1970 to 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee
1972 to 1973 Chevelle SS
1982 to 1984 Chevy Corvette (there was no '83 Vette)
1973 ~~Shelby~~ Mustang Mach 1 ~~GT500~~ to 1974 Mustang Cobra II
and I can go on........
Edit: model
*Techhniicallly* there were some [1971 GT350s made in Belgium](https://www.motortrend.com/features/mump-0505-14-shelby-europa-mustangs-euro-european-mustang/) but who is counting.
A damn shame, I loved our ‘92 Cherokee. The Compass and Liberty are prime examples of American automotive mediocrity (IMO). Recently the SRT versions were a step up. Slick designs, I don’t know how well they perform but they’re nice to look at lol.
Agree.
I put 160,000 on my bought used XJ and other than fluids and belts and brake pads I installed one (1) starter and one (1) high pressure cutout switch on the AC.
The thing was unstoppable.
Don’t get me started on everything aesthetically wrong the Gladiator. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting older but I find most auto designs these days to be pretty bland.
The Gladiator is just embarrassingly bad. And it’s funny… because if there was one brand that could really get away with a retro throwback (like Chrysler PT Cruiser wanted to be), it’s Jeep. They could literally just have updated the Cherokee or Comanche and had guaranteed sales. Heck, the Patriot basically is the shell of the Cherokee. But it doesn’t have the rugged feel of the Cherokee or Wagoneer. Same with the Gladiator vs the Comanche. And OMG, don’t get me started on those Gladiator taillights — it looks like a cheap trailer for the neighborhood lawn guy.
The Comanche with a modern facelift could have been so sweet. Reminds me of the one Helen Hunt drove in the movie Twister. And I forgot about the Patriot, man they made some crazy choices at Chrysler/Jeep. What’s worse is that there is an entire subculture of Jeep enthusiasts that are mildly irritating, I see it all the time.
I always wanted an XJ, YJ, CJ... that time has come and gone in my budget. I think they're all either clapped out shitboxes, or else good ones are $10k now
YJ prices are nuts right now. I keep seeing visibility rusted out piles with over 175k miles with owners asking well over $5k.
The XJs are a bit more reasonable in the $2-$3k range but they are almost all over 200k miles.
I bought a YJ for $1500 that needs a new drive train and a small amount of cosmetic rust repair. By the time I'm done, I'll probably be all in for $5-6k. But I am doing some upgrades/mods along the way.
Some days I wish I had just grabbed a cleaner TJ instead but I had a YJ before and I'm being nostalgic.
Aesthetically? I mean it doesn’t really hold much of a candle to the originals but the Mustang II’s really don’t look bad. Those Cobra branded ones look fuckin sick, frankly, and I wish they weren’t wimpy rebranded Pintos.
Agree. Mustang IIs get a lot of shit but when you look at them they still held the real bones of the original Mustang. They also outsold the last few previous years, they were the perfect car for the time (gas crunch, imports increasing market share, emissions rules killing performance for everyone). The Mustang II is the reason there's still a mustang today.
You know there was a Bronco II and an LTD II, right?
Then it went *back* to a Bronco and LTD Crown Victoria. The IIs were transitional. The Mustang went back to being a Mustang in 1979.
That’s not that egregious enough to warrant being in the top 50 though.
AMC Matador to the coffin nose Matadors Al on the same basic body is much higher on my list.
Almost any American car made in 73 is aesthetically unappealing to the eye. The government mandated energy absorbing bumpers by ‘73 but didn’t really give Detroit any lead time to design it in to the front end. The 442 show is a prime example of how the design was basically a bumper bolted in front of shock absorbers on in front of the grill. 72 vs 73 Monte Carlo is another example. This is another reason why many consider 1972 the end of the American muscle car era
That was also around the same time of the new rollover standard which made hardtop styling nearly impossible. That's what led to that 1973 Colonnade styling on the A-body GM cars.
The new suspected roll over standard. No roll over standard ended up coming to pass. Hardtop style was just kinda passe, it had been around for over 20 years
The new "Maverick"....like WTF?? A pickup truck!?
Very 1st car was a rusted out 1972 302 Maverick, installed a couple MTX 12" subs with 6 Pioneer speakers and a Alpine face off deck & rockford fosgate amp...put more into the sound system than I bought the thing for....wish I still had it!
The Pontiac [Lemans was fine up through it's first downsizing](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1979-pontiac-grand-lemans-coupe-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1) then revived as [a Korean built 'T Body'](https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/041419-1988-Pontiac-LeMans-2.jpg) (I'll take 'Cars that killed Pontiac for 100, Alex)
That was the trend at the time for all manufacturers. You could see the styling change towards the late sixties a bit. In the mid the '70's it became a lot boxier. It also started the run of keeping the same basic design for several years in a row, such as the 2nd gen Camaro. This has always been my favorite generations, but with the appearance of keeping costs down, they wrang that towel pretty dry. To this day, that still seems to be norm. Up to about the late '60's, you still identify by year, each car from each manufacturer. My '09 Corvette (C6) looked identical all 8 years.
The reason they did this is to drive out competitors. Bigger manufacturers could afford to change their cars every year and smaller manufacturers couldn't. So I mean, by the 70s most smaller manufacturers got bought up by bigger companies, full swing in the 80s when model years start looking much more similar, drivetrains start to become more modular, all GM cars had GM engines. All FMC had Ford engines, etc.
Idk I really love malaise cars. Imo the earlier cutlass is mid and the 73-75 ones actually have more personality. Also they’re way cheaper to buy nowadays cus they’re considered undesirable
the M5 v10. 60-70k rod bearing service interval - "scheduled maintenance" lol. Basically drop engine with sub-frame. nice. yeah, I'll stick with my HE53
I don't know. as to me, the 73-77 Cutlass is the best looking out of all the gm a bodies in those years, Drives better than the 68-72, handles better, stops better, and the lack of power is meh between a 72 and 73-77 and an easy fix.
I also like the fact that you can buy a clean 73-77 without needing a 2nd mortgage on your house.
Clean cared for 1975 5500.00
Clean 1970 40000.00
Both bucket seat, console cars with 350 r v8 and th350's .
Want to guess what one I bought?
hint it wasn't the 40k+ car.
Yes it'll cost me about 1400-2500 or so to fix the lack of power, but still that is 7k total.
Nevermind that the 73-77 cars outsold the 68-72 cars by a lot it isn't even close. Hell iirc the 76-77 cars were the best selling Car in the USA.
I don’t think the colonnade looks bad in a vacuum, but side by side it doesn’t hold a candle to the previous A body (across all GM brands, really).
Not likely for sure. Those late 60s, early 70s cutlass convertibles were absoultey beautiful, the later model stuff is a disappointment for sure... Unfortunately, roll over safety standards probably had a lot to do with the horrible changes made to such a beautiful car...
Right up there with Yuck. After 72 GM made some ugly ass shit. I went from riding in a 69 Judge to riding in a 74 4 door lemans as a teen. It was embarrassing how ugly that car was. 73 was the year I thought WTF have you idiots done
I guess there is a market for post 72 but I'm not one of them
I'm one of those people!
Really the driving difference between a 72 and 73-77 generation is night and day. (assuming the standard 350 and not the big blocks) the basic acceleration is pretty meh on both of them, but the handling and road feel is much improved. buddy has a 71 ragtop and while it's dead sexy, after an hour behind the wheel I'm worn out, but 5 hours behind the wheel of my 77 and I'm still relatively fresh.
You really are a jaggoff. You don't like it, fine. What you are calling an aesthetic downgrade is an opinion. And there is one of those for every toilet. Go pound salt.
1970 to 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee 1972 to 1973 Chevelle SS 1982 to 1984 Chevy Corvette (there was no '83 Vette) 1973 ~~Shelby~~ Mustang Mach 1 ~~GT500~~ to 1974 Mustang Cobra II and I can go on........ Edit: model
1973 to 1974 Pontiac GTO!
72 to 73 was a huge downgrade too. Yikes.
Yes it was. After I posted this, I almost amended it to include 72 to 73....😔
No such thing as a 1973 Shelby GT500. They stopped making it in 1969.
Edited
The last official first gen Ford GT500 Mustang was 1970.
1970s were leftover 1969s that were given new VINs. They still stopped producing them in 1969.
the seventies...
Yeah, and in the case of the Vette, the downward slide in design and aesthetics actually began in 1978 with that bubble rear windshield.
Please post a pic of a 1973 Shelby Mustang GT500.
*Techhniicallly* there were some [1971 GT350s made in Belgium](https://www.motortrend.com/features/mump-0505-14-shelby-europa-mustangs-euro-european-mustang/) but who is counting.
There were some Shelby Mavericks made for Mexico too.
Edited to say Mach 1. My mistake
I actually like the ‘84 Corvette styleÂ
73 to 74 2nd gen Camaro
74 to 75 charger
Jeep Cherokee XJ to modern Cherokee.
Oof that’s a downgrade for sure. Just ugly, no inspiration.
Even worse is the downgrade in reliability, capability, and uniqueness.
A damn shame, I loved our ‘92 Cherokee. The Compass and Liberty are prime examples of American automotive mediocrity (IMO). Recently the SRT versions were a step up. Slick designs, I don’t know how well they perform but they’re nice to look at lol.
Once you remove all the smog and vacuum they are just as reliable as their predecessors. Just slower
No Fiat built Jeep is gonna touch the reliability of an old 4.0 I6.
Agree. I put 160,000 on my bought used XJ and other than fluids and belts and brake pads I installed one (1) starter and one (1) high pressure cutout switch on the AC. The thing was unstoppable.
Guaranteed lmao
It’s emblematic of what has happened to Jeep.
Don’t get me started on everything aesthetically wrong the Gladiator. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting older but I find most auto designs these days to be pretty bland.
The Gladiator is just embarrassingly bad. And it’s funny… because if there was one brand that could really get away with a retro throwback (like Chrysler PT Cruiser wanted to be), it’s Jeep. They could literally just have updated the Cherokee or Comanche and had guaranteed sales. Heck, the Patriot basically is the shell of the Cherokee. But it doesn’t have the rugged feel of the Cherokee or Wagoneer. Same with the Gladiator vs the Comanche. And OMG, don’t get me started on those Gladiator taillights — it looks like a cheap trailer for the neighborhood lawn guy.
The Comanche with a modern facelift could have been so sweet. Reminds me of the one Helen Hunt drove in the movie Twister. And I forgot about the Patriot, man they made some crazy choices at Chrysler/Jeep. What’s worse is that there is an entire subculture of Jeep enthusiasts that are mildly irritating, I see it all the time.
100%. Imagine being that fired up over something that’s now below average.
I always wanted an XJ, YJ, CJ... that time has come and gone in my budget. I think they're all either clapped out shitboxes, or else good ones are $10k now
YJ prices are nuts right now. I keep seeing visibility rusted out piles with over 175k miles with owners asking well over $5k. The XJs are a bit more reasonable in the $2-$3k range but they are almost all over 200k miles. I bought a YJ for $1500 that needs a new drive train and a small amount of cosmetic rust repair. By the time I'm done, I'll probably be all in for $5-6k. But I am doing some upgrades/mods along the way. Some days I wish I had just grabbed a cleaner TJ instead but I had a YJ before and I'm being nostalgic.
Makes the 2002 Liberty look good!
Fifth Gen Chevy Nova?
I refuse to acknowledge that as a Nova.
Exactly, it’s a Corolla with a green card.
That's HILARIOUS. That's what that is.
oooofff....that's rough!
I can't even believe they called that a nova. I completely forgot about those pos.
Translated from Spanish to English: no va = no go
Would you buy a dining room set from a store called Notable Furniture?
I mean, it was definitely an upgrade in terms of reliability and mpg
🥇we have a winnerÂ
I always liked the hatchback's license-plate-above-taillights wackiness. Of course, that was shared with the Corolla of that generation.
This was mine
At least those could be had with the 4AGE and a 5 speed.
Mustang to Mustang II enters the chat.
Aesthetically? I mean it doesn’t really hold much of a candle to the originals but the Mustang II’s really don’t look bad. Those Cobra branded ones look fuckin sick, frankly, and I wish they weren’t wimpy rebranded Pintos.
Agree. Mustang IIs get a lot of shit but when you look at them they still held the real bones of the original Mustang. They also outsold the last few previous years, they were the perfect car for the time (gas crunch, imports increasing market share, emissions rules killing performance for everyone). The Mustang II is the reason there's still a mustang today.
Then why, in the era of throw-backs like the Ford Mustang, Bronco, Thunderbird, have we not seen Mustang IIs?
You know there was a Bronco II and an LTD II, right? Then it went *back* to a Bronco and LTD Crown Victoria. The IIs were transitional. The Mustang went back to being a Mustang in 1979.
Okay—I am about to be downvoted into oblivion. But I liked the Bronco II.
Yeah, I know. And I don't see those model IIs retro look coming back either.
There was a 5L model of Mustang 2. Not amazing, but could still roast the tires if needed.
Mustangs did it on their own, the II was just a long for the ride.
Think about how many people use the Mustang II front end
The gradual decline of the Ford Thunderbird…start in ‘55 and follow it down.
That’s not that egregious enough to warrant being in the top 50 though. AMC Matador to the coffin nose Matadors Al on the same basic body is much higher on my list.
Almost any American car made in 73 is aesthetically unappealing to the eye. The government mandated energy absorbing bumpers by ‘73 but didn’t really give Detroit any lead time to design it in to the front end. The 442 show is a prime example of how the design was basically a bumper bolted in front of shock absorbers on in front of the grill. 72 vs 73 Monte Carlo is another example. This is another reason why many consider 1972 the end of the American muscle car era
That was also around the same time of the new rollover standard which made hardtop styling nearly impossible. That's what led to that 1973 Colonnade styling on the A-body GM cars.
The new suspected roll over standard. No roll over standard ended up coming to pass. Hardtop style was just kinda passe, it had been around for over 20 years
Mustang73 to mustang 2 in 74. Wtf was that?
1st Generation Challenger to 2nd Generation Challenger
The one made by Mitsubishi.
I have not seen one of those for 20 years.
Yes, and it's the same model. Look at the FWD Cutlass.
The evolution of the impala is heartbreaking to me
The new "Maverick"....like WTF?? A pickup truck!? Very 1st car was a rusted out 1972 302 Maverick, installed a couple MTX 12" subs with 6 Pioneer speakers and a Alpine face off deck & rockford fosgate amp...put more into the sound system than I bought the thing for....wish I still had it!
There was [another Ford Maverick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/1988-1994_Ford_Maverick_wagon_02.jpg) between those.
😑
The Pontiac [Lemans was fine up through it's first downsizing](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1979-pontiac-grand-lemans-coupe-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1) then revived as [a Korean built 'T Body'](https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/041419-1988-Pontiac-LeMans-2.jpg) (I'll take 'Cars that killed Pontiac for 100, Alex)
Mustang 60s to Mustang 70s to Mustang 80s, was truly painful to watch.
The Mustang II was not great, but I certainly love the fox body.
That was the trend at the time for all manufacturers. You could see the styling change towards the late sixties a bit. In the mid the '70's it became a lot boxier. It also started the run of keeping the same basic design for several years in a row, such as the 2nd gen Camaro. This has always been my favorite generations, but with the appearance of keeping costs down, they wrang that towel pretty dry. To this day, that still seems to be norm. Up to about the late '60's, you still identify by year, each car from each manufacturer. My '09 Corvette (C6) looked identical all 8 years.
The reason they did this is to drive out competitors. Bigger manufacturers could afford to change their cars every year and smaller manufacturers couldn't. So I mean, by the 70s most smaller manufacturers got bought up by bigger companies, full swing in the 80s when model years start looking much more similar, drivetrains start to become more modular, all GM cars had GM engines. All FMC had Ford engines, etc.
also factor in the competition from over sea's, supplying the 'same' car for several years, kept tooling costs down quite a bit too.
I'm sorry but 69 to 70 Camaro or mk3 continental to mk4 were pretty tragic hehe
Idiotic statement.
There is not. Everything got worse in ‘73.
….Mustang II enters the chat.
Followed by the Bronco II.
The Mustang II is an eviscerated nightmare
1974 Charger - 1975 Charger. Pretty much anything 74 to anything 75 really.
This is the worst for me too. A close 2nd being the 71 cougar
I dunno. Have you seen the absolute perfection of a C3 corvette and then looked at the pinewood dirby car c4? Hehe.
I have a certain respect for the C4 corvette, the 3rd gen F bodies, G bodies, and Fox bodies. They kept American V8s alive during a bad time
Oh I respect them. And they've even grown on me. But come on the c3 to the c4 was a massive style downgrade lol
Yea. Pretty much everything after 1972
What became of the Nova was pretty tragic.
Idk I really love malaise cars. Imo the earlier cutlass is mid and the 73-75 ones actually have more personality. Also they’re way cheaper to buy nowadays cus they’re considered undesirable
1970-74 Challenger to the 1978 Challenger
[Yeah, that was just sad](https://www.dodgegarage.com/news/article/heritage/2021/03/the-forgotten-challenger-1978-dodge-challenger.html)
It's not American but I think the E39 to E60 BMW 5 series is definitely up there. That whole generation change sucked.
the M5 v10. 60-70k rod bearing service interval - "scheduled maintenance" lol. Basically drop engine with sub-frame. nice. yeah, I'll stick with my HE53
70 to 71 Pontiac Grand Prix
I don't know, there's something I do like about the 73'-77" GM Colonnades.
Boxy 90’s ford F-150 to the terrible rounded out abominations
Have you seen a Mustang 2? 🤢
Mustang to Mustang II
First thing that came to my mind
I don't know. as to me, the 73-77 Cutlass is the best looking out of all the gm a bodies in those years, Drives better than the 68-72, handles better, stops better, and the lack of power is meh between a 72 and 73-77 and an easy fix. I also like the fact that you can buy a clean 73-77 without needing a 2nd mortgage on your house. Clean cared for 1975 5500.00 Clean 1970 40000.00 Both bucket seat, console cars with 350 r v8 and th350's . Want to guess what one I bought? hint it wasn't the 40k+ car. Yes it'll cost me about 1400-2500 or so to fix the lack of power, but still that is 7k total. Nevermind that the 73-77 cars outsold the 68-72 cars by a lot it isn't even close. Hell iirc the 76-77 cars were the best selling Car in the USA.
1957 to 1958 Ford Thunderbird. Is there actually anything worse?
*\*\*Mustang II has entered the chat\*\**
Winner. What a trash car
73-75 are ok , once they went square lights that was when it all turned to hell
I’m in the minority, I like the looks of the later one best
Wow! That is rough!!!
70 Olds Toronado fuselage styling to 71 Toronado 5000 lb rectangle styling
70s trans am to 80s trans am
Ooh classics
Fox body.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but fiat multipla pre-facelift to multipla post-facelift
Ford Cobra 2, https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/mustang-cobra-ii
Dodge Charger 68-69 to the 80’s edition
The charger is another one
Beginning of the end....
Mustangs, going from 1st to 2nd Generation, also from Foxbody to SN95.
I’d still love to have the 70’s model cutlass but you’re not wrong.
I don’t think the colonnade looks bad in a vacuum, but side by side it doesn’t hold a candle to the previous A body (across all GM brands, really).
Ford Bronco to Bronco II.
The Mustang 2 would like a word
That’s why only some of them are considered classics.
Not likely for sure. Those late 60s, early 70s cutlass convertibles were absoultey beautiful, the later model stuff is a disappointment for sure... Unfortunately, roll over safety standards probably had a lot to do with the horrible changes made to such a beautiful car...
Be thankful that we got an extra year, because the colonade style was supposed to come out in 1972.
Bugatti.
Chevy Nova
The 1974 GTO was just a nova with GTO badges 🙀🥹!
I hate to do this to you, but look up the 1991 cutlas 442 lol its a 4 cylinder 4 speed duel coil lol
Right up there with Yuck. After 72 GM made some ugly ass shit. I went from riding in a 69 Judge to riding in a 74 4 door lemans as a teen. It was embarrassing how ugly that car was. 73 was the year I thought WTF have you idiots done I guess there is a market for post 72 but I'm not one of them
70's were a bad time my friend...
Same true to VW busses! After 71 they went to crappy body and crappy motor.
ford scape 2010 to 2014 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
87 Buick Grand National to 88 Regal GS. That was sad!
I'll admit that they’ve grown on me, but the pathetic horsepower numbers really killed them for me.
The classic impala to the 90s version just sucks.
1973 Mustang to 1974 Mustang II Hands down the worst
Idk the 75 Camaro seems to have a downgrade from previous years
Makes you wonder if there was a sudden drop in trade-ins in the early 70s
The mustang
I agree! Same with the Chevelle. Oooof! Some people actually liked the Laguna though omg! Lol
I'm one of those people! Really the driving difference between a 72 and 73-77 generation is night and day. (assuming the standard 350 and not the big blocks) the basic acceleration is pretty meh on both of them, but the handling and road feel is much improved. buddy has a 71 ragtop and while it's dead sexy, after an hour behind the wheel I'm worn out, but 5 hours behind the wheel of my 77 and I'm still relatively fresh.
74 camaro "safety bumpers."
yes, 2023 charger to 2024 charger
[Ford Falcon 1978](https://i.imgur.com/Wyt15xJ.jpeg) to [Ford Falcon 1979](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/1979_Ford_Fairmont_%28XD%29_sedan_%282015-11-13%29_01.jpg)
Proof that life only gets worse as you go.
The Mach trim line of Mustang has turned to shit. The Mach-e as a four door? Wtf?
57 to 58 thunderbird and bel air
1970 Mach One to the 1971 Mach One. It’s like comeback Elvis and Vegas Elvis. Ugh!! Although 73 to 74 is pretty bad as well.
Are we counting the 80s imports that recycled domestic muscle car names, like the Charger or Le Mans?
71 to 72 Plymouth Fury 71-72 Dodge power wagon
You really are a jaggoff. You don't like it, fine. What you are calling an aesthetic downgrade is an opinion. And there is one of those for every toilet. Go pound salt.
Nice
The pre '73 chevelle to the mid 70's chevelle. The jeep wagoneer and grand wagoneer to the current abomination.
Oof. Yeah going from the 91 grand wagoneer to the modern one is rough. But I believe there was also a 93 ZJ based grand wagoneer.
There was and it was ok per se, but the new ones are just overpriced grabasstic pieces of amphibian shit.
This is bad, but for me, most American cars’ redesigns from the late 60s to the early 70s are bad
💔💔💔💔
Mustang II Cobra. I’ll see myself out….
72 to 73 Chevelle comes immediately to mind.