Malaise-era land yachts, what's not to like?

In reply to stuart in mn :

Yeah, that was something else that I wanted: three-point belts. I figured that would at least do something. 

I want to give bonus points for the thread title. I don't know that I have heard the term malaise in general conversation outside of senator Gaylord Nelson describing the general state of affairs in that time period.  It was a great interview clip used in the history Chanel Alaska Pipeline documentary. 
+1 for Malaise. 

I'm a fan. Currently own a '77 Grand Prix. 29K miles. Smooth, quiet, comfy, tight and solid, great ergonomics, perfect steering and brake feel, fantastic on the highway, and a hood 100 yards long. Technically mid-sized but it's 214 inches long. Downsides are gas mileage and acceleration. Handling is better than you'd expect - this is GM's best rear drive chassis and was used up to '96.

OP asked about rattle traps. My first hand experience is that the 78-88 GM A/G bodies are cheap and poorly built and are definitely rattle traps. But those aren't land yachts. GM full sizers 77-96 will be tight and solid (but make sure you keep the windows up about an inch to press the glass against seals). The 71-76 cars are a little looser, especially the 4 door hardtops, but should be OK with fresh bushings and seals. GM always built their full size cars better than all their other stuff. I have no personal experience with Ford or Chrysler products from this era, but there might need to be a New Yorker Brougham in my future.

Getting more power from those engines is easyish and cheapish for the 70's cars because large displacement. They won't hustle like people think 60's cars did, but 30-40 HP is easy to find because they were so choked to start with.  Gear swaps help too. For the 80's yachts, more power is harder to find because small displacement, but all those bodies take larger engines.

Suspension mods for better handling are easy and plentiful. Springs, shocks, bars, bushings, done. Don't try to go beyond "stable and confident" and you will be pleased.

Brakes on 70s/80s large cars are fine as is for all normal driving, when functioning properly and with decent semi-metallic pads/shoes, but I'd avoid or swap out the low drag caliper setup that GM started using in '81.

Oh, and colors. These cars come in COLORS! Inside and out.

Oh, yes, rattles. Soon after getting our wagon, I stopped to see our mechanic. He'd been working on these since they were new.

Does it rattle? he asked.

Yeah, it does.

Well, yeah, I can see that you're missing all of the door striker bushings. 

Here's a photo of a GM door striker. See that tan bushing surround it? They fall apart after a while. When it's missing, the door slaps around. 

Installing the bushings took just a few minutes and totally quieted things. 

They definitely have impressive presence and aesthetics. They wallow about with stock suspension, but if it's warn out then you'll def think it drives like E36 M3. 

I want one but my problem is that I owned a v8 w116 which is just leaps and bounds better in braking and suspension feel. I'd still love a big ole Cadi or Lincoln with a plush interior in a loud ass color. 

I attended Drag Week this year as a spectator.  I also dropped in a little on Hot Rod Power Tour when it came through my town.  These are two of the largest gatherings of what represents "the current scene."  What I can't help but notice is that the GM Colonnade cars are nearly non-represented at these events.  I especially notice these since in my Jr year of high school I had a '76 Malibu Classic coupe.  

Mine was identical to this with smooth roof, cone wheels and whitewalls.

But, in this orange (copper) color:

There are tons og G-bodies at these events which are just a few years newer and plenty of A-body, downsized-full sized GMs but rarely a Cutlass or Malibu from the Colonnade era.

stuart in mn said:

914Driver said:

The only thing  not to like are  slippery vinyl bench seats and NO seatbelts!  A hard left and you're looking at the pedals.

Lots of cars from that era had cloth seats.  Seatbelts were standard from 1964 on, and shoulder harnesses from about 1971 on.

My Imperial had leather.

 

Malaise Era road behemoths are great! The full size land yachts from that era were boring in their time, but man, do they make interesting cruisers now. It's partly due to the "old cars are interesting" thing, but there's nothing like piloting a giant steel brick while sitting on a comfortable velour couch with a proper V8 soundtrack. These cars are not meant to be fast or handle like a sports car, and that's OK. Other than reliability improvements, they are best enjoyed as they are. The limit of modifications I'd do would be a possible modern aftermarket EFI swap (see my Power Wagon thread for an example of that) and intake/cam/exhaust upgrades to make a little more power. Nothing crazy. 

And mid-70's intermediates are cool, too! GM Colonnades are some of my favorites, especially the Pontiac flavored ones. 

In reply to John Welsh :

We had a '78 Malibu sedan while growing up, as everyone's family had one--or the Pontiac/Buick/Olds version.

One thing about those G-body sedans: The back windows don't roll down. (You got vent windows, though, FWIW.)

I really miss my 1975 GMC Sprint, but it seemed like it got lighter each time I washed it. You could see the rust fall off.

Here's what Bud Lindemann had to say about the '71 Delta 88: https://youtu.be/jI9lhA9dlEw

Tony Sestito said:

And mid-70's intermediates are cool, too! GM Colonnades are some of my favorites, especially the Pontiac flavored ones. 

I still want a 1973 Grand Am with the rare four speed option, but at this point it's probably not going to happen.

In reply to stuart in mn :

I almost forgot one of my favorites of the 1973-77 Pontiacs: The 1973 Grand Am WAGON. 


1-of-1, and saved from the crusher by one of the Pontiac engineers that helped design it. 

I also love the 1973 GTO with the NACA duct hood (which is where this wagon got that from). One popped up in rough shape in my town over the weekend. I still want it. 

The WS6 goodies from the era all swap into those ^.

I daily drove a 1958 Pontiac Pathfinder for a couple years. Never bothered me a bit. Old cars drive like old cars, if you don't like that, they're not for you.

The questions were the best:

"How do you drive that every day?" -Get in it and turn the key.

"When are you going to restore it?" -I'm not, it's fine as it is.

"But there are places where you can get that done!" - I know, I'm that guy. It's a base model 4-door, it's not worth it. When it's too rotten to enjoy I'm going to cut it up and sell it's bones to someone with a more desirable model.

"You're crazy" -Thanks!

I don't think G-bodies should be counted in the "malaise era, road sofa" category.

They were the start of GM downsizing platforms and going to metric hardware. They started the new, horrible 1980s trend of shrunken models from previous years.

In reply to ShawnG :

Hmmm, does a G-body, especially a sedan, count at Malaise Era...? I see what you mean about metric hardware, but compared to cars of today, is all kinda the same thing?  

I have seen a 73 Cutlass Supreme for sale around here a couple of times lately.  Nice, relatively rust free, which means it only needs the floor pans...  A tree fell and damaged the roof.  Not super badly.  I've resisted because I have a lifetime worth of projects already.

Anyway, I want Cale Yarboroughs car to street drive.  Ten inch wheels all around, all ate up with motor, big ass tail pipes out the right side...And proper Oldsmobile power, too, unless my wallet beats some sense into me.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Growing up, I spent a lot of miles in the back seat of a '73 Cutlass Supreme--brown with white top. 

I don't have much to add except swapping in a 2.0 turbo into these is a horrible idea IMO and not anything I'd ever want.

ShawnG said:

I don't think G-bodies should be counted in the "malaise era, road sofa" category.

They were the start of GM downsizing platforms and going to metric hardware. They started the new, horrible 1980s trend of shrunken models from previous years.

You forget how awesome the "shrunken" b-boby was. I can't count the number of cops who've said this was their all time favorite.  

But, in fairness, it is not a 70s luxo-barge.

Nothing, there is nothing not to like.

Best feature is how the combination of power couch, soft springs and tall sidewalls makes road imperfections more of a muted sound than a feel.

Butter smooth under stressed V8, no steering feel, R12 AC that will give you goosebumps in August.  Monochrome inside and out or Plaid.  Optional cubic feet displacement to pull trailers or burn tires.

My experience was with the following, 72 Olds 98 W/455, 67 Rivera GS 430, 78 shorty Chevy van 350, 74 T-Bird, Multiple early eighties Olds 98's with various motors, 76 Monte Carlo, 70 Cadillac Fleetwood W/472.

Most involved fresh gaskets, rebuilt Quadrajet and an pointless distributor.  All ran beautifully.

I had one of these. 
 

then one of these

then one of these

Patiently waiting for Nonack to get back from his anniversary road trip. I'm sure he'll have some input on this subject.

To the OP:

If you are on Facebook, there are two groups you'll want to check out:

Malaise Motors: Great group run by great people that caters to all cars built in the Malaise Era. We define that as 1973-1995, as 1973 is the 1st year beyond the "Muscle Era" and 1996 is the 1st year of OBD2 and by then things were generally reliable.

The Brougham Society Social Club: This one is for the full sized land yachts, and the age range goes back into the 60's and up until the modern era. Lots of members have the cars that you're considering.

 

I had an '89 caprice that was outside the Malaise era but still based on the same bones. Build quality definitely isn't near the euro stuff I've had from the same era, but the car ate miles and parts were cheap. A lot more wind noise than modern stuff; that's the big luxury letdown if you're cruising at modern traffic speeds. The cloth bench seats in mine were actually really comfortable.

As others have said, these cars are all much slower than you'd expect  unless they are pre-1973 or so. The stock olds 307 only made 140 hp in this thing. They make V8 noises, though. Mine was much better with more power and stiffer suspension, but it still wasn't terribly refined. Quick ratio steering boxes are plentiful and help a lot, but there is nothing that will make it a sports car.

I towed about 3500 lbs with mine on a 8 hour round trip, and it towed an open motorcycle trailer a lot. It was a good tow vehicle even with the long rear overhang, but it had way too much front brake bias when towing. The brakes themselves otherwise did fine.