it was a RX 7 all black with inside in dark red suede or similar material seats ,the shape by the sides made remenber the coupé of the 65 mustang but bigger, the one i bought to myself ,still have 3 coupés from 67 pontiacs ,the lemans ,the grandprix convertible(with automatic gears), and the boneville ,who have a lot of similar parts and i think the same chassi , the Le mans is golden brown with white vinil top, the grandprix is white with black top and the boneville blue(sea blue, not sure what is called in english) with black vinil top,from Buik i have a lesabre 71 with black hardtop in vinil ,manual and the colour is a dry shade of green metalic Paint not sure what is called in english or maybe soft green and gold metalized paint, most of the cars i have are from 59 to 74 this U.S. cars i have a lot others mainly mercedes, bmw´s ,alfa-romeus , lancias and porshes(who were in late 80´s hated ,don´t know why ,have 7 that costed me in mint condition around what today is 500€ except a 911 turbo from 83 that cost me in 91 what today is 2.500€ also have some fords but european models till 91, this was cars that i paid almost next to nothing or what today is almost 100€ ,the cars were given to me or sold by families friends of my family as their sons didn´t want old cars and they didn´t had a place to store them, also have some separates that are one from it´s brand like the inocenti detomaso or the fiat 131 coupé or the peugeot 504 coupé from 1972 ,also a citroen DS21 with 2.273 cc´s(or close) engine like in the DS 19 GT model, also have a more modern 3.0L V6 of the citroen XM ,early 90´s, this last car was one of those everybody should try it, it lights up at night like a christmas tree and it starts to lift of but doesn´t fly only extremelly confortable, and off road capable as it as several heights positions (it as the same hidraulic system as the DS),my main hobby either than hi-fi components and music, some colect stamps and coins ,i have them also but were from my father and they sure are big
Jag mk10
We had a ‘73 Lincoln Town Car. What a fabulous boat that was! I drove it to school most of my high school senior year! Fond memories!
Thanks for posting!
Some absolute legend drives a mile long brown 70s Electra around my neighbourhood sometimes. It always makes my day to see it.
Wave at him for me!
You're hilarious!!
..."absolute legend"!
Glorious comment.
I was child in the 70's but i still remember the Ford LTD being a beast of an automobile. You did a great job on this vid! Great research and VO commentary. Keep it up! 💯
Growing up in the 70's it was the Buick Electra that I saw the most.
My very first car was a 1973 Chrysler Newport. That car was huge. This video brought back some good memories of that car. It was every bit as big as the cars on this list. I was actually surprised it wasn't mentioned even though it was very similar to the Chryslers that did make the list. Chrysler made some huge boats all throughout the 1970's.
Miss our 75 T-bird bronze edition with the 460 drove it in H.S. it was bigger than my Grandpa's 63 Chevy Impala which I still have. Great video!
Some uninformed people used the term ‘land yacht’ as an insult.to make fun of these vehicles.But unless you’ve owned one,you wouldn’t understand.I imported a ‘75 Cadillac Coupe DeVille to Australia 5yrs ago,and love it.All other cars are ignored when I’m on the road.The 500ci/8.2lt motor will go forever…
Feels good to eat my dinner while i watch your videos fr
Thank you man😎
i use to have lunch while driving some turns my right seat company made them
Out of high school in 1972 to commence my auto mechanics apprenticeship in a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership ! I was riding HIGH.... I loved those boats !
5-mph bumpers were mandated in '73 for front only (2.5 mph for rear). In '74 the 5mph mandate was set for both ends, continuing to this day.
The 5 mph bumper standard was subsequently dropped as the 2.5 mph front and rear was permitted in the 1990s and continues into the 2024 models.
I wish they had continued to this day, then we wouldn't be driving cars capped with plastic at both ends that shatters at the slightest impact...
I saw a rerun of Rockford the other night, and a mid-70s LTD smacked into a dumpster hard enough to push it back 10 ft, and the front end had no apparent damage.
The bumper requirements were reduced to 2.5 front and rear in 1982.
@@marko7843
One nice thing about the old chrome bumpers, especially with the rubber bumperettes, was that you could push a stalled vehicle out of the road. Nowadays nobody will risk cracking/scratching their plastic bumper.
@@AFTER_MIDNITE My oldest sister t-boned a cop cruiser who slid thru an intersection in the middle of a snow storm. Totaled the cop car, but only tweaked sideways one of the bumperetts, which I straightened out easily by hand.
Ah yes, the "land yachts". The most comfortable, smoothest riding, beautiful cars ever made. I miss them so bad.
Till you try turning a bend at speed never mind the hilarious mpg
Yes luxury and STYLE not like modern crap
Thank you for this enjoyable video! I love these land yachts.
My family had a 74 Ford LTD, green and white. What a monster car. A friend of mine got his grandmother's Cadillac El Dorado when she stopped driving and we were in high school. It had a 500 cubic inch engine, AC, front wheel drive and got roughly 8 or 9 gallons per mile!!! It had a fold down arm rest in the back seat in the center of the back seat. We fiber glassed the trunk, put in a drain plug, cut through the metal between the back seat and the trunk, added rubber weather stripping for safety, and used that trunk as a beer cooler. We would drive over to the ice house, use the chute to fill the trunk with ice on top of the beer. It was our road trip vehicle. We would drive from West Texas to San Antonio or Austin for concerts. You could easily fit 6 high school boys in that beast. You could do a smooth 80 out on those lonely roads and it felt like you were floating along. The 70s were a different time in America. It was a time of transition into constant decline.
Last sentence was on the money
My first really good car was a 74 Lincoln Continental Mark IV. 395 BHP high compression engine with a switchable positrac rear end. Every luxury option except for a swivel seat. It was a dragster disguised as a land yacht.
I was born in 1977. I grew up in the 1980s. The family car was a 1976 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency. It was black on black and looked absolutely amazing. My siblings and I thought it was a limo because 1970s land yacht cars looked even bigger through the eyes of little kids. I remember how roomy that beast was. No problem seating mom, dad, me and my 3 siblings comfortably. Was nice seeing the '74 and 75 models included on this list. The Nighty Eight brings back my childhood memories. I miss that big car so much.
My, that Imperial is beautiful.
Loved the ones we had!
As a Brit I'm amazed by these beautiful cars. I remember watching American TV shows from the 70's and 80's, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak and The Dukes of Harzard and many more and loving your cars. We never had anything that could come close. Such great designs. I look forward to finding out more now I've discovered this channel. 😁🇬🇧👍🇺🇸
Lincolns NOT $100,000 in late' 70s; $12,000 to 14,000 range. *Careful research please* - and state if you're factoring for inflation. Buick was seen as a step below Cadillac, the banker's luxury car.
You're right about the prices at the time. In today's money, they would be very high.
More than that in the 70s man, at least the Mark V😂
I think you would be clear that it meant in today's money but you're right he probably should state "in today's money" that would be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
One day back in 1975, Dad flew over to Atlanta from Charleston and drove back with a used silver Cartier edition Mark IV. It had a red interior and was loaded. I remember him telling me it had about 3000 miles on it, and he wrote a check for $15,500.00. He even ordered two small metal plates that were about an inch and a half square with his initials embossed in ceramic that we stuck on the doors. I was a goofy teen, and I put them on too quickly and one side was about an inch lower than the other side. He was excited to have the car and told me he didn’t care about the misplacement. I thought the initials were tacky, but he liked them. He had a Mark III before this car and also had about 4 or 5 Mercedes. The Lincoln was his road car while the Mercedes were better around town with their balanced handling. Across the street, my schoolmate’s dad had a New Yorker. I rode in the back and enjoyed the stereophonic sound. Another classmate had a Continental. Later on, mom had several Volvos. Carwise, we were spoiled.
i mean its pretty obvious he means in todays money
I'm 6'5" and 345 lbs, i remember the sheer road comfort that these Beautiful Cars provided. I am downright hateful of todays crap cars, save for maybe a nice Suburban or Navigator, but who has 80 grand? I think every car you featured was magnificent, large and in charge!
I had a 74 newport...loved it ❤
Excellent car at that time!
I had a 73 two door and man were those doors long
My godmother owned the 1975 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency. I watched this video knowing you would have to feature this amazing land yacht. For the mid-70's, it was the epitome of luxury and smoothness. The interior/exterior pictures displayed in this video bring back memories of cruising in this magnificent car...My dad had the same year Mercedes 280S, a beautiful car but it did not compare at all in pure luxury. Thank you for the memories I have of the great 1970's...
The true test of a land yacht is how many friends a teenager can smuggle in the trunk when going to the drive-in theater 😎
I think you did a good job on the video. Pricing of course is off.
W GM the pecking order was Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet.
Keep your American vcar videos coming!
Man, I wish they would bring back this length of car in a sedan.
Loved watching this video AND reading a plethora of the comments! Long has been and likely will be the discussion about which of these land yachts were most comfortable.
In my childhood home (I was born in '69), Buick was 'nicer' than an Olds, but less than a Caddy (assuming equivalent market point models)
Thank you
My experience too as I saw them new!
I'm not from the states, but wasn't caddy pure luxury, Buick kind of a performance luxury brand, Pontiac more sporty and performance orientated than Buick and chevy a blue collar marque? Buick was more of a Mercedes and Pontiac more like BMW, although those brands have drifted away from their old images.
I had a 1971 Chrysler New Yorker, 4 door hard-top, with the 440ci engine (7.2 liter) 224" about 19' long. One of the coolest, most comfortable cars I ever had. I kick myself at least once a month for ever selling it. Live and learn. Bring back the land yacht!
Correction : it was EXACTLY 20 feet long , I had the identical car and measured it with a buddy and tape measure to both ends .
Blinkers on top of the front fenders?
@@russrichards6685 yes , the shape of a house , lol .
My parents inherited what I believe was a 68 Chrysler New Yorker in the early 80s. Completely cherry. Could have played ping pong in the back seat. I was so embarrassed to go anywhere in it. When we sold it we got a Toyota Tercel. Quite the difference. lol.
In the GM Hierarchy, Buick was always a step above Oldsmobile, but a step below Cadillac. I was a kid in the 70s and specifically remember this.
Do you know all of the GM hierarchy? The Buick was referred to as the doctor's car🩺
This video was awesome! Brought back so much nostalgia! My very first car in 1995 was a 4 door 1971 Buick LeSabre. It had a 350 motor with a quadrajet carb and duel exhausts with glass packs on it. That beast was a hot rod! I LOVED MY CAR! Sadly, my car had some age related issues. The defrost stopped working and I couldn’t see driving to school in the mornings. So I parked it at my stepdad’s mechanic shop and asked him to fix the defroster on it. That was all that was wrong with the car! He sold the car! I was devastated! And the jerk he sold it to tore it up and put it in the salvage yard in less than a year. My stepdad tried to make amends by buying me a 4 door 1981 Buick LeSabre as a replacement. It just didn’t come close to being on the same level as that ‘71. I loved my land yacht! I wish I could have rescued my first car before it went to the scrapper.
At 1:48 in the video the Chrysler was in serious need of a complete tune up lol...but driving the big luxury liners was always a pleasure until it came to parking places ....but a magic carpet ride on the open road ....smooth ...fully optioned ...full power .
This video is very well done. It must have taken a lot of research. The smooth ride of such cars was highly prized by owners over 50 years old.
The '73 Imperial was easily the most modern looking of all of these cars. This was Chief Designer Elwood Engel's last hurrah before he retired in 1974.
Nunca mais teremos carros tão lindos como os feitos nos EUA nos anos 60s e início dos anos 70s!!👍👍🍺🍺
I TRULY APPRECIATE THIS VIDEO ❤
Uk viewer here, I loved the old Lincoln’s and Oldsmobiles back in the 70s
I’m lucky to own an 1969 Oldsmobile 98 convertible and a 2006 Lincoln Town Car, I love the way they drive ❤💯
Great vid, I love these old beasts.👌🤘👍🔥🔥🔥
Thank you, me too!
Same. Love the cars and the videos!
Thank you brother😎
You sound like me, I also like all cars being a member of the Antique Automobile Club Of America, and a member of the Hershey Region AACA. Really enjoy going to car shows. This was very interesting to see the longest cars, some of them I drove at one time they were very comfortable and great for long trips, and they were fun to drive, most would really get-up-and-go !😃
And if by chance you actually read all the comments, another friends grandmother had the same red 74 Chrysler, I grew up in El Paso Texas, not a big ford town. But land yachts were awesome, my particular 76 all I had to do to get over 300 horses was put an Edelbrock torquer 2 and dual exhaust now with that you ain't gonna win a quarter mile but with 308$ I could get 110 when most people in 93 were lucky to hit 85
Thank you for the insight, I appreciate it man
Great video, thank you for creating this for our enjoyment. Well done, Sir.
@2:16 That is the Australian LTD developed from the XA/ZF platform.
That was my mistake, I couldn’t tell the difference
@@GreenHawkDrivesurely u jest! The U. S. version has hidden headlamps, bloated body with rear "skirts" and a baroque applique in between the taillights! I much preferred the other makes to Ford back then as their style was too formal. I mean, have u seen the Mustang II?😅
In 1970 my dad bought a 1970 Olds Delta 88 … incredible land yacht !!! In 1972 my mom decided to get back into the workforce … so dad bought her a 1972 Plymouth Fury 3 !!! another land yacht !!!!! I turned 16 in 1972 !!! How I miss driving those land yachts !!!!!!!
Enjoyed this vid on these Land Yachts ... As to your prices of these large cars being $100,000 or more, no American cars in that time period were in that category. Even the high end European cars had not ascended to that level yet ... Were they expen$ive for their time = Y E $
I appreciate that man, thank you! When I said 100,000 and 85,000, those numbers are adjusted for inflation😅
@@GreenHawkDrive Ye$, that make$ more $en$e ...
My understanding was that was Buick was one notch higher than Oldsmobile. But kind of on a par?
So it went: Chevrolet. Pontiac. Oldsmobile. Buick. Cadillac.
Certainly that's how my family viewed it anyway. When I was a kid in the late 60s/70s, we were a GM family. We owned cars from every line except Cadillac (my mom viewed them as "showy")
Do a video on biggest coupes?
Good suggestion, we shall see!
I was born in the middle 1960s in Brooklyn, NY. So I grew up during this era of these land yachts.
And a lot of Brooklynites enjoyed driving these cars!
I love American luxury sedans! I love the look, smooth ride, durability, V8 power, style, confidence, and luxury.
I used to own a 1997 Lincoln Town Car and loved every minute of it!