What really once sucked about American cars.

[Jon Bailey]

Back in the day, many people in America bought American brands because:

1. they felt it their patriotic duty to do so
2. they liked the Detroit style and look
3. Mercedes and Rolls-Royce were too expensive
4. small Japanese and European cars lacked room and comfort
5. affordable imports could not satisfy larger families and larger family dogs
6. no foreign car at any price offered the sheer interior volume of full-size American boats as Ford, Mercury, Chevrolet, Dodge, Plymouth, Oldsmobile, AMC Ambassador, Buick, Chrylser and Pontiac station wagons. Nothing arriving on a boat to our shores had the big-living room comfort of a Lincoln, Cadillac or Chrysler Imperial.

The sad thing was that Big Three:

1. did not have the warmest and nicest folks working at dealerships that sold their products
2. had products were crappy in build quality
3. lacked Toyota longevity and famous reliability
4. lacked the superior materials and fit and finish of European upper-class cars like Mercedes

Of course, those classic Ameri-boat cruisers were also horrible on gas. In 1978, to try to do better on fuel economy, GM tried putting diesel power in their big boats like Cadillac and Oldsmobile and that was the worst scum ever made. I sadly bought a 2nd-hand 1979 Oldsmobile 98 diesel I had for a short time in 1984 and it was pure trash, mechanically speaking. It lacked the on-highway smoothness and quietness of a gas V8 and it could be hard to start in the mornings at times. It smoked and was oil leaky. The a/c did not blow cold air at all and the heater fan was noisy in the dash. It was on the used car lot for a good reason. I paid $4,500 for this damned thing in 1984. Too much. I dumped it 2 months later for a paltry $1,200. This Oldsmobile diesel bomb seemed big and comfy at first but after a short while, it started to show its true Big Three colors. The odometer only showed 75K miles but it did not take me long to realize the cheesiness of the body, trim and interior materials. If you were trying to do American big luxury boat on the cheap, forget it. I would have done much better for my money in 1984 to have found maybe a good 1978, 1979, 1980 Toyota Cressida wagon.