[Hammerhead]

All the oil discussion got me to thinking. When I was a teenager I worked part time at a gas station. One island of pumps was full service. Customer stayed in car , told you how much gas they wanted. While the gas was pumping, you checked tire pressure, cleaned windshield, checked oil. If it needed a quart you told Customer. They told you what oil they wanted. We had what was called bulk oil, came in 55 gallon drums, you pumped it out into glass quart bottles with metal funnel that screwed on. Always amazed me, people with almost new cars would say, throw me a quart of that bulk oil in. It cost .25 cents a quart. Yeah, I'm older than dirt. time for my nap.

 

[rhysoul]

If there were Internet forums in the 1970s, I’m sure they would be full of customer complains of the American junk that was being produced during that era.

“My Chevy Vega is burning oil as fast as I can pour it in. GM is junk!” “My Ford Pinto keeps exploding, I’m on my 3rd Pinto and this one just exploded when a neighbor’s cat jumped on the trunk, Ford is junk!” “My Chrysler..” oh never mind, Chrysler has always been junk.

😅

 

[Hammerhead]

Mechanic friend of mine rebuilt a Chevy Vega engine. He said it used more oil after the rebuild than before. One of the car magazines of the time said Vega was the only car they had ever seen that started rusting before they could get em outta the show room.

 

[Hammerhead]

Remember Yugos? Gotta be one of the worst cars ever built.

 

[rhysoul]

Remember Yugos? Gotta be one of the worst cars ever built.

Haha yes I do. They competed with the Excel and I think cost even less. The Excel was a much better car at the time and that’s not saying much. One of my teachers in elementary school had a new Yugo and it was broken down for weeks in the local department store parking lot. It was a baby poo brown color, if I recall correctly.

 

[Hammerhead]

Back then a local Hyundai dealer had an excel that a customer had traded in. Had, I think 140,000 miles on it. They had it sitting out front with the miles wrote on the windshield. They were proud of it.

 

[rhysoul]

2 of the 3 Excels I had made it to at least that many miles, but I wouldn’t know because the speedometer cable in both of them broke around 100k. I know they’re considered junk, but mine were very dependable.

 

[MonsterSoul]

I had a Vega. Burned a hole in a piston around 50k miles, right on schedule.
Mechanic friend said don't fix it, not worth it.
Bought a VW Bus and it died along the QEW outside Toronto, ON.
Oh well, water long gone under the bridge.

 

[GeoSoul]

If there were Internet forums in the 1970s, I’m sure they would be full of customer complains of the American junk that was being produced during that era.

“My Chevy Vega is burning oil as fast as I can pour it in. GM is junk!” “My Ford Pinto keeps exploding, I’m on my 3rd Pinto and this one just exploded when a neighbor’s cat jumped on the trunk, Ford is junk!” “My Chrysler..” oh never mind, Chrysler has always been junk.

😅

But rest assured, the 70's version of Action News Jackie would've been on the case, pouring gas on those fires!

 

[Staetik]

My buddy in high school had an Excel that was a hand-me-down from his mom. Picked me up one day and the handle came off the door when I tried to open it, and the window crank bent when I tried to roll down the window. The funny part is this was a regular thing about that car. It was always literally falling apart. My first car was a Pontiac T1000, basically a Chevy Chevette. Good times.

 

[MonsterSoul]

I'm glad to report it has been a long time since I had a car where I could lift a floor mat and see the road going by through the big rust framed hole.

 

[rhysoul]

I'm glad to report it has been a long time since I had a car where I could lift a floor mat and see the road going by through the big rust framed hole.

When I was small, my father had a late 70s ugly orange Toyota Corolla with one of those pavement inspection ports. I remember he put a metal plate over the hole so I wouldn’t fall out of the car 😂

 

[Hammerhead]

Those holes were handy in case you lost your brakes. Aka Fred Flintstone. 😁

 

[MonsterSoul]

The old school bus belonging to the summer camp I went to back when had a big rusted out hole by one of the back wheels.
You did not want to sit in that seat.
I remember a sign by the drivers seat.

Speed limit of this bus, 45 MPH.
Don't try the limit on this trip.

 

[barnabas1969]

Chrysler has always been junk.

Hey now... the K cars were very reliable.

And I had a 1998 Dodge Stratus that didn't have single issue until around 300K miles.

 

[barnabas1969]

Remember Yugos? Gotta be one of the worst cars ever built.

The Yugo was a copy of the Fiat 128. Fiat licensed the design to the Yugo manufacturer. Unfortunately, the Yugo manufacturer used inferior... well, everything.

When I was a teen in 1987, I had a friend who had a 1976 or '77 or '78 (can't remember what year it was) Fiat 128 and another friend who had a brand new Yugo. The 128 was definitely better quality than the Yugo, even though the 128 was approx 10 years old compared to the brand new Yugo.

At the time, I had a 1976 Fiat 131S sedan. I liked the 131S a lot better than the 128. I bought my 131S out of a junk yard for $200 in 1985 or 1986. It had 70K miles when I bought it. It had a lot of rust but it ran great. It needed a new harmonic balancer when I towed it home from the junk yard. I assume that the original owner thought it was a rod knocking. I replaced the harmonic balancer (had to order it directly from Italy) and put an additional 230K miles on it. Sold it with about 300K miles on it... for $300.

The Hyundai Excel was a licensed copy of the Mitsubishi Mirage. I had a 1988 Excel. I put about 250K miles on it before I totaled it. It still ran/drove perfectly up until I hit a guard rail and spun down a bridge, bouncing off the guard rails all the way down the bridge. It was mangled on all four sides! The rear axle was bent 90 degrees, but the engine still started so I could drive it off the road with the rear tires dragging.

 

[barnabas1969]

replied to myself by mistake.

 

[Hammerhead]

When Hyundai started selling the excel in the USA it did have a Mitsubishi engine. My 1st new car was a , best I remember 1992 Hyundai Scoupe. It too had Mitsubishi engine. Mitsubishi = itchy twitchy. 😁

 

[Hammerhead]

When Hyundai started selling the excel in the USA it did have a Mitsubishi engine. My 1st new car was a , best I remember 1992 Hyundai Scoupe. It too had Mitsubishi engine. Mitsubishi = itchy twitchy. 😁

The Scoupe was a really good handling car. You could hang the rear plumb sideways in a curve, let off the gas and it would straighten right up.

 

[TosenR]

I'm glad to report it has been a long time since I had a car where I could lift a floor mat and see the road going by through the big rust framed hole.

Once rode in a co-worker's car, he used a STOP sign to cover over the big hole in the rusted out floor board.