30 Most Iconic Cars of the 70s

[BlackSheep214]

I can imagine what the guys from Iron Resurrection tv show could do to it.

[Gary Brantley]

Perhaps my perspective is twisted by owning a 1965 4.2 Jag E-Type for 20 years, Carlos. All a'them 70's things were just dumbed down smog monsters to me.

Color me green with envy John. An E-Type! Wow, what redblooded young man hasn't dreamed of one? They are so sleek and sensous; I've read them described as an "orgasm" on four wheels! I loved them so much, up until the V-12 models came out; they had stretched and pulled so much that I thought the beautiful lines of the car were ruined. But, a 1965 model? Oh man, what a ride! Please tell us more about your car John and you surely have some pics of her around?

[keavdog]

1970 Boss 302, Boss 429
1970 Chevelle, Camaro Z28
1970 Dodge Charger, Challenger

Up until 73 the big 3 were cranking out nice iconic muscle cars.
74 just cut all their balls off going forward.

Cool little pickup John

[Gary Brantley]

I got my driver's license in July 1967 at 14. Texas law then allowed that if one had taken driver's education in the second half of 8th grade. And so, we fourteen year-olds were turned loose on the public roads, in big-motored Detroit iron. Of course, most of us were stuck with four-door family rides to drive until we got our own. I can vividly recall chasing car loads of screaming 14 year-old gilrs in their dad's cars while we hammered ours. Damned if it didn't look like NASCAR at times!

It was the Golden Era of Muscle Cars and with a subscription to hot rod magazines and five car dealers in town, I lusted after them one by one. Any one of them would've topped what I drove. But, fast forward to today; our current family driver is a 2017 Infiniti QX50, with the 3.7 Nissan VQ V-6 engine producing 325 horsepower with rear-wheel drive. It's a rather homely little SUV that runs to 60 mph in just under 6 seconds and turned quarter-mile times that would top several famous muscle cars from the '60-70s era. Yet, it handles great and still gets 28 mpg at 80 mph on the freeway. My wife wanted one for years but I resisted. I've had to eat a fair amount of crow since then...

[mustang1989]

Ya know......It was only a matter of time till I saw this thread. Aside from a few of the cars in there like that Vega and the Cutlass Supreme I can only say that most of that list was the UN-iconic cars of the 70's. Knowing automotive history pretty dang good I would say that it was HIGHLY unlikely that the 78 Dodge Magnum or the 75 Dart (or whatever the hell you want to call that abortion of a car) was anywhere even close to iconic. I mean look......let's break this down. Would you rather have a smogged out 360 155hp V-8 in a 1975 Dart or would you rather have a 275hp 340 4-barrel 1970 , 1971 or even a 1972 Dart? I mean.....c'mon. I can certainly tell you which of those two would make it into the "iconic" list and it sure as hell wouldn't be a 1975 Dart.
I've always liked vans so that Dodge van that's in there (even thought the paint scheme is a little out of whack for my taste) looks good but is still far from iconic. And then all these little chickens$&# 4 banger cars of the day that were in there....... . In any case it was a fun read to have a good laugh at whoever put that list together. Thanks for posting that Tom.

[mustang1989]

Things do fall into a different category when you start talking modified cars.....

Now this.....looks great.

[BlackSheep214]

I've been watching a lot of episodes of Iron Resurrection on Motortrend Channel (cable tv) and love their work in restoring junks into works of art. I've told my wife I'd love to get another '64 Dodge Dart with push button automatic, slant six engine and this time I want the Dart GT. Love to get it in a ragtop but would take a hardtop.

If and when I manage to get a boatload of cash (play Mega Million lottery ), I'd would have the guys at Martin Bros. Customs in Texas to do the work for me. Only one can dream....

So, if you haven't watched Iron Resurrection yet, watch it. You won't be disappointed.

[Gary Brantley]

I've told my wife I'd love to get another '64 Dodge Dart with push button automatic, slant six engine and this time I want the Dart GT. Love to get it in a ragtop but would take a hardtop.

Hey, except for being one year off, you just described my first car. My folks bought a 1963 Dart GT for me when I was a junior in high school. 225 slant six, push-button TorqueFlite, it was tan hardtop with a red interior. It ran really good but it was a bit of a gas hog if I recall correctly. I drove that thing to Dallas and to Houston from Cameron for concerts and visits with friends, back in the day. Oh, I had big plans(read: dreams) for that car and had a well-thumbed JC Whitney catalog to prove it too, lol. We sold it the summer after I graduated high school, 1971, to another, younger high school kid and I moved on to the Celica ST.

[tempestjohnny]

The good
70-74 Challenger
70-72 Road Runner
70-74 Cuda
70-72 Chevelle/Lemans/442/Skylark
70-72 Camaro/Firebird
70-73 Corvette
70-73 Mustang
70-71 Torino
70-72 Monte Carlo
Dart Demon Duster

The Not so good
Vega
Pinto
Monza/Sunbird/Skyhawk/Starfire
Mustang II

The hideous
Anything between 74-78 that was the size of an aircraft carrier but the power of a kayak.

Oh and I owned a 71 Barracuda and a 74 Laguna

[Stikpusher]

I did like my 77 280Z... man that thing could fly! But it ate up front brakes...